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Prisoners Of War Tv Series [DVD]
| Additional DVD options | Edition | Discs | Amazon Price | New from | Used from |
| DVD 8 Aug. 2013 "Please retry" | — | 3 | — | £22.38 | £2.78 |
Watch Instantly with | Buy Episodes | Buy Season |
Purchase options and add-ons
| Genre | Soundtrack |
| Format | PAL |
| Contributor | Prisoners Of War \ Tv Series |
| Language | Hebrew |
| Number of discs | 3 |
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Product description
PRISONERS OF WAR is a ten-part drama on which the American series HOMELAND is based. Three Israeli reservists are captured behind enemy lines in Lebanon and no one knows what is going to happen to them. Seventeen years pass and they are released, one in a coffin. As time goes on, the story of their time in captivity unfolds and the plot unravels to reveal dark secrets about their time in captivity.
Product details
- Is discontinued by manufacturer : No
- Language : Hebrew
- Product Dimensions : 14.2 x 1 x 12.5 cm; 100 g
- Item model number : 5027035008288
- Media Format : PAL
- Run time : 8 hours and 15 minutes
- Release date : 8 Oct. 2012
- Actors : Prisoners Of War \ Tv Series
- Subtitles: : English
- Language : Hebrew (Dolby Digital 2.0), Unqualified (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Studio : Arrow
- ASIN : B007RD9OKA
- Number of discs : 3
- Best Sellers Rank: 49,692 in DVD & Blu-ray (See Top 100 in DVD & Blu-ray)
- 1,858 inWorld Cinema (DVD & Blu-ray)
- 8,564 inBox Sets (DVD & Blu-ray)
- 12,373 inTelevision (DVD & Blu-ray)
- Customer reviews:
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings, help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyses reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find this Israeli TV series to be one of the best they've seen, praising its excellent acting and tightly plotted storyline that creates a roller-coaster ride of emotions. They appreciate its subtlety and find it genuinely moving, with one customer noting its European look and feel. The series receives positive feedback for its gripping nature, though some find it too slow-paced. The subtitle quality receives mixed reviews, with several customers mentioning issues with timing.
Customers find the TV series entertaining, describing it as one of the best series they have ever seen, with excellent Israeli production values.
"Very good, stick with it, dull for the first two episodes then it comes into its own. Very good and watchable. Nicely acted."Read more
"Excellent series, and this Israeli original is so much better (true to life, more human) than the American version Homelands, based on it."Read more
"Really gritty and even though it has subtitles it’s agreat series, thoroughly recommend"Read more
"What awonderful production...."Read more
Customers praise the acting in this TV series, particularly noting the diverse family of characters.
"...Gripping story , masterclass direction andacting. We had to see it to the end in a couple of days...."Read more
"...Absolutely beautifully written andacted. Haunting, moving, compelling. Can't recommend it enough."Read more
"...It is very well made, exciting and theacting is superb...."Read more
"...You will come to feel great affection for the rich anddiverse family of characters, which are portrayed with poignant truthfulness...."Read more
Customers praise the TV series' tightly plotted storyline and roller-coaster ride of emotions.
"Much more realistic and better portrayal of the theme behind homeland"Read more
"...ten part Israeli series far more gripping and engaging and it isharrowing and deeply moving in places...."Read more
"...the rich and diverse family of characters, which areportrayed with poignant truthfulness...."Read more
"...The series is brilliant, because thestory surprise is scripted so well that you don't even suspect it until it is revealed in series two...."Read more
Customers appreciate the viewing depth of the TV series, with several noting its subtlety, and one customer highlighting its European look and feel.
"...Great gripping,shocking stunning viewing. If you like that sort of stuff, i recommend hugely."Read more
"...Iliked the subtlety and the interplay of the characters, for which a slower pace is appropriate, yet the tension was maintained ...."Read more
"...Many thanks for agreat piece of movie art."Read more
"...Much slower than Homeland in its storytelling... Has more of aEuropean look and feel."Read more
Customers find the TV series gripping.
"...Great gripping, shocking stunning viewing. If you like that sort of stuff, i recommend hugely."Read more
"Very good,stick with it, dull for the first two episodes then it comes into its own. Very good and watchable. Nicely acted."Read more
"Gripping and brilliant..."Read more
Customers find the TV series genuinely moving.
"...series far more gripping and engaging and it is harrowing anddeeply moving in places. It is very well made, exciting and the acting is superb...."Read more
"...Absolutely beautifully written and acted. Haunting,moving, compelling. Can't recommend it enough."Read more
"...it is at timegenuinely moving."Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the subtitles, with some appreciating their availability while others find them difficult to follow.
