The Prestige

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  • The Prestige

    Great movie!

    I really liked the trailer's and it really met my expectations. I am not going to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen it since it had a bunch of cool (although slightly predictable at times) twists. It was a really great flick that I can't wait to get on DVD.

    There's a bunch to talk about with this movie, but won't bother until I see that someone else has seen it.

    Now I suggest that those who enjoyed the trailer should go see this... it's worth it, I swear.

  • #2
    Re: The Prestige

    Saw it Friday night, house about half full, looked like mostly a date crowd skewing a little older (some couples in their 40s and 50s, not so many teens).

    It didn't drag at all. Gripping and fun for the whole 2:15. Ultimately, though, I thought it was slighter than I'd hoped it would be. Fun but didn't add up to much beyond the trickery.

    Should we start a spoiler thread so we can vigorously discuss the twists?

    I am curious what you thought were the "bunch" of twists -- I just counted the two revealed in the last five minutes, but agree that one of them (Jackman's) was evident a good forty minutes beforehand. The other one (Bale's) felt a bit like a cheat, though was integrated so thoroughly that I was OK with it. If you're gonna misdirect, misdirect in a big way.

    The audience members sitting near me didn't understand what had happened at the end, though, so I guess the Jackman reveal cemented in the last frame wasn't as obvious to everyone before it happened.

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    • #3
      Re: The Prestige

      I felt cheated by Borden's (Bale) deception and came away feeling The Illusionist is a better film. The sleight of hand was in the movie's editing, not the story. No spoilers, but The Prestige is a sci-fi movie.

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      • #4
        Re: The Prestige

        I can't wait. Chris Nolan is my God. We're going today!!
        https://actbreakdown.com

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: The Prestige

          Originally posted by amandag View Post
          I can't wait. Chris Nolan is my God. We're going today!!
          We? WE? Since when is it a WE?
          I waited to see The Prestige and we will go tonight as well.
          A talent for drama is not a talent for writing, but is an ability to articulate human relationships.
          Gore Vidal

          "Aisatsu Yori Ensatsu"
          Money is better than compliments.


          Comment


          • #6
            Re: The Prestige

            Pull Back...

            I agree that the movie was really based a lot on trickery and stuff with the plot more than anything else. However, it still held up as a good movie to me. I think it was all the twists (I'll mention some below, not all are huge) that were able to keep the audience interested for the length of time. Also the development of the characters was in this trickery. Things were revealed (some things even changed the guy you were rooting for) that helped further develop the characters and really show how nasty competition can become. I really enjoyed it.


            ***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***



            Well, the twists weren't major twists, but I'm just talking all the little unexpected stuff.

            ex: the assistant going back and forth, then all the journals, the hats, the obvious major two, and probably some ones I'm forgetting.

            It was things like that that continued to spark my interest the entire time. It's as if you knew what was happening and then they decide to show you what you didn't see already. The movie was held up a lot by these tricks, but it was still good regardless of that.

            SPOILERS (just more warning)

            The only thing I was slightly confused about is the ending with Bale, so if you or anyone else can try clarifying it for me that'd be good.

            The way it was edited I thought that everything was happening simultaneously.

            Bale getting hung (says abracadabra), his brother with Jackman, one of the brothers with the daughter, back with Jackman dying.

            SPOILERS (just more warning)

            It was something like that. Now the way they also edited what came before that I thought this entire scene was happening relatively simultaneously. However, that would mean both brothers are still alive and he somehow got out of being hanged. I don't think that's the case though, I feel like the scene with the old guy (forget name) showing the bird trick to the daughter would be the future of the remaining brother. Yet was it? Or was that all suppose to be simultaneous and the brother actually escaped?

            That was the one thing for me that confused me a bit just because of the way they edited it.

