The Prestige | Canadian First Time Watching | Movie Reaction | Movie Review | Movie Commentary

[@tibor420]

I still love that literally the whole movie is laid out to you in the Caged Bird trick at the beginning. Like the whole movie is just a magic trick on us.

[@zvimur]

And solved by the little boy ("Where is his brother?!")

[@Klayhamn]

also, the movie clearly hints at you multiple time to watch closely, but no one does.

[@Qdub34]

This is exactly right. I wonder what % of people that watch actually grasp this.

[@XeonAlpha]

@@zvimurand then he says “You’re the lucky one today” foreshadowing the killing of the clones later.

[@tigerburn81]

I find it interesting that it's Borden at the beginning that has the bird trick where one of them dies and it's Algier who tries to do the trick letting the bird live. Angier then does the transported man trick killing the "other" while Borden's trick leaves his brother alive. Of course, in the end, Borden loses his brother because it was Fallon who was the unfortunate one to find the drowned Angiers. So he, like the clones and the dead bird, wasn't the "lucky one."

[@Eric_1991]

Angier was already Lord Caldlow, he stated earlier to his wife how he didn’t want to embarrass his family with his love for magic so he made the fake identity of Angier. The fact that he’s a Lord made it easier to fund Tesla’s machine

[@Twiska]

I'm pretty sure Robert Angier is his true identity, and the Great Danton is the fake one he uses not to embarrass his family. Also, the government would want his real identity for his murder trial. Bordan was charged with the murder of Robert Angier, not Lord Caldlow. So, no. He wasn't Lord Caldlow till the very end.

[@JoeMama410]

That’s why he could tell Tesla that money was no object before the machine existed.

[@mnomadvfx]

That he is rich also makes it completely impossible for him to see that Borden was literally doing it to feed his family. Also that his last words are waxing poetic about the look on the crowds faces in a time when so many people were barely scratching a living is a perfect demonstration of Caldlow/Angier's disconnect from the money problem and Borden's motivations as a provider for his family.

[@aperson4640]

@@mnomadvfx well technically Al Borden was doing it to feed his family. Freddy Borden was doing it to support his "mistress," and for his pride as a performer and craftsman but yes. Overall good observations about these characters motivations and backgrounds.

[@henryviper9091]

Watched this movie a bunch of times and never caught on to that, and now I can't believe I didn't get it before. That's awesome!

[@joey_dangerously]

“We were two young men at the start of a great career. Two young men devoted to an illusion. Two young men who never intended to hurt anyone." Alfred was actually referring to him and his brother and not he and Angier

[@johnbriggsmusic]

Same when he says, "She will help us rid ourselves of Angier." He meant himself and his brother, not him and Olivia. Genius writing that it can be interpreted both ways so those lines still work before and after you know the twist.

[@eliminator173]

Not him and Angier but yea.

[@jakehodgson82]

I've seen this movie several times and I just watched a reaction to it and my brain still went "Michael Caines character had a brother?" after reading your comment.. fuck i'm a dummy.

[@Nickreds20]

@@johnbriggsmusicwell, actually one understands that he means Fallon and him, since he’s his engineer. So its not weird that he says that.

[@gabedamien]

George and Simone occupying the same room? Impossible!

[@kenny240]

It’s almost like that scene in TimeCop, except nothing like that scene, and it’s 2 different people.

[@fipse]

Must be an illusion!

[@AlexSwanson-rw7cv]

It's just a split screen; they're still the same person.

[@CrewGlove]

The space-time continuum is collapsing on itself.

[@ScottyDoesntKnow69]

Are you watching closely?

[@russellward4624]

He was always Lord Caldlow. Angier was his costume. You must have missed the part where he said being a magician wasn't an acceptable job for a lord. So he ahd to use a fake name so he wouldn't embarrass his family name. When he finished his time as a magician he went back to being Lord Caldlow. He didn't use the infinite money trick.

[@juancano3793]

I've watched this movie a couple times and I missed that lol

[@houseofaction]

he could have easily used the machine to recoup all the money he spent to fund it.

[@jp3813]

@@houseofaction I'm sure his shows already gave him his money back.

[@Qdub34]

@36:48 He didn't keep making/killing clones for bait, he killed them because there can only be one. He learned from trying to have a double earlier in the movie that there will always be a power struggle for the admiration. So instead, he just decided that there would always only be one at the end of the show even if it's "him" that winds up drowning in the box. I put that in quotes because there is no original vs clone. They are both copies. They are both "him" everytime. Remember, "they are all your hat"

[@houseofaction]

the last part is wrong since there is clearly an original he doesn't split in two like a fission being. if that was the case each time he used it he would be half as tall, half as heavy etc. when the machine is used a literal clone(twin) is created that is identical to him and one of them be it he or the clone teleports and most likely the original died by drowning

[@houseofaction]

i would also like to point out that in the books the machine works by creating a duplicate body than telporting the conciouness of angier into the duplicate while the ORIGINAL BODY is left in a near lifeless state. he than hides the ORIGINAL that he calls the prestiges in water caskets. so in the books the original literally dies. while the conviousness is transferred to a new body in the books Borden shuts the power off to the devise which causing the teleportation ti be incomplete, both the duplicated angier and the"prestige" survive as seperate persons, though the duplicate lacks physical substance(essentially being a ghost) in th ebook the original"prestige" dies of an illness and the duplicate that lacks an incomplete form activates the machine in an attempt to teleport back into the body and either reanimate the original body and reform or to die along with his other half, at the end of the book it turns out that this was a sucess and that part of his essence lived on into the modern times inside his family house

[@the19Zabaniyah]

​@@houseofaction right

[@the19Zabaniyah]

The "they are all your hat" distinction is good, also side not might be super obvious, I just realized today that that all the hats represent the many Angier's and the two cats represent the twins likely

[@Tantalus010]

When Hugh Jackman's character asked one of the Bale twins which knot he tied and Bale responded that he didn't know, he didn't know because he wasn't the twin that tied the knot. That's why they were so obsessed with revenge after that: the innocent brother was punished.

