The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg

Amazon.com

Aviva Kempner's Peabody Award-winning documentary is about baseball like Field of Dreams is about cornfields. Kempner efficiently covers all the bases of Detroit Tigers Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg's magnificent career with archival footage and talking heads, including family members, former teammates and baseball legends, broadcasters and sportswriters, and such unabashed fans as Alan Dershowitz and Walter Matthau. If this biography's style is not remarkable, its subject certainly was. Greenberg, the son of immigrant parents, was a beacon of hope to Jews. As one observer notes, baseball was a way of "showing we were as American as everybody else." To see one of their own succeed in the national pastime at a time of virulent anti-Semitism was a source of pride and inspiration. One lifelong fan, a rabbi, states, "He was the baseball Moses." Winner of several critics association awards for Best Documentary, this is a stirring film for all seasons. --Donald Liebenson

Description

As baseball's first Jewish star, Hammerin' Hank Greenberg's career contains all the makings of a true American sucess story. An extraordinary ball player notorious for his hours of daily practice, Greenberg's career was an inspiration to all and captured the headlines and the admiration of sportswriters and fans alike. This is the story of how he became an American hero.

Customer Reviews:

A solid homage to a trailblazing ballplayer.......2005-07-25

This film doesn't back even a quarter inch from being a documentary of a great Jewish ballplayer. The opening theme song is "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in Yiddish. It sets the tone for the whole film in perfect fashion.

One of my professors in grad school explained to me how he changed his name as a grad student in the 1930s in order to "pass" as what we would now call WASP in order to escape the "Jew quotas" placed against the hiring of too many Jewish professors. Today we forget just how anti-Semitic much of the United States was before World War II and beyond. As this documentary points out, this was especially true in Detroit, where America's premiere industrial anti-Semite, Henry Ford, held sway. The film mentions but does not expand upon Ford's anti-Semitic activity, which included paying for the printing and distribution of the wretched forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," one of the most racist rags ever penned. This provides the social and historical background for this marvelous documentary history of the great Hank Greenberg, the first professional baseball star to openly embrace his ethnic background. He thus served as the Jackie Robinson of the Jews in the thirties. But there was a slight difference. Though African-Americans were discriminated against and subjugated to terrible racial injustice, there was a sense in which they were undeniably American. Jews, however, at the time enjoyed an almost outsider status, not really Americans, more in the nature of displaced Europeans. Greenberg, however, was not just a Jewish sports star, but a star in the great American game of baseball. His Jewish identity is central to the film, from the recounting of his earlier years to the shocking film footage of Nazi rallies in New York in the late 1930s to Greenberg's being drafted (and reenlisted) for military service in World War II. And as commentator Alan Dershowitz points out, he was the anti-thesis of what Hitler said it was possible for a Jew to be. He was the living proof of the lies of Hitler.

One of the many jokes in AIRPLANE! is when someone asks for some light reading, and is given a slender pamphlet entitled GREAT JEWISH SPORTS STARS. Greenberg is one of the great athletes to give the lie to such a conception. He would reign as the great Jewish baseball player until the emergence of Sandy Koufax twenty years later. What is striking about both players is that they were both handsome, eloquent, and great gentlemen. Both men were great heroes to Jews across America, but interestingly neither was especially religious.

As a baseball fan, I really enjoyed a lot of the baseball lore that comes through in the film. For instance, I knew that Greenberg and Gehringer were a great twosome in the infield, but I was unaware that one season the infield knocked in more runs than any infield in baseball history. Or that a new and controversial glove that the poor fielding Greenberg debuted one season would be finally approved by the league and eventually lead to the modern first baseman's glove. Or that Greenberg was the first $100,000 player. Most of all, perhaps, is all the great game footage. Most baseball fans know Greenberg by sight in a photo, but few of us would recognize him from the way he swings his bat. But now perhaps I would. There is also the fantastic segment in which Greenberg in film from the 1980s explains how the Tigers were able in late 1940 to steal the signs of the other team by placing a minor league coach in the stands with binoculars, and signaling by which hand he held them what pitch was coming.

Although in many ways Greenberg enjoyed a relatively short career, shortened by injuries and by military service in what would be the peak years for most power hitters (the peak for most home run hitters comes between the ages of 30 and 35, the very years Greenberg was in the military), he enjoyed by any standard a remarkable career. Because of the war years he lost any chance at 500 career homers, but he led the Tigers to several remarkable seasons, with four pennant winners and two world championships, all to go with his two MVP awards.

A bit of trivia partially revealed in the film. In the 1935 World Series umpire George Moriarty stopped the game to order the Cubs to stop making anti-Semitic remarks directed at Greenberg. The film then briefly interviews actor Michael Moriarty, the umpire's grandson, who himself starred in one of the great baseball films ever made, BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY, starring Moriarty and a very, very young Robert DeNiro.

An exceptional documentary.......2004-06-26

I think this is a truly exceptional documentary on many different levels. First, it tells the story of one of the best baseball players in history, who often goes unrecognized for his skills. I consider myself a big baseball fan, especially in the history of baseball and stars of the past. Yet before this movie, I knew very little about Hank Greenberg. Despite being one of the best hitters at that time, Greenberg isn't talked about very often. This DVD gets his story out, and shows how dominant of a ball player he was.

A major reason that Greenberg is often overlooked when people talk about great ball players is that he spent many of his prime years serving the war effort and was away from baseball. This has kept his lifetime stats and therefore his notoriety down.

