What's tragically poetic about the finale is that Angier essentially died the night his wife drowned in the beginning, and his greatest trick is to relieve that very night over and over, and over again, drowning each time just like the love of his life. His humanity died with her.
The first shot of the movie is all the hats outside Tesla's lab, with "The Prestige" literally written over them. The film gives its twist away from the very first shot and no one notices. So damn good!!
@@jasonh908 borden twins: "but where's his brother?" this line from sarah's nephew foreshadows the borden twins' upbringing. angier's clones: alfred borden's statement, "today you get to be the lucky one," addressed to the surviving bird from the cage trick, foreshadows angier's unpleasant predicament with his clones. twins' trick: borden: "no one else can do my trick." angier: "any trick can be duplicated." angier does so both figuratively and literally. devotion to art: borden says, "this is why no one can detect his method-total devotion to his art. a lot of self-sacrifice." foreshadowing the twins' devotion to their own craft.
@@ceezyjeffezy2213 It really is not that much of mystery you can clearly see that Felon was Christen Bell in disguise. Tesla cloning device was the real cool thing about this movie.
Only partly. What I like about it is that it still has questions about the “how” up until the end. When it becomes more painfully obvious that it’s a double, the concept of cloning has been introduced and we know that Borden had some previous interaction with Tesla. So it almost seems MORE plausible that it was a clone of him, not just simply that they’re twins that have been living a double life the entire time. You could still lean towards the latter, but at least there’s a bit more ambiguity keeping some of the mystery alive until the end.
@@hectic105 nah. Tesla wasn’t introduced in Borden’s act until long after he had killed Angiers wife. The old Chinese man was a dead give away that Michael Caine was right and Angiers was too stubborn to believe him.
Yes and also understanding how the 3 acts of the film exactly mimmic the 3 acts of a magic trick, that the movie was a giant magic trick, if I'm honest I had to rewatch this this movie to understand that.
The reason she figured it out was because Jaby asked her what the ending would be. He took her out of the trick and she formulated a theory. If you watch the movie alone, even though you kinda get the identity of Fallon you choose to ignore it as you are enthralled with the show.
Whats really brilliant of this movie is that "they were twins all along" was never disguised, it was always there, its just that the premise that the Twins would stay in perfect act their entire life was too absurd to accept.
Thats the trick though right? To hide something in plain sight, something so absurd our minds wouldn't clock it. Then dress it up with enough drama and misdirection. The movie in and of itself is a magic trick
Nolan understands a good twist have to make sense when u look back all the hidden details, Shamalyn’s twist is tacky cuz he comes up with the twist then tried to form a story around it
Hugh Jackman's character was always Lord Caldlow, that explains the amount of money he got to spend and he mentioned to his wife that his family was ashamed of him being a magician so he got himself a new identity to perform (Angier), and as he died and there were witnesses he had to go back home as if it nothing had happened.
My favorite fact about this movie is that in the book, it's Albert and Frederick Borden. Albert + Frederick = Al | Fred, Alfred. When Borden gives Sarah the key to the house, that's Albert. When Borden fights with Sarah at dinner with Olivia (when Olivia calls him 'Freddy'), that's Frederick. If you keep in mind that Albert loves Sarah and Frederick loves Olivia, the movie will often tell you which brother you're watching. Every time Borden tells Sarah he loves her and she says that he doesn't mean it, it's the movie saying, "This is Frederick." Every time Borden is suspicious of or rude to Olivia, the movie is saying, "This is Albert." And in the scene where Borden (I'm guessing it's Frederick; he seems to be more aggressive and hot headed) yells, "Why can't you outthink him," the movie never shows who he was talking to. Because the other brother (Albert, who seems more sensitive and more of a thinker, and who I also believe is the one who went to Julia's funeral), isn't dressed up as Fallon. The coolest part of all this is when Borden (Frederick) is in prison and Fallon (Albert) comes to visit right before the imprisoned one is executed, the one in prison throws the other one his rubber ball. They're doing The Transported Man for the very last time. They've LITERALLY been planning The Transported Man for their entire lives.
correction they are born Alfred and Frederick borden they unified their name into Albert, the unified singular personality they go by in public is ALBERT not Alfred and when freddy is yelling, why can't you out think him they literally show Alfred dressed as FALLON the reason freddy is saying that to Alfred is because alfred is the better magician
There’s not a magician I’ve seen in interviews who doesn’t swear by this movie. I remember when Hugh Jackman was a guest on Jay Leno, the next guest was an illusionist and he told Hugh that The Prestige is the best magician movie ever made. It has been noted though that not all magic tricks need to have 3 acts, they can end with 2.
He also disagrees with the conceit that magic tricks should make the audience wonder if they might really be magic. He is a skeptic through and through, to the point that he thinks it's a little immoral to deceive people like that, so know that he's coming at it from that angle. He always wants it to be clear, as part of the construction and framing of the trick, that there's some secret technique under the hood. And you might say "Well everyone knows they're not real," and no, not everyone does. People can get caught up in it and believe it, especially with illusionists like Criss Angel. So yeah, that's where Penn's coming from. You can agree or disagree with him, but I just wanted to give context. @@KS-xk2so
This film still has some of the greatest twists I have ever seen in movie history. And when you rewatch it you see the even deeper meanings to what everyone is saying and how they say it. Like when Borden said he didn’t know what knot he tied he was always telling the truth, because it wasn’t him, it was his brother, so he honestly didn’t know. Or when his wife Sarah knew that he didn’t mean that he loved her because it was the other brother who loved her.
Yeah. This edit was a difficult one and I went through it so many times and with each watch I was like oh…that was a clue, that was a clue etc etc. it’s so good!
The person who knotted the tie wasn’t the same person who knotted it the day before. So that person didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to tie that knot either.
The part when they go to see the Chinese magician and Angeir couldn't believe someone would dedicate their whole life to keeping up a charade but Borden saw through the whole act. He knew that was the real trick, living a fake life to fool the entire world.
Another movie that came out around the exact same time as this is "The Illusionist" starring Edward Norton. It's arguably not as amazing as this film... But it's still a great film that deserves more attention.
How frustrating it had to be that Christopher Nolan made an amazing movie about magicians and yours came out together. Totally skipped over Edward nortons and I love him but.
It took me a few watches before it dawned on me that when Borden says he doesn't know which knot he tied, he isn't lying. He really doesn't know because his brother was the one who tied it that night. It seems obvious now of course, but upon first watch, by the time you see the reveal you've been through so many twists and turns and betrayals you almost forget about that conversation entirely.
I noticed on rewatch that Albert (the twin who didn't tie the knot) is telling the truth at the funeral. But when Angier shoots Borden, the twin he shoots is Freddy (the one who did tie the knot). So Freddy is lying at that point saying he didn't know. This bugged me at first until I started reading the book (I haven't finished yet). But Borden basically says as part of his "Pact" that when he says something, no matter how crazy or stupid or misguided it is, he has to stick with it in order to keep the performance going. So in the book this is in reference to the first twin promising in his diary to reveal the secret of the transported man, to which the second twin comes along and writes the next day like "Well, I guess I'm committed to this now." And finally Freddy lying about it makes complete sense. He knows and he could say right there. But as part of the performance, he has to go along with what the other twin already said
Though it isn't my favorite Nolan film, I do think it is his best, and in fact, I think it is an actual perfect film. The dialogue, script, screenplay, pacing, sound design, performance. Literally all of it is perfect. One of my favorite scenes is when Angier breaks his leg falling below stage. When he is wincing with pain looking around and notices Borden, the performance of his change of expression is just 🤌 My favorite overall moment is the reveal that he is Lord Caldlow and he rips up Borden's secret and says, "You were always the better magician, we both know that, but whatever your secret was, i mean you have to agree - mine is better." That delivery and performance is I think the best in the whole film 🤌🤌🤌
I agree. It's the twist upon twist and every time it drops...oohhhh... i remember the first time watching, I started by lying down and by the end, I was a couch prawn focusing on every bits & pieces.