[@w415800]

I hated this movie, because I wanted Hugh Jackman to win and both twin dead.

[@svenr.3803]

@@w415800 what? Jackman literally didnt stop escalating it even though Bale only accidentially tied a wrong knot.

[@drewmcgary2872]

@@w415800 Says a lot about you as a person

[@pokenbby]

it was probably the one who tied that knot that was executed

[@yvonnesanders4308]

Accidentally? No. The exchange of looks was a go ahead. He shouldn't have done it. It killed his wife. Is saying sorry enough?

[@iiiDartsiii]

If you pay attention you can actually tell which is Borden and which is Fallon, amazing acting.

[@elheber]

Yep. One of the twins is more obsessed than the other . Alfred was the smarter, more collected brother who loved Sarah. He figured out the fishbowl illusion, came up with the Tesla misdirection plan, was honestly never able to answer Angier about the knot and wanted to drop all beef with Angier after his return. Meanwhile Frederick (Freddy) was the more impulsive and cocksure one who loved Olivia. He switched the knot, arrived to dinner unhinged after being buried alive, got angry at his brother for not being able to figure out Angier's latest trick, and got framed for murder as a result of his obsession against Angier.

[@jp3813]

They were both Borden & Fallon. Perhaps you meant which is Alfred and which is Freddy.

[@6Rock6God6]

​@@jp3813they meant you can tell which twin is Borden or Fallon scene to scene

[@jroldo8353]

@@elheber The back to back 'why can't you out think him' juxtaposed to 'just leave him alone' is the best example for me. When you think deeper it means the one who tied the knot is the one obsessed and the one who didn't is detached. No matter how much they tried to 'share the same life' their experiences were different and effected them so....

[@TropicalHat420]

I love the last 10 min of this movie so much, blew me away the first time.

[@hellom8490]

@@TrickyDicky2006 tbh I found the fight club reveal a little predictable whereas as this caught me totally off guard

[@CharlesVanNoland]

Yes, Tesla coils could light up lights that were grounded, receiving electricity right out of the air that was emanating from the Tesla coil. Nikola wanted to transmit electricity through the air for entire towns. What you touched was almost certainly not a Tesla coil, but a Van De Graff generator - commonly shown to display the effects of static electricity. A lot of people confuse the two.

[@DrLipkin]

This movie is even more fascinating on a rewatch. Not only because of all the clues that are laid out along the way, but because Christian Bale is giving two different performances that you can clearly tell apart once you know what to look for. The brothers have different personalities, and the brother who is the bigger asshole dies. I think only Hot Fuzz rivals this movie for me as far as noticing things on a rewatch.

[@spinkscapes775]

One quote applies to both “As much as I enjoyed your wild theories the truth is far less complex.”

[@JGComments]

Peas and rice! Hot Fuzz is a fantastic movie.

[@kaczan3]

He (Fred) wasn't really a "bigger asshole", the other (Al) doesn't seem to be an asshole at all.

[@mordanthubris6516]

One of my favorite things I noticed on a rewatch was how, just before (chronologically) Borden goes to Angier's performance and gets framed for murder, he's sitting there supposedly talking with 'Fallon' and saying they should just leave Angier alone and move on. Then, when he's talking to Fallon near the end, he says something to the effect of "You were right, we should've left him alone." It was minutes before the reveal, but that is some expert foreshadowing. Hell, this whole movie could be studied as a masterclass of how to foreshadow properly.

[@tastyneck]

This film has an insane amount of foreshadowing, like the kid crying about how the magician killed the bird and the live bird is its brother, and tiny bits of seemingly innocuous dialogue that make a re-watch really worth it.

[@Nick-pu3of]

It's funny that you ask about Michael Caine's accent. When he first started out, actors all spoke in RP - Received Pronunciation. It's that very formal perfectly formed vintage BBC radio kind of voice. Michael Caine's accent is coarse as hell and he often insisted on using it (symbolic stand against British classism) and he became known as "the Cockney guy", but he absolutely could do RP. Check out "Zulu" his big breakout role and a fantastic movie for him doing posh.

[@paulsuter5816]

This entire film is a magic trick. It tells you what it’s going to do, then does it, and you’re still surprised at the end. Literally starts with the hats, and the bird trick. Genius levels of filmmaking.

[@ericy4522]

For me, I really think this is Christopher Nolan’s best film in terms of sheer cleverness of ideas and execution, cast and crew were phenomenal as well. And the relatively low budget probably allowed him to have such a dark, messed up, but satisfying ending too.

[@tylerfoster6267]

The Borden that survives is the father. You can tell because in his final confession at the end of the movie, he refers to himself as the one who loved Sarah, and the Borden who is hung was the one who loved Olivia. I believe most people are misunderstanding how the machine functions at the end. I put this in a Patreon comment as well, but my interpretation is that Tesla's machine is both teleporting *and* cloning. Angier speaks about how hard it is to "steal someone else's work," right before they show him using the machine for the first time. The Angier standing off to the side says "No, I'm not -- " before the Angier standing in the machine shoots him. My suspicion is that the Angier standing in the machine is a clone and in that moment, he steals the real Angier's work up to that point, and then when he stages the Transported Man going forward, the clone drops into the tank and dies while the new "real" Angier gets to experience the glory of the trick. As you say, there would be no satisfaction for Angier if even in his triumph he doesn't get the glory he was previously denied. He doesn't like doing it, because it's still him, and he is trying to rationalize it by saying "no one cares about the man in the box" and thinking of Cutter's statement about drowning. Since the new "real" Angier never experiences it, Cutter is trying to lay on him the suffering he's putting onto these clones. I agree with Simone's complaint about the way Borden handles his doubling. Of course, it would be a lot trickier to coordinate the times when the Borden who loves Sarah and the Borden who loves Olivia got to be Borden to have those experiences, and there would inevitably be times where opportunity simply makes it impossible for them to find a free moment to switch back, but I agree that Borden makes things more complicated for himself and his brother by (as far as the movie presents) not putting any effort into resolving that issue.