Another major reason this movie was so good was how it showed Greenberg's career in baseball as a Jewish baseball player. Although his abuse was less than what Jackie Robinson would later recieve, he still did suffer abuse. Also, he was watched and revered by the Jewish community. He was respected and admired as a Jewish man who was just as good as other American ball players, giving Jews a sense of pride. One of the best parts of the film is when the viewer learns that Greenberg talked to Jackie Robinson about playing in baseball as a minority, and gave him support.

Whether he was helping Detroit win the World Series, serving his country in the war, being a symbol of pride for the Jewish population, or giving Jackie Robinson advice, we can see that he meant a lot to a lot of people. This is a remarkable story about a remarkable man, through the lens of baseball. If you like baseball and baseball history, this movie is a must-see.

Important Ballplayer for many reasons........2003-05-02

Hank Greenberg seemed like a pretty decent fellow and a whale of a ballplayer. Like many, he lost his prime years fighting those jerks in the Pacific. No telling how good his career number would have been if he could have been back in the states poking at the pill. Even with that handicap he still played in three World Series and won 2 MVP awards. This move does a pretty good job of documenting his life, but it seems to define him too much by his religion. Greenberg wasn't even a religious person, but the film continues to go back to the subject. I'm sure that he found discrimination along the way, but when you see the actual footage of him interviewed in 1983, you get the impression that he would be very uncomfortable with his life being told through that lens. He seems too no nonsense for that. It's interesting when he collides with rookie Jackie Robinson in 1947, and offers him encouragement. It's really a poetic moment in baseball history.

The movie is good enough that it seems too short. A shame that there isn't more baseball footage from that time period.

Hank Greenberg the Jewish Babe Ruth/Moses/Jackie Robinson.......2003-01-12

If the point of "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg" is lost on the viewer, then history itself put the writing on the wall when the owner of the Detroit Tigers misunderstood the meaning of an old photograph of Greenberg and traded his star to the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 1947 season. Greenberg's last season in the baseball was Jackie Robinson's first, and Greenberg was in the National League to witness it first hand. Not surprisingly, Greenberg was one of the few opposing ball players to offer Robinson encouragement in breaking baseball's color line. But then, as this 1999 documentary proved repeatedly, no white player in the history of the game had been subjected to the abuse Greenberg suffered because his was Jewish. Without a doubt Robinson suffered more, maybe even more that first season than Greenberg his entire career. But this documentary also shows that Greenberg was as important to the American Jewish community as Jackie was to African Americans.

I remembered that Greenberg was the first person to win the MVP award at two different positions and that in 1935 he had 100 R.B.I.'s at the break and was not selected for the All-Star team (Manager Mickey Cochrane did not want to be accused of playing favorites with someone from his own team and picked Lou Gehrig and Jimmy Foxx instead). But what I really picked up from this documentary was how good Greenberg made the Detroit Tigers during his career. If you look at his career batting statistics you will see that Greenberg played eight full seasons and batted in over 100 runs seven times for the Tigers between 1933 and 1946 (several seasons were lost to injury and military service). The Tigers played in the World Series in 1934, 1935, 1940, and 1945, and Greenberg was the common denominator for those teams. You will be hard pressed to find a major league baseball player with that sort of success ratio since Greenberg's day outside of New York Yankees like Berra, Ford, Mantle, and Jeter.

Writer-director Aviva Kempner balances Greenberg's playing career with the impact he had as baseball's first Jewish star. There are some clips from an old interview with Greenberg, who died in 1986. But most of the talking heads are from contemporary clips of Greenberg's family, former teammates, reporters, and lifelong fans. The last category are the most interesting, because it includes not only famous people like Walter Matthau and Alan Dershowitz, but ordinary fans, including several rabbis and a self-admitted "groupie." These are the people with whom "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg" resonates the most. Clearly this is a documentary which will be of interest to baseball fans but also to those interested in the story of a true American hero.

Final Note: The documentary does not point out that in 1938 when Greenberg hit 58 home runs, two short of Babe Ruth's record, he hit two balls into a screen that were ground rule doubles; however, that screen was not there when Ruth played in 1927

A Thorough and Rounded Biographical Film.......2002-08-03

My father often talks of how Hank Greenberg is not given the credit he deserves as a ballplayer, as a great power hitter and as an amazing story of persistence in coming back as a tremendous player after serving in World War II. I bought him this video as a Father's Day gift, and I think I enjoyed it as much as he did. This documentary/biography is not at all dry. Many people, famous and not, are shown speaking of their admiration for Hank Greenberg as a player and as a man. The video emphasizes heavily his role as the first openly Jewish player in major league baseball, the bigotry he faced, and the grace with which he responded to it. A home run with two men on base was Greenberg's reply to an ethnic slur; what could be better? I enjoy the statistics of baseball and Greenberg's performance numbers were not mentioned as much as I would have liked, but that is a minor point. After seeing this video, I feel I know the first Hammerin' Hank as well as any of today's players, and admire him more than the vast majority playing today, not just for his hitting prowess but for his character.

Average customer rating:

IVORY COASTS THROUGH THIS ONE
Most Wanted
LEAST WANTED PIECE OF CRAP!!!
Better than you'd expect, but not that much better
The Most Wanted of movies

Most Wanted
Starring: Keenen Ivory Wayans , Robert Kotecki , Rick Cramer , Kenn Whitaker , and Wolfgang Bodison
Director: David Hogan
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
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ASIN: 0780621603
Release Date: 1998-02-18

Amazon.com

Comic actor Keenen Ivory Wayans made a creditable effort to expand his career horizons by writing the script for this action thriller, in which he also stars. Wayans plays U.S. Marine Sgt. James Dunn, a military hero who refuses an order to shoot a young shepherd during the Gulf War. His insubordination leads to a lethal struggle with a superior officer and a subsequent murder conviction against Dunn.

