# The Prestige (2006)



## Highlander II (Sep 16, 2006)

*The Prestige* from Touchstone pictures, starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johansson and Michael Caine.  Directed by Christopher Nolan.

Based on the novel by Christopher Priest.

Tagline: Are you watching closely?



> From imdb.com
> _Bale and Jackman will play rival magicians in turn-of-the-century London who battle each other for trade secrets. The rivalry is so intense that it turns them into murderers. The title refers to the product of a successful trick.
> 
> From acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan, comes a mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences. From the time that they first met as young magicians on the rise, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) were competitors. However, their friendly competition evolves into a bitter rivalry making them 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, the exceptional cast includes two-time Oscar® winner Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie.
> ...




And for your viewing pleasure: The Prestige trailer

_The Prestige_ is in theatres 20 October 2006


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## carrie221 (Sep 16, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

This movie sounds really interesting but also really creepy at the same time. I think that is a movie I would watch during the day and not at night.


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## Highlander II (Sep 17, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

If it's at all like the book - it does have the potential to be a little creepy.


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## Highlander II (Sep 26, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

A scanned article about "The Prestige" has been posted here.  It does contain *spoilers* for the movie...


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## erratikmind (Oct 9, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

I love magic and can't wait for this to come out.  The illusionist was actually really good, so this will prob be even better.


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## Highlander II (Oct 11, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

I didn't see "The Illusionist" - saw trailers for it -

Hoping it's release earlier doesn't hinder anything for "The Prestige" - though having Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale headlining, probably won't hurt it any. 

Just over a week away!  I cannot wait for this movie!


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## Highlander II (Oct 22, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

This movie is AWESOME!

Anyone who reads my LJ will have already seen this - I just can't express it any better than last night's recap after seeing it.

There are spoilers for the movie below and it's kinda long - but there's a LOT that happens in the movie.  





Spoiler



So much happens in this movie! Oh so much.

First - it's like the book, but it's not. Mirroring the magic it displays so beautifully. Christopher Nolan did a fantastic job taking the aspects of the book and twisting them just enough to put them on screen in a way that works so well. Every character is in place, the underlying reasons for the 'battle' between the two magicians is believable and well-played. It's all-around magnificent!

Second - the performances by every actor in the production are AMAZING! They all go that one step beyond acting the part - they BECOME the part. Everyone. Including Christian Bale who failed to impress me in "Batman Begins". Bale nails Borden perfectly and Jackman is Angier. The chemistry, the artistry - it is beyond amazing! (They had to be good if I'm saying this much - it takes a lot to impress me - especially if I was disappointed before.) But I'll say this - if this is what Hugh Jackman can do and his performance in "The Fountain" is supposed to surpass this - I cannot WAIT to see "The Fountain"!

Third - BWAH! We had a trailer for "The Fountain". Believe me - if you haven't seen and heard this in theater surround sound - you have YET to experience this trailer properly! It's even MORE breath-taking. ((All the other trailers were for **** movies so I don't really remember them... except "The Nativity Movie" or story or whatever - which just seems like a bad idea.))





Back to the movie - the actually SPOILER parts:

There were several things changed from the book - these are the ones I can recall from the beginning of the movie that are of importance:

* Borden and Angier are friends
* Borden and Angier are regular 'plants' in the audience for a water-chamber escape trick
* Julia is part of the trick and dies during it one night
* Julia's death sparks the rivalry between Angier and Borden - mostly b/c Borden claims to not remember which knot he tied during the performance that prevented Julia from being able to escape the chamber


There are others, but they make sense after those first few are in place. 

Angier is looking for the big secret to Borden's trick - this is a MAJOR theme from the novel and it's incorportated nicely into the movie - but he thinks Cutter's explanation is far too simple to be the truth. Cutter is Angier's ingeniuer - he invents the tricks for Angier to perform on stage - and he's rather good at it too. 

The 'battle' begins and the two magicians pick at each other - messing with each others' tricks on stage in an attempt to discredit each other for the wrongs done earlier in life - another of the major themes that is the crux of the story itself. The best one is during Angier's version of "The Transported Man" when Borden's removed the mat from beneath the stage and has bound Angier's double (who is played by a very famliar-looking gentleman) and Borden appears on stage in Angier's double's place, then has the Angier-double lowered from the rafters with a big sign (that I can't recall just now). It's really good.