            Actually, another thing... this didn't confuse me as much as I just wasn't sure what I was suppose to think (although I guess you aren't suppose to know). Say we assume that the copy and original always end up in the same place. Do you think the copy was the one that stayed put or the one that moved? You actually might be able to know from watching the cat duplication, right? I am pretty sure the cat that remained hissing was the one that transported. That means that the guy who did the prestige part of the trick was the original everytime. So if that's the case than the first time he did the trick he shot the original and it was the second him that did everything (although they truly were identical probably, so doesn't matter I guess).







            ***END OF SPOILERS***

            Anyway, all in all it was a great film with great actors and a great director. It did a good job meeting my expectations and I know I'd see it again. It's on my top 3 of this year now:
            (no particular order)

            1. The Departed
            2. The Prestige
            3. Pirates of the Carribean 2

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: The Prestige

              I found this hugely entertaining--pure moviegoing pleasure. And I didn't find at any point that I (or the audience around me) was saying "Huh? Did I miss something?" You were compelled to watch this film with all your attention, no mean feat these days.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: The Prestige

                Saw it loved it. Sure, some of the twists were a little telegraphed but all in all an enjoyable movie experience.
                The only thing that bothered me was the music. For some reason, I tuned into this continual, out of key, droning and I had to work to get back into the film.
                After was all gendarmes and dick stitches...

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: The Prestige

                  I loved it!!!!!!!!!

                  Originally posted by DMNY
                  We? WE? Since when is it a WE?
                  I couldn't wait for you forever, now, could I? What about YOUR we?
                  https://actbreakdown.com

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: The Prestige

                    Originally posted by amandag View Post
                    I loved it!!!!!!!!!



                    I couldn't wait for you forever, now, could I? What about YOUR we?
                    Oh you know the saying "An eye for an eye"
                    I'm catching the movie late tonight.
                    A talent for drama is not a talent for writing, but is an ability to articulate human relationships.
                    Gore Vidal

                    "Aisatsu Yori Ensatsu"
                    Money is better than compliments.


                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: The Prestige

                      **SPOILERS**

                      Originally posted by JayKid
                      SPOILERS (just more warning)

                      The only thing I was slightly confused about is the ending with Bale, so if you or anyone else can try clarifying it for me that'd be good.

                      The way it was edited I thought that everything was happening simultaneously.

                      Bale getting hung (says abracadabra), his brother with Jackman, one of the brothers with the daughter, back with Jackman dying.

                      SPOILERS (just more warning)

                      It was something like that. Now the way they also edited what came before that I thought this entire scene was happening relatively simultaneously. However, that would mean both brothers are still alive and he somehow got out of being hanged. I don't think that's the case though, I feel like the scene with the old guy (forget name) showing the bird trick to the daughter would be the future of the remaining brother. Yet was it? Or was that all suppose to be simultaneous and the brother actually escaped?
                      **SPOILERS**

                      I THINK that Bale 1 hanged while Bale 2 came to confront Jackman.

                      I THINK that Caine showed the Little girl the Bird trick while Bale 2 killed Jackman.

                      I don't think Bale 1 lived, (though I was curious whether Bale 2 would make another brother from the machine).

                      It was definately edited simultaneously, but that is my humble interpretation of it.

                      **SPOILERS**

                      Originally posted by JayKid
                      Actually, another thing... this didn't confuse me as much as I just wasn't sure what I was suppose to think (although I guess you aren't suppose to know). Say we assume that the copy and original always end up in the same place. Do you think the copy was the one that stayed put or the one that moved? You actually might be able to know from watching the cat duplication, right? I am pretty sure the cat that remained hissing was the one that transported. That means that the guy who did the prestige part of the trick was the original everytime. So if that's the case than the first time he did the trick he shot the original and it was the second him that did everything (although they truly were identical probably, so doesn't matter I guess).
                      **SPOILERS**

                      Great question. I wondered this as well. I'm interpreting it this way:

                      As Jackman becomes more hollow and angry, more willing to 'do what it takes' his loss of initial self is symbolically reflected in these copies he makes and kills.