This movie was based upon the novel by the late UK writer Christopher Priest. For some reason people think Nolan came up with all of this. Priest wrote in a genre of speculative fiction called slipstream. It is a combination of multiple genres into one story. It could be any combination of science fiction, history, drama, period piece, mystery, literary novel, fantasy and more. In this case The Prestige combines these into a compelling story. Priest was a master at it.
I mean he wrote the screenplay. His adaptation was brilliant. I mean every part of it had a point, not only as an homage to magicians but its analogies to filmmaking and its story about obsession and dedication. Im sure the book is brilliant but the screen plays is equally brilliant not to mention the way the movie is shot and directed.
High Jackman is Lord Cordlo. Remember at the beginning his wife talks about him not wanting to use his family's money, as his family is back in the United States.
They don't live in the US. Angier pretended to be American to disguise his true origin. Another little nod to his ability to fool everyone when he needed to.
@houseofaction why wouldn't they live in the U.S. or at least have a portion of family that lived in the U.S., as there was high economic opportunity at the time. If this was the late 19th or earlier 20th century,Which the existence of Thomas Edison suggests.
No, the 1st time he kills the real him and the rest he kills the new clone. The clone dropps to the tank and the "real" gets transported. But the 1st time he does the trick the clone kills the orriginal.
@@russellward4624 there's literally no point putting a tank underneath the contraption if you're not killing yourself. he's killing himself over and over and over again. there is no real angier, everyone is a clone is what i think russell means.
@@sav2902 of course there is. To kill the clones. Why would he want 50 of himself running around? It's the whole point of his last words about being afraid he would be the man in the box. Why would he kill himself?
@@russellward4624 you should play the game soma it explains the concept. The one on the stage always dies other than the first time when he shoots the clone. The duplicate thinks its the original because it is a continuation of that consciousness, to them they've won every time but the machine could never transport only duplicate.
I think this movie should be taught in film school as one of the best examples of foreshadowing and twists. In the same way that they dissect magic, they're dissecting how to write a good twist. Most people and sadly a lot of writers assume that a good twist must be something that you didn't predict. To quote the Nostalgia Critic "I couldn't predict if they all turned into snowmen of George Takai, but that doesn't mean it's a good twist." Having a twist out of nowhere is not satisfying to an audience. You need to provide a twist such that if they look back on it, the pieces suddenly fit together. In the movie Sarah says "Once you know the secret it's pretty obvious" That's what makes a great twist. It's built up sufficiently that people could put it together, but the writer much like the magician employs misdirection so that most people would not go down that route. When you watch this movie after you know the twist, it's phenomenal how many clues there were both overtly and subtly. Cutter saying from the beginning that he's using a double, followed by Olivia saying "You can tell it's the same man because he wears padded gloves to hide his damaged fingers" as midirection. The Chinese magician living his act. Christian Bale's demeanor, accents, and expressions change depending on which twin he is at that time (you can actually tell pretty easily which one is which, remarkable performance on his part). Angier reading the diary and commenting on Borden having a divided mind, loving his family one moment and railing against them the next. The bird trick where one bird dies and the other one appears. The little boy saying "Where's his brother?". With Borden's diary he sometimes switches from singular to plural pronouns, I to we for instance. The one I only picked up recently is at the beginning Borden's diary says "We were two young men at the start of a great career". Of course, those are all the ones that I caught and I''m sure there are more in the cinematography. What I've noticed is that there are a number of people who guess what the twist is, but it's still satisfying nonetheless. That's what a good magic trick, or a good story for that matter should be. It needs to be dressed up, it needs to present itself in such a way that the shock factor is not the only thing carrying it. This film is a masterclass and I'm so glad people are giving it the attention it deserves
Watching this movie for the first time is awesome. However, it even better the second time.... once you know the "trick of it" you can see Nolan bashing the audience over the head with the answer again and again and AGAIN the entire movie, its wild!
Yeh and I also just realised that Nolan tells us that Fallon is the twin double by how he catches the ball before he’s brothers execution just like how he catches it in the disappearing man trick
Yeah its really creepy. This whole movie has this really heightened realism feel except for that part which is just pure horror. And actually everything outside of the Tesla part was super realistic.
Michael Caine’s character started their rivalry at the start, with his huge goldfish bowl challenge. Borden observed the old Chinese magician and understood what it takes to fool the audience. The old man was as strong as an ox, but in everyday life he pretends to be old and feeble. The dedication it takes to live like that is what Borden realised, and Angier didn’t. Angier was looking for a shortcut, while Borden worked hard every single day. The movie is easily one of my favourites, and David Bowie as Nikola Tesla was a stroke of genius.
This is probably my favorite movie, ever. Of course, I am biased, being a magician myself. It's just so well done, as are all of Nolan's films. There's a lot of historical accuracy/historical things in the movie that run parallel to actual happenings and it's wonderful to see.
I love this movie so much. I remember seeing this in the theater and I felt so dumb for not seeing the truth of the Prestige because Nolan is telling you throughout the entire movie. The structure of the movie is really brilliantly done by Nolan. This is why Nolan is my favorite filmmaker.
I forgot about when Bale first meets his wife, the crying boy with her who is upset about the bird trick. When Bale lets the bird go to calm him down and fails, the boy says it was the birds brother.
This and Inception for me are equally great/grand. Although the theme song for Oppenheimer just resonates in my brain sometimes. The guy is a real genius. I just adore his work.
Great reaction like always, love this movie, perfect performances, a great twist, its not too long, its alinear but not confusing, incredible writing and it ends so powerfully. If you're really paying attention the sympathetic protagonist switches places... and it's such a powerful character study in obsession, sacrifice and lies. And when you rewatch it one day, all the subtle clues placed along its runtime are revealed. Like, Alfred being the one to immediately spot the Chinese magicians secret - because he and his twin brother are doing a similar performance, whenever they are in public. Their real life off the stage IS the performance. In the opening shot is of identical copies of Angier's top hat in a glade, followed by a shot of caged canaries in Borden's workshop. Thus the film's central conflict is spelled out: Vlones vs. Twins. There are some fun-facts about this movie. It jumps back and forth across the narrative timeline throughout its runtime. There’s a grand total of 146 time jumps, either jumping earlier in the timeline or ahead into the future. Taking into account the film’s runtime, This movie has an average of one time jump per minute. The line “I Know What You Are” was ad-libbed by Rebecca Hall, Hall improvised it, and initially felt bad about it because she worried she’d given away the twist ending. However, Christopher Nolan liked it and left it in the movie. Chung Ling Soo was a stage character created by William Ellsworth Robinson, a white man 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. There is doubt about his last words. They were either "My God, I've been shot" or "Oh my God. Something's happened. Lower the curtain." Either way they were both his last words and the first English he had spoken on stage in nineteen years. The word "prestige" originally meant a trick, from the Latin "praestigium", meaning "illusion". The main characters' initials spell "ABRA" (Alfred Borden Robert Angier), as in abracadabra, a common word used by magicians. When Alley (Andy Serkis) is introduced, he makes a reference to a magic trick in which one person guesses the item in a person's pocket. The same trick fooled Serkis' character Gollum in The Hobbit. And in the scene when Julia dies no one performs CPR because it wasn't invented until the 1950s, meanwhile the move takes place in the late 1800s. Keep up the good work.
