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THE PRESTIGE ON DVD
 Shame
on me for missing it in theaters, but in many ways The Prestige is
the perfect film to enjoy at home on DVD. The entire movie is a
gorgeous magic trick that has several wonderful payoffs as the film
ends that will most certainly make you want to go back and watch it
again. Once you learn the secrets, a second viewing will make for a
completely different but equally enjoyable experience.
Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman star
as rival illusionists in early 1900s London. This was an era where
magicians were the rock stars of the world, with fantastic posters,
tricks, and stunts to capture imaginations of people starved for
entertainment. In the age before the internet and television, a good
magic trick went a long way. Hell, many people were probably
convinced it was simply just real magic.
Christopher Nowlan, who previously
wrote and directed Bale in Batman Begins gets back to his brilliantly
twisted storytelling style that he popularized with the amnesia
themed mystery, Memento. We're greeted with an opening image of a
wooded field strewn with top hats. The simple but puzzling image is a
cypher that's important in unlocking the mysteries of the film.
The storytelling is great, because
unlike the M. Night Shyamalan style script that is just slow paced
dread building up to a silly twist ending, Nowlan's tale keeps you
amazed and guessing all the way through, and even if you figure out
where it's going, there's additional tricks and reveals that you
never saw coming. All of which contribute to a very satisfying ending
that even Christian Bale admits (on one of the DVD extras) made him
want to immediately watch it again after seeing it for the first
time.
Bale and Jackman work well together. I
laughed at the casting at first, thinking it was just a clever ploy
to give us Batman vs. Wolverine, but the two play very different
characters from their superhero alter egos. The two are competitive
partners working with Michael Caine's character, Cutter, who end up
becoming obsessed rivals with a near psychotic string of
one-upmanship that proves to be catostrophic for both.
David Bowie is fantastic as electrical
pioneer Nikolai Tesla, who's inventions are nearly as magic to the
people of the time as the illusions. Scarlett Johanssonand Piper
Perabo are also swell as the lovely assistants. Though the film is
rated PG-13, so you won't be seeing any disappearing acts with their
clothing.
The DVD looks and sounds great, and
there's just a handful of extras that don't reveal all that much
about the film, but are better than nothing. My guess is that
there'll be a nice deluxe 2 disc set with deleted scenes, director
commentary, and hidden secrets/clues in the film, that will come out
in the future. If you're thinking of buying the DVD, I'd hold out for
that so you don't have to get it twice. Otherwise, whatever way you
rent movies is the perfect way to enjoy the film until that happens.
I'm also disappointed in the ugly
artwork on the DVD case. The disembodied heads of Bale and Jackman,
with a wispy ghostlike figure of Johansson look just awful, and make
you think the movie is about some sort of love triangle. The primary
movie poster, shown above on the left, is equally ugly, and doesn't
do a good job at all marketing the true spirit of the film. At least
the variant on the right (which I never actually saw displayed
myself), makes it feel more like a movie about magic. If they would
have tried to emulate some of the fantastic magician posters from
that era, it would have been more appropriate.
But as far as the film goes, I can't
recommend it enough. I'm probably going to watch it again tonight.
-Robert Berry
rberry@retrocrush.com
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