[@gabedamien]

"My suspicion is that the Angier standing in the machine is a clone" - part of the brilliant darkness of this film is that we simply will never know which one is the clone. Does it teleport the original and leave a clone in place? Or does it create a clone at a distance? To each human, they remember stepping into the machine, so effectively each of them *is* the original (remember, "they are all your hat"). So for Angier to step into the machine each night takes courage, knowing that in reality he might be committing su**cide (as opposed to "mere" m**der), but not knowing for sure how his consciousness will continue (in the drowning man or in the teleported man). All that being said, I would lean 51% towards your interpretation: that the one standing in the machine is the original, so every single night Angier is effectively dying and letting someone else continue on in his stead.

[@tylerfoster6267]

@@gabedamien That's the opposite of my conclusion. The first time Angier uses the machine the real Angier dies when the clone that appears inside the machine kills him. From then on, that clone murders further clones every time the machine is used. Again, At the very end of the movie Angier tells Borden that he stole another man's work. It could be a reference to Borden, I think it's also a reference to the fact that the Angier that is left standing is a clone who is essentially stealing the real Angier's work.

[@fipse]

@@tylerfoster6267 That is the beauty of the movie, you can interpret it either way and both ways are equally horrifying.

[@grunions9648]

@@fipse Exactly. My interpretation is that both of those explanations are right, and so both of them are wrong. The two men are identical copies, with the same memories up until the point that the cloning happens. Therefore there is no difference in the two, and you cannot say one person started existing at the point when they were cloned. They are both the original man. The question of how this resolves itself as consciousness is essentially impossible to answer.

[@algi1]

How can you identify which is the clone and which is the original? If it's a perfect copy, there's no difference.

[@mikemeggison5084]

If you want to see Bowie's most iconic role, you have to do "Labyrinth".

[@treetopjones737]

"The Man Who Fell to Earth" is cool.

[@yvonnesanders4308]

Codpiece

[@maximillianosaben]

I love this movie. Has so many of Nolan's familiar storytelling characteristics, but this one I think more than any of his other movies really demands a second viewing. And after Batman Begins people were eager for his next Batman movie, but he made this. And then after The Dark Knight he made Inception before finishing Batman. Those two in-between movies were fantastic!

[@JayM409]

Don't forget 'The Machinist.'

[@YouHaventSeenMeRight]

@@JayM409 That is not a Christopher Nolan film, that movie was directed by Brad Anderson. Plus that movie was made before Batman Begins.

[@maximillianosaben]

@@JayM409 - I haven't, but I don't know what that has to do with what I was saying.

[@wakkadakka9192]

35:30 no "infinity money glitch" As he said "I'm always was him" - he's a rebel kid from noble family who ran away to become magician and perform on stage, because parents wouldn't allow him due to family status. He made up name and back story and then met Michael Caine and Christian Bale characters and story begins. In other words he actually always was a rich lord, that's where he got money for a tesla progects. He doesn't need "infinity money glitch".

[@BryanAlaspa]

Part of this is true. Tesla did indeed invent a way for the electricity to be transmitted to things like lightbulbs without the need for wires. Pretty cool.

[@ashscott6068]

Not true. Induction was understood before Tesla was even born. It's also woefully inefficient, and extremely dangerous as a means of transporting electricity from A to B.

[@Qdub34]

It's not some completely foreign technology, we use it for wireless charging today, it's just that to power it up to farther distances makes it VERY dangerous and so much energy is lost due to heat.

[@thoso1973]

The naturally occurring phenomenon wasn't 'invented', but discovered by Michael Faraday; one of the greatest scientific minds of all time.

[@bcn1gh7h4wk]

it's like one of those math puzzles that start like A = A, and then you end up with 1 = 0. .....like.... what? Nolan pulls from this to sell the whole movie: "This is true, this is the same thing but slightly different so still true, this other thing continues to be true, this OTHER slightly different thing must by association be true, aaaaaand.... now this is bullshit."

[@badgerello]

Tesla never proved his invention. Theres this thing called lightning - he made a lot of it; but he never demonstrated he could send useful amounts of electricity without massive loss over long distances safely, economically or commercially - because it’s not possible. Smart guy, yes; but there a lot of myth around him and this film just tacks onto that as a plot device.

[@CopiousTurtle]

In the book it goes into more detail about Borden. The twins were Albert and Fredrick. When they both decide to live “half a life” they combine their names to Alfred. Book spoilers: The machine is quite different as well. It doesn’t clone or teleport but removes the soul from the body. Angier is forever a ghost in the book. Matter of fact, if I remember correctly the book is set in present times with the main character reading the journals. She sees Angier’s ghost. I like the movie much better.

[@houseofaction]

correction conciousness not soul. the first time angier uses the devise it creates a duplicate body and the original body 'dies" with the conciousness teleporting to the new body, but that is merely a copy of memories its not the actual soul. when borden shuts the power to the devise it causes the process to be incomplete causing the duplicated memories is mostly ghostly while the original"prestige" is still alive but becomes ill. showing they are two different souls so the moment angier first used it HE DIED. and all angiers from that moment on were mere duplicates

[@JamesSmith144]

Borden never spoke to Tesla. He knew Angier didnt believe he used a double for the trick and was looking for a hidden methodology so he fed him a fake one, sending Angier to Colorado on a wild goose chase. The ultimate backfire... if he hadn't done that, Angier would have never gotten the machine and his brother wouldnt be dead 😅

[@bareakon]

If Borden did talk to Tesla, it was just to get a Tesla Coil as set dressing

[@MasterCheeef]

Angier keeps killing himself by drowning after cloning as his wife in the start of the film died the same way. He also keeps drowning himself because Michael Caine's character told him drowning to death "felt like going home". Later in the film he reveals the truth of drowning to Angier saying "it was agony".