Plucked from his death sentence by a covert unit of Marines, however, Dunn soon finds himself in a shadowy world of undercover wars under the command of one Lt. Col. Grant Casey (Jon Voight). Offered freedom in exchange for aiding a mission against a corrupt industrialist (Robert Culp), Dunn agrees and then discovers he's actually been set up to take the fall for an assassination. Suddenly, he's the most wanted man in the world, with police, the military, the Secret Service, and legions of reward seekers chasing him around Los Angeles. Jill Hennessy stars as an eyewitness who happened to catch the killing on videotape and can clear Dunn if she would only cooperate with him--a problem, since he has kidnapped her.

Directed by David Glenn Hogan, Most Wanted works just fine as a well-oiled action piece with a capable star and competent action sequences. The story ideas (especially Dunn's Rambo-esque flight through the city and his reliance on esoteric survival skills) feel overly familiar, but that only makes Most Wanted all the more enjoyable as a potboiler instead of a serious original. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

IVORY COASTS THROUGH THIS ONE.......2005-10-04

MOST WANTED is filled with such implausible plot developments and cliche characters it would be easy to dismiss it as just another one of those Wayans brothers movies. But writer/star Keenan Ivory Wayans instills such a sincere approach to the goings on that viewers will more than likely get caught up in it in spite of its incredulity. Wayans plays an imprisoned marine who is sentenced to death for the death of his senior officer. On his way to death row, he is "loosed" by megalomanical Jon Voight (in a deliciously hammy performance) to assist in a government sanctioned hit of a drug magnate (Robert Culp). Aha, that's the catch: Voight is really setting up Wayans as the fall guy in the assassination of busybody First Lady Donna Cherry. Wayans teams up with Jill Hennessy (Crossing Jordan) and also entangled Paul Sorvino and Eric Roberts in his attempt to uncover Voight's devious plot. Simon Baker (The Guardian, Ring Two) has a nice turn as a scrupulous journalist and Wolfgang Boddison is a nasty henchman for Voight. All in all, pretty silly stuff but capably done, you can't help but enjoy it.

Most Wanted.......2005-09-30

To be honest I never heard of this movie before and about two weeks ago I hapen to see the end of this movie on TV and I really like it. I search for the movie and I bought it. I would recommended to everyone.

LEAST WANTED PIECE OF CRAP!!!.......2003-10-23

This is one of the lamest and stupidest movies in all of cinematic history.The plot was predictable and boring,while the action scenes were no better than the plot.The jokes were lame and Keenan Wayne is not an action star but a comedian.Was this movie made in a week?STAY AWAY FROM THIS GARBAGE!!!

Better than you'd expect, but not that much better.......2003-09-29

Synopsis:
In a nutshell, Most Wanted is about a death row, military convict named James Dunn who is recruited from death row to serve in an elite CIA black squad group. The convict is framed for the murder of the First Lady of the United States, a murder he didn't commit. He escapes with his life, then seeks to find the real killer and bring them to justice.

About the Movie:
Overall, this is a mediocre movie. Yet despite that and its plot holes and its fairly unimaginative plot, it can be entertaining in spots. I like this one a lot better than a lot of the action sludge out there, including a lot of the oldies. Of course, it still won't win any award, except maybe a Razzie.

Interestingly enough, Most Wanted stands a career side road for comedian Keenan Ivory Wayans, who's probably best known for his work in "In Living Color" in the 90's. Most Wanted is intended as a serious action film. While there is some humor in the film, it's the action hero variety and not the slap stick brand Wayans is known for. He stars instead as a serious action hero and surprisingly doesn't do as badly as one would expect. While he'll never make a career as an action star, he does pull off the roll, albeit with a lot of cheesy and stagy lines here and there.

The movie co-stars Jon Voight, as very predictably, the villain. This movie, perhaps more than many of the others he's been in, really does reveal what an over-actor he is. Scenes with Voight are almost painful to watch because he so overplays his character that the character becomes a grotesque characature. His over-acting is so bad that he actually was nominated in 1998 in this role for a Razzie for *worst* supporting actor. That's quite a distinction.

The movie also co-stars Jill Hennessy as a doctor who becomes Dunn's unlikely side-kick. In a movie with no female roles except for the First Lady, (who shows up just long enough to get shot and killed) she provides Most Wanted's only female lure. She isn't terrible in her role, but she does very little to make her shine either. Mostly, she's there to add the female element and look pretty.

On the up side, the best played role in the film turns out to be played by Paul Sorvino in CIA Director Kenny Rackburn. Sorvino's solid acting, and charming style help to raise the movie up a notch. It also helps that he's so easy to like. Sorvino provides a nice counterpoint to Voight's horrible and stagey overacting.

Plotwise, Most Wanted isn't really very original. Thankfully, the story moves in a good pace, and despite its predictability and plot holes you could drive a bus through, it still manages to hold your interest throughout. Some of the stunts and special effects are pretty good, and there are a number of action sequences that are a lot of fun (if also a little unbelievable). This one would never get any awards (except a Razzie), but it still can be a fun watch, especially if you've got a bunch of buddies with you to poke fun at it with.

About the DVD:
This DVD comes in a cardboard case, marking it as a budget DVD. The DVD itself is a double sided DVD with both wide-screen and full screen versions included. For the most part, it's an entirely unexciting DVD release, with almost no extra features.

The one exception is the separate music track on the DVD. It allows you to watch the movie without any dialog and just the music. I did watch it that way, just for kicks, and found it fascinating to watch from an artistic standpoint to see how the music was used in the movie. I'm not entirely sure what this feature is good for otherwise, unless you leave the TV on occasionally for background noise.

