The Prestige is a dark dark period drama set in Victorian England focusing on the lives of two magicians (The Great Danton and The Professor) and is a magnificent representation of the nineteenth century fascination for melodrama and music hall Magic was a popular act and required a lot of ... Read review
The Prestigeattempts a hat trick by combining a ridiculously good-looking cast, a highly ... more
regarded new director, and more than one sleight of hand. Does it pull it off? Sort of. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman play rival magicians who were once friends ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The Prestigeattempts a hat trick by combining a ridiculously good-looking cast, a highly ... more
regarded new director, and more than one sleight of hand. Does it pull it off? Sort of. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman play rival magicians who were once friends ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Is there a secret you would kill to know? In this electrifying, suspense-packed thriller ... more
from director Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Memento), Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play magicians whose cutthroat attempts to better each other plunge them ...
When you want the freedom of giving your toddler their own eating space or play table ... more
space this is your answer. With it's hard castor wheels it's extremely easy to manoeuvre around the room. The Prestige high chair has a fitted wipe clean plastic tray to allow the younger diner their own eating space, or when he is bored can play with his toys on the tray. Comes in a range of 5 stylish finishes to suit any home or commercial environment. Features: Height: 860mm Footprint: 640x420mm Weight: 10kg
Is there a secret you would kill to know? In this electrifying, suspense-packed thriller ... more
from director Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Memento), Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play magicians whose cutthroat attempts to best each other plunge them into deadly deceptions. Scarlett Johansson also stars as the stage assistant who's both a pawn and player in their rivalry. A brilliant supporting cast (including Michael Caine and David Bowie). An ingenious story. An astonishing payoff. Once you see The Prestige, you'll want to see it again. Watch closely.
A tie-in edition to the Christopher Nolan blockbuster movie.Two 19th century stage ... more
illusionists the aristocratic Rupert Angier and the working-class Alfred Borden engage in a bitter and deadly feud; the effects are still being felt by their respective families a hundred years later. Working in the gaslight-and-velvet world of Victorian music halls they prowl edgily in the background of each other's shadowy life driven to the extremes by a deadly combination of obsessive secrecy and insatiable curiosity. At the heart of the row is an amazing illusion they both perform during their stage acts. The secret of the magic is simple and the reader is in on it almost from the start but to the antagonists the real mystery lies deeper. Both have something more to hide than the mere workings of a trick.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Two 19th century stage illusionists the aristocratic Rupert Angier and the working-class ... more
Alfred Borden engage in a bitter and deadly feud; the effects are still being felt by their respective families a hundred years later.Working in the gaslight-and-velvet world of Victorian music halls both men prowl edgily in the background of each other's shadowy life driven to the extremes by a deadly combination of obsessive secrecy and insatiable curiosity.At the heart of the row is an amazing illusion they both perform during their stage acts. The secret of the magic is simple and the reader is in on it almost from the start but to the antagonists the real mystery lies deeper. Both have something more to hide than the mere workings of a trick.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
In turn-of-the-century London, two rival magicians battle it out for supremacy, performing ... more
more and more elaborate and dangerous illusions. When a stunt ends in tragedy, the game becomes about more than just one-upmanship and all about revenge. Christopher Nolan's twisty narrative keeps you guessing right up to its breathless cards-on-the-table finale.
Obsession, jealousy, and deceit define the tense relationshipshared between two ... more
turn-of-the-century magicians in Memento andBatman Begins director Christopher Nolan's dizzying tale of slightof hand. Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (ChristianBale) are London-based magicians of the highest order, both blessedwith spectacular powers of deception and both cursed withunrelenting envy for one another's skills. When Alfred performs anawe-inspiring trick for which there seems no logical explanation,the friendly competition shared between the pair turns to deadlyrivalry as the enraged Rupert determines to uncover his rival'sdeepest secrets. In the world of illusion, however, nothing is everquite as it seems, and the rules of the physical world simply don'tapply. Now, as bitter competition quickly begins to consume thesouls of both performers, the firestorm birthed by their angerthreatens to consume all who surround them. Special Features: The Director's Notebook: The Cinematic Sleight of Hand ofChristopher Nolan (5 Making-of featurettes) The Art of the Prestige Galleries Theatrical trailer
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: John Duigan - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Charlize Theron, Stuart Townsend, Penelope Cruz
Advantages: Atmospheric historical drama. Wonderful costumes and sets. Disadvantages: Twists fore-shadowed early in the film too often missed first time around.
