I prefer this version to the original

Then you have poor taste.

The English don't have dialog they have dialogue.

What if a squirrel wants a sausage?

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I loved this version, too. The old one has it's place; in our memories. And as we, the generation that saw it first run, die off, it will fade away. It would be a pity if this version didn't get it's due because it's bad mouthed by the Howdy Doody crowd.

This version is far more chilling. #2's manipulation of #6 is like watching on man slowly drown another. We know from the beginning that there will be no happy endings here but how the story unfolds is horrifying in it's emotional manipulations.

This version is by far more clever than the original. It's psychologically brilliant.


http://www.imdb.com/list/ls058800175/
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls058279969/

I can understand disliking the aesthetic of the original but I don't think it's a fair "criticism" to dislike it for being too English. Not if you think its English-ness is a negative attribute of the series rather than something you're personally unaccustomed to. To be fair you said "I prefer this version to the original" and that's a perfectly valid statement and you're entitled to feel that way but if you've only made a judgement of either series based solely on visual and cultural aesthetic I think you've missed a great deal. I wouldn't say you have poor taste but you obviously have different taste and I think that's worth recognising. There are far more differences between the two series that should also weigh in on which you prefer.

All sets & technology become dated over tine; what's so cutting edge right now will age even faster. Many acclaimed series of today will seem horribly old & even more dated in less than 50 years, sad to say. In any case, "dated" is a word used far too often to dismiss what many can't or won't take the time to appreciate, because it's something they're not used to or unfamiliar with.

What matters, especially in a show like The Prisoner, is the substance, not the surface. Quality always shines through budgetary & technical limitations. The Prisoner is above all else a show about ideas, as well as being the passionate expression of one individual's deeply personal vision & worldview. As such, it can never be dated. In fact, everything it talked about & explored 50 years ago is still just as relevant today -- more so, in fact.

The original being "way too long and involved and too English"? For many of us, those are precisely the qualities that help make it such a brilliant show. What some might call "long" others call "measured & thoughtful" -- what some might call "involved" others call "complex & nuanced" -- and "too English" simply means that it has a distinct tone & sensibility, rather than being blandly homogenized.

As for this "remake" -- its ideas are certainly interesting in their own right, but fatally compromised by being tied to the one & only original. As far as The Prisoner goes, any remake must inevitably pale before the original, which is complete in itself & in no need of remaking or rebooting. I wish this 2009 series had been its own entity, standing on its own merits, so it could be judged fairly on its own terms.

I'm British, a child of the 60's and a fan of the original, but I have to say I love the new version. So much so that having returned my rental copy I bought a Blu Ray set of it to go with my DVD box set of the original. But did I like it more than the original?

At this moment in time, I'd have to say yes. It just feels more relevant to me now. Times have moved on and I find that while the original was ground breaking it's abit emotionally stunted.

Thankfully the makers of the new version did not try to just remake the original, but have instead used the original as inspiration for the new version so I can still enjoy watching both of them.