44:26 He doesn't really kill his own clones. He lets the clone kill him and the clone continues living as him. The following clones sacrifice themselves every time they make a new clone. If he planned to kill his clones every time he does it, the clones would never do the trick. Because they'd have the same reason to live as he does. He has to give up his life every time he does the trick. That's what Tesla meant when he said that he had to give up everything.
while its true the one that steps into the machine dies, none of the clones realize this. they just don't know if they are the original or not. not realizinng the machine doesn't transport them it just creats them
Kudos to Achara, she figured that out so early. She’s obviously a lot smarter than me who was completely surprised by the reveal at the end! When I rewatched it years later with my parents, it seemed so obvious and I was so stressed thinking they’d guess what was happening but they never did.
Wow, very perceptive of Achara to "know". I remember watching this and being totally surprised. I guess there are people that think when they watch movies but I get so "dragged" into movies when I like them I just follow along. I have to watch movies several times before I see the twists and hidden things. Are there others here that simply turn off their mind when being engrossed in a movie? I can't be the only one that automatically just switches off at the cinema?😂
True when watching a good movie I turn of my turn of my logical mind and just enjoy the ride. However when they don't hide the twist very well or present " facts or science" that are obvious crap i can't keep it up. The cloning in this movie I let slide because there are so many myths surrounding Nicolai Tesla that their story wasn't too far fetched for movie magic.
Me too Just like M.Caine says i don't want to know I will never forget the excitement and confusion i felt when i saw the reveal the first time Why would i want to search for it if it makes me love an art much more
@@ianjardine7324 i remember being so invested in the tesla story and trying to figure out wtf was happening there. Is it clones? Is it actors wtf is happening? I just invested there that I forgot everything else so when a rwin appeared I was totally blindsided!
@@bibek12332 yeah same. I don't know why it happens but if the movie grabs me I'm totally along for the ride... I've tried to go to a movie and being like i'm gonna be "aware". Example The Vvytch there isn't that complicated but I was so absorbed in the ominous feelin' to me watching it the first time I was blown away. I get the themes and structure but it doesn't matter. When the credits hits you're coming out of a "trance".
Some people are just naturally smarter, I guess. The "surprise" in this one was super easy to predict given that the Fallon character looked super weird (like weariong prosthetics), yet still a bit like Bale, and he also was mysteriously quiet for the whole movie for no aparent reason. It migh have been one of the easiest "twists" to guess in cinema history, to be honest, due to how forced (and, therefore, suspicious) that character was the whole time.
A great film to watch back to back with "The Illusionist" of the same year. Both great and about magic but not the same. We loved these films. The films Nolan made between Batman films. This one was between "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight." Then "Inception" and The Dark Knight Rises."All great and completely different to eachother.
Amazing film The Prestige written and directed by Christopher Nolan starring Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine, Piper Perabo, Rebecca Hall, David Bowie and Andy Serkis. Thank you guys great reaction excellent👍👍👍👍👍
U can have your dark knight and oppenheimer and inception and interstellar. This is my best Nolan's film. Love it. The protagonist turns out to be the antagonist and vice versa. Wow, mind blown everytime
I saw this film in theatres with my grandmother in 2006 and during the scene with the bird trick where the Canary dies and the kid is crying, he says "But what about his brother" I turned to my grandmother and said he has a twin. I'm not sure exactly how that clicked so easily for me in that moment but I was very happy when it turned out to be an accurate guess and my grandmother kept asking me how I figured it out haha. Also this movie has maybe one of my favourite lines with the "Any last words... Abra Kadabra" line, so good!
I was both impressed, happy, and a little sad that you figured it out pretty soon. XD It made the reveal, or Prestige, a little less of an OH SHIT moment, but i still very much enjoyed watching you puzzle it all together. Guess it is what happens when you know a lot about story structure and telling a story. :D
Such a great movie. Seen it at least 100 times lol. Doing that trick definitely took a toll on him. He knew every time whomever ended up in the box was a dead man. He was in the box every time. Trippy
When asked about “which knot did you tie?” And he replied “I don’t know”. Makes you think was it coz his brother tied the knot, that’s why he doesn’t know which knot it was 😮
26:43 in the notion that he and geniusly had his double play his other self just to see how he is treated based on the fact that it's not just similarity of looks but attitude and quality of character. Even his own wife didn't recognize which was his real husband sitting next to her and asked to escort the woman who isn't his wife home to save embarrassment. But they were always seeing that something happening behind he scenes was sometimes worth it sometimes not
"Now, you're looking for the secret. But you won't find it because, of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out. You want to be fooled." - this monologue right at the end is given with scenes of the "clone" hats on the ground, the ambiguous Danton silhouettes inside the tanks and finally the ONE "clone" of Angiers. Here Nolan is speaking directly to us, those of us that think the trick has been revealed at the end of the movie are being misdirected. The trick for us wasn't the borden twins. We hear this monologue once more at the beginning of the film too but there's a part that comes right before it. "The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary" - the TURN in this film is Angiers diary. Everything in that diary is a fiction or a ruse, so all of the Colorado scenes, the Nikola Tesla scenes, cloning scenes are made up while Angiers is plotting his revenge. Tesla's machine in Angiers diary is the something extraordinary. - "But here, at the TURN, I must leave you Borden. Yes, you, Borden, sitting there in your cell, awaiting your death. For my murder." Watch the movie again, this time keeping in mind that Angiers diary is a misdirection so all scenes associated with the narration of the diary are very likely fabricated. In the world of magic, everything is illusion. There is no "real" magic and so while you're keeping yourselves distracted, adamant that tesla's machine is "real"....... "you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out. You want to be fooled."
Both the film and the novel are favorites of mine in their respective genres. They are major accomplishments in utilizing the strengths and limitations of their mediums to fulfill the demands of telling this story.. Christopher Priest had as his challenge in writing his novel of employing a first person narrator telling the tale in each magician's voice. So, like the film (adapted from the novel by brother Jonathan Nolan), methods of writing for sleight of hand and diversion are employed, resulting in an odd, mysterious syntax and presentation. In the novel, more back-story to the characters are given, again, amazingly while avoiding reveals. I adore the film for many reasons: It's an excellent period reconstruction, the casting and performances are superb, its fractured time-structuring engage and distract, its blend of history and fantasy are believable, all resulting in satisfying thrills and drama. Yet- the novel provides even more that isn't present in the film due to it being excised completely or changed to something different. Most noticeably, and regrettably, (though I do understand why, I think), the front and back bookend portions of the novel were left out completely. This framing device, set in the present time period involving one descendent of each magician give the story another layer. But what ends up being the real casualty of this excision is the removed whole last section, a truly chilling gothic horror exploration involving the Prestige. I could detail other specifics of noticeable differences between the two, a major one being to swap out the one, early motivating event which sets off the whole chain for a different event, and why that might have been done, but...I'd just say, both film and original novel are high on my list, admirable, involving, and worth it absolutely. And like with Nolan, you may just end up checking out more of Christ Priest's oeuvre afterwards.
41:34 I can't believe it... she figured it out. 😅(Back then we had no idea what the twist would be but this was long before the era of youtube reaction videos. The twin thing was an option but after he lost his fingers I ruled it out.)