The Prestige is a dark dark period drama set in Victorian England focusing on the lives of two magicians (The Great Danton and The Professor) and is a magnificent representation of the nineteenth century fascination for melodrama and music hall Magic was a popular act and required a lot of skill to execute successfully. As the film tells us:
"Every great magic trick consists of three acts. The first act is called The Pledge; the ... ...isn't.
The second act is called The Turn; the magician makes his ordinary something do something extraordinary.
Now if you're looking for the secret... you won't find it, that's why there's a third act called, "The Prestige"; this is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before."
The Prestige is a dark dark period drama set in Victorian England focusing on the lives of two magicians (The Great Danton and The Professor) and is a magnificent representation of the nineteenth century fascination for melodrama and music hall Magic was a popular act and required a lot of skill to execute successfully. As the film tells us:
"Every great magic trick consists of three acts. The first act is called The Pledge; the magician shows you something ordinary, but of course... it probably isn't.
The second act is called The Turn; the magician makes his ordinary something do something extraordinary.
Now if you're looking for the secret... you won't find it, that's why there's a third act called, "The Prestige"; this is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before."
And it is in this vein that director Christopher Nolan sets out his film released in the UK in November 2006. "So, just how closely have you been watching?"
~The Pledge~
And so for the first act, Christopher Nolan takes the novel, The Prestige written by British author Christopher Priest in 1995. Alongside his brother Jonathon, Nolan adapted award winning novel into a screenplay for a film of the same title.
The novel is written in an epistolary structure purporting to be taken from the diasries kept by the two magicians. Nolan retains some of the idea of this journals within a journal by telling a series of stories within the story. And so he switches from one magician's story to the next.
Robert Angier and Alfred Borden start their careers by working for Milton the Magician. They are friends used as plants in the audience for a trick that goes disastrously wrong. Angier's wife (Milton's assistant) becomes trapped and dies in a Chinese Water Cell. Angier blames Borden for tying the wrong knot. The two men become bitter enemies and separate to form their own acts: Angier as The Great Danton and Borden as The Professor.
The magicians begin a vicious rivalry to produce the greatest magic trick. They resort to any method they can to do so, stopping at nothing. They sabotage each other's acts, discrediting the other in front of an audience even injuring each other in the process
Borden, The Professor, astounds the audience and Angier with a new trick - The Transported Man. Angier has to do the trick - but better. With the help of assistants he tries to find Borden's secrets and creates stage-sets with trapdoors and lifts to produce The New Transported Man. The trick however leaves Borden under stage whilst a double takes the applause. Not content with this, Borden has to find a better method for his trick . . .
~The Turn~
For the second act, Nolan assembles an impressive cast. Australian-born Hugh Jack man is cast as Robert Angier and Welsh-born Christian Bale as Albert Borden. Both are no stranger to the extra-ordinary, dark side of films starring in X-Men/ Van Helsing and Batman Begins. Both are brooding, obsessive and menacing in their roles and create plausible characters. Considering neither is English, both manage to portray their characters effortlessly - Jackman is the perfect slick sophisticated English gentleman / showman contrasting to Bale's street-wise hardened cockney
Michael Caine stars as Cutter the designer of magical apparatus and as an objective witness to the magical tricks. Caine's wonderful rich cockney accent provides the voice-over that introduces the film and the narrative explanations.
Scarlett Johansson plays the pretty assistant / mistress to both magicians with torn loyalties. She looks the part and acts the role superbly. Piper Perabo and Rebecca Hall are both outstanding in their supporting but essential roles...