[@houseofaction]

but how would he know how it felt like. in the movie the machine works by both cloning and teleporting. but they don't know who teleports and who doesn't the dvd commmentary implies that the original angier most likely eventually was one that most likely drowned. in the books on the other hand it works by creating a duplicate body and than teleporting the conciousness into the duplicate while the original"the prestige" is left in a NEAR LIFELESS state. angier than hid those bodies to keep his secret. so in a sense the original is always the one to die

[@TheDaringPastry1313]

This movie gets so much better with multiple viewings. You pick up on all the clues that hinted at him being a twin. Especially the line about the guy with the fish bowl being the real trick. That type of devotion is the real magic. One of many examples, Hugh Jackman said, "I couldn't live my whole life pretending to be someone else"

[@yohanesbobbysanjaya3541]

my favorite clue is when Angier read Borden's diary for the first time and it said "we were two young men at the start of great career, two young men devoted to an illusion, two young men who never intended to hurt anyone"... Angier totally thought it was about him and Borden lmao

[@LokRevenant]

I’ve been thinking about Angier’s final speech. Where he talks about “the look on their faces.” “You never understood... why we did this. The audience knows the truth: The world is simple, miserable, solid all the way through. But if you can fool them, even for a second... then you can make them wonder. And you get to see something very special... You really don't know... It was the look on their faces.” And I thought about it in the context of the meta theme of filmmakers creating illusions to entertain. And I thought about the flipped 18 wheeler in The Dark Knight. So I watched a compilation video of people reacting to The Dark Knight for the first time, and Angier’s right. The look on their faces when they see the flip is something to behold.

[@DrLipkin]

Fun in a meta sense. But in a world where Angier is literally duplicating himself, it is kind of silly, isn't it? The reality of the trick is more impressive than the deception.

[@LokRevenant]

"The secret impresses no one. The trick you use it for is everything."

[@djd317]

This movie is written and designed to be watched twice just to see it for the first time… it might be the greatest movie ever written … but watch it twice n a row!!!

[@Joeshoki]

The structure of the movie is amazing as it's meant to evolve and resolve like a magic trick. Brilliant storytelling here.

[@XC11301991]

I love this movie and how much mystery it's shrouded in even until the last bit. Once you realize the truth going back you start noticing things from the start of the timeline from the rope knot, the thing that started everything being the a confusion with the brothers.

[@anthonycurby4606]

Had a guy in high school yell out that the twins did it. Watched the whole film thinking they were messing with us

[@samuelvimeschungchicheong9683]

Angier was always a lord. They aren't exactly clones, more like a star trek transporter glitch copy. They are both the original with the same exact memory until one of them dies. That's what Angier was talking about having courage to walk into the machine, not knowing if he was the copy who dies or the one that receives the ovations. Borden had tesla make him a coil to spice up his "original transported man" trick.

[@mordanthubris6516]

The first time I watched this movie, I remember wondering if the "teleported" Angier was the real one or if the one dropping into the box was the real (or original, whatever) one. Second time, I realized it doesn't even matter. The first time Angier uses the machine, the very first time, the one left in the machine shoots the one that's teleported. Then the fool goes one to ensure that the one in the machine dies during the trick, like the bird in the cage. So either Angier Prime died when the trick was first used and he was shot through the heart (and gave love a bad name) OR he died from drowning the first time the trick was performed. Best case scenario for Angier would be that his very first clone died at the end of the movie when Borden shot him.

[@elheber]

"They are all your hats." Even if Angier shot his first clone, they were both actually Angier. They both felt they were the continuation. One was just further away. They were all Angier. And he never knew if coming out of the trick he would end up being the one in the stands or the one in the box.

[@mordanthubris6516]

@@elheber Correct, but also irrelevant. If you clone yourself, and then your clone immediately kills you, having a carbon copy of yourself walking around will be of small comfort as your own specific, personal heart stops beating. They were both Angier, but they were also separate instances of Angier, different individuals that diverged at the moment of generation, each beginning their own experiences from that point on. Unless, of course, you are suggesting some sort of telepathic shared consciousness between the bodies?

[@MrBrock314]

@@mordanthubris6516 Except there is no specific personal heart in this case. Once you've been teleported, you're not you any more than your clone is you. See the real science behind teleportation. It's actually copying, not moving.

[@mordanthubris6516]

@@samellowery No because the first time he used it, the Angier who stayed shot the Angier who teleported

[@mordanthubris6516]

@@MrBrock314 That depends entirely on how the teleportation works. If it works by disassembly-reassembly at an atomic level, a la Star Trek, then yes, the teleported person would arguably be considered dead. But if we're talking wormhole physics, or maybe just moving as fast as lightning could carry you (too fast for the naked eye, but without being deconstructed), then such "real science" doesn't apply. But the point is moot anyway - if it did deconstruct and teleport the "original" and left the clone in his place, neither would be prime (one reconstructed 'teleported' man, one clone left in his place) as he would've died the moment he used the machine, and the body count effectively doubles each use of the trick.

[@AlexSwanson-rw7cv]

35:33 IIRC Angear said something to the effect that he was always Lord Caldwell, which would imply he didn't get the title with the machine. Money would likely help with getting a title but becoming a Lord would likely have required a lot more than just handing over some cash.

[@needsanameedit4982]

Earlier in the movie he says that he had to change his name because he didn't want to cause his family problems, he was likely already rich/noble and was more like the black sheep of the family wanting to be a magician. Also that explains why he has so much money throughout the film.

[@bassmunk]

The last line of the movie is literally Nolan talking to us: "You don't really want to work it out. You want to be fooled..." Literally telling us: "I've given you all the info you need to this point but you won't use it cuz you want to be surprised." Love it! Movies in a nutshell.

[@aperson4640]

Angiers didn't just make one clone and perform the trick like Borden did because he wanted all the glory himself. Also an exact living copy of himself with all his memories would also be heir to the title of Lord Caldlow which has always been Angiers actual true identity from birth. He basically doesn't want to share his life with an exact copy of himself.

[@jp3813]

We already saw the sacrifice that the Bordens went through to live half a life. Definitely not as straightforward as killing the clone.

[@pajander]

He could never keep a clone around, because he knows his own thought process ("better just kill the clone before things get out of hand") and the clone is him, so it would come to the exact same conclusion. One of them will just get rid of the other as soon as they get the chance.