One of the most major changes that was made is that Borden is actually charged with the murder of Robert Angier (his name is Rupert in the novel - but they made his character an American in the movie). *steps outside the movie for a moment* All of the bits and pieces I know of criminal procedure and courtroom procedure and evidence and the like has me screaming b/c there was NO evidence to support this claim, save that Borden happened to BE there on the night of the incident. There was no mention of Borden trying to break the tank for Angier to get out or the 'real' reason why the tank was there - not during the court proceedings anyway. Of course, once you step back and remember that this takes place circa 1900, the court proceedings make more sense and who would've believed that Borden was there to HELP Angier? The world knew of their professional rivalry - thus making Borden a primary suspect, since there was a witness to his being beneath the stage at the time of the incident. (Check out all that circumstantial evidence.)

Anyway - the movie isn't linear - it opens with part of the trial, then moves to a scene when the two men were still amicable, then shifts again, then back and tells the story in snippets like flashbacks, but through the journals of the two men using voice-overs. And OMG! is Hugh Jackman's voice-over ever the sexiest thing around. Well, the forty-five seconds where he's wandering around w/o a shirt on is pretty hot too - but anyway...

Back to the film - Angier's double - Root (I think that's how his name is spelled) - is damn-near the funniest character in the movie! He has horrid teeth, bad facial scruff (not the sexy kind), bad hair, bad clothes and he's a drunk. Cutter does a remarkable job of cleaning him up and teaching him to act like Angier. When he first walks out on the stage to show Angier what he can do, Root does a FABULOUS Hugh-esque tripping over his own feet performance and it's bloody hilarious! (My friend actually leaned over and said 'He probably actually tripped there.' *snort*) Then Root steps into walking and moving just like Angier and, aside from being an insufferable drunk, impresses Angier... until Angier realizes that he has to take his bows from beneath the stage because Root is The Prestige of the trick. Whoops... 

Then there's Root's betrayal and the part where Borden trusses him up and dangles him from the ceiling, thus ending Angier's performance of "the Transported Man" for a time and giving Angier a bit of a limp from a busted knee.

Thus Angier makes his sojourn to Colorado Springs to seek out one Nikola Tesla (who, OMG, looks so little like David Bowie it's almost scary!). Tesla creates the apparatus that will launch Angier to the forefront of the magical community. The 'transporting man' machine - the secret to this machine is that it doesn't actually transport anything, it creates a copy and can have it appear anywhere one desires, thus making it the one trick none of the other magicians would ever be able to figure out w/o being told - becomes the basis for the climax of The Great Danton's shows. It's a huge display of electrical energy that seems to make Angier disappear from the stage and reappear elsewhere in the theater.

Borden, during one performance, gets himself on stage, then manages to get backstage to take a look at what goes on to make the trick work, because it's been frustrating him that he couldn't figure out how Angier could move 50 metres in under 50 seconds. He learns the secret, but doesn't realize it b/c of the way the appartus works and thus, since he didn't act fast enough, he is charged with the murder of Robert Angier.

Okay - I think that's most of the plot pieces... my brain's starting to shut down so I'll move on...

One key thing to take from this movie, this story is that the main characters - Borden and Angier - are NOT 'good guys'. They are the protagonists of the story, but they are NOT nice guys. They are, however, very human - and that's why the story works so well. These two MEN do things that people would do - spiteful, selfish people, real people. Borden is responsible for Julia's death, thus Angier does what he can to discover Borden's secrets; Borden retaliates and the feud goes on for YEARS and doesn't end until one of them is dead. Even then it doesn't end - Angier is dead and Borden is in prison, sentenced to be hanged; but Lord Caldlow is alive and Borden is trying to find a way to care for his daughter. (Confused yet? Good. *g*) Borden is hanged and Caldlow reveals to Cutter the secret of the Tesla machine, but as Angier is preparing to be rid of it, Borden appears and shoots him and thus does Borden learn the secret of Angier's trick and Angier learns the secret of Borden's trick - Cutter was right all along and Angier was too arrogant to believe him.

Neither of these men is the 'good guy' who should win in the end - and neither of them does. That's the point - the feud between them made them both very ugly, unhappy men. If they'd reconciled their differences, this might not have been the tragedy that it was.

Don't get me wrong - I loved the book, I loved the movie! I wouldn't change a thing. I like that they're not good guys and that they don't 'win' in the end - that's what makes the story so damned interesting and exciting! It doesn't have a happy ending. I like it that way.


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## Yvett (Oct 22, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

Even then it doesn't end - Angier is dead and Borden is in prison, sentenced to be hanged; but Lord Caldlow is alive and Borden is trying to find a way to care for his daughter. (Confused yet?)




*******
Okay, to make things more confusing in my head, could Angier not be the original?  Is Lord Caldlow the original?  Where did Lord Caldlow come from?  Was he one of the copies?  Has he been alive all this time even before Angier?  Is he immortal?