David Bowie delivers his usual quirky performance as Nicholas Tesla. His distinctive screen presence extenuated by the dramatic special effects that accompany his scenes. The film includes a sub-plot to reflect the real-life nineteenth century feud between scientists Thomas Edison and Nicolas Tesla over the newly discovered abilities of electricity
Nolan's screenplay is very complex and detailed. The story is told by numerous flash-backs / flash-forwards to gradually reveal the full extent of the rivalry and relationship between the two magicians. By this method we gradually become aware of the hurts, fears, dreams and ambitions of the two drawing the audience closer into the characters lives.
The sets are incredibly detailed from the dirty streets of working class London, the plush front-stage gas-lit Edwardian Music Halls, the dank dark back-stage / below-stage where the technical wizardry takes place, the Old Bailey court-room, the wintry wilds of Colorado Springs and the technical workings of Tesla's laboratory. The team of set and costume designers did a magnificent job!!
Wally Pfister as cinematographer often uses a hand-held camera technique to create at intimate atmospheric feel to the film. The techniques works well particularly with the magic tricks!
David Julyan's score fits the storyline almost perfectly - so much that you almost don't realise it is there! For the majority of the time, the music is subtle rising to crescendos when the film's many revelations take place. Julyan utilises a simple ascending theme introduced in the opening moments as Cutter explains the art of magic.
~The Prestige~
Nolan uses a number of twists and turns to create interest. He uses the framing technique in not just one but with three separate ways increasing the mystery and intrigue - the film opens with the credits rolling over a shot of a field filled with top hats (and not a bunny rabbit in sight) and closes with the same scene (why will become clean) - then you have Cutter demonstrating a magic trick to a young girl whilst explaining the acts necessary for a magic trick. This too is recapitulated upon at the end of the film as the prestige becomes apparent - and lastly we have the Old Bailey scene with Cutter as witness.
Nolan foreshadows the final twist throughout the film laying down subtle hints (of which of course I cannot say for fear of spoiling the film). Many of the hints you will miss the first time through making this a film you can watch time and time again. Remember what Cutter says at the beginning "Watch closely!"
The rivalry between the two magicians is strong with one gaining the upper hand one minute only for this to be reversed the next. Which one wins out in the end . . .?
The Prestige is ultimately about misdirection. "What the eye sees . . . the mind believes". And just as the magicians misdirect to achieve their effects (the prestige - the revelation), Nolan's interweaving plots and storylines together with a jumping timeline misdirect the viewer to keep the prestige till the final moment.
And the final twist, The Prestige . . . Awesome!! Never in million years would you guess upon the prestige!
I think that I have made it clear through the review how much I enjoyed The Prestige. It is a cleverly enacted film filled with constant twists and turns. The magnificent sets, costumes and special effects give an insight into magic and Victorian music hall. The historical factor of the film is interesting particularly the Edison and Tesla sub plot.
The film is rated 12A for the scenes of violence - some of the scenes are quite disturbing The DVD is available from most supermarkets, DVD store, online ranging from £10 - £15. Buy it or rent it. The film is magic!!
...days ago, I happened upon the HMV sale. Being a huge fan of DVDs, video games and CDs, I was quite impressed by my own restraint in only spending £20, but still managing to get four DVDs that I really wanted. However, that was still £20 more than my student budget allows, so I've decided that I can reduce how guilty I feel about buying those DVDs by reviewing them, as then I can make back some of the money that I spent.
So, as you can probably tell ... ...bought was that of the film 'The Prestige'. I first saw this film a few months ago with some friends and fell in love with it immediately, so couldn't resist buying it for myself when I saw it for only £6. The film tells the story of a rivalry between two magicians in the 19th century, and their obsession with outdoing eachother and finding out eachother's secrets, largely at the expense of their personal life.
Christian Bale plays the Londoner ...
charlsayslol 07.10.2008
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Prestige (DVD)
Advantages: Good basic story, performances, special effects, twist at the end Disadvantages: The story is quite complicated, may be hard to follow entirely for some
...-
I've noticed over the last couple of years or so that there have been a few movies made about magicians and magic/illusions, this being one of them. I wasn't sure what I'd make of such a movie, as its set in the past and ive never really been much interested in period dramas but I thought I'd give it a try, as I used to be interested in magic when I was younger and thought it might be interesting. This is what I thought of it.