[@jp3813]

@@pajander He also told his wife that it was unthinkable for him to pretend to be a cripple all his life. Just think about trying to hide a live clone forever.

[@aperson4640]

Right. Everyone's correct because, and this is an important distinction, the machine does not create clones. A clone is a 99% identical person who lives different experiences and is younger than the original. The machine creates a 100% genetically exact duplicate including all memories and experiences. It's actually crazy to think about. We refer to them as clones because that's a real world reference we can use to understand the phenomenon but what the machine actually does is, I have to assume, scientifically impossible. It's kind of like a Star Trek teleporter.

[@jp3813]

@@aperson4640 Absolutely. Hence, Angier says that he never actually knows whether he'll be teleported or stay at the same place every time he steps into the machine. At that point, he has experienced both sides.

[@moviebliss3893]

Michael Caine does a "southern" accent in Secondhand Lions (2003) and it's also a really fun movie.

[@anenemyanemone4923]

I'm not sure if folks from the Deep South would call it "southern", but he sounded just like my grandpa who's from West TX (I'm from East TX, which is much closer to the South in the cultural continuum, but he's still a grandpa and not a papaw, 'cause I ain't *that* redneck). He did it well enough to the point that I didn't even recognize that it was him until the credits (yeah, I'm prosopagnostic or some shіt, like half my family, apparently). Gave me even more respect for his abilities as an actor. Speaking of secondhand lions, anyone else remember when you could get a used lion in fair condition for like $800? Now they cost more than twice that even in Pakistan. I remember when you used to be able to get a Hershey for a nickel. Inflation is a bitсh, and it sucks getting old. A nickel!

[@TheOctaviusLee]

This movie has the best rewatch value of any movie ever. I've watched it a good handful of times and there's always a thread on Reddit where more stuff is revealed and I end up having to watch it AGAIN. So goooood.

[@susanlawens3776]

Gives new meaning to the Chinese proverb "If you seek revenge, dig two graves". In this case, dig one grave after another for yourself until you get your revenge. But, since he didn't know his trick, then he killed all those people, himselves, without getting the final revenge after all. If he could have been okay with just having his own version of the trick, and not revenge, the world would have been his oyster with Tesla's machine. So many lessons in one place.

[@mkl_dvd]

I highly recommend reading the novel that the movie is based on, because you get a lot more insight into all the characters. For example, the Borden twins are named "Albert" and "Frederic," which they merge into "Alfred." One is a magician and natural showman while the other is a carpenter and designs the tricks. That's why at the beginning, Borden was playing around with the knot half the time. They also have a rule that if one of them says something, the other has to commit to it and can't take it back later. So one of the twins botched the knot the night that Angier's wife died. When Angier confronts him about it, it's the other twin and he legitimately doesn't know. So that becomes their story.

[@htipton2099]

If you want to see a really good movie that also happens to star Michael Caine employing a southern accent, you should check out Secondhand Lions. It also stars Haley Joel Osment and Robert Duvall

[@zvimur]

Hmm, Cider House Rules? Pre Spiderman (I think) Toby Maguire!

[@jculver1674]

Excellent movie. He also plays an American in The Weather Man, although his accent is a bit off in that one.

[@IntenseSarcasm]

Another great Christopher Nolan film is Memento starring Guy Pierce and Carrie Ann Moss (Trinity from Matrix). Highly recommend it!

[@andrewburgemeister6684]

Memento is mind-bending!! ❤

[@joshkresnik6402]

I remember reading that David Bowie was rather reluctant to take the role of Nikola Tesla, but my God am I glad he did because they basically embody the same persona from different generations and they both have the same energy in the same talent in different areas, if that makes any sense

[@LokRevenant]

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.

[@Twiska]

The machine isn't a teleporter. It can't move matter, only create it. If it were built with a disintegrator to destroy the original, it would be. However, it doesn't. So the original has to be dealt with; that is the price for using it. If it did destroy the original completely, it would be a teleporter, and not even the one using it could tell. From the clone's perspective, he goes on stage and then teleports to the rafters. From the view of the one in the box, nothing happened, and he was just dropped from the stage into a tank. That is what Robert is talking about when he says he never knows if he will be the one in the box or the one in the prestige. Every time he uses it, from his perspective, there is a 50/50 chance he will die. Also, it was 100 shows, five a week. So 20 weeks. One hundred bodies maximum, plus the one from the first test that got shot. But we don't know during which of the 100 shows Bordon fell for the bait. But we know that was Robert's intention because he told Cutter he needed a show that Bordon couldn't ignore. So Robert's plan for his final run was always to "fake" his death and frame Bordon for his "murder." Lastly, the Bordon who shot Robert said he loved Sarah, meaning he is Jess's father. And said the one that got hanged loved Oliva. I don't think the brothers would sleep with each other's wife/girlfriend. And they shared whole days, and "Alfred Bordon" has a wife, a daughter and an assistant. So each brother has to spend time with all three. You should rewatch the film again; there are many hints that Bordon is two people, like how he broke into Sarha's apartment or how he "changed his mind" about buying a house.

[@adamskeans2515]

no, it would not be a teleporter, it would be a combo duplicate machine and murder machine. Creating a copy and destroying the original is not teleporting. Also, they are not clones, they are duplicate. A clone, by definition, just has the same genetics of the original, NOT the memories. A clone would not have these.

[@TimoRutanen]

It technically still wouldn't be a teleporter from a cosmic perspective, though nobody would be able to tell the difference as you said. The original objectively was still disintegrated and a new one created elsewhere. Interestingly the same thing happens with Star Trek transporters. They even sometimes clone another one from 'the memory' of the device without really discussing the ramifications.

[@stevenkaye1625]

@@TimoRutanen Is this true in Star Trek? I remember many times when a person’s “matter” would get stuck in the transporter buffers for example, and then eventually reassembled, indicating that there is disassembly, movement, and then reassembly going on, as opposed to destroying the original and duplicating it somewhere else. But then I guess disassembling someone down to their atoms is technically destroying/killing them… lol

[@Klayhamn]

@@adamskeans2515 a teleporter by definition creates a copy and destroys the original. that is what a teleporter is.