The picture on this DVD isn't too bad, but I did notice some problems with the sound. I'm not sure if this is a problem with the sound editing in the film itself, or the transfer to DVD. Either way, the sound volume seemed to fluctuate at times, lowering and raising so that I was occasionally reaching for my remote to turn up the volume, only to be blasted out of my chair a few minutes later when it returned to its previous levels. It's not a major problem, but it does lower the overall quality of the release and provides a minor distraction while watching.

Bottom Line is that this is a predictable and unoriginal movie in a budget DVD release (with some technical issues). If you're looking for a cream of the crop action film, this is not the place to look. Still, if you like this type of film, you might like this one. 2 stars.

The Most Wanted of movies.......2003-08-22

Some people might complain this movie was poorly done but i think it's great entertainment. It doesn't take itself too seriously, i'm not sure if you would consider it a comedy or not but it almost comes off as one without intending to do so. And some of the scenes are just so funny they're unforgettable.

Average customer rating:

This is really misguided.
Ed Wood eat your heart out.
Different type of movie for this genre
A correction.
INTERESTING AND DIFFERENT

Fall Time
Starring: Steve Alden , David Arquette , Stephen Baldwin , Jonah Blechman , and Michael Edelstein (II)
Director: Paul Warner
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
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ASIN: B00005QAP4
Release Date: 2001-11-20

Description

The late 1950's. Eisenhower was president. Elvis was King. And in Caledonia, Wisconsin, the only action in town was the kind you cooked up. One lazy fall day, David, Tim and Joe, three high school buddies, decide to stage a gangland-style shooting in front of the local bank. But little do they know their prank is about to send them on a dramatic collision course with Rusty (Mickey Rourke, 9 1/2 Weeks) and Leon (Stephen Baldwin, Posse), two cold-blooded criminals who are planning a robbery with the help of Patty (Sheryl Lee, Twin Peaks), the bank's loan officer. In a case of mistaken identity, Leon is accidentally abducted by David and Joe, while Tim falls into the murderous hands of Rusty who forces him to carry out the bank heist, leading to a tense, action-packed conclusion filled with twists, turns and bad intentions.

Customer Reviews:

This is really misguided........2007-02-06

I have seldom seen such a bad movie with so much talent. (David Arquette, Stephen Baldwin, Mickey Rourke, etc.) One wonders what they saw in potential for this script or why they made choices to be involved.

This horribly misguided film centers around a juvenile prank gone awry that ends up involving two bank-robbers who freak and there is enough gratuitous violence and mindless killing (and torture) to last me for the rest of my life. The film starts out terribly boring and gets more mindless and boring as it concludes, perhaps expecting the violence to make up for the total lack of story.

This is a disaster not worth enduring. Save the actors and film-makers the embarrassment of seeing this film and see something else.

Ed Wood eat your heart out........2006-12-04

I love movies. I hate this one.

Every melodramatic gimmick known to 1970s TV movies is packed in tight.

My favorite one is when one of the kids gets free long enough to pick up the gun, but is just too emotional to shoot his captor. The captor is yelling "Shoot me! Come on!" But he just can't. He's too busy hamming up the whimpering. Like the damsel running from the slow-moving monster and then she breaks a heel. Wouldn't ya know!

If you liked Mickey Rourke in "Diner" I suggest you don't spoil it for yourself.

Different type of movie for this genre.......2006-11-28

I just saw this movie and I was very impressed by the genre of bank robbers. I was very happy on one hand that the movie took a "gay theme" swing and it was a movie that didn't involve AIDS and people dying. On the other hand it took a negative swing because it didn't give a very good portrayal of gay relationships either. To be honest here, if it had been a "straight" couple with the relationship being the way that it was portrayed, I would not have thought anything about it. I would have thought that it is like any other unhealthy relationship that is out there. No, but it was portrayed as a "gay" relationship so I can see where it disturbed me and probably others as well. I and others have to come to realization that all relationships can be unhealthy. They don't have to be "straight or gay" to be unhealthy. Also, they are bank robbers for petes sake. There is something wrong with them as people (gay or straight) anyway if they are robbing banks. There is one thing that I will say about this "gay themed" portrayal, the robbers are not queeny or flamboyant giving a "weak" view of gay men. So to me, that was a positive thing. I do recommend this movie that wants something different and not your "run of the mill" gay movie.

A correction........2005-01-05

This movie takes place in Caledonia Minnesota, not Wisconsin like is written on the box. That was an error on the studio's part. As a citizen of Caledonia Minnesota and a fan of this film, I just thought I should clear that up.

INTERESTING AND DIFFERENT.......2004-07-31

FALL TIME is an interesting and different movie, at times implausible, but infused with a sense of loss and despair. The three boys who play the teenagers do a commendable job: Jason London as the educated, uppity-at-times Tim; David Arquette as the prankster in charge David; and Jonah Bleckman as the put-upon Joe. Their latest prank proves to be their last as they cross paths with two homosexual bank robbers. The homosexual theme is underplayed and much innuendo abounds, but there's a sincerity to their relationship that makes it believable. Stephen Baldwin and Mickey Rourke play the robbers. Baldwin is especially good in his role as Leon, a somewhat nebbish, but at the same time, innocently youthful killer. It's a good performance from the Baldwin brother. Rourke, as always, knows how to play sleaze. His Rusty/Florence (great name, huh) is cold, deceitful and manipulative. TWIN PEAKS' Sheryl Lee is both downhome homely but covertly sensual in her role as the kidnapped bank teller or loan officer. There's more than meets the eye,however, with this one. Country crooner Sammy Kershaw also shows up for a brief performance as the deputy.
Paul Warner's direction keeps the atmosphere tense, and with a disturbing sense of doom, which he maintains throughout the movie. The home videos are particularly effective in establishing some of the characters and their motivations.
I liked this film, and think it bears witness to see how some of the unknowns then have blossomed into their present day careers.