"...Thesubtitles are replaced marginally too fast to read at times. Don’t watch this when tired already!"Read more
"this is a great show, although thesubtitles are hard going. But, does anyone know how to get series 2?..."Read more
"...It hashard-coded on-screen English subtitles (Means they are on screen whether you want them or not) and as speaker of Hebrew, they are almost..."Read more
"last dvd in hebrew only, no subtitles- so okay for those familiar with hebrew language, but all in all brilliant"Read more
Customers find the pacing of the TV series too slow.
"...'Homeland', which is based on this series, and partly becauseI found it slow - the emphasis is mainly on the state of mind of the released..."Read more
"...This was abit too slow."Read more
"Too slow for me"Read more
"Great actors & interesting plot.Much slower than Homeland in its storytelling... Has more of a European look and feel."Read more
Top reviews from United Kingdom
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- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 January 2013I tried to watch "Homeland" but I couldn't stay the course because I found it too long drawn out but I found "Prisoners of war" a brilliant ten part Israeli series far more gripping and engaging and it is harrowing and deeply moving in places. It is very well made, exciting and the acting is superb. You cannot help but feel for the soldiers of Israeli who live in a country that has been on a constant state of alert ever since it was founded in 1948. Because of this the population are frequently called on to serve in combat situations risking death, injury or kidnapping by an enemy that they know will show them no mercy if they fall into their hands.
I was too young to remember when Israel was established in 1948 but as someone who has had a lifetime interest in history, politics and current affairs I certainly remember all the wars that the Arabs and Israel have fought since then. This intractable dispute shows no sign of being solved - each side has a legitimate claim to live in the middle east, they have both been there for at least two thousand years but they cannot seem to be able to live together in peace or share the land. Both sides have adopted deeply entrenched positions and have shown no willingness to make meaningful concessions and so long as this situation continues the middle east dispute which intermitently breaks out into being full scale warfare will never be settled.
Gideon Raff's film is centred around the lives of three Israeli soldiers, two of whom are released from captivity after seventeen years in captivity and the effect this has on them and their families. The soldiers are brutally treated, they are deeply traumatised by their experience and they find it very hard to adjust to freedom when it comes. Their families also find their return home difficult to cope with but there is far more to it than that. There is a powerful and surprising twist to the story that will make you eagerly look forward to watching series two that is being made now. - Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 August 2016Firstly, I did not find series one gripping, like other reviewers seem to have. It was all a long, detailed and fascinating set-up for the extremely gripping season 2. Seondly, I cannot really see how this resembles Homeland. I have watched all the series of Homeland, Prisoners of War has a completely different feel, story and set of characters.
Prisoners of War took some patience and a while to get into, because I was expecting an intense thriller. It was, at first, the character and emotion-drive story of the wide repercussions and brutal emotional fall-out of the kinapping and hostage taking of some young soldiers. Then as series one comes to a close, it morphed into a thriller, with all sorts of sub-plots. You have to take it as a whole and be patient at first; it is well worth it. You will come to feel great affection for the rich and diverse family of characters, which are portrayed with poignant truthfulness. I liked Homeland a lot: I like love this series a lot more. It is one of the very best and most enjoyable series I have ever seen. Get your hanky out for the final episode of season 2, even if you are a tough-nut! - Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 November 2012When the US series HOMELAND started last year, I never missed a single episode. Learning that the idea for HOMELAND was born in Israel with its own very successful series HATUFIM, I tried and tried to get it to watch. But there was no way outside of Israel. After finding it here I ordered it on the spot and I have to say it's worth every single penny. Even when it comes just with its original Hebrew audio and English subtitles and also when it's coming without any extras, you should get your copy and watch. Excellent drama, excellent actors. While the story fortunately is complete fiction for the US (as far as we know), it has been daily reality in Israel for years. Gilad Shalit has been held captive by Hamas for more than 5 years before being released for a heavy price. The characters of HATUFIM are portrayed being released after 17 years in captivity, coming back into a life they do not know, heavily burdened with experiences and traumas of torture they cannot share.
Watch HATUFIM - Prisoners of War, it's worth because it's much more intense than HOMELAND, even whe not so fast and full of action. - Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 June 2013I found this series a bit difficult to get into at first. This was partly due to the fact that I'd already seen 'Homeland', which is based on this series, and partly because I found it slow - the emphasis is mainly on the state of mind of the released prisoners and dead prisoner and those close to them - and I found some of the characters difficult to sympathize with, particularly one of the prisoners' two children. However, it grew on me and by the end of the series I thought, 'Damn, why didn't I get series one and two together?!' (series two alone is not available on Amazon).
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 February 2013I heard alot about this and it being the inspiration for the Showtime hit Homeland, that is screened on Channel 4 in the UK.
The series was run on a channel i can't get so got the DVD and just from the first episode, its excellent.
It has hard-coded on-screen English subtitles (Means they are on screen whether you want them or not) and as speaker of Hebrew, they are almost identical for translation, with just a few bits here and there changed to account for the 'lost in translation' reasons.
