If you are not familiar with Christopher Priest's writing and storytelling style, the movie and it's slant will likely be lost. It's not at all the same sort of fairy tale as "The Illusionist". Nor is it a puzzle.

I just saw it and I must be slow...could someone pm me and tell me what happened at the end? Especially the last frames. Seriously.

Haven't seen the Illusionist (but it's coming out on video soon)

BUT

The Prestige was EXCELLENT!

I loved it, not for the magic alone, but for the story. Christopher Nolan seems to be an incredible director, based off that and Batman Begins. The story was always bringing in something new and exciting to keep the movie going. It never seemed to get at all boring whatsoever. The story had some great issues, and it had some cool, though some incredibly fake, magic tricks. Very entertainable and gave something to think about.

Are you on stage, or in the tank?

What a scary thought!

After seeing them both, The Illusionist was the hands down winner. I was actually disappointed in the Prestige. My wife and I both gave the Illusionist an A+. Norton was perfectly cast and this film should win an award.

For those that are interested, I just picked up an Illusionist movie poster hand signed by all 9 of the main cast members (in silver sharpie which is nice) on Ebay for $45.

Both my wife and I liked the Illusionist better. The characters were likeable and the story was not predictable.

I knew the ending of the Prestige way before the ending. And the characters, I agree that all of them could have been shot and I would not have cared.

As for Christopher Nolan, magicman226, you should see his earlier films, "Following" and "Memento". Brilliant movies.

From the dictionary:

prestige |pres?t? zh; -?t?j |noun ORIGIN mid 17th cent.(in the sense [illusion, conjuring trick] ): from French, literally ‘illusion, glamour,’ from late Latin praestigium ‘illusion,’ from Latin praestigiae (plural) ‘conjuring tricks.’ The transference of meaning occurred by way of the sense [dazzling influence, glamour,] at first depreciatory.

Barry, if you read Christopher Priest's novel, you'll see it's decidedly different from the film in many ways. One which addresses your particular issue with the way in which the Tesla device is used.

I enjoyed it but have become accustomed to "Q" and was sad with his not being in.

The new Bond was absolutely amazing! Q was not in it because it was the prequal to Dr. No, and Q did not officially appear in the film series until the second film From Russia With Love.

Back to the topic at hand, I for one thought The Illusionist was phenominal. Absolutely one of my favorite movies that I have ever seen. There was something so raw and yet enchanting about it, not to mention a great little twist that while I saw it coming was none the less pleased by it.

On the other hand I thought The Prestige was really awful. The acting was good, but I found the plot to be lacking, and felt as if they tried to make the story too clever and instead ended up being too confusing. I saw the ending of the movie straight from the very beginning. For some reason I just did not enjoy it at all. That's not to say that some didn't, because I have a large handful of friends that all thought it was fantastic.

I loved the Illusionist for the mood it creats, the characters and also the nice plot. It is also a nice love story . . . .

As for magic, well - I doubt that someone has ever performed like that in real life. Nevertheless, I liked it a lot.


Andy

That new Bond movie was great. You could barely tell he was blonde.

I just finished watching "the illusionist" (The credits are still rolling) and I thought it was GREAT! I'm a bit of a magic history buff, so the settings and period costumes I thought added a lot to the picture. I got really involved in the story and thought it really was a good portrayal of a magician of that time ( Untill the "change" in his show!) but even with that I had thoughts of peppers ghost running through my head.

I first thought that the magic that was portrayed was out of the realm of possibility, but then thought "what would an audience walk away with from a show" I imagine the scenes of magic were portrayed as an audience in the theater would have thought they appeared after a show. We've all heard recolections from a show that was lacking in the finer details. The audience forgets there was a solid base to the stand, or a candlestick placed in a oddly high position. The magic that was in the film, was period appropriate, if not exactly how it was really done, but I imagine it was portrayed as people of the time would have remembered it.

Okay, so what I'm really trying to say is I Love "The Illusionist" bought the DVD on a whim today and I'm really glad I did. I don't know what I think about the prestige yet, but from the reports I think I will rent it first. It seems to me from everyones posts that you either like one or the other!

The Amazing Corbin

Personally, I enjoyed both of these movies on different levels. Previous posters have nicely stated that The Illusionist is a boy-gets-girl story with a lot of intrigue involved.

The Prestige, by contrast, is an examination of obsession, about what it does to a person, and the lengths to which some people will go to achieve their goals. It's a very dark film, and it doesn't leave you with a good feeling at the end, but I think that's by design. It made me think.

Both of these fine films, I believe, will find their way into my private collection. Don't know how many times I'll see fit to watch The Prestige, but I think it's an important film. The Illusionist will likely be more of a repeater.

And there you go.

Carrie

The Illusionist just came out on DVD and we watched it last night.

GREAT film in my opinion. Well acted, good story, beautifully filmed.

If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend you check it out!

I still have to see the prestige--LOVED the ILLUSIONIST. I knew the ending too...
It was great.

Ellen

They were both great Now the Prestige needs to come out on DVD