The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico

Average customer rating:

Spintal Tap for Alt Country fans

The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico
Starring: Levon Helm , Natalie Radford , Rob Bowman , Merle Haggard , and Kris Kristofferson
Director: Michael Mabbott
Manufacturer: Velocity / Thinkfilm
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000NHG7DO
Release Date: 2007-06-19

Customer Reviews:

Spintal Tap for Alt Country fans.......2007-07-26

This was truly a hilarious movie. Anyone who loves alt. country will want to own this. Graham Parsons meets Spinal Tap.

The Prisoner - Set 5: The Girl Who Was Death/Once Upon a Time/Fall Out

Average customer rating:

Questions are a burden to others
Bad Tape Transfer
Where all your questions DON"T get answered.
"Them Bones, Them Bones, Them... Dry Bones!"
Difficult for younger audiences

The Prisoner - Set 5: The Girl Who Was Death/Once Upon a Time/Fall Out
Starring: Fenella Fielding , George Markstein , Patrick McGoohan , Angelo Muscat , and Peter Swanwick
Director: Patrick McGoohan , Robert Asher , Don Chaffey , Pat Jackson , and David Tomblin
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
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ASIN: B00005NKCP
Release Date: 2001-09-25

Amazon.com

Perhaps no other series so confounded its loyal viewers as The Prisoner. Why did Patrick McGoohan's British agent resign? Where was the Village? And who, really, was Number 1? The Prisoner ends with its key riddles unanswered. It goes without saying that no Prisoner collection is complete without these final three episodes. A curiosity, "The Girl Who Was Death," isn't cricket for the series. It is a surreal fairy tale that plays like a long-lost episode of McGoohan's previous TV series, Danger Man, with Number 6 avoiding a series of assassination attempts before saving London "from the mad scientist." But "Once Upon a Time" and "Fallout," both written and directed by McGoohan, get back to business, as Number 6 suffers "Degree Absolute"--his most intense, last-man-standing, psychological probe yet--at the hands of Number 2 (Leo McKern, reprising his role from the episode "The Chimes of Big Ben") and at last prepares to meet the elusive Number 1. Those who just want to sample this cult fave series are advised to stick with the intriguing first episodes included in Set One. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews:

Questions are a burden to others.......2007-05-24

SPOILER ALERT!!! What follows divulges show secrets. If you haven't seen The Prisoner, do NOT read on. (I am assuming that most people at all interested in a show as old as The Prisoner have already seen it.)

Now, with that said, The Prisoner is easily, hands down, without any reservations the single greatest TV show in history. (A close second, in my book, would be the first four Doctors on the ORIGINAL run of Doctor Who.) The Prisoner wasn't only entertaining, it was thought provoking. To call it "Kafkaesque" is now cliché, though its similarities to Kafka's The Trial are many and striking. In The Trial a man is told he must defend himself in a bizarre court but cannot learn what the charge is. He never does. In The Prisoner a man learns he is a prisoner in a place called "The Village," a bizarre prison disguised as a luxury resort. The reasoning behind the prison is that prisoners will be so taken with the luxuries at hand that they will find no reason to escape. For No. 6, the sheer fact that he is not free to escape if he wishes is reason enough to do it. He spends the entire series trying to escape.

After discovering that the man in charge of The Village is himself (yes, No. 6 is No. 1), he manages to leave the Village. Or does he? Notice that when he finally gets home his door opens on its own, just like the doors in The Village. For those who didn't catch on, McGoohan later (in an interview) told us what it all means: No. 6 never escaped. He's still in The Village. Society IS The Village. If you live in society, you ARE a prisoner. But you pretty much HAVE to live in a society, which means you pretty much HAVE to be a prisoner. There is no escaping this fact. As McGoohan had achieved fame with Danger Man, he discovered he was prisoner to a contract he deeply regretted signing. He wanted to escape. Ironically, he was playing a spy on Danger Man, and resigned as star of the show. He then made The Prisoner, about a man who quits his job as a government agent. This has created much debate as to whether No. 6 in The Prisoner is in fact meant to be Drake from Danger Man. McGoohan has said no, but The Prisoner's other main writer and script editor has emphatically said yes. You decide. (I'll go with McGoohan, as I think his ultimate point is that everybody is No. 6. He once said that at the end of the show, he wishes the words "The Beginning" had appeared.)

McGoohan is obviously a libertarian. He despises bureaucracy, authority, and big government. He has said he loves the first amendment, adding emphatically that there can be no freedom without privacy. Thus we see why the greeting in The Village, "be seeing you," is so ominous to No. 6. Sure, it sounds like "see you later," but is really a way of reminding everyone in The Village that they are always under surveillance.

The show and No. 6's character traits and struggle has stayed with me, ever since I first saw it as a child. McGoohan is easily my favorite actor, and it is a true shame he did not star in more movies. I've always loved his devotion to his wife and children, how he never lets his work come before them, how he refuses to film any type of love scene because he doesn't want to kiss anyone but his wife, etc. He is truly a remarkable man. It saddens me that he had to turn down the parts of Gandalf and Dumbledor, due to his bad health, as he would have been perfect in both of them. I am very glad for his part in Braveheart, however, especially considering that before this he had spent much of the early 90s in a coma! Mel Gibson wanted McGoohan in the film as he is also a great Prisoner fan, and even (supposedly) toyed with the idea of helping McGoohan make the film version, playing No. 6 himself. Though I simply cannot think of any other actor who could "become" No. 6 (the role being a pure expression of McGoohan's rare personality), Gibson is about as good of a choice as one could make given the current options. In fact, AMC is currently toying with remaking the entire series, and guess what their greatest obstacle reportedly is? Surprise, surprise: they simply can't find anyone who can pull the role off. The actor would almost have to share McGoohan's convictions to be able to do it, becoming almost an embodiment of pure defiance and anger. The Prisoner is, after all, the single greatest showdown of the individual vs. the collective ever put to film, in my book trumping even The Fountainhead, Bullitt, and Enemy of the People (though Ibsen profoundly influenced McGoohan).