- Main Credits ... ...Nolan, Christopher Nolan
Based on the novel by - Christopher Priest
Producers - Christopher Nolan, Aaron Ryder, Emma Thomas
Associate Producer - Jordan Goldberg
Executive Producers - Christopher Ball, Valerie Dean, Charles J.D. Schlissel, William Tyrer
Cinematography - Wally Pfister (director of photography)
- Story (incl. main acting cast) -
The Prestige is set in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when Magicians and conjurers got big audiences ...
IzzyS 16.03.2008
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Prestige (DVD)
Advantages: Good acting Disadvantages: I didn't like either of the main characters, too long
At the end of the nineteenth century, two magicians, Alfred Borden and Robert Angier, work together on the same act until one day, an accident occurs and Angier's wife dies. Heart-broken and blaming Borden for her death, he splits from Borden and the two become rivals. When Borden meets and marries Sarah and comes up with the ultimate magic trick, Angier is overcome with jealousy and vows to come up with another, even better trick. In his search ... ...that of Thomas Edison. As the rivalry between Borden and Angier increases, it becomes obvious that they are both losing touch with reality. Who will win their self-appointed war? More to the point, will they both live? More and more often these days, I am disappointed by Hollywood films that just don't match up to the hype that surrounds their release. With The Prestige, I was fairly sure that this wouldn't happen - I don't think I have read a single ...
sunmeilan 16.09.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Prestige (DVD)
Advantages: Expertly layered & constructed plot, great performances Disadvantages: Some may see the ending coming?
...Nolan (of Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight ...), I discovered just what I'd been missing. For my money, this is simply an outstanding film in so many ways. A strong cast produce performances to match reputations while the plot twists and turns, skillfully keeping its secrets from the viewer. Stylistically too, The Prestige is a great success. It captures the look and feel of the era, when Magic, Trickery and Science were rather less distinct ... ...title alludes to the final act of the typical tripartite magic trick. First comes "the Pledge", in which the magician shows the audience something apparently quite regular, ordinary, like a hat, a coin or watch, or a box, and demonstrates its normality. Secondly, "the Turn"; the magician makes something extraordinary happen - the coin vanishes, the lady in the box is sawed in half. Then "the Prestige" - what the film calls "... the twists and turns, ...
Puggers 02.01.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Prestige (DVD)
Advantages: acting, twists and turns in plot Disadvantages: Bowie's tash, ending
This is a review of the film only so contains no info on the DVD extras (I don't get a chance to watch the extra's with the kids, I'm lucky if I manage to watch the film).
Synopsis
From acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan ("Memento," "Batman Begins"), comes a mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy with dangerous and deadly consequences.
From the time that they first met as young ... ...fierce enemies-for-life and consequently jeopardizing the lives of everyone around them. Full of twists and turns, THE PRESTIGE is set against the backdrop of turn-of-the-century London, with an exceptional cast that includes two-time Oscar winner Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie.
The Story
Robert (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred (Christian Bale) are friends who are employed by a magician while they both learn the tricks of the trade. ...
hollywoodmum 23.09.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Prestige (DVD)
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
How does it compare to ...
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "The Prestige (DVD)"
Advantages: good plot, acting. Intriguing Disadvantages: a little confusing at times
of interesting facts about this film...
It was nominated for two oscars!
Why is it called 'The Prestige'? Well, we are told at the beginning that there are three parts to any magician's act - first is the pledge when the magician sets up what he is going to do - second is the turn, where for example he might make something disapear - but most important of all is the prestige! This is the moment when the magician is at his cleverest for this is when he must bring the thing that disappeared back - and this is what brings the audience to their feel marvelling about how it could possibly be achieved!