I mean she was constantly clocking the clues from the start. You'd see her watch a few scenes and you can see her catching some clues in her eyes then constantly asking Jaby if she got it right while he lied lol. Yeah I was impressed because I remembered when this film came out and was really Popular and nobody was catching it right away on first watch and definitely not as immediately...more towards the end right before its revealed a lot of people will go hey wait a second hes a twin. And his brother dressing up as an assistant was a huge give away but then with the fingers you doubt it..But her she was all over it from the jump.
Well guess Jaby & I have something in common - Because I have been hoping that Achara reacts to this film in particular also. Cause i think she will love it almost as much as i do. This film has a very important life lesson about obbession and knowing when to let go and chose love instead of personal glory. Kinda like a FAMILY MAN with Nick Cage.
Yeah you do. This film is constantly giving you huge nods to the big mystery but its also has a lot of subtext because each man has found love with a beautiful wonderful woman that they've become oblivious too and Hugh Jackman's character in particular throws away Scarlett Johansson's character when he could have just lived happily ever after with her. Its just such an interesting story but also interesting filmmaking the way it jumps around
Talking about the woman diying: in Inception, Cobb's dead wife is haunting him in his dreams for the entire movie and she is basically the mistery at the heart of the movie in more than one way. Great commentary at the end and confronting the Nolan brothers to the two main characters. Bravo!
Just to answer some questions, Hugh Jackmans character when talking to his wife alludes to his rich family and them not approving of his decision to be a magician, so he is a lord and his other name was an alias. Also the surviving brother is the same one who we saw tell the other to leave it alone and not try to figure out the trick anymore which the other refused and thus got framed so he's pretty clean at the end
Once you think about it, the most tragic thing here is the fact that, after all that cloning, the man that Borden kills isn't even the man who started this whole rivalry in the first place. I am very impressed with Achara catching the twist SO EARLY, too.
I find it interesting how Hugh Jackman clones himself. Then dies by being dropped and trapped in a tank of water and after that each clone clones themselves and then dies but each clone thinks they are the original. I also find it interesting that Hugh Jackman's character didn't think about this, having seen how the machine works.
I say this on almost every reaction I watch of this movie. My favorite detail to this film is how Angier and Borden are character foils of Edison and Tesla. Showmanship with less skill versus genius with no stage presence.
Watching this back, i realise that Borden's twin brother never wanted to be a part of the whole magic feud in the first place. He hated it and he was the one who ended up dying. Borden really wasn't a good guy
The one who died was the hot headed one who tied the knot and yelled at his twin about figuring out the tesla tric and was buried then drunk at the dinner. The survivor was the 1st to say he didn't know which knot "he" tied and said "we're done, leave Angier to his trick" My impression was the..cooler headed one didn't want this fues
You have to give Achara A LOT of credit and really sussed it all out so quickly and picked up on lots of the hints despite Jaby lying to her constantly.
This is a great underrated Nolan gem. Plus Bale, Jackman, Johansson,Caine, Hall, and RIP Bowie plus everyone really. This was The Dark Knight times, always wondered if even though based on a book if this was a Riddler story they couldn't make work for Bats, and restructured it ?
Yes and the performances, ESPECIALLY Bale:s...He did such an incredible job but that most don't really even catch right away. I mean he plays two men with distinctly different personalities trying to hide that fact and be like the other person both in love with being magicians and the success but both tormented with the secret and living half a life. As a layperson it sounds incredibly difficult but he pulled it off really well.
one of the best movies, ever...a very complex storyline that is completely easy to follow, and makes complete sense in the end (like the secret to a great magic trick)...(see what they did there?...)...
I'm convinced in the ending scene when Borden looks back to all the tanks, he's realizing that he can clone himself and essentially bring his brother back.
there's a take on this trope in one of Sherlock Holmes' books, where Holmes takes himself out on purpose by injecting himself with a toxin to mimic the effects of another toxin used by the villain to try and take him out. Holmes, being the chad he was, spots the booby-trap, disassembles it, duplicates the poison, and lets himself die while the villain is in the room with him, only to have Lestrade catch him red-handed, and Watson revive Holmes with the antidote. naturally he walks out of the room to meet the villain and the guy was like "But... you were dead! HOW!"... and Holmes is like "The best way to play a role is to _become_ it"
What's tragically poetic about the finale is that Angier essentially died the night his wife drowned in the beginning, and his greatest trick is to relieve that very night over and over, and over again, drowning each time just like the love of his life. His humanity died with her.
The first shot of the movie is all the hats outside Tesla's lab, with "The Prestige" literally written over them. The film gives its twist away from the very first shot and no one notices. So damn good!!
the little boy at the beginning literally says "where's his brother?"
wow i never put that together
@@jasonh908 brilliant, isn't it? you shrug it off because it just sounds like something a kid would say, but it's the exact secret. so cool.
@@jeffleftjustified
Because we don't look closely we want to be fooled
Also the reason he knew how the Chinese man did his fishbowl trick because he himself had to live his own trick.
@@jasonh908 borden twins: "but where's his brother?" this line from sarah's nephew foreshadows the borden twins' upbringing.
angier's clones: alfred borden's statement, "today you get to be the lucky one," addressed to the surviving bird from the cage trick, foreshadows angier's unpleasant predicament with his clones.
twins' trick: borden: "no one else can do my trick." angier: "any trick can be duplicated." angier does so both figuratively and literally.
devotion to art: borden says, "this is why no one can detect his method-total devotion to his art. a lot of self-sacrifice." foreshadowing the twins' devotion to their own craft.
"Have I solved the Prestige?"
"..........no"
Achara had in fact solved the prestige
Yeah she figured it out pretty early.
The way she keyed in on the wife not believing him was eerily good
@@ceezyjeffezy2213 It really is not that much of mystery you can clearly see that Felon was Christen Bell in disguise. Tesla cloning device was the real cool thing about this movie.
Only partly. What I like about it is that it still has questions about the “how” up until the end. When it becomes more painfully obvious that it’s a double, the concept of cloning has been introduced and we know that Borden had some previous interaction with Tesla. So it almost seems MORE plausible that it was a clone of him, not just simply that they’re twins that have been living a double life the entire time. You could still lean towards the latter, but at least there’s a bit more ambiguity keeping some of the mystery alive until the end.
@@hectic105 nah. Tesla wasn’t introduced in Borden’s act until long after he had killed Angiers wife. The old Chinese man was a dead give away that Michael Caine was right and Angiers was too stubborn to believe him.
Yes and also understanding how the 3 acts of the film exactly mimmic the 3 acts of a magic trick, that the movie was a giant magic trick, if I'm honest I had to rewatch this this movie to understand that.
The most under-appreciated Nolan film.
That would be Insomnia (2002)
Is it actually though? Every single person I know that's seen this film praises it.
@@BrandonWestfall the people I’ve seen that praise Nolan’s films, never mention this film. Ever.
@@parsman9914I see this film mentioned all the time, not sure what you’re on about.
Every one mentions it dude..it is the popular 'underrated ' type flim in the audiences😂
Achara, "I think they're twins..."
Everyone else, "Ummmmmmm.....damn!"
Exactly…!!! 🤣🤣🤣
The reason she figured it out was because Jaby asked her what the ending would be. He took her out of the trick and she formulated a theory. If you watch the movie alone, even though you kinda get the identity of Fallon you choose to ignore it as you are enthralled with the show.
Whats really brilliant of this movie is that "they were twins all along" was never disguised, it was always there, its just that the premise that the Twins would stay in perfect act their entire life was too absurd to accept.