One downside i found though, is the commercial distributor of the DVD's, Arrow, were to lazy to translate the credits at the end.
They had the subtitles done, they translated the headlines of the papers and news bulletins, but not the credits. Very lazy and very poor for non-Hebrew speakers.
One thing i will suggest though is, expect alot of twists and turns, if you saw Homeland like i did first, don't watch this expecting a like-for-like copy because its not.
While some of the plot is the same, including the daughters' name, Dana, go into this like you haven't a remote clue what will happen, it makes it so much easier to follow.
Great gripping, shocking stunning viewing.
If you like that sort of stuff, i recommend hugely.
Top reviews from other countries
- xavier lew b.Reviewed in France on 6 June 2013
5.0 out of 5 starsLa série Hatufim a plus d'un atout et nous donne plus qu'un film
Captivé (presque même mentalement captif, tant les images et le propos agissent comme de véritables "soul-catchers") par la série qu'a diffusé Arte (todah rabah.) Les actrices et acteurs sont incomparables de retenue jusque dans certains aspects expressionnistes de leur jeu (ce n'est pas forcément un oxymore que de le dire et quand bien même...les traits faciaux de Yoram et Uri, après 17 ans de torture physique et mentale, tressaillent encore d'ombres invisibles ; on jurerait que leurs yeux, armés d'une sorte de sixième sens à optique eidétique, sont capables de percer à jour tous les tics comportementaux qui courent sur les "persona" des visages de ceux qu'ils retrouvent.)
La série nous montre la société israélienne (très mal connue en France, amoureusement mal-aimée par la plupart des journalistes de notre pays) telle qu'en elle-même, sans fard, ce n'est pas le moindre de ses mérites. On y découvre des gens passionnants. Israël peut être un pays magnifique.
On vibre intérieurement à chaque rebondissement psychologique, quelquefois jusqu'à ressentir physiquement l'oppression qui émane de situations dont on se demande bien quel sort elles réserveraient à nos délicats psychismes d'européens si l'on s'y trouvait en leur milieu transportés.
Mais surtout la série parvient (en nous tendant un discret miroir de poche) à nous faire réfléchir aux rapports que nous entretenons nous, ceux qui nous lient à nos proches, ceux que nous tissons avec qui nous entoure dans la vie de tous les jours, ceux qui nous font les femmes et les hommes que nous sommes, à penser à la profondeur de l'amour, de l'amitié, à la mort qui guette, à la vie qui pardonne beaucoup.
Si je me me décide à acheter la série sur DVD, c'est en partie pour retrouver ces ambiances si rares sur les écrans, et pour la langue (l'hébreu israélien, l'arabe qu'on parle aussi dans ce pays.)
On pense beaucoup à la dualité Israël/Palestine, évidemment. Mais cette dualité n'est pas que platement binaire, la sémantique du duel de la grammaire des images, comme pourraient dire quelques cuistres critiques du monde des séries (ils sont nombreux aujourd'hui, alléluia), semble accorder, au-delà des habituelles attractions-répulsions entre humains, les points de vue de certains protagonistes malgré des divergences pas toujours de façade. L'essentiel est, peut-être, que ce duel nous fasse faire le mur qui entoure des situations qui paraissent inextricables en nous faisant sauter du côté de la plus lumineuse des clartés paradoxales, au grand midi d'un scénario à l'impeccable articulation.
Quelquefois on a l'impression d'entrevoir les effets d'une paix possible se profiler (les scénaristes nous enverraient-ils des signaux en réfléchissant la lumière solaire du proche-orient à l'aide de morceaux de verre ? il se pourrait aussi que ce soit un leurre, peut-être le statu quo est-il-là pour durer), au détour de quelques fondus-enchaînés empreints de délicatesse, au coeur même de relations tendues, terriblement enchevêtrées, complexes.
À la fin de chaque épisode les "cliffhangers" ne sont jamais vains ni racoleurs, ils participent de plein droit à la splendide fluidité narrative de la fiction qui a l'air si vraie.
Nous pourrions noter aussi des scènes teintées de beaucoup d'humour, c'est à chacun de se laisser surprendre par elles ou pas.
Hatufim est une complète réussite. - Amazon CustomerReviewed in Japan on 8 February 2015
5.0 out of 5 starsDeep, emotional and full of suspense
This is completely different from Homeland. Although they were both directed by the same person, Homeland clearly has the influence of US series such as 24. Homeland has pace, expensively large cars and houses, but also the faint aura of ridiculousness that haunts 24 and US series like it.
Homeland is more European (or maybe more like series like the Sopranos) in style, in that there is more emphasis on character development, dialogue etc. And it's all the better for it. It assumes more intelligence on the part of the audience, not everything is explained for you. It makes you think, which I think is great!
