 "One of the best films of 2006" | 2009-10-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: A180HEMSDXBHMX |
| Christopher Nolan has become one of the best filmmakers of his generation. This is his fourth consecutive great movie (the first three, in order, were "Memento," "Insomnia," and "Batman Begins.") No director handles overlapping narratives and plays with time as well as he does. All of his many gifts are on display in this tale of two magicians (Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman--both of whom handle double roles magnificently) and their ever-escalating rivalry in turn of the century London. For those who love puzzles and brainteasers, this is one that'll still be working itself out in your mind for a while after you see it. |
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| "Excellent Film" | 2009-09-14 |
| - Reviewed By User: A12XTGM49NJ0PZ |
| This is a fantastic movie that is only enhanced on Blu-ray. I haven't checked out the additional features yet but, so far this has been a great purchase. |
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 "A little confusing" | 2009-08-06 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1TEMNM9ZEOLJ6 |
| At 2 hours 10 minutes, this could have ended much sooner and been a tauter film as a result. The ending left me scratching my head just a bit. Most of the movie is a bit jerkily edited, so viewers have to pay attention. Are we in the present? The recent past? The future? It keeps jumping around, somewhat annoyingly. The second half bogs down a bit. I had to pause several times out of boredom, never a good sign for a movie. Was it really like this in the Victorian era? I wasn't entirely convinced. I did do one double take: yes, that's David Bowie as Tesla, the electrician, though what that was all about, I still don't know. |
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 "Cloning technology comes to turn-of-the-century Victorian England" | 2009-08-05 |
| - Reviewed By User: A18GP1PWVTKXQQ |
Adapting the novel which "The Prestige" was based on was no easy feat. The film's scenarists, brothers Christopher and Jonathan Nolan wisely jettisoned the subplot from the novel set in the present time which chronicled the machinations of the descendants of the two principal characters. The Nolans also should be congratulated for turning the novel (which features separate diaries of the principal characters written in the first person) into a more coherent third person narrative. Some of the first person diary narration is retained in a series of voice overs but it's not overdone thus preserving the flavor of the novel.
'The Prestige' concerns the running battle between the two well known stage magicians in turn of the century Victorian England, Borden and Angier. In the novel, Borden, a total stranger, initiates the conflict by attempting to expose his rival as a charlatan while Angier moonlights as a medium. In the film, Borden and Angier already know each other while working as apprentice magicians. The Nolans seek to create a stronger motivation for the conflict between the two. They introduce Angier as already being married. Borden is warned by Cutter (the engineer/impresario played by Michael Caine) not to use a certain knot because it's too dangerous when tying Angier's wife's hands during a magic trick. Borden ignores Cutter's advice and as a result of his pig-headedness, Angier's wife drowns when she is unable to untie the knot after being placed underwater in a glass booth. Visually it's a stunning scene but not all that convincing. Borden is depicted as being almost monstrous in the way he crassly ignores all safety procedures; what's more, others take no concrete action during the performance to prevent the mishap from occurring.
Borden's pettiness is matched by Angier later on when he seeks to sabotage a series of Borden's stage acts. As the story develops, Angier shows up in a disguise at Borden's performances on more than one occasion. At one point he rigs a pistol causing it to misfire, which seriously injures Borden's hand. Soon afterward, Borden introduces a new stage act, "The Transported Man", where he steps into one door and then amazingly steps out of another door on the other side of the stage almost instantaneously. We later learn that Borden's assistant is actually his twin brother and the two have been working together to fool the public into believing that 'The Transported Man' is not an illusion.
Angier ends up hiring a look-a-like so he can duplicate Borden's act. For a time it works, but his double is a drunkard who ends up blackmailing him for more money. Angier wants to know the secret to Borden's act, so he enlists his assistant, Olivia, to steal Borden's diary. When he gets his hands on the diary, he realizes he is unable to decode it, so with the help of Cutter, he kidnaps Borden's assistant and holds him for ransom. In exchange for his assistant (who is actually his twin brother), Borden gives him the 'key word' to decode the diary: "Tesla".
Tesla of course is a real character in history who was Edison's rival in the early development of electricity. Borden had met Tesla earlier and employs electrical sparks from Tesla's 'alternating current' generator in his act. Angier goes to Colorado to meet Tesla and offers to buy his generator which he believes can transport matter. As it turns out (and this undermines the film's entire plot), the machine doesn't transport people but actually clones them. Angier goes back to London and every time he uses Tesla's device, a new Angier appears. After each act, ludicrously, Angier is forced to murder each newly created double (and stores the corpses in tanks underneath the stage).
The Prestige has a subplot involving Borden's wife. Sarah, who is unaware of the existence of his twin brother. She learns of Olivia but doesn't understand that its Borden's twin brother who is having the affair with her. Ultimately she commits suicide.
The film's scenarists introduce a new twist in the story's climax different than the novel: Borden ends up murdering Angier by placing an open water-filled glass booth under a trapdoor during one of Angier's performances. Borden is arrested and found guilty at trial of the murder. After Borden is executed, Borden #2 shows up and murders Angier #2. We learn that the man executed was actually Borden's twin brother and the Angier who ended up drowning was actually one of Angier's clones. Borden returns to his daughter and in classic Citizen Kane 'Rosebud' style, Angier's nefarious plan is revealed to the audience. As Tesla's machine along with Angier's 'glass tanks' go up in flames beneath the stage, we can see inside one of them: it's one of the 100 Angier clones, still preserved and evidence of the failed career of a monomaniac.
'The Prestige' must get high marks for art design. The costumes and sets make you feel like you're right there in turn of the century Victorian England. Generally the actors acquit themselves well especially Michael Caine as Cutter (a very minor part in the novel). Christian Bale is convincing as Borden but Hugh Jackman's Angier is ordinary. Surprisingly, David Bowie does quite well as the enigmatic Tesla. The women are not developed at all in the novel and unfortunately nothing much is done with them here in the film.
The principal characters' obsession in attempting to undermine one another takes on a one-note quality thus exposing the characters as one-dimensional. In addition, once the plot veers off into science fiction/fantasy where people are cloned in a blink of an eye, the best one can say about the film is that it would be more fitting as a third-rate Twilight Zone episode. Nonetheless, 'The Prestige' still manages to hold one's interest as it is 'different' and wins points for mood and atmosphere, providing a glimpse into the rarely looked at world of magic during the Victorian era.
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 "Prestige" | 2009-06-29 |
| - Reviewed By User: A439JUBRB1ZL7 |
| Good cast and excellent acting. Good story that keeps your attention with all the suspense. This is a movie that you will watch more than once. |
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| "Intriguing, Ultimately Disappointing" | 2009-06-07 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1GB8TYCVJBZ81 |
I was drawn to this movie because I am a fan of Christopher Nolan's other movies, such as Momento. The movie was typical of his work, featuring a dense, winding plot that requires film watchers to pay close attention at all times. I found the movie quite entertaining, and enjoyed piecing together the various plot clues and anticipating the 'twist' likely to occur at the conclusion.
Ultimately, however, I was disappointed by the film's final moments. I was intrigued by cutter's comment early in the movie that "You're a magician, not a wizard." I had hoped this was foreshadowing, and that all of the seemingly inexplicable events would somehow be logically converge in the end.
Quite to the contrary, the ending of the movie is pure sci-fi, and it cheapened a film which otherwise featured fantastic but logical screenplay. |
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