Thats the trick though right? To hide something in plain sight, something so absurd our minds wouldn't clock it. Then dress it up with enough drama and misdirection. The movie in and of itself is a magic trick
Nolan understands a good twist have to make sense when u look back all the hidden details, Shamalyn’s twist is tacky cuz he comes up with the twist then tried to form a story around it
Hugh Jackman's character was always Lord Caldlow, that explains the amount of money he got to spend and he mentioned to his wife that his family was ashamed of him being a magician so he got himself a new identity to perform (Angier), and as he died and there were witnesses he had to go back home as if it nothing had happened.
Finally, someone actually pointed that out.
That opening monologue always gives me chills. Top tier Nolan foreshadowing
My favorite fact about this movie is that in the book, it's Albert and Frederick Borden. Albert + Frederick = Al | Fred, Alfred.
When Borden gives Sarah the key to the house, that's Albert. When Borden fights with Sarah at dinner with Olivia (when Olivia calls him 'Freddy'), that's Frederick.
If you keep in mind that Albert loves Sarah and Frederick loves Olivia, the movie will often tell you which brother you're watching. Every time Borden tells Sarah he loves her and she says that he doesn't mean it, it's the movie saying, "This is Frederick." Every time Borden is suspicious of or rude to Olivia, the movie is saying, "This is Albert."
And in the scene where Borden (I'm guessing it's Frederick; he seems to be more aggressive and hot headed) yells, "Why can't you outthink him," the movie never shows who he was talking to. Because the other brother (Albert, who seems more sensitive and more of a thinker, and who I also believe is the one who went to Julia's funeral), isn't dressed up as Fallon.
The coolest part of all this is when Borden (Frederick) is in prison and Fallon (Albert) comes to visit right before the imprisoned one is executed, the one in prison throws the other one his rubber ball. They're doing The Transported Man for the very last time.
They've LITERALLY been planning The Transported Man for their entire lives.
correction they are born Alfred and Frederick borden they unified their name into Albert, the unified singular personality they go by in public is ALBERT not Alfred
and when freddy is yelling, why can't you out think him they literally show Alfred dressed as FALLON the reason freddy is saying that to Alfred is because alfred is the better magician
@@houseofactionNope. Sorry. Their stage name is Alfred Borden, The Professor.
There’s not a magician I’ve seen in interviews who doesn’t swear by this movie. I remember when Hugh Jackman was a guest on Jay Leno, the next guest was an illusionist and he told Hugh that The Prestige is the best magician movie ever made.
It has been noted though that not all magic tricks need to have 3 acts, they can end with 2.
Penn Jillette thought all the magic stuff was wrong. Its in one of those "Magician reacts" videos.
@@Ksouel Penn JIllette is kind of a load though.
He also disagrees with the conceit that magic tricks should make the audience wonder if they might really be magic. He is a skeptic through and through, to the point that he thinks it's a little immoral to deceive people like that, so know that he's coming at it from that angle. He always wants it to be clear, as part of the construction and framing of the trick, that there's some secret technique under the hood.
And you might say "Well everyone knows they're not real," and no, not everyone does. People can get caught up in it and believe it, especially with illusionists like Criss Angel. So yeah, that's where Penn's coming from. You can agree or disagree with him, but I just wanted to give context. @@KS-xk2so
This film still has some of the greatest twists I have ever seen in movie history. And when you rewatch it you see the even deeper meanings to what everyone is saying and how they say it.
Like when Borden said he didn’t know what knot he tied he was always telling the truth, because it wasn’t him, it was his brother, so he honestly didn’t know. Or when his wife Sarah knew that he didn’t mean that he loved her because it was the other brother who loved her.
Yeah. This edit was a difficult one and I went through it so many times and with each watch I was like oh…that was a clue, that was a clue etc etc. it’s so good!
@@Achara the Nolan brothers are those once in a generation geniuses.
A lot like fight club or hot fuzz each watch reveals more and more you missed before.
The person who knotted the tie wasn’t the same person who knotted it the day before. So that person didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to tie that knot either.
Why he couldn't simply ask his brother what tie did he knot?
The part when they go to see the Chinese magician and Angeir couldn't believe someone would dedicate their whole life to keeping up a charade but Borden saw through the whole act. He knew that was the real trick, living a fake life to fool the entire world.
Awesome editing of the dramatic movie parts, and her reactions. And she is so smart! Well done look forward to more.
David Bowie as Nikola Tesla is the cherry on top of this mind bending sundae. Elite Nolan
One of my favorite castings in a Nolan film. Bowie was so brilliant in that role.
Another movie that came out around the exact same time as this is "The Illusionist" starring Edward Norton.
It's arguably not as amazing as this film... But it's still a great film that deserves more attention.
How frustrating it had to be that Christopher Nolan made an amazing movie about magicians and yours came out together. Totally skipped over Edward nortons and I love him but.
@@jamesprime7932 I love them both... The Prestige is great! But so is The Illusionist.
It took me a few watches before it dawned on me that when Borden says he doesn't know which knot he tied, he isn't lying. He really doesn't know because his brother was the one who tied it that night. It seems obvious now of course, but upon first watch, by the time you see the reveal you've been through so many twists and turns and betrayals you almost forget about that conversation entirely.
I noticed on rewatch that Albert (the twin who didn't tie the knot) is telling the truth at the funeral. But when Angier shoots Borden, the twin he shoots is Freddy (the one who did tie the knot). So Freddy is lying at that point saying he didn't know.
This bugged me at first until I started reading the book (I haven't finished yet). But Borden basically says as part of his "Pact" that when he says something, no matter how crazy or stupid or misguided it is, he has to stick with it in order to keep the performance going. So in the book this is in reference to the first twin promising in his diary to reveal the secret of the transported man, to which the second twin comes along and writes the next day like "Well, I guess I'm committed to this now."
And finally Freddy lying about it makes complete sense. He knows and he could say right there. But as part of the performance, he has to go along with what the other twin already said
I love when they zoom in on Jaby’s reactions as he catches the implications you can only catch when you know how it ends.
Lol right hes tryna hold it all in lol
Though it isn't my favorite Nolan film, I do think it is his best, and in fact, I think it is an actual perfect film. The dialogue, script, screenplay, pacing, sound design, performance. Literally all of it is perfect. One of my favorite scenes is when Angier breaks his leg falling below stage. When he is wincing with pain looking around and notices Borden, the performance of his change of expression is just 🤌 My favorite overall moment is the reveal that he is Lord Caldlow and he rips up Borden's secret and says, "You were always the better magician, we both know that, but whatever your secret was, i mean you have to agree - mine is better." That delivery and performance is I think the best in the whole film 🤌🤌🤌
I agree. It's the twist upon twist and every time it drops...oohhhh... i remember the first time watching, I started by lying down and by the end, I was a couch prawn focusing on every bits & pieces.
I agree. This for me, along with Memento, are Nolan's finest work. I can watch it several times and catch something different on each viewing.
This movie was based upon the novel by the late UK writer Christopher Priest. For some reason people think Nolan came up with all of this. Priest wrote in a genre of speculative fiction called slipstream. It is a combination of multiple genres into one story. It could be any combination of science fiction, history, drama, period piece, mystery, literary novel, fantasy and more. In this case The Prestige combines these into a compelling story. Priest was a master at it.
I mean he wrote the screenplay. His adaptation was brilliant. I mean every part of it had a point, not only as an homage to magicians but its analogies to filmmaking and its story about obsession and dedication. Im sure the book is brilliant but the screen plays is equally brilliant not to mention the way the movie is shot and directed.