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## PTeppic (Oct 22, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

When does it open in the UK (general release): I saw the trailer yesterday (watching The Guardian and The Departed in a double-header) and it looked worth watching?


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## lordoftime (Oct 26, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

I have it on very good authority that this one is a must see. Plus you  got the guys who did Batman and Wolverine  in the same film, so you cant go wrong!


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## Highlander II (Oct 27, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*



Yvett said:


> Even then it doesn't end - Angier is dead and Borden is in prison, sentenced to be hanged; but Lord Caldlow is alive and Borden is trying to find a way to care for his daughter. (Confused yet?)
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Marking it as spoiler:


Spoiler



Angier *is* Lord Caldlow... there's a line he gives near the beginning of the movie about using a different name b/c he promised not to 'embarrass' his family w/ his stage pursuits.

As for the 'copies' - it's hard to say from the movie, but since only one of the Angiers survives after the 'trick' is completed - it doesn't much matter - b/c each Angier remembers everything of the others.






			
				PTeppic said:
			
		

> When does it open in the UK (general release): I saw the trailer yesterday (watching The Guardian and The Departed in a double-header) and it looked worth watching?



errrrr - off the top of my head - I don't recall... but - next month, maybe?  

I'll check the other board I frequent and report back after I get off work.


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## Highlander II (Oct 28, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

Here are the release dates from someone on the Mediablvd board ->



> Brazil - November 2nd
> UK - November 10th
> France - November 15th
> Australia - November 16th
> ...



Looks like the Germany date may be up for debate, but other than that - I think the rest are right.


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## Highlander II (Dec 1, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

And, I believe the DVD is due for release in March 2007!


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## PTeppic (Dec 1, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

I did get to see it in the end and it was excellent - for me (as someone who's seen four dozen movies this year) it's probably one of my top five of the year so far.


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## Lucien21 (Dec 1, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

*The Prestige

*An Adaption of a Christopher Priest novel about obsession and revenge between 2 rival magicians in Victorian England.

Superbly acted by most of the cast (Scarlett Johannson was naff *Shame*) Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are excellent as the 2 magicians, Michael Caine superb as the mentor to Hugh's character and David Bowie makes a strange appearance (Did anyone else keep thinking "He looks just like Ricky Gervais")

Directed by one of the better directors around at the moment I really enjoyed the movie and love what he was trying to do.

It's well acted, moody, plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing.

HOWEVER

The movie is supposed to be the ultimate magic trick (the set-up, the performance and the effect, or prestige) to mirror the tricks in the movie. Set the audience up with the ending, show them how you got to there and then *poof* revel the big surprise to shock the audience.

Problem was I had figured it all out way before the end which kind of dulled the effect.

Enjoyable film, but maybe not a classic.


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## PTeppic (Dec 1, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*



Lucien21 said:


> *The Prestige
> 
> *David Bowie makes a strange appearance (Did anyone else keep thinking "He looks just like Ricky Gervais")



Yeah - until it twigged it was Bowie, I thought it WAS Ricky Gervais, perhaps having been on a bit of a diet...

Scary thought: Ricky Gervais is David Bowie's love-child.


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## HoopyFrood (Dec 1, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

Wah! Very scary thought.
Hmm...Am I permitted a minor rant here? Ah, hell, I'll do it anyway! 
Well, I recently had the opportunity to be an extra (nothing spectacular, just as an audience member in a final scene featuring a magic competition) for a British Film (starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb of *Peep Show* and *That Mitchell and Webb Look* fame). A film that is about two magicians, one of them does a trick that kills his wife, the two friends seperate to do their own thing and etc etc...yes, almost the same plot as The Prestige! So I feel sorry for them now, before there's will look like a parody! I can also say that it'll be a good film, Mitchell and Webb are great and it has some great comedy moments...and of course, with all films, a nice touching scene at the end! Anyway, I'm probably under some kind of contract so I won't say anymore. But that's my rant...The Prestige stole their idea!


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## Lucien21 (Dec 1, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

There is also a very similar film with Edward Norton due out called "The Illusionist"

Apple - Trailers - The Illusionist - Trailer

It just means that magician movies are this years flavour of the month. (like when Armageddon/Deep Rising came out, the 2 Ant movies etc etc etc. Movies come in twos.)

Maybe that Johnathan Strange novel will be adapted next.


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## PTeppic (Dec 2, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*



Lucien21 said:


> (like when Armageddon/Deep Rising came out, the 2 Ant movies etc etc etc. Movies come in twos.)


Glad it's not just me who's noticed... I'm assuming it comes from scripts that get rejected by studio A, move to studio B for development, and A suddenly decides to do that genre after all so finds the next best script on the subject it can find...