Both the Israelis and the Lebanese in this series are portrayed sympathetically. There's sadness, suspense and funny moments throughout. It's the best TV series I've watched in a long time. - ANTHONY F ZIPPERReviewed in Australia on 16 December 2018
4.0 out of 5 starsRETURNED POWS NEVER REALLY RETURN
Enjoyed Series 1 very much - difficult not to binge watch. The series is based on a rarely used theme and particularly the depth of the main characters is explored with good acting, excellent and graphic photography with reasonable subtitles - not always accurate. Editing is great and it flows well with connecting scenarios when scene changes.. Overall well worthwhile and will be rewatched to pick up subtleties missed first time. - PetzoldReviewed in Germany on 10 December 2013
5.0 out of 5 starsFolter und ihre Folgen werden sensibel dargestellt
In der Staffel werden die Auswirkungen von Kriegstraumata und (sogenannten) komplexen Trauerreaktionen für die Betroffenen dargestellt : für die Überlebenden, Ehepartner, Kinder, Eltern, Freunde, Kollegen und Helfer.
In das Drehbuch sind viele aktuelle Kenntnisse über Trauma eingeflossen, sodaß die Staffel fast als Lehrfilm fungieren könnte.
Als Zuschauer erhält man durch die behutsame Inszenierung mit herausragenden Schauspielern eine differenzierte Vorstellung über die Folgen einer Kriegstraumatisierung :
Über eine eher beobachtende Identifizierung mit den betroffenen Personen erlebt der Zuschauer eindrücklich, jedoch ohne eigene emotionale Überwältigung, wie die Betroffenen in ihren Lebensalltag zurückfinden wollen. Hierbei zeigen sich sowohl tragische Schuld- und Loyalitätskonflikte als auch alltägliche Anforderungen in Familie, Partnerschaft, Beruf und Freundschaft, die nur mühsam in kleinen Schritten bewältigt werden können.
Auch die zahlreichen Schockelemente der Staffel ordnen sich der aufklärerischen Absicht der Autoren unter. Die Folterszenen, die als flash-back der Protagonisten kontuierlich eingeblendet werden, haben keinen emotional überfordernden Schau- bzw. Eigenwert - der in mainstream-Filmen häufig Rachephantasien als "Lösung" stimuliert - sondern fungieren als unmittelbare Erklärungsgrundlage des situativen Alltagshandelns der Überlebenden.
Ansatzweise verdeutlicht die Staffel auch das Prinzip einer therapeutischen Traumakonfrontation : Der Zuschauer versucht wie die Überlebenden die einzelnen Folterfragemente zu einer sinnvollen Geschichte (der Vergangenheit) zusammenzusetzen. Durch dieses "Puzzle" wirkt der Film spannend. Zugleich spürt der Zuschauer, welche Bedeutung soziale Unterstützung und die Errinnerung an das vortraumatische Leben für die Überlebenden hierbei hat bzw. wie bedrohlich ein erneuter Verrat ist.
Die Staffel ist daher weniger eine Anklage gegen die Täter oder den Feind, sondern ein Film für die Opfer und diejenigen Zuschauer, die die Folgen einer Kriegstraumatisierung verstehen wollen.
Während die Staffel in Israel und den USA großen Anklang fand, lief sie bei uns in der BRD leider nur im Spartenprogramm. - OliverReviewed in France on 21 June 2013
5.0 out of 5 starsLa meilleure série au monde aujourd'hui
Il faut absolument revoir notre cartographie mondiale des séries et cesser de tout juger uniquement par le prisme anglo-saxon. Homeland et Hatufim nous offrent la possibilié de comparer deux manières de traiter un matériau commun, un pitch au départ authentique. Et pour moi il n'y a pas photo, bien sûr Homeland est une série addictive et parfois passionnante (le personnage de Carrie Mathieson notamment), mais voilà, Hatufim se situe nettement au-dessus, au moins pour la première saison, après je ne peux en juger.
L'originale israélienne est d'une puissance émotionnelle tout simplement stupéfiante, rarement j'ai pu être autant de plein-pied avec des personnages comme dans cette série, l'empathie étant totale. Il y a une vérité des émotions, des ressentis qu'on ne voit que rarement. Du coup l'aspect thriller, bien que secondaire par rapport à Homeland, prend une ampleur inédite car l'auteur Gideon Raff a compris que l'intrigue devait faire corps complètement avec les atermoiements émotionnels des personnages et ne pas en être dissocié. Résultat on ressent de façon bien pus forte les rebondissements de l'action et je pense là en particulier à la chute du dernier épisode de la 1ère saison qui rend l'attente de la seconde quasi insupportable.
Voilà en partie les raisons qui me font dire qu' Hatufim est aujourd'hui la meilleure série au monde, qui permet en outre de découvrir un pays Israël sous un autre angle que le sempiternel conflit israélo-palestinien.