High Jackman is Lord Cordlo. Remember at the beginning his wife talks about him not wanting to use his family's money, as his family is back in the United States.
why would a british noble family live in the u.s? the u.s has no noble families his family are british and its Caldlow
I’ve loved this movie since it came out and didn’t pick up on this till a few years ago.
They don't live in the US. Angier pretended to be American to disguise his true origin. Another little nod to his ability to fool everyone when he needed to.
@houseofaction why wouldn't they live in the U.S. or at least have a portion of family that lived in the U.S., as there was high economic opportunity at the time. If this was the late 19th or earlier 20th century,Which the existence of Thomas Edison suggests.
RIP David Bowie, you and Nikola Tesla are both legendary!
The clone is always the one in the Prestige. Angiers didn't kill a clone every night, he killed himself.
No, the 1st time he kills the real him and the rest he kills the new clone. The clone dropps to the tank and the "real" gets transported. But the 1st time he does the trick the clone kills the orriginal.
@@russellward4624 there's literally no point putting a tank underneath the contraption if you're not killing yourself. he's killing himself over and over and over again. there is no real angier, everyone is a clone is what i think russell means.
@@sav2902 of course there is. To kill the clones. Why would he want 50 of himself running around? It's the whole point of his last words about being afraid he would be the man in the box. Why would he kill himself?
He has a freakin' machine that creates perfect duplicates! That is magnitudes beyond any transport trick!
@@russellward4624 you should play the game soma it explains the concept. The one on the stage always dies other than the first time when he shoots the clone. The duplicate thinks its the original because it is a continuation of that consciousness, to them they've won every time but the machine could never transport only duplicate.
I think this movie should be taught in film school as one of the best examples of foreshadowing and twists. In the same way that they dissect magic, they're dissecting how to write a good twist.
Most people and sadly a lot of writers assume that a good twist must be something that you didn't predict. To quote the Nostalgia Critic "I couldn't predict if they all turned into snowmen of George Takai, but that doesn't mean it's a good twist." Having a twist out of nowhere is not satisfying to an audience. You need to provide a twist such that if they look back on it, the pieces suddenly fit together. In the movie Sarah says "Once you know the secret it's pretty obvious" That's what makes a great twist. It's built up sufficiently that people could put it together, but the writer much like the magician employs misdirection so that most people would not go down that route.
When you watch this movie after you know the twist, it's phenomenal how many clues there were both overtly and subtly. Cutter saying from the beginning that he's using a double, followed by Olivia saying "You can tell it's the same man because he wears padded gloves to hide his damaged fingers" as midirection. The Chinese magician living his act. Christian Bale's demeanor, accents, and expressions change depending on which twin he is at that time (you can actually tell pretty easily which one is which, remarkable performance on his part). Angier reading the diary and commenting on Borden having a divided mind, loving his family one moment and railing against them the next. The bird trick where one bird dies and the other one appears. The little boy saying "Where's his brother?". With Borden's diary he sometimes switches from singular to plural pronouns, I to we for instance. The one I only picked up recently is at the beginning Borden's diary says "We were two young men at the start of a great career". Of course, those are all the ones that I caught and I''m sure there are more in the cinematography.
What I've noticed is that there are a number of people who guess what the twist is, but it's still satisfying nonetheless. That's what a good magic trick, or a good story for that matter should be. It needs to be dressed up, it needs to present itself in such a way that the shock factor is not the only thing carrying it. This film is a masterclass and I'm so glad people are giving it the attention it deserves
Watching this movie for the first time is awesome. However, it even better the second time.... once you know the "trick of it" you can see Nolan bashing the audience over the head with the answer again and again and AGAIN the entire movie, its wild!
Yeh and I also just realised that Nolan tells us that Fallon is the twin double by how he catches the ball before he’s brothers execution just like how he catches it in the disappearing man trick
It still give me goosebumps when it show the dead bodies in the tank.
Yeah its really creepy. This whole movie has this really heightened realism feel except for that part which is just pure horror. And actually everything outside of the Tesla part was super realistic.
Michael Caine’s character started their rivalry at the start, with his huge goldfish bowl challenge. Borden observed the old Chinese magician and understood what it takes to fool the audience. The old man was as strong as an ox, but in everyday life he pretends to be old and feeble. The dedication it takes to live like that is what Borden realised, and Angier didn’t. Angier was looking for a shortcut, while Borden worked hard every single day. The movie is easily one of my favourites, and David Bowie as Nikola Tesla was a stroke of genius.
Agreed
One of my favorite movies!
Same
This is probably my favorite movie, ever. Of course, I am biased, being a magician myself. It's just so well done, as are all of Nolan's films. There's a lot of historical accuracy/historical things in the movie that run parallel to actual happenings and it's wonderful to see.
One of my little brothers is a huge Christopher Nolan fan and this is his favorite movie.
One of the most underrated Nolan movies. Everyone talks about Insomnia and Memento and Interstellar but this is peak Nolan.
I love this movie so much. I remember seeing this in the theater and I felt so dumb for not seeing the truth of the Prestige because Nolan is telling you throughout the entire movie. The structure of the movie is really brilliantly done by Nolan. This is why Nolan is my favorite filmmaker.
I forgot about when Bale first meets his wife, the crying boy with her who is upset about the bird trick. When Bale lets the bird go to calm him down and fails, the boy says it was the birds brother.
This movie and the one with Edward Norton are my favorite magician movies
This is my favorite Nolan movie, it's just perfect
This and Inception for me are equally great/grand. Although the theme song for Oppenheimer just resonates in my brain sometimes. The guy is a real genius. I just adore his work.
Great reaction like always, love this movie, perfect performances, a great twist, its not too long, its alinear but not confusing, incredible writing and it ends so powerfully. If you're really paying attention the sympathetic protagonist switches places... and it's such a powerful character study in obsession, sacrifice and lies. And when you rewatch it one day, all the subtle clues placed along its runtime are revealed. Like, Alfred being the one to immediately spot the Chinese magicians secret - because he and his twin brother are doing a similar performance, whenever they are in public. Their real life off the stage IS the performance. In the opening shot is of identical copies of Angier's top hat in a glade, followed by a shot of caged canaries in Borden's workshop. Thus the film's central conflict is spelled out: Vlones vs. Twins.
There are some fun-facts about this movie. It jumps back and forth across the narrative timeline throughout its runtime. There’s a grand total of 146 time jumps, either jumping earlier in the timeline or ahead into the future. Taking into account the film’s runtime, This movie has an average of one time jump per minute.
The line “I Know What You Are” was ad-libbed by Rebecca Hall, Hall improvised it, and initially felt bad about it because she worried she’d given away the twist ending. However, Christopher Nolan liked it and left it in the movie.
Chung Ling Soo was a stage character created by William Ellsworth Robinson, a white man 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. There is doubt about his last words. They were either "My God, I've been shot" or "Oh my God. Something's happened. Lower the curtain." Either way they were both his last words and the first English he had spoken on stage in nineteen years.
The word "prestige" originally meant a trick, from the Latin "praestigium", meaning "illusion". The main characters' initials spell "ABRA" (Alfred Borden Robert Angier), as in abracadabra, a common word used by magicians. When Alley (Andy Serkis) is introduced, he makes a reference to a magic trick in which one person guesses the item in a person's pocket. The same trick fooled Serkis' character Gollum in The Hobbit. And in the scene when Julia dies no one performs CPR because it wasn't invented until the 1950s, meanwhile the move takes place in the late 1800s. Keep up the good work.