[@SuzakuX]

@@Klayhamn Teleportation is by definition moving matter from one location to another without having to physically traverse through the distance between them. There is no such thing as teleportation in real life, the closest possible is transferring quantum information between entangled particles. In _Star Trek_ they achieve teleportation by converting matter into energy, transmitting that energy to another location, and then reassembling it. All the discussion fans have had regarding whether or not there is a continuity of consciousness, whether disassembling is killing you or simply changing you to a different state of matter while preserving your self, etc. is purely fan speculation and likely isn't even meant to be canon.

[@alexmacdougall5700]

SO so so so so many hints throughout the movie. Again and again. And then it makes fun of us. "But you want to be fooled." I love this movie.

[@Shiny7054]

Yeah, even the birds now that I think about

[@alexmacdougall5700]

@@Shiny7054 it's good filmmaking. There really are no wasted moments. The birds, the Chinese magician, the moments where Borden doesn't perform magic but does the impossible like teleporting into his future wife's room.

[@ChoiceEnvironments]

Of the two magic movies that came out that year, this one is my fave. You guys should do The Illusionist, too. It’s also got a surprise ending. Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti. It’s great. Keep up the good work, you two!

[@eyezaropin1304]

"The Illusionist" was brilliant!! One of my favorite movies! The unique format to make it look like it was filmed on an old camera was a great artistic choice. The fact that they never reveal how he does his magic makes it even better, for me at least lol. 😁

[@andrewburgemeister6684]

I heard The Illusionist is great as well! Fun fact, the guy playing Milton in this film, the magician Angier and Borden are apprentices to, was played by Ricky Jay who was a famous magician who at one point had the world record for the fastest card throw and could do amazing card shuffling and manipulation tricks! He consulted on The Prestige and The Illusionist which both came out in the same year, and in addition to The Prestige, also had other acting roles in some other notable films including 007 Tomorrow Never Dies, Boogie Nights and Magnolia the Paul Thomas Anderson films, and a lot of David Mamet films along with appearances in shows such as The X-Files.

[@ChoiceEnvironments]

@@andrewburgemeister6684 lol. Fellow magician, I see. Ricky Jay is famous in our circle, but little known among muggles. It’s ok, though. He’s rich.

[@andrewburgemeister6684]

@@ChoiceEnvironments I actually found his magic stuff by chance, I thought previously he was just some random character actor who had been in some notable films until I saw a video of him doing the cups and balls technique and throwing cards into a watermelon!

[@JayM409]

Now you need to watch, 'The Illusionist.'

[@ghanakidd]

Absolutely. The Prestige and the Illusionist are almost necessary to watch in tandem. Very similar premises, but handled differently enough to warrant comparison and appreciation on their own!

[@TTM9691]

Totally. I saw both movies the same exact day I think! I think "The Prestige" has the edge, but "The Ilusionist" is still very good and worth seeing. The very limited genre of movies about 19th century magic! 🤣

[@Nickreds20]

Uhm, not really 😵. The illusionist is like the american bad version of magician movies. Not even close to having a similar tone or mistery as The Prestige. Its so very predictable and lacks suspense and it just doesnt work. Its just a fantasy movie, very pg 13.

[@TTM9691]

@@Nickreds20 Can't spell "mystery" huh? Listen, kid: "The Prestige" is fine, it's not "La Strada", know what I mean? (don't answer) "The Illusionist" is not bad, both are good movies. Neither are a new teaching in film. "The Prestige" is better, but "The Illusionist" is not lousy, and by the way: last I checked, they're living in North America, and so are plenty of subscribers. I'm a New Yorker and I can't believe people like "My Cousin Vinny", but that's the way it goes, you see? Don't worry, I'm sure they won't watch The Illusionist, calm down.

[@CalvinChikelue]

The lightbulbs in the ground are a nod to Tesla’s experiments surrounding the use of induction (?) to provide wireless electricity from a central tower supplying either a small acreage like in the film to Tesla’s ultimate endpoint to supply a whole nation & possibly the entirety of earth with wireless electricity

[@TheeGoatPig]

Kitty kitty! I missed the beginning of the movie the first time I saw it on cable way back when. But I stayed with it and was fascinated all the way through, even on my second complete watch. And it is a love triangle. Magic is the third lover between the three men.

[@swish007]

the thing with the lightbulbs in the ground was an actual thing people saw testla do. There was a lot of his stuff that was lost because of edison's sabotage allegedly.. that's why there are so many conspiracy theories about him. The depiction of tesla by David Bowie is one of my favorite things about this movie

[@lelandvaughan4429]

GOD I love this movie!!! A SECOND viewing will have you shaking your head the whole time at the mastery of storytelling on display! Definitely my favorite drama, even if The Brothers Bloom is my favorite movie. They vie for the top spot constantly.

[@DCComicsGamer]

One of my favourite movies, it's so well plotted, with multiple twists I didn't see coming. I especially love how it went into real-world history with Nikola Tesla and just how big a monster Thomas Edison actually was. Oh, and whoever thought of the thumbnail *chef's kiss*

[@sharde26]

It took me so long to realize that as Borden waves his daughter over to him at the very end, he's actually bowing to the audience. It's his ultimate prestige.

[@DaFrancc]

Bro this movie is actually so crazy good

[@shainewhite2781]

David Bowie as Nikola Tesla! That was an awesome cameo! RIP, David Bowie, 1947-2016.

[@anthonyleecollins9319]

I like how the movie teases him in earlier scenes and you expect (or at least I did) that he'd go large with the performance -- which he obviously could have -- and instead he underplays wonderfully.

[@3Kings_Industries]

TESLA had a nickname, The Electric Wizard. And Bowie, did a FANTASTIC portrayal of the mad genius who gave humanity the 20th century.

[@weebleman6]

I know it's just the editing, but a few times I was sitting here like, "stop guessing every single time you get one new piece of info!" 😂

[@incubusnb]

I just want to throw a completely unrelated movie suggestion in the hat. Josie and the Pussycats. A hidden gem of a movie.