Interestingly, McGoohan and fellow Prisoner star Alexis Kanner later made a film together. Like much of McGoohan's film work, it's not available on DVD (which here is an absolute shame given that 1: McGoohan is one of the best actors alive and 2: this film is simply brilliant.) It's called Kings and Desperate Men, and has many of the same elements that The Prisoner contained. I've always been shocked that Prisoner fans haven't rallied for this film to be released on DVD. Perhaps they've never heard of it. In it, McGoohan's character is taken prisoner (literally) by a group of idealistic youthful liberal misfits. He laughs that they think they're in control simply because they have a shotgun, and proceeds to unravel them all with his wits. His libertarian views come out here as much as in The Prisoner, as his character scoffs at the moral crusaders' silly liberal ranting, and exposes the fact that their leader really doesn't know what he's talking about, and that if what he wanted actually occurred, chaos and anarchy would result. (Now that I've brought Prisoner fans' attention to Kanner and McGoohan's followup to The Prisoner, let's see how fast all 8 copies that exist on Amazon are snatched up. If you like it, try to do something to help get this released on DVD. I've written Anchor Bay several times.)

Bad Tape Transfer.......2005-07-05

I am a big fan of The Prisoner, but one of the tapes had an incomplete transfer. It stopped about two minutes before the end! Good thing I've seen it before.

Where all your questions DON"T get answered........2005-04-09

Here concludes Patrick McGoohan's classic miniseries about ex-secret agent "No. 6," and his struggles to understand and escape from "The Village," where he's held by unidentified captors. Here is where the series transforms from offbeat spy thriller to surrealistic allegory.

In A&E's revised, "fan-preferred" order, "Girl Who Was Death" remains immediately before the two-part finale. This supports my theory that "Girl" is more than a comedy (with one disturbing detail -- children as interrogation tools) thrown in to fill space. Instead, "Girl" seem deliberately intended as part of what's been called "one of the cruelest juxtapositions in the history of television"*. "Girl" also indirectly foreshadow the final episode by using both actors and sets appearing therein.

A&E's order IS unique in pairing "Girl" with "Living in Harmony" (set 4), which seem like serious and comic treatments of the same scenario; No. 6 is placed in an imaginary setting and given an imaginary identity to get information from him.

After the relatively lighthearted "Girl" comes the dark, grim, and intense "Once Upon A Time" -- an episode stressful enough to give guest star Leo McKern a heart attack. "Time" is the first half of the series finale, written and directed by McGoohan.

A returning No. 2 insists on "Degree Absolute," the ultimate last-resort method that carries the risk of death for either No. 2 or No. 6. It's a kind of perverted psychoanalysis performed in a subterranean chamber designated The Embryo Room, under a one-week time limit. The descent into The Embryo Room begins a motif of descent that will continue into the final episode.

Through electronic brainwashing, No. 6 is regressed back to childhood, then brought forward to the pivotal decision his captors want explained -- why he resigned. But the process must be repeated many times, and No. 2 grows increasingly anxious with each failure as the deadline approaches. As the final seconds tick by, a voice commands, "Die, six, die." But it's No. 2 who gasps, "Two ... one ... " and falls over dead. What's puzzling is that there's no apparent cause, except possibly a bottle of liquor. My speculation is that No. 2 is somehow physically and mentally linked to No. 6 during the initial brainwashing, so that either one of them can push the other one over the edge.

"Time" concludes with a cliffhanger that I feel should have made it into TV Guide's 100 Greatest Moment in Television --

-- which brings us to "Fall Out," the episode that forced McGoohan into hiding because it so angered viewers who wanted concrete answers, not an enigma.

"Fall Out" replaces the standard introduction with a recap of "Time." We then find out where the series was filmed -- in the grounds of The Hotel Portmeirion in North Wales. I find it ironic to learn the real location in the episode that forces us to question whether The Village is really a physical place.

The motif of descent continues as No. 6, the Silent Butler, and the Controller descend from the Embryo Room to yet a lower level. The dreamlike logic of the episode begins immediately as we hear The Beatles "All You Need Is Love." This is one of several unexpected musical items encountered in "Fall Out," two other of note being two pop/rock-oriented bit of incidental music, one upbeat, the other balladic. The music and the elaborate soundtrack in the fourth act make me really wish this episode had been remixed for surround sound.

The first three acts of "Fall Out" concern an official proceeding -- which No. 1 appears to be watching from a remote location -- inviting No. 6 to either lead or leave The Village. We're warned the affair will be be tedious, but it's also downright bizarre. No. 2 is resurrected, using a technology that involves shaving his beard and cutting his hair. Another sort of resurrection is seen in No. 48, played by Alexis Kanner, who was "the kid" in "Living in Harmony." The OFFICIAL word is that there's no relationship to that character, but I like to think otherwise. And since McGoohan has given everyone permission to find their own meaning in this episode, I feel free to do so. At one point, No 48 and the entire assembly of robed figures dance to the spiritual "Dry Bones," A fully orchestrated performance of the song is heard on the soundtrack, and presumably in the assembly room. This is the most direct religious reference in the series.

