The Prestige (movie) = :thumbsup;

[ControlD]

That's very interested that you're the 2nd person to mention this.

I interpreted what you're talking about more in a "philosophical" sense about what lengths they would go to for the act. That's what the movie was about. The fact that the machine did what it did was essentially irrelevant. It was the price he was paying for it, the not knowing, etc. That's what carries the weight. That's the entire fucking movie. lol

You'll enjoy movies more if you allow yourself to be drawn in rather than logically critique how realistic they are. They are stories and none of them are true. Even the ones that say "based on true events". Shocking I know.

This is probably Nolan's best movie and one of my favorite of all time. Everything works together perfectly. One of my favorite qualities of films that I look for is ambience. They need that subtlety and have it all dialed in perfectly. Same reason I love the movies Ghostwriter and Ronin. Not amazing movies by any stretch, but the feeling of them.

Holy shit I miss movies. Have a 10 month old. Don't watch anything any more. :'(

The thing is, I am generally very forgiving when "reviewing" movies and thus my opinion should almost always be considered suspect. So when something actually does bother me it usually sticks with me.

I actually had an inkling where the end of the movie was going already from a couple of earlier scenes. When that was the explanation I just sort of felt like they cheated. I don't know why it bothered me so much, it just did. I wasn't expecting anything true to life, I just don't like the ending. I can't help it.

Otherwise, yeah the movie was well cast and well made.

 

[destrekor]

Spoiler

There is a fan theory that there was no sci-fi cloning machine. All the scenes that show it happen are either being read from a journal (which was planted to purposely mislead, so could contain lies) or were told by Angier to his most hated enemy- again where he would happily lie. Nobody else ever sees the cloning work, and even the tanks of water at the end are never verified to actually contain bodies, the fan theory explains them away as elaborate stage dressing with wax dummies by Angier to convince Borden he was making clones. Really he just used his double, the same guy who he used earlier, after forcing him to quit drinking and clean up. And then at the end, he sets things in play so his double does go into the tank and drown because he knows Borden is snooping around, to frame Borden.

I'm not sure I buy it, but as described it does logically fit. I'll have to re-watch the movie thinking about it.

that's an interesting theory, but how does that theory

Spoiler

account for all the hats in the forest

?

Nah, that just makes the movie worse in my opinion anyway. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie for what it was, even the ending. It wasn't at all what I was expecting. And that fan theory completely removes all the build up that for Tesla's crazy awesome magic tech.

Was it realistic? No. But, to expect that in a Nolan film is actually one's own fault, IMHO. He can get close to real but he has a penchant for dramatic sci-fi. The Prestige is actually one of my favorite movies.

Which is why I am really confused as to what to expect when it comes to his upcoming WW2 movie. But he might be trying to branch out. Interstellar, while sci-fi, was at least rooted in science theory as opposed to inventing something crazy. Yes, even the tesseract, which, while sci-fi to the extreme, was simply a plot element to tie it all together. But in the extreme vision of possibility, advanced humans may just very well figure out the advanced dimensions and create something similar. It is sci-fi, of course, but not outside the realm of feasibility in the very distant future. That made for a paradox, sure, but we also cannot rule out that paradoxes can in fact exist. The higher dimensions are simply wizardry to us right now, we truly don't know a damn thing. Alas, I am expecting some kind of twist in his next movie, but won't come away disappointed if there is in fact no fanciful twist.

 

[Chiropteran]

Nah, that just makes the movie worse in my opinion anyway.

"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."

 

[Ns1]

@destrekor

I think if we go really far back into Nolan's filmography his earlier work was non-scifi (insomnia, memento). I don't remember what happened in Insomnia but memento's mind fuck was great. I'm not worried.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

I find it interesting people say Prestige doesn't hold up to multiple viewings. I like it more every time I watch it, even knowing how it ends. Arguably Nolan's best movie. I can't say the same for his Batman trilogy, which seem to get worse the more I watch them.

 

[CZroe]

I find it interesting people say Prestige doesn't hold up to multiple viewings. I like it more every time I watch it, even knowing how it ends. Arguably Nolan's best movie. I can't say the same for his Batman trilogy, which seem to get worse the more I watch them.

This.

 

[Childs]

I find it interesting people say Prestige doesn't hold up to multiple viewings. I like it more every time I watch it, even knowing how it ends. Arguably Nolan's best movie. I can't say the same for his Batman trilogy, which seem to get worse the more I watch them.

I must have seen it 10 times. The only Nolan movies I've seen multiple times is this, The Dark Knight, Momento and Inception. I'd also rate them in that order. Although I've seen the Batman Begins training montage like a million times.