Not to brag but from the first moment I saw Fallon’s face I knew it was Christian Bale under there:)
I thoroughly loved it, especially your conversation at the end.
Every stage performer gets what Jackman was telling in the last scene. And you could see in Acharas eyes she understood it right away too.
@16:48 Tesla is the reason we all use AC power in out homes... If it was up to Edison... We would be running DC power for *everything*.
44:26 He doesn't really kill his own clones. He lets the clone kill him and the clone continues living as him. The following clones sacrifice themselves every time they make a new clone. If he planned to kill his clones every time he does it, the clones would never do the trick. Because they'd have the same reason to live as he does. He has to give up his life every time he does the trick. That's what Tesla meant when he said that he had to give up everything.
while its true the one that steps into the machine dies, none of the clones realize this. they just don't know if they are the original or not. not realizinng the machine doesn't transport them it just creats them
@@houseofaction they do know because they have the memories of the original
Wow achara figured out pretty quickly
RIGHT!! Lol
she didnt figure out everything
Brilliant film! Every time I rewatch this film, I always pick up new things that I missed before!
Incredible film. Layers upon layers
Kudos to Achara, she figured that out so early. She’s obviously a lot smarter than me who was completely surprised by the reveal at the end! When I rewatched it years later with my parents, it seemed so obvious and I was so stressed thinking they’d guess what was happening but they never did.
This is my favorite Nolan movie, which is saying a lot given his extensive catalog.
Wow, very perceptive of Achara to "know". I remember watching this and being totally surprised.
I guess there are people that think when they watch movies but I get so "dragged" into movies when I like them I just follow along. I have to watch movies several times before I see the twists and hidden things.
Are there others here that simply turn off their mind when being engrossed in a movie? I can't be the only one that automatically just switches off at the cinema?😂
True when watching a good movie I turn of my turn of my logical mind and just enjoy the ride. However when they don't hide the twist very well or present " facts or science" that are obvious crap i can't keep it up. The cloning in this movie I let slide because there are so many myths surrounding Nicolai Tesla that their story wasn't too far fetched for movie magic.
Me too
Just like M.Caine says i don't want to know
I will never forget the excitement and confusion i felt when i saw the reveal the first time
Why would i want to search for it if it makes me love an art much more
@@ianjardine7324 i remember being so invested in the tesla story and trying to figure out wtf was happening there. Is it clones? Is it actors wtf is happening?
I just invested there that I forgot everything else so when a rwin appeared I was totally blindsided!
@@bibek12332 yeah same. I don't know why it happens but if the movie grabs me I'm totally along for the ride...
I've tried to go to a movie and being like i'm gonna be "aware". Example The Vvytch there isn't that complicated but I was so absorbed in the ominous feelin' to me watching it the first time I was blown away. I get the themes and structure but it doesn't matter. When the credits hits you're coming out of a "trance".
Some people are just naturally smarter, I guess. The "surprise" in this one was super easy to predict given that the Fallon character looked super weird (like weariong prosthetics), yet still a bit like Bale, and he also was mysteriously quiet for the whole movie for no aparent reason. It migh have been one of the easiest "twists" to guess in cinema history, to be honest, due to how forced (and, therefore, suspicious) that character was the whole time.
A great film to watch back to back with "The Illusionist" of the same year. Both great and about magic but not the same. We loved these films. The films Nolan made between Batman films. This one was between "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight." Then "Inception" and The Dark Knight Rises."All great and completely different to eachother.
My favourite Christopher Nolan movie.. Even with knowing the plot twists it is still amazing to watch..
You too are great reactors. Very natural, nothing forced. 👍
Jackman played the two characters flawlessly. Became a fan of his after this film. Wolverine vs. Batman... let's go!
I think Batman wins that if there is *any* planning before hand...
If it's a spur of the moment fight... Wolverine wins.
Amazing film The Prestige written and directed by Christopher Nolan starring Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine, Piper Perabo, Rebecca Hall, David Bowie and Andy Serkis. Thank you guys great reaction excellent👍👍👍👍👍
The twist with Tesla’s machine, reminds me of a game called Soma.
U can have your dark knight and oppenheimer and inception and interstellar. This is my best Nolan's film. Love it. The protagonist turns out to be the antagonist and vice versa. Wow, mind blown everytime
You got to watch 3:10 to Yuma for Christian Bale and Les Misérables for Hugh Jackman, with the added bonus of seeing Russell Crowe in both films.
I love the use of the bird trick. It’s such brilliant symmetry. It tells you from the beginning that one must die as it’s replaced by another.
I saw this film in theatres with my grandmother in 2006 and during the scene with the bird trick where the Canary dies and the kid is crying, he says "But what about his brother" I turned to my grandmother and said he has a twin. I'm not sure exactly how that clicked so easily for me in that moment but I was very happy when it turned out to be an accurate guess and my grandmother kept asking me how I figured it out haha. Also this movie has maybe one of my favourite lines with the "Any last words... Abra Kadabra" line, so good!
I love this movie. The only issue I ever had was that I was able to see through Fallon's stage makeup almost immediately.
I saw this twice in the cinema, loved it so much
I was both impressed, happy, and a little sad that you figured it out pretty soon. XD It made the reveal, or Prestige, a little less of an OH SHIT moment, but i still very much enjoyed watching you puzzle it all together. Guess it is what happens when you know a lot about story structure and telling a story. :D
18:30 Yes! Thank you! Most reactors don't know who is portraying Tesla.
Such a great movie. Seen it at least 100 times lol. Doing that trick definitely took a toll on him. He knew every time whomever ended up in the box was a dead man. He was in the box every time. Trippy
6:01 Did he just refer to Piper Perabo as Parappa the Rapper? I'm dying☠☠☠
When asked about “which knot did you tie?” And he replied “I don’t know”. Makes you think was it coz his brother tied the knot, that’s why he doesn’t know which knot it was 😮
Achara is very astute and figured it out early on 👏👏👏
26:43 in the notion that he and geniusly had his double play his other self just to see how he is treated based on the fact that it's not just similarity of looks but attitude and quality of character. Even his own wife didn't recognize which was his real husband sitting next to her and asked to escort the woman who isn't his wife home to save embarrassment. But they were always seeing that something happening behind he scenes was sometimes worth it sometimes not
Today, Jaby’s wish comes true. Achara says yes... to watching The Prestige 😂❤
Jfc....I could watch Michael Caine read his shopping list out loud and still be enthralled by his performance, the man is awesome.
THIS MOVIE IS ONE OF MY TOP 10 SOMETIMES TOP 5- TOP 3. It’s fantastic!!
"Now, you're looking for the secret. But you won't find it because, of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out. You want to be fooled."
- this monologue right at the end is given with scenes of the "clone" hats on the ground, the ambiguous Danton silhouettes inside the tanks and finally the ONE "clone" of Angiers.
Here Nolan is speaking directly to us, those of us that think the trick has been revealed at the end of the movie are being misdirected.
The trick for us wasn't the borden twins.
We hear this monologue once more at the beginning of the film too but there's a part that comes right before it.
"The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary"
- the TURN in this film is Angiers diary. Everything in that diary is a fiction or a ruse, so all of the Colorado scenes, the Nikola Tesla scenes, cloning scenes are made up while Angiers is plotting his revenge. Tesla's machine in Angiers diary is the something extraordinary.
- "But here, at the TURN, I must leave you Borden. Yes, you, Borden, sitting there in your cell, awaiting your death. For my murder."