The running time is 130 minutes and it certainly doesn'tt feel too long! It is rated as a 12, mainly I guess, as there is some minor violence in it. It is selling at the moment for round about £14.99!
There are some interesting DVD extras as well ...
Advantages: Great charecters, script. Disadvantages: Not much at all
From the director that brought us Memento and the two latest Batman films, Christopher Nolan excels himself with this dramatic thriller, The Prestige.
The Plot
The film begins with Michael Caine's character telling a young girl about a magic trick. Each magic trick has three parts, the Pledge, the Turn and then finally The Prestige.
The film follows two starting magicians, Angier and Borden. They start off as good friends but then turn into rivals when Angier's wife is killed in a magic trick that went wrong.
The two spend the film, trying to work out each other's secrets and ruin their tricks, eventually ruining their livelihood.
Borden then however discovers a trick, the ultimate trick. This trick makes Angier loose his mind trying to work out how the hell Borden does this trick.
The Characters
Hugh Jackman ...
Advantages: Two rivals with one thing in common: Each has something hidden in plain sight. Disadvantages: None. Art house film marketing for major release due to it's all-star hollywood cast.
... when first we practice to deceive."
Ambition. Entertainment. Enchantment. Mysticism. Chimera.
- M - A - G - I - C -
"Every great magic trick consists of three acts."
"The first act is called "The Pledge"; the magician shows you something ordinary, but of course... it probably isn't."
"The second act is called "The Turn"; the magician makes his ordinary some thing do something extraordinary."
"Now if you're looking for the secret... you won't find it, that's why there's a third act called, "The Prestige"; this is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before."
Cue overly dramatic voice over narrator:
"So, just how closely have you been watching?"
Directed by Chris Nolan, the man who brought us Memento ...
In turn-of-the-century London, two rival magicians battle it out for supremacy, performing more and more elaborate and dangerous illusions. When a stunt ends in tragedy, the game becomes about more than just one-upmanship and all about revenge. Christopher Nolan's twisty narrative keeps you guessing right up to its breathless cards-on-the-table finale.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
WARNER HOME VIDEO; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Release date
12/03/2007
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
DY 10647
Screenwriter
Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan
Barcode
7321902106472
Languages
Main Language
English
Technical information
Sound
Dolby Digital
DVD Description
Director Christopher Nolan's (MEMENTO) eclectic resume gains another interesting entry with THE PRESTIGE. Set in early 20th-century London, the film centres on the bitter rivalry between two magicians who go to increasingly dangerous lengths to upstage one another. Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman, X-MEN) and Alfred Bordon (Christian Bale, BATMAN BEGINS) start out as apprentice magicians, but when an elaborate stunt goes horribly wrong, they’re driven beyond the point of reconciliation. In the years that follow, Robert grows wildly jealous of Alfred's superior talents, so in a last ditch attempt to gain some artistic ground, he sends his beautiful assistant Olivia (Scarlett Johansson, MATCH POINT) to seduce Alfred and steal his secrets. While comparisons to Neil Burger’s THE ILLUSIONIST are inevitable--both films are set around the same time period and both deal with suspicious attitudes towards magic--Nolan's film concentrates more on the dynamic between these two characters and the rivalry that governs their every move. As the narrative twists and turns down a number of unexpected avenues, the viewer is drawn into a complex world of smoke and mirrors, where nothing is as it seems and no one can be trusted. Bale and Jackman perfectly execute their roles, winding up the tension to an unbearable degree as they wilfully enter into some dangerously competitive patterns of behaviour. Michael Caine makes his second appearance in a Nolan film, almost reprising his role of Alfred in BATMAN BEGINS by playing Cutter, Jackman's mentor; and Johansson pouts and flounces across the elaborate sets like a classic Hollywood screen siren. Stylistically, THE PRESTIGE is full of dark, gloomy imagery and a palpable sense of menace. It's not an easy film to digest, but fans of intelligent cinema will be richly rewarded with a film that delivers on both style and substance.
Compare The Prestige (DVD) to other similar Drama »
![The Prestige [DVD] [2006]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78143330.jpg)