[@Mauther]

Josie and the Pussycats has no business being as fun as it is. That right there might be a bigger magic trick than any in this movie.

[@Llinken]

As you said, Angier could just make 1 clone and keep doing the trick, but since Angier wants all the applause and glory for himself and doesn't want to share it he killed the clones

[@clayjohanson]

Both Angiers - the one who drops into the box to drown and the one who lives - are equally real. See Leibniz’ Identity of Indiscernibles. Angier’s obsession was so strong that he was willing to have instances of himself die horribly just so that he could get Borden accused of murder.

[@dnldslvstr]

I don't think it was so that Borden would be accused of murder, it was so that he could be the one to experience the prestige/do the entire trick. He was going to stop after his limited run, but couldn't have clones running around afterwards. Borden being accused of murder was a 'bonus'.

[@mikemeggison5084]

13:32 Yeah, Tesla really was working on beamed power. The Tesla coil was the primitive prototype. There's urban legends he got way further, but the power companies destroyed his notes.

[@Matrim42]

My favorite parts are the little subtle bits that hint at the twist. Like when Angier asks what knot he tied, he doesn’t know because he wasn’t the one that tied it

[@LauraCourtneyette]

Thank you guys for keeping Simone on the viewer’s left and George on the right 💜. I never knew how much ‘reversed seating’ unnerved me until I started watching reactors on YT. 🤣

[@generalx13]

This movie is insane and always reveals more layers on every rewatch. I can't pit into words how much I love the sheer level of mental gymnastics it takes to wrap your mind around everything going on in this movie.

[@SteelCityJW]

Another good magic type movie came out around the same time as the The Illusionist.

[@Ncyphen]

It takes great skill to write a story with a good twist, to consistently reveal the twist and yet still shock the audience in the end. Still among my favorite movies, and one I recommend constantly.

[@oneopinion6806]

This movie is TENSE. I don't even know if I want to go through it again to see you all watch it, but I'll hang in there!

[@DarkCl0uD31]

Lol there was a moment in the movie that was like a "tada!" And irl the cat had appeared in Simone's lap like "tada!" at the exact same moment 🤣

[@JebWCManning]

That thumbnail makes Simone look just like 70's Paul Williams. It's pretty uncanny.

[@eliminator173]

This movie has so much rewatchability. You catch new things everytime you watch it.

[@mast3rNate]

this film is literally what spurred my interest in magic when i was a very young teenager lmao never got as good as the tricks in the movie obviously but i was enjoying card tricks more than the rest 💀

[@Kilithaza]

You didnt manage to clone yourself? Smh my head

[@zvimur]

The story was written by an award winning SciFi author. That's the real trick, of keeping that a secret.

[@mast3rNate]

@@Kilithaza unfortunately not even a visit with David Bowie

[@Johnny_Socko]

Michael Caine put on a posh British accent as an upper-class officer in Zulu (1964), his first starring role. And he attempted an American/New England accent in The Cider House Rules (1999), a role that won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. But he has said that he prefers not to do accents. (BTW, Zulu is a pretty incredible film -- the idea of a garrison of British soldiers holding off an army of African warriors may seem fraught today, but it's such a straightforward telling of the actual event that you can read into it whatever you want about imperialism and colonialism. And if you just want to see the British get slaughtered, then you can watch the prequel, Zulu Dawn.)

[@alexkaen1701]

Here's the question to really boil your noodle: Is it a machine that creates a clone, away from the machine? Or does it teleport the original, leaving the clone behind? What if you thought you were being teleported, but ended up falling in the water?

[@jlilley73]

I love the movie, but I admit I was puzzled by the end. I was certainly fooled by the Borden twin trick, but on the other hand the Angier-cloning-himself trick wasn't really a trick on the movie audience -- it was plainly obvious that the machine was making clones from the cat/hat scene, if not before. So in the final seconds of the movie, when the camera pans around to "reveal" all the cloned Angiers in the boxes, and Michael Caine is repeating his voice-over in which he intones something like "Were you really watching? Did you see the trick?", I was left wondering if there was something ELSE I missed and should be realizing at the end. I'm still wondering, actually.

[@jlilley73]

After rewatching the video: Caine says "Now you're looking for the secret" at the end there just before showing the clones in the boxes, but after it's plainly obvious there was cloning going on (we just saw one Angier shoot another). So that part puzzles me.

[@jessewilson5510]

@@jlilley73 Always thought the same thing. I was trying not to be pretentious about it to my friends, but I was like---Guys...the dead clones didn't fool me in the slightest. It was obvious what was going on.

[@ianhunt2364]

I love the fact (which i only picked up on 3rd or 4th time of watching) the first two images we have are of the hats and the birds - the methods of Angier (cloning) and Borden (copies, twins). Gives away whats going to happen right at the start and we don’t even know (but as Michael Caine says, we don’t really want to know…)

[@jackyallop5313]

Great movie. One of those ones that is great even for a 2nd watch and you can spot some of the hints along the way (the kid who asked about the birds brother) etc.

[@nicolehand]

This movie is like an ear worm; it’s been stuck in my head for years. I go over it & over it, and still feel like I’ve missed something crucial. Like Donnie Darko. Most movies are forgettable. This movie is brilliant. Criminally underrated due to the other magician movie that came out around the same time.

[@collectedcurios]

5:45 - Caine puts on a rather plummy accent in Zulu (1964).

[@chrisnorman1902]

Three of my favourite American actors in this movie

[@JoeMama410]

ScarJo, Piper Perabo, and Ricky Jay?

[@robert_5974]

This is my favorite movie about magicicians! Great story where the magic wasn't the whole story and Tesla was integral to the story which is amazing!!

[@jackdearman5880]

Honestly this is really the only Nolan that hits for me because goddamnit, I love a Prank War between Magicians.

[@anenemyanemone4923]

Michael Caine did an amazing West Texas accent in Secondhand Lions (I didn't realize it was him until after the movie). He sounded like he could have been my grandpa.