                      There was a brief mention of the fear to Bale at the end, by Jackman, of 'which Jackman would be which' each time he ran the machine.

                      I think he loses his humanity both literally and figuratively each time he does the trick; Killing himself over and over.

                      I dunno. I just thought it was brilliant.
                      https://actbreakdown.com

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: The Prestige

                        ** SPOILERS **












                        Each time the "transporting" machine created a duplicate, it materialized it about 150 feet away. As we saw with the hats (and the cats), nothing appeared to happen to the original in the machine, just a copy was created and spit out elsewhere (like a Xerox). In the first instance, Jackman shot the duplicate. In subsequent instances, when he was laying the trap to frame Bale, the original dropped through the floor into a tank and drowned while the copy took over from the balcony. Jackman lost his humanity bit by bit (an extension of his character's movement throughout) as he murdered his original self night after night.

                        As to the events following Bale's "last words" ("abracadabra"), I don't know that we can say it was simultaneous or just a flash edit, but the Bale in the hangman's noose died while his twin confronted Lord Jackman (probably while Caine demonstrated the trick to the daughter but that didn't need to be simultaneous). (There were plenty of thematic cuts that jumped time and space, no reason to believe the adjacencies at the climax were any different.)

                        One interesting thing I heard from Jonathan Nolan during the Creative Screenwriting interview after the showing, he made up the three parts (Pledge, Turn, Prestige) to a magic trick, mirroring the three parts of a movie. Sounded like old magician lore to me, that was a nice touch.

                        The movie might as well have been called "The Duplicates," huh? I'm trying to think of ANYTHING in the movie that wasn't reflected in a mirror:

                        • Bale and Jackman
                        • Bale and Bale
                        • Jackman and his copies
                        • Transported Man trick both versions
                        • Jackman and his drunken stage double
                        • Bale spending his whole life covering the basis of his trick, same as the Chinese magician who pretended to be crippled
                        • Both magicians' diaries holding a double-cross
                        • Tesla and Edison, also mirroring Bale and Jackman
                        • Jackman's wife's death vs. Jackman's deaths in the tank
                        • Jackman shooting Bale, Bale shooting Jackman
                        • Bale's two women
                        • Jackman led two lives, as lord of the manor and slumming magician
                        • Birds killed while identical birds survived for the illusion, same as Jackman
                        • Jackman's wife dies by hanging (and drowning), Bale's wife dies by hanging
                        • Jackman's double dies (night after night) to accomplish his greatest trick, Bale's double (twin) dies to accomplish his greatest trick
                        • Bale mutilates himself to fool Jackman, Jackman drowns himself to fool Bale
                        • Tesla's rival (Edison's henchmen) burns down his lab, Jackman's rival (Bale) burns down his lair
                        Last edited by Pull Back Reveal; 10-22-2006, 02:38 PM.

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                        • #13
                          Re: The Prestige

                          The structure didn't work for me. I don't know what exactly wasn't working, but it felt too much like a movie. Yes, it is a movie, but I don't want that fact being waved in my face every 20 minutes or so.

                          Each man being picked as the assistant for the other, which resulted in personal injuries, was too contrived to suspend disbelief for, as was Jackman at the end (no, not the VERY end) how he had that particular amount of time to say exactly what needed to be said.

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                          • #14
                            Re: The Prestige

                            SPOILER ALERT... SPOILER ALERT... SPOILER ALERT... SPOILER ALERT...

                            Borden's (Bale) twin is nothing more than a deus ex machina. There's no reason why Borden would have kept the twin a secret from Angier, Cutter and the audience before Julia died.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: The Prestige

                              Here's what I can't understand...

                              Bale told Jackman that Tesla was not only the code for the diary, but also how his transported man trick worked. Jackman went to Tesla to have him build the machine that he built for Bale. Jackman got his machine, did his own transported man trick, and Bale had absolutely no idea how he did it.

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