IMDb > The Prestige (2006)
The Prestige
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The Prestige (2006) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 59 | slideshow) Videos (see all 23 NEW)
The Prestige (2006) -- Robert and Alfred are rival magicians. When Alfred performs the ultimate magic trick, Robert tries desperately to find out the secret to the trick.
The Prestige (2006) -- Clip: Circle Of Trust
The Prestige (2006) -- Featurette
The Prestige (2006) -- Interview: Michael Caine "On the Story"
The Prestige (2006) -- US Home Video Trailer from Newmarket Films

Overview

User Rating:
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Down 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Christopher Nolan
Writers (WGA):
Jonathan Nolan (screenplay) and
Christopher Nolan (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Prestige on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 October 2006 (USA) more
Tagline:
A Friendship That Became a Rivalry. more
Plot:
The rivalry between two magicians is exacerbated when one of them performs the ultimate illusion. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 14 nominations more
User Comments:
A Nutshell Review: The Prestige more (818 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for violence and disturbing images.
Runtime:
130 min
Country:
USA | UK
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Chung Ling Soo was a stage character created by a Caucasian American man, William Ellsworth Robinson, who disguised himself as a Chinese man to cash in on audiences' enthusiasm for the exotic. Robinson lived as Chung, never breaking character while in public. He died in March 1918 when a bullet catch trick went wrong. "My God, I've been shot" were both his last words and the first English he had spoken on stage in 19 years. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: During the two scenes in which Jackman and Caine discover playing cards attached to the bottom of their pint glasses, the glasses they are drinking from are 'Nonic' glasses. These were designed in the 1960s to protect straight glasses from nicks and cracks when cleaned in automatic dishwashers. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Alfred Borden: Are you watching closely?
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The Director's Notebook (2007) (V) more
Soundtrack:
Drinkin' Down the Rose & Crown more

FAQ

Can Tesla's machine be calibrated to choose the destination?
What is the name of the song during the end credits?
How can the movie be explained without a duplicator?
more
355 out of 476 people found the following comment useful.
A Nutshell Review: The Prestige, 20 October 2006
10/10
Author: DICK STEEL from Singapore

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Christopher Nolan can do no wrong. Teaming up again with his Batman Begins cast of Christian Bale and Michael Caine, and joined with the Scoop team consisting of X-Men's Wolverinie Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson, the stellar (eye candy) cast already set tongues wagging as to whether they'll be able to live up to the hype of Nolan's long awaited movie directly challenging the other picture about Victorian magicians, The Illusionist. The Prestige is the third act of any magic trick, with the first and second acts being the Pledge and the Turn. And this movie lives up to its namesake to a T. The way the movie plays out, it's like a huge magic trick, with the audience waiting to see how it unfolds, getting the suspicion on how it's done, but yet sitting through it thorough engaged to discover how everything will be revealed and resolved. It tells the story of how two magicians, fellow apprentices turned unfortunate rivals, plod down the slow path of jealous obsession, revenge, and the deliberate attempts to go at lengths to steal each other's ideas, to go one up against the other, a fight in romance, life and the long held passionate drive to discredit each other. There are perfect explanations of the value of secrets, and how secrets can sometimes be used as tools for deceit. What I thought was valuable in the movie was the reinforcement of the notion of how "magic" actually worked. Besides the better understanding of the common body of scientific knowledge, things like having pretty assistants to distract, and having planted staff amongst the audience, somehow made me a sceptic to tricks and illusions, and try harder to spot at which stage had things undergone a sleight of hand. More importantly, it introduced me to the notion and importance of a loyal engineer behind the scenes who designs elaborate contraptions solely for the magician's use, and how having disloyal staff can indeed be detrimental to any leaks of secrets. And Michael Caine took on this engineering role as Cutter, responsible for assisting Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman) with loyalty and conviction that they could, as a team, beat Christian Bale's Alfred Borden. I thought the cast in general were superb, with Christian Bale leading the charge. Hugh Jackman too showed that he could play a dark character, as the two leads tackled their characters' theme of sacrifice, arrogance, and ultimately redemption, especially for Rupert Angier. I thought he did what he did towards the end was a kind of penance to what happened in the beginning, hoping to kill two birds with a single stone, to exact the sweetest revenge he could possibly muster. What also was intriguing about the two lead characters was that there is no right or wrong, no hero or villain. It's always a shade of grey in what they do, and for Alfred Borden, I felt it's more for survival and the provision for family, which is a strong subplot running through the film. I just have to mention though, that Scarlett Johansson being Esquire's Sexiest Woman Alive, gets to play a flower vase role here as a magician's assistant, though her role as the pawn between the rivals added a little gravitas. The atmosphere was set up great, and so were the costumes and sets. The soundtrack was hauntingly mesmerizing, capturing the look and mood appropriately. Look out too for David Bowie's appearance as a Serbian scientist! I was floored by the deftness of how Nolan weaved and juxtaposed the non linear narrative so flawlessly. While the usual techniques is to use placeholders, or flashback sequences, colours etc, here, time is so fluid, but yet the audience will know precisely which era they're in, without being explicitly told, or working too much of the noodle. You just know, and it's just that feeling of being totally transparent with time. Even though the movie clocked in at slightly more than 2 hours, you don't feel its length at all. At the end of the movie, one quote popped into mind: Misdirection - what the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes. Quite apt to describe how things work out during the movie, or to describe in general, Nolan 's films so far. That added richness to lift the movie to a superior plane. Do yourself a favour, if there's one movie you absolutely must watch this week, then Prestige must be your natural choice. It's smart in delivery and slick in presentation. There is none other. P.S. Is it just me, or are notebooks a common feature in Nolan's movies?

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Top 250!? Wow.. (spoiler) volatileacid_at_gmail_dot_com
Great movie, but some questions... Friedrich von Glower
2 questions ***spoilers*** scranton12
a question: For the death of Angier's wife LittleGrace
Wasn't 'Tesla' a pretty big coincidence? LanimilbuS
Spoiler - Angier and first rehearsal europeanperspective
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