[@magicbrownie1357]

I LOVE this movie. The two facts that Bowie is in it and it's directed by Christopher Nolan means it can't get much cooler. And it's just a great film.

[@andrewburgemeister6684]

Bowie was literally the reason I watched it when it came up on a plane’s IFES, I can thank him being a big fan of him for also getting me into Nolan’s films!

[@KS-xk2so]

The different knot had upsides. The knot they were using was easier to slip in the water, but had a much high risk of coming undone when she was hoisted up, risking her breaking her legs. The different knot was harder to slip in the water, but it would hold firm during the hoist. The wife and Borden both thought she had the skills to slip the harder knot. They look at each other and she NODS to him as he's tying it. They decided together to try the more difficult knot. Unfortunately, they were wrong about her being able to slip it. It's not caused by Borden. She's an adult woman who took the risk. He's not blameless for sure, but saying its on him only is absurd.

[@houseofaction]

here is the thing they say on The DVD commentary that they don't know which knot was tied, that neither al or freddy know

[@javix2013]

If you notice the personalities of both twin brothers, they are different during the movie, one is ruder and rougher and the other is more pleasant, that shows in a second viewing of the movie, there you can suspect that they were brothers and not an disorder personality.

[@10INTM]

So the machine both transfers AND duplicates, it's never actually clear who counts as the copy each time, hence all the test hats being his, so don't think of them as clone/original but survivor/sacrifice.

[@phemyda94]

"Killing your clone is still murder" - Odo, Star Trek: Deep Space 9 Highly recommend The Illusionist! Another period magician movie that came out the same year but has a very different vibe. Edward Norton is great :)

[@dominichills710]

I'm sure with all the movies you watch you may not have time, but watch it again. Knowing what you know now - you'll notice almost the whole film in a different light. And that's the genius of it. It's different everytime you watch it as you will keep noticing little nods. Everyone talks about the Batman trilogy, Inception and Interstellar (for various reasons) but this is my favourite Nolan film and I think most underrated. I have watched it multiple times and always see something new, a little nod, a simile, something that keeps it fresh and makes me feel stupid for missing signposts. Anyway - keep up the great content guys - and rewatch if you can, it will feel like a different movie next time!

[@jmeds94]

Her talking about the Tesla note- “Was it just a coincidence? Wait that doesn’t make sense…” She was so close! I 😂

[@Kamenari37]

Hey there, actual denizen of Colorado Springs. Was super fun as a kid learning about Tesla's attempt at making a death ray here in my hometown :x. But at the time the film would have been portraying, Tesla was already a very famous individual for his inventions, and for his eccentric nature. It wouldn't have taken much to make someone think they'd sought him out for an edge to a magician's act and have it be believable. Electricity was still a rather mystical force to understand for common folk, so many of the concepts that Tesla was working on would have easily been construed as magic to those around him.

[@seantlewis376]

Michael Caine almost always sticks with his own natural Cockney accent. One great exception I can think of is Secondhand Lions where he puts on a Texas accent, and does it well. One flaw I see with the plot is that once Angier creates a clone of himself, there is no reason to do the trick the way he does. He now has a clone. He could continue with the show with the clone, using the same deception that Borden has been using for years.

[@DrLipkin]

It's not a flaw with the plot, it's a flaw with Angier. He says earlier in the movie that he could never imagine living his whole life as someone else. As one of the brothers said, Angier didn't have what it takes to make the sacrifice needed to live the deception. Even if he could have shared a life with a double, it wouldn't have been enough for him. The brothers each lived half a life. If Angier couldn't have a full life, he preferred to die. He claimed it took courage, not knowing each night whether he would be the man in the box or the prestige. But the truth is that he was both. He killed himself every night, but the living Angier never experienced it, and so he sacrificed nothing.

[@traepoint]

One famous Tesla experiment was powering a town without wires. He did it in Colorado Springs from 26 miles away. One of the problems with it was everything was electrified, people would report sparks coming out of sinks, ect.

[@samvsmedia8680]

This is literally my favorite movie, when I worked at AMC, my nametag said "Favorite movie: The Prestige", and people would come up to me and ask, "Is that the one with Edward Norton?" No, that's the other summer 2006 movie about magicians.

[@campagnollo]

Now that you have reacted to this magic movie, you should watch another magic movie, “The Illusionist” with Ed Norton. It will leave you breathless!!!

[@IcemenMike45]

This is my all-time favorite movie by Christopher Nolan.

[@liarliarpumpkineater4808]

Tesla did a lot of research/experiments with wireless power transmission, including earth/ground transmission. Current will move through the earth. I believe he actually did the sticking lightbulbs in the ground thing.

[@japoc]

The movie itself is a magic trick, and Nolan is the magician performing it. This is Nolan's best movie, in my opinion. My favourite movie of all time. The directing and the editing is incredibly well executed. There are so many levels to this movie, so many intricate details. I've rewatched it countless times... Like a magic trick that I really want to figure out... The score is really beautiful, too.

[@bobapjok4241]

Also, i think Cutter's line about the agony of drowning was letting Caldlow realize that every single clone he let drown was suffering. Caldlow thought it was an nice death and so didnt worrry about it, but Cutter pointed out those clones were in agony drowning like that each night.

[@sangfroidian5451]

The key thing is never assume you're smart enough to figure out a Nolan movie as you watch it!! 😁

[@ezrael]

I'M GENUINELY EXCITED FOR THIS! George intuitions will be tested once and for all. 😂 ❤

[@TruthDojaShow]

The Colorado Springs lights on the ground was real. Wireless energy as long as grounded.

[@joshuathompson2404]

Your theory crafting is always juuuuust outlandish enough to be equal parts possible and ridiculous. It's hilarious to watch :)

[@thoso1973]

Borden fully intended to send Angier on a fruitless goose chase in the US, by writing 'TESLA' on the note. Borden had no idea that Tesla was actually capable of making the machine that Angier used in his Transported Man act. Another film called 'The Illusionist' starring Edward Norton and Jessica Biel was released the same year as The Prestige; it also revolves around a 19th Century magician. Definitely worth a watch.