"The Prestige" (SPOILERS!)

[clayj]

Just got back from seeing this movie... one word review: Wow!

Christopher Nolan (Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins) and his co-writer brother Jonathan are geniuses. (Of course, they had good source material, the 1995 novel of the same name, to work from.) This movie isn't quite as twisty as Memento was, but it constantly keeps you guessing, while at the same time leaving enough clues to be honest with the viewer. I figured out one big twist (the nature of Tesla's machine and how Angier was going to use it) fairly early on, but Borden's solution to The Transported Man eluded me completely until almost the very end of the movie.

Big props to Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, and David Bowie (!) for their excellent performances.

 

[DISCOMUNICATION]

David Bowie (!)

What the? Now I have to see it.

 

[jsw]

I thought Bowie was phenomenal - even knowing it was Bowie, I couldn't tell it was Bowie.

I loved the movie, but, entirely uncharacteristically for me, I figured it out from the beginning (well, I saw the clues as they were presented)... which is odd as I tend to try not to let the plot get spoiled by too much thought on my part. This doesn't mean it's a trivial plot... just that I happened to see it. It's still very entertaining and well worth seeing.

I enjoy that there are no truly good guys or truly bad guys.

 

[Sutekidane]

I didn't enjoy this movie that much. I guess it went over my head and I wasn't in the mood to keep up with the plot.

 

[Doctor Q]

I saw it yesterday.

One of the characters in the movie is Nikola Tesla. It's based on the real historical figure. Tesla was a fascinating person and much of what you see in the movie is based on his real history. He was indeed a rival of Thomas Edison (and once worked for him), developed ways to transmit electricity through the air, impressed people with great and exciting electrical displays like the Tesla coil, and had a research facility in Colorado Springs.

Other bits of realism: The water escape and bullet catch shown in the movie are indeed tricks that magicians of the past performed, and they were indeed dangerous.