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## the_faery_queen (Dec 2, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

i liked the film a lot  though i could see some of it coming, and the ending confused me (not confused confused, i was just left wondering why they had left one of the hugh jackman magicians in that watertank like that! ) i brought the book on the basis of enjoying the film, gives me something to read over xmas


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## PTeppic (Dec 2, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*



the_faery_queen said:


> i liked the film a lot  though i could see some of it coming, and the ending confused me (spoiler)
> 
> 
> 
> ...



(spoiler)



Spoiler



That was the thing: he deliberately only did the show 100 times because they weren't leaving ONE of the duplicate Hugh Jackmans, they were leaving all HUNDRED that they'd created and let die...  (well that's what I made of it, anyway)


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## williamjm (Dec 3, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*



HoopyFrood said:


> Wah! Very scary thought.
> Hmm...Am I permitted a minor rant here? Ah, hell, I'll do it anyway!
> A film that is about two magicians, one of them does a trick that kills his wife, the two friends seperate to do their own thing and etc etc...yes, almost the same plot as The Prestige! So I feel sorry for them now, before there's will look like a parody! I can also say that it'll be a good film, Mitchell and Webb are great and it has some great comedy moments...and of course, with all films, a nice touching scene at the end! Anyway, I'm probably under some kind of contract so I won't say anymore. But that's my rant...The Prestige stole their idea!



You do realise Priest's original novel of "The Prestige" was released in 1995?


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## the_faery_queen (Dec 3, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

what i meant Pteppic, is why did they leave that body in the tank and then shove the tank into the store room? after it was all meant to be over, shouldn't they have taken the body out and buried it or something? would have been a disaster if someone had wandered down there and found a dead body floating in a tank looking JUSt like someone they thought had drowned that way.

and if that WAS the same body that the other magician saw drowned, they'd have buried it.

i get that it was left there to show that there were lots of hugh jackmans (nice thought  ) in case anyone missed that part, but logically, you dont' leave a dead body in a water tank in a storage cellar thing!


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## PTeppic (Dec 4, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

I'm guessing he deduced that Christian's character would be sufficiently intrigued as to do what he attempted... the whole thing was a set-up to get back at Christian's character.


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## Lucien21 (Dec 4, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

There was a whole bunch of tanks in that basement.

I assumed they all had dead Hugh's in them.

It couldn't be the one from the crime case as that box was broken and presumably the body in the hands of the police


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## the_faery_queen (Dec 4, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

just seems mean, not taking out any of the hughs, and a risk, that someone else might find them and figure out what the machine does.


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## neomythologist (Dec 4, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

Hi

I really enjoyed this movie, except I thought it was a little too obvious. I won't ruin it for anyone, but did anyone else suss out the twist well before the end? 

JB


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## the_faery_queen (Dec 4, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

which one? i saw the hugh jackman one coming, but not the other whatever his name is guy's.


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## Delvo (Dec 4, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

It wasn't even a "twist" movie; there wasn't anything to figure out or not figure out.


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## PTeppic (Dec 4, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

Agree with the Jackman one, though not a million miles ahead. Didn't get the Christian Bale one though.


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## Lucien21 (Dec 4, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

I thought the Bale one was more obvious. He had an assistant who never said a word. The hints about makeup etc earlier in the movie.

The Jackman one was more obscure until the far too obvious Hat/Cat clue about half way through the film. Take out the multiple hats and it would have been more of a trick.


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## the_faery_queen (Dec 4, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

i thought the hugh jackman one was really obvious. not that he had a duplicate machine, but i knew that he wouldn't be the one dead, and it invovled doubles, from the moment they hired the actor. but i never saw the other thing at all.


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## HoopyFrood (Dec 4, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*



williamjm said:


> You do realise Priest's original novel of "The Prestige" was released in 1995?


 
Lol yeah, hence my  and  at the end...I was being sarcastic. I know that doesn't convey well over the internet.


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## williamjm (Dec 4, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*



the_faery_queen said:


> what i meant Pteppic, is why did they leave that body in the tank and then shove the tank into the store room?



If Jackman wanted to do anything with the bodies he would have to do it himself, since his blind stagehands would be find for moving the tanks (they don't know what it is them, obviously) but might get a bit more suspicious if asked to bury a dead body every night. 



> Lol yeah, hence my  and  at the end...I was being sarcastic. I know that doesn't convey well over the internet.



A smiley titled 'big grin' doesn't necessarily suggest sarcasm to me 

We could do with a 'sarcasm' smiley, although I'm not quite what it would look like.