Finally, it's time for the meeting with No. 1, which involves yet another level of descent, into a room we recognizable from "Girl." From this point forward, I can't really describe the action, partly because "That would be telling," and party because it involves the same sort of challenge you face when trying to tell someone about a nightmare that scared you to death, only to have them say, "THAT scared you??"

The main point to be made is that if you're looking for a concrete resolution such as "It's the Russians," or "It's his own people," you'll be frustrated. The ending forces you to rethink the whole idea of The Village as a physical place, run by any sort of external, real-world organization. Instead, we must see The Village in a more spiritual/psychological light. It's a state of being -- a physical manifestation of the darker sides of humanity.

"The Prisoner Companion" is a decent introduction to the series, but watch it AFTER you've seen "Fall Out," because it contains one major spoiler.

"Behind the Scenes" is an interesting collection of "home movies," shot during the making of the series, and explained by production manager Bernie Williams. Among the items is footage of the original Rover, before they decided on the weather balloon. My only complaint is that I wish this feature and the interview with Williams in set 3 had been combined.

*THE OFFICIAL PRISONER COMPANION, by Matthew White and Jaffer Ali.

"Them Bones, Them Bones, Them... Dry Bones!".......2004-01-26

Back in 1967, an allegorical television show emerged that has yet to be topped by any other English television series. The show: The Prisoner. Starring Patrick McGoohan, he plays the role of No. 6, a former secret service agent who resigned for unknown reasons and then finds himself knocked unconscious and trapped in a seemingly peaceful place called "the Village." Each episode features a new No. 2 (with a few exceptions), who watches his every move and strives to find out why he resigned. The only superior is the unseen No. 1, the supposed ruler of the Village. The only other characters that reoccur are The Supervisor (also called Controller), played by Peter Stanwick, and The Butler, played by Angelo Muscat.

In "The Girl Who Was Death," Number Six avoids a series of assassination attempts while "on duty" as a secret agent. An offbeat episode that was probably meant to parody the previous Danger Man series. In fact, one character from that series appears here as the same character, same actor...

... ah... now we get to the last TWO episodes of the series! Finally! How do they measure up you ask? Read on...

In "Once Upon a Time," Number Six deals with the same Number Two from "Chimes of Big Ben" (played by Leo McKern, from "Candleshoe" and "Ladyhawke") as he undergoes Degree Absolute. It is a one-week, last-man-standing psychological struggle in which Number Two hopes to FINALLY break down Number Six. A STRANGE episode, filled with mindboggling clues is meant only to be viewed once you've viewed the others. TRUST ME.

And finally, "Fall Out" has Number Two revived and Number Six placed before an underground court. They allow him the ability to leave whenever he wishes and to lead the Village as he sees fit. Alexis Kanner, who played The Kid in "Harmony," returns in a different role as Number 48. Both Number Two and 48 show signs of rebellion, and the Butler follows Number Six. Most likely represents how people automatically follow the strongest leader like blind sheep.

The final episodes upset the fans... and for good reason! Where is the Village?! Who is Number One?! In the episode, he meets Number One, who is holding a glass ball. In it, it shows The Prisoner's face and suddenly, Number One is revealed to be... him?! How is he Number One, and why? That's never answered. My theory is that it's symbolism for every man's desire to be "Number One" in life, to be the top dog. After all, his address is 1 Buckingham Place. Not a coincidence.

Even if you don't really know why he resigned, McGoohan almost plainly tells you... In "Chimes of Big Ben," he says he "resigned out of conscience." In "Once Upon a Time," he says he resigned "for peace. Peace of mind. I know too much." He probably felt the pressures of his job. Can you imagine the pain of being a secret agent and knowing EVERYTHING about someone, plus on top of that, people will always be out to get you?? This probably represented his feelings at the time. After all, he was fed up with "Secret Agent Man" and wanted to do something different, something surreal. With that theory in mind, I have no qualm about McGoohan revealing why. Of course, at the end, people think the cycle started over. I don't want to believe that; I prefer to believe that he actually escaped the Village, but he has a new "Village" to face... an even larger one.

The song "Dry Bones" is actually taken from a Biblical passage in Ezekial. It talks of Jesus resurrecting skeletons in the desert and then they were covered with flesh and blood again, as if they were anew. When Number 48 sings the song, the underground society grows wild. The Prisoner Companion referred to this as The Prisoner being The Prophet, an unordinary man sent to make change in the world. Whoa, the Prisoner... the equivalent of Jesus? No joking.

Oh man, this series is one of the most mind-warping series ever devised. It's a great allegory and impressively produced. I will never forget it and it's such an inspiration for me to write stories with hidden symbolism and overtures. Mr. McGoohan, I thank thee for such a fine show.

Difficult for younger audiences.......2003-12-15

Having watched this DVD for one of my college classes, it really was quite confusing, especially when compared to modern, episodic TV (Friends, Law & Order, etc.).

Once Upon a Time - This episode didn't have the bubble, but not being aware of what "absolute zero" was made the show hard to follow. When Number 2 abandons his method to find out why Number 6 resigned, he starts to develop a friendship of sorts, not realizing that Number 6 is really in charge. Number 2 dies and Number 6 wants to meet Number 1.

Fall Out - This is probably the most bizarre episode of them all. With the trial of Number 48 and Number 2, the robed representatives have very strange reactions, maybe the proceedings annoying. When Number 2 gives his speech, they repeat "I" over and over again, making it impossible to understand him. I do like the way this one ends, it is silly, but it makes sense. We are all prisoners to society.

Because of the class that I was in, we only watched "Arrival," "Once Upon a Time," and "Fall Out." Perhaps my opinion would have been different.

