The Prestige is an adaptation from Christopher Priest?s novel of the same name, directed by Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins). Nominated for two Academy Awards, The Prestige promises to be a highly entertaining movie featuring two of the most talented foreign actors today: Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman. Also headlining the billing are Michael Caine, David Bowie, and Scarlett Johansson.
The film opens in the turn-of-the-century London, where Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) is on trial for the murder of Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman). Alfred is convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. While awaiting his execution, Alfred reads the journal of the late Robert Angier, who intern describes himself reading the journal of Borden. The film flashes back to a time where Borden and Angier are colleagues and assistants for Milton the Magician. Harry Cutter (Michael Caine) is the illusion engineer and apparent friend of Angier, but while doing a routine escape illusion Angier’s wife dies on stage, Angier blames Borden for the death of he beloved wife based on the fact that he tied a knot that was improbable for her to escape.
At this point the two embark on separate careers as magicians, Borden becoming “The Professor” and Angier becoming “The Great Danton.” Borden falls in love, enraging Angier even more so as he claims he is living his life, which in turn leads to him sabotaging one of Borden’s magic shows. In disguise, Angier appears to be an audience member, but really intends on shooting Borden, ultimately only Borden’s fingers are lost. Of course revenge is on Borden’s mind, and of course what would a movie be without the conflicted antics of a female lead, portrayed in The Prestige by Scarlett Johansson as Olivia. From here on the two plague each others shows whilst trying to learn the secrets of their tricks, especially that of “The Transported Man.” Without giving anything more away, things really get intense from here on out, and very entertaining.
The central theme of The Prestige is obsession, and the uncompromising need to outdo each other. The novel was originally loosely based upon the real to life rivalry of turn-of-the-century magicians Chung Ling Soo and Ching Ling Foo, who were consumed by this obsession, which in turn lead to their deaths, these characters are briefly mentioned in the movie. At first this movie seems a bit out there, but understanding that things like this have and continue to happen; where passion turns into rage and people are consumed by their obsessions, brings a whole new sense of realism to the movie.
Throughout the movie we are subjected to alternate forms of these cutthroat rivalries, with another real life example of Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, in their battle over electrical current also showcased in the movie. But I hardly think this picture was made to make a social statement, but I thought it was interesting to know there was in fact a sense of realism beyond this movies obvious fiction. I think from beginning to end this film was very clever, a very interesting spin on the classic good versus evil tale, where nothing is really ever as it seems and everyone and anyone can be deceptive, especially when you least expect it. These men sacrifice their individuality and their personal lives for their self-pride and their want to outdo each other, in plain words; their hatred of each other is pretty damn entertaining. The Prestige is great movie, at times a little bit out there with a few uninteresting or unnecessary scenes, but ultimately a very entertaining movie all the way to its shocking conclusion. It’s definitely worth checking out if you haven’t already, the acting was spectacular and their characters were surprisingly deep, a must see for fans of these actors, period movies, or just looking to see a new and interesting movie.
Video
Presented in a 1080p 2.35:1 aspect ratio, The Prestige is the finest looking Buena Vista release to date. If you are looking for massive explosions and extraordinary firefights you won’t find it here. What you will find are superb looking costumes, interiors and exteriors. The costumes are dark but maintained a detailed and realistic look, as did the flesh tones. For a film that contains many dark scenes it carried no grain and even better, no artifacts. I did notice a couple of shots that looked a bit soft, mainly the persons facial detail, however this is too minor to really complain about. This is still the one of the best looking titles I have seen on either format. This is simply a must buy for fans and even if you’re not it is still worth checking out. This is how high definition is supposed to look.
Audio
Buena Vista has included what will hopefully be a new standard, both Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM 5.1 audio tracks. The dialogue track sounded superb and surprisingly was not as front heavy as one would expect from a picture like this. The on stage magic show as well as Nikola Teslas laboratory both sound extraordinary. The electric machine used by Angier literally sounded as if it was mere feet in front of me. It are scenes like this as well as the nice subtle effects scattered across the film that use rear and sub channels that really makes the track stand out. The Prestige has a great sounding track, one that doesn’t disappoint.
Special Features
We aren’t given a lot of special features but all of them are information and entertaining, best of all they are all in High definition.
- The Director’s Notebook: The Cinematic Sleight Of Hand Of Christopher Nolan – We are given six features that cover all different aspects of the film, including interviews with Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale, and Hugh Jackman.
- The Art Of The Prestige – We are given four different sets of high quality pictures covering, Film, Behind The Scenes, Poster Art, Costumes and Sets.
- Movie Showcase – Jump to the movies best looking scenes.
Final Thoughts
The Prestige boasts some of the very best in video as well as audio. The features that are included are very interesting and definitely worth checking out. Ultimately, this is a must have disc – I would definitely recommend that you check it out soon, as it is a very entertaining movie, nearly perfect.