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## HoopyFrood (Dec 4, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

We really do...although mine would go on protest from being used too often. I just use a combination of the grin and the sticking out tongue one...kind represents sarcasm...Let's petition to Aye,Brian to have one created!


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## PTeppic (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*



Lucien21 said:


> I thought the Bale one was more obvious. He had an assistant who never said a word. The hints about makeup etc earlier in the movie.
> 
> The Jackman one was more obscure until the far too obvious Hat/Cat clue about half way through the film. Take out the multiple hats and it would have been more of a trick.



And others; I'm reminded of Hannibal Lecter's words to Clarice that she recounts to the other girl at the academy: first principles - what is it in itself. In any good film the material that hasn't been left on the cutting room floor is needed to tell the story. Not just for pretty passing of time, but to contain plot detail. And it may not be obvious why until later. Take the bent-double Chinese magician. Now we know it was in: living a permanent lie was the trick. Ah, now we understand... etc.


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## intheknow (Dec 8, 2006)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

haven't seen it yet...im so out of the loop...but i love nolan aka i'll love this...


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## Highlander II (Jul 15, 2008)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*



the_faery_queen said:


> what i meant Pteppic, is why did they leave that body in the tank and then shove the tank into the store room? after it was all meant to be over, shouldn't they have taken the body out and buried it or something? would have been a disaster if someone had wandered down there and found a dead body floating in a tank looking JUSt like someone they thought had drowned that way.
> 
> and if that WAS the same body that the other magician saw drowned, they'd have buried it.
> 
> i get that it was left there to show that there were lots of hugh jackmans (nice thought  ) in case anyone missed that part, but logically, you dont' leave a dead body in a water tank in a storage cellar thing!




Yeah - this is a little old, but I love this movie, so digging it up -

But this particular part harkens to the book.  In the book, Angier creates copies, but one copy dies immediately (IIRC - it's been a while since I've read the book) and he buries them in the family's crypt, in a secret room, but they're all rigor'd in position, like they've been electrocuted and molded in place.  The scene in the book is eerie and dramatic, so I'd assume that was the aim in the movie - an eerie and dramatic visual.


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## Lady of Winterfell (Jul 15, 2008)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

Did you find the book to be enjoyable Highlander? Worth the read?


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## Highlander II (Jul 15, 2008)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*



Lady of Winterfell said:


> Did you find the book to be enjoyable Highlander? Worth the read?



Oh yes!  Loved the book!  I actually finished the book before I saw the movie (which I don't always do).


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## Dave (Jun 6, 2012)

*Re: The Prestige (movie)*

I've just seen this for the first time (on TV.) I didn't have a problem following it. 





Highlander II said:


> Angier *is* Lord Caldlow... there's a line he gives near the beginning of the movie about using a different name b/c he promised not to 'embarrass' his family w/ his stage pursuits.


Yes, I even clocked that part. The Tesla machine was a little far fetched, but I suspended my disbelief. What I didn't realise was this:





the_faery_queen said:


> ...why did they leave that body in the tank and then shove the tank into the store room? after it was all meant to be over, shouldn't they have taken the body out and buried it or something? would have been a disaster if someone had wandered down there and found a dead body floating in a tank looking JUSt like someone they thought had drowned that way.


Angiers said that he had had to make sacrifices himself, and he was seen to shoot one double, but it would have been far easier to drown them all. I just hadn't realised. It just seemed a bizarre but perfect way to set up Borden for Murder.

Could you really get two men so obsessed with hate for each other?

Excellent film though.


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## Foxbat (Jun 6, 2012)

I'm a fan of this film. 



> Could you really get two men so obsessed with hate for each other?


 
To me, it's not so much about two men but obsession with the secrets they carry. It's just another Ahab and Moby Dick. Obsession is the key.


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## Dave (Jun 6, 2012)

Reflecting on this film further, it wasn't the obsession of two men - it was at least three if you count the identical twins, (and more if you count the duplicates.)

I see that the staged murder rap was only a very clever con to obtain the secrets, with his child as a leverage; but they both made cripples of each other, not in an effort to obtain secrets, but simply out of pure revenge. It went far beyond professional rivalry.


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## Foxbat (Jun 6, 2012)

It's been a while since I saw the movie or read the book but (if I recall correctly) one of them tries to back away from or end the conflict. Unfortunately, there's always some circumstance that refuels the fire.

I think this is in the book rather than the movie.


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## J-WO (Jun 6, 2012)

From Michael Caine's words at the beginning all the way to the final confrontation, I see the film as an excellent metaphor about writers and writing. I don't know if Chris Priest intended that, but it's there if you look out for it.


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