Average customer rating:
Rocky Mountain National Park

Manufacturer: Finley-Holiday Film Corp.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Genres | DVD | Video | Action & Adventure | African American Cinema | Animation | Anime & Manga | Art House & International | Classics | Comedy | Cult Movies | Documentary | Drama | Educational | Fitness & Yoga | Gay & Lesbian | Horror | Kids & Family | Military & War | Music Video & Concerts | Musicals & Performing Arts | Mystery & Suspense | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Special Interests | Sports | Television | Westerns
Product Features:

DVD Extra- Rocky Mountain Music Video - The Rocky Mountains have never been more vibrant! Editor Eleni Papagiannis has matched Russ Finley's mesmerizing cinematography with inspiring music to produce what is probably the best Rocky Mountain music video you've ever seen. This music can move mountains!

Bonus Video: 5 Rocky Mountain Region Parks - As an added bonus, this DVD includes five video short stories on national park areas in the Rocky Mountain region: Mesa Verde and Grand Teton National Parks, plus Colorado, Hovenweep and Dinosaur National Monuments.

Digital Picture & Sound Quality

DVD Extra - Spanish Subtitles

ASIN: B000EJPSSQ

Product Description

Explore the park's towering peaks, glacier-carved canyons, alpine lakes, incredible wildlife and distinctive seasons. See bighorn sheep, coyotes, marmots, pikas, weasels, ptarmigans, and the boisterous fall elk rut. Plus, learn about park history through old-time photos.

Why Do Fools Fall In Love/ Dangerous Ground

Average customer rating:

Why Do Fools Fall In Love/ Dangerous Ground
Starring: Thokozani Nkosi , Ron Smerczak , Wilson Dunster , Ice Cube , and Sechaba Morojele
Director: Darrell Roodt , and Gregory Nava
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B0000E6FPT
Release Date: 2003-11-18

Average customer rating:

do not waste your money unless ........
Cheezy and entertaining!
Cult Film

The Alien Conspiracy: Time Enough
Starring: Imogen Dobbs , Ross Fall , Dexter Fletcher , Sybil Grindrod , and Foster Marks
Director: Foster Marks
Manufacturer: Delta
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B00008G92Y
Release Date: 2003-01-21

Description

The war between the two alien species escalates, with the Greys contaminating mankind with violence and the Morphs using humans as pawns. And one human operative, ambivalent about his situation in New York City, wants to experience the same time over and over again with his new girlfriend because he knows of the fateful events that will soon happen. Yet, he can't seem to get that relationship quite right...

Color
Running Time: 99 min.

Customer Reviews:

do not waste your money unless ...............2006-09-18

i got this to make my shipping free but i would not waste my money on this for any other reason. someone may want to watch it around here but i could not get apast the first 30 minutes its cheaply done and very boring i think my son and daughter can make better movies than this so find something other than this video if you can.

Cheezy and entertaining!.......2004-04-05

This movie is quite a ride. It features 3 stories about the invasion of planet Earth by two ennemy races of Alien. The wraparound story is kind of long but is interesting if you`re into time-travel stuff. It also features some cool stop-motion dinosaur FX. The second story is funny but drags way too long as Ron Ford (director) plays the lead role himself. There is a funny scene where Ron is chased by an UFO for miles and miles and finally ends up sodomized by an alien worm (ahaha). The third story is fast-paced and action filled. It feels like RED DAWN with alien men in black... Some cool CGI effects! Funny acting!
Hell this movie ain`t perfect but what do you expect for a DVD at less than 10$.
I recommend it to the sci-fi freaks and to everybody looking for a good beer and a good laugh!

Cult Film.......2004-02-03

Calling this a cult film is a compliment. It is extremely cheesey in writing and acting. The budget must have been $100 made with dads camcorder. I don't know if I'll be able to finish watching this movie.... ever. The sound quality is very poor with whole sentences of dialougue droping out from being audibile. If you like Sic-fi with an Alien premece mixed with a dash of time travel try something else.... anything else. Now I know why I'm the first person to review this movie. But I hope I'm the last to waste money on it.

Average customer rating:

This is really misguided.
Ed Wood eat your heart out.
Different type of movie for this genre
A correction.
INTERESTING AND DIFFERENT

Fall Time [Region 2]
Starring: Steve Alden , David Arquette , Stephen Baldwin , Jonah Blechman , and Michael Edelstein (II)
Director: Paul Warner
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00005AR9O

Customer Reviews:

This is really misguided........2007-02-06

Ed Wood eat your heart out........2006-12-04

Different type of movie for this genre.......2006-11-28

A correction........2005-01-05

INTERESTING AND DIFFERENT.......2004-07-31

Average customer rating:

This is really misguided.
Ed Wood eat your heart out.
Different type of movie for this genre
A correction.
INTERESTING AND DIFFERENT

Fall Time
Starring: Steve Alden , David Arquette , Stephen Baldwin , Jonah Blechman , and Michael Edelstein (II)
Director: Paul Warner
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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Crime & Criminals | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: 6305460167
Release Date: 1999-07-06

Description

When David, Tim and Joe, three small town buddies, decide to stage a gangland-style shooting in front of the local bank, little do they know that their prank is about to send them on a dramatic collision course with Rusty (Mickey Rourke) and Leon (Stephen Baldwin), two cold-blooded criminals out for vengeance in this taut psychological thriller filled with twists, turns and bad intentions. Mickey Rourke, Stephen Baldwin, David Arquette

Customer Reviews:

This is really misguided........2007-02-06

Ed Wood eat your heart out........2006-12-04

Different type of movie for this genre.......2006-11-28

A correction........2005-01-05

INTERESTING AND DIFFERENT.......2004-07-31

DVD:

DVD

DVD