Watch the movie again, this time keeping in mind that Angiers diary is a misdirection so all scenes associated with the narration of the diary are very likely fabricated.
In the world of magic, everything is illusion. There is no "real" magic and so while you're keeping yourselves distracted, adamant that tesla's machine is "real".......
"you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out. You want to be fooled."
Both the film and the novel are favorites of mine in their respective genres. They are major accomplishments in utilizing the strengths and limitations of their mediums to fulfill the demands of telling this story..
Christopher Priest had as his challenge in writing his novel of employing a first person narrator telling the tale in each magician's voice. So, like the film (adapted from the novel by brother Jonathan Nolan), methods of writing for sleight of hand and diversion are employed, resulting in an odd, mysterious syntax and presentation.
In the novel, more back-story to the characters are given, again, amazingly while avoiding reveals.
I adore the film for many reasons: It's an excellent period reconstruction, the casting and performances are superb, its fractured time-structuring engage and distract, its blend of history and fantasy are believable, all resulting in satisfying thrills and drama.
Yet- the novel provides even more that isn't present in the film due to it being excised completely or changed to something different.
Most noticeably, and regrettably, (though I do understand why, I think), the front and back bookend portions of the novel were left out completely. This framing device, set in the present time period involving one descendent of each magician give the story another layer. But what ends up being the real casualty of this excision is the removed whole last section, a truly chilling gothic horror exploration involving the Prestige.
I could detail other specifics of noticeable differences between the two, a major one being to swap out the one, early motivating event which sets off the whole chain for a different event, and why that might have been done, but...I'd just say, both film and original novel are high on my list, admirable, involving, and worth it absolutely. And like with Nolan, you may just end up checking out more of Christ Priest's oeuvre afterwards.
Such a good movie. I didn't realize so much time had passed since this film released. I keep feeling like it came out like 2014 ish
41:34 I can't believe it... she figured it out. 😅(Back then we had no idea what the twist would be but this was long before the era of youtube reaction videos. The twin thing was an option but after he lost his fingers I ruled it out.)
Sarah remarks at one point that his hand is bleeding again, alluding to the fact that the double had cut of his fingers later.
I mean she was constantly clocking the clues from the start. You'd see her watch a few scenes and you can see her catching some clues in her eyes then constantly asking Jaby if she got it right while he lied lol. Yeah I was impressed because I remembered when this film came out and was really Popular and nobody was catching it right away on first watch and definitely not as immediately...more towards the end right before its revealed a lot of people will go hey wait a second hes a twin. And his brother dressing up as an assistant was a huge give away but then with the fingers you doubt it..But her she was all over it from the jump.
Well guess Jaby & I have something in common - Because I have been hoping that Achara reacts to this film in particular also. Cause i think she will love it almost as much as i do. This film has a very important life lesson about obbession and knowing when to let go and chose love instead of personal glory. Kinda like a FAMILY MAN with Nick Cage.
Damn, I need to rewatch it myself before I watch you guys’ viewing.
I remember the basics, but not well enough… yet.
Yeah you do. This film is constantly giving you huge nods to the big mystery but its also has a lot of subtext because each man has found love with a beautiful wonderful woman that they've become oblivious too and Hugh Jackman's character in particular throws away Scarlett Johansson's character when he could have just lived happily ever after with her. Its just such an interesting story but also interesting filmmaking the way it jumps around
Talking about the woman diying: in Inception, Cobb's dead wife is haunting him in his dreams for the entire movie and she is basically the mistery at the heart of the movie in more than one way.
Great commentary at the end and confronting the Nolan brothers to the two main characters. Bravo!
If y’all reacted to the “Prestige”you guys gotta react to the “Illusionist” (2006) drama/mystery twin movies 🍿 {different stories}
Just to answer some questions, Hugh Jackmans character when talking to his wife alludes to his rich family and them not approving of his decision to be a magician, so he is a lord and his other name was an alias. Also the surviving brother is the same one who we saw tell the other to leave it alone and not try to figure out the trick anymore which the other refused and thus got framed so he's pretty clean at the end
Once you think about it, the most tragic thing here is the fact that, after all that cloning, the man that Borden kills isn't even the man who started this whole rivalry in the first place. I am very impressed with Achara catching the twist SO EARLY, too.
they are clones soul and all pe rthe books so they are the same being
I was obsessed with this movie..
Yoooooo I just got my wife to watch this with me for her first time, what’re the chances! I effin love this movie. It’s underrated
I find it interesting how Hugh Jackman clones himself. Then dies by being dropped and trapped in a tank of water and after that each clone clones themselves and then dies but each clone thinks they are the original. I also find it interesting that Hugh Jackman's character didn't think about this, having seen how the machine works.
I did not realise until someone told me that David Bowie was Tesla!
I'm just impressed you recongized Bowie as soon as he appeared :D
I say this on almost every reaction I watch of this movie. My favorite detail to this film is how Angier and Borden are character foils of Edison and Tesla. Showmanship with less skill versus genius with no stage presence.
Watching this back, i realise that Borden's twin brother never wanted to be a part of the whole magic feud in the first place. He hated it and he was the one who ended up dying. Borden really wasn't a good guy
The one who died was the hot headed one who tied the knot and yelled at his twin about figuring out the tesla tric and was buried then drunk at the dinner. The survivor was the 1st to say he didn't know which knot "he" tied and said "we're done, leave Angier to his trick"
My impression was the..cooler headed one didn't want this fues
You have to give Achara A LOT of credit and really sussed it all out so quickly and picked up on lots of the hints despite Jaby lying to her constantly.
This is a great underrated Nolan gem. Plus Bale, Jackman, Johansson,Caine, Hall, and RIP Bowie plus everyone really. This was The Dark Knight times, always wondered if even though based on a book if this was a Riddler story they couldn't make work for Bats, and restructured it ?
Dhoom 3 silently watching from the corner
😂😂
146 time jumps cuts, expertly arranged.
Phenomenonal movie. And even better 2nd time around. You can catch all the hints. Or not even hints, Nolan shouting it at you suncr opening scene.
If you have seen it, let her watch it herself.
My favorite movie personally.
This is one of my favorites from Nolans 👌 great cast and interesting story! Thank you for the upload
Yes and the performances, ESPECIALLY Bale:s...He did such an incredible job but that most don't really even catch right away. I mean he plays two men with distinctly different personalities trying to hide that fact and be like the other person both in love with being magicians and the success but both tormented with the secret and living half a life. As a layperson it sounds incredibly difficult but he pulled it off really well.
one of the best movies, ever...a very complex storyline that is completely easy to follow, and makes complete sense in the end (like the secret to a great magic trick)...(see what they did there?...)...
I'm convinced in the ending scene when Borden looks back to all the tanks, he's realizing that he can clone himself and essentially bring his brother back.
Should have asked Achara which twin died, the father of the daughter or his brother?
Hugh jackman was amazing right? Like really great man..
very trippy movie, is the Prestige.
there's a take on this trope in one of Sherlock Holmes' books, where Holmes takes himself out on purpose by injecting himself with a toxin to mimic the effects of another toxin used by the villain to try and take him out.
Holmes, being the chad he was, spots the booby-trap, disassembles it, duplicates the poison, and lets himself die while the villain is in the room with him, only to have Lestrade catch him red-handed, and Watson revive Holmes with the antidote.
naturally he walks out of the room to meet the villain and the guy was like "But... you were dead! HOW!"... and Holmes is like "The best way to play a role is to _become_ it"