The Prestige...

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

OK - someone clear up a misconception for me:

so Bale's character had a twin....wasn't it mentioned that Tesla had built the machine once before for someone else and had to replicate it for Jackmans character? I had assumed that someone was Bales character...if not him - then who??? - or did I get the wrong idea that Tesla had made the machine for someone priot to that??? (I have to buy this one!!!!) Didn't we see Bale's Character using it - with the electrical chaarges and all....or did I mix that up????? I really should have watched this again before returning it!!!!

Thank you in advance!!!!

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

So, who was the "bad guy" and who the "good guy" in this movie?

I considered Christian Bale the bad guy. Probably because he was at least partially responsible for the death of Hugh Jackman's wife. My DW thought Hugh Jackman was the bad guy. I'm not sure why!

 

[DISUNC]

Slightly OT, but someone PLEASE tell me that they knew that Tesla was David Bowie! Almost everyone I've spoken to about this movie has said, "THAT was David Bowie???"

I knew that!!!!!

However I did not know anything else going on it that movie...I was totally lost watching it! Then again POCII has me baffled too?

 

[KikiFan]

OK - someone clear up a misconception for me:

so Bale's character had a twin....wasn't it mentioned that Tesla had built the machine once before for someone else and had to replicate it for Jackmans character? I had assumed that someone was Bales character...if not him - then who??? - or did I get the wrong idea that Tesla had made the machine for someone priot to that??? (I have to buy this one!!!!) Didn't we see Bale's Character using it - with the electrical chaarges and all....or did I mix that up????? I really should have watched this again before returning it!!!!

Thank you in advance!!!!

oh wow that never occured to me but you might be right. I think I'm going to have to netflx this again or else buy it!

So, who was the "bad guy" and who the "good guy" in this movie?

I considered Christian Bale the bad guy. Probably because he was at least partially responsible for the death of Hugh Jackman's wife. My DW thought Hugh Jackman was the bad guy. I'm not sure why!

I have to agree with your husband. I think killing the wife was accidental. She encouraged Bale to use that particular knot, even though she'd been told it was dangerous. (Remember when he looks at her and she nods "yes") But everything Jackman did was deliberate, he was just eaten up with professional jealousy and revenge. Not to mention he deliberately killed all those men and used his girlfriend. I just hated his character by the end.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

a couple other things - Borden used "tesla" as the key....and, if Borden hadn't had the machine prior - how would Tesla know what Angier is asking for...

I started reading over at IMDB - I am beginning to think there are no straight out answers...the more that was revealed - the more questions it all just brings up.....

definitely one you can watch over and over!!!!

 

[Cool-Beans]

I'm still trying to figure out "The Usual Suspects"...

 

[challada]

I thought it was too easy to figure out the twin and the duplicating machine thing....

and, yes, I knew it was Bowie right away.


The thing that bugged me was that I had the impression that the "copy" from the duplicating machine is what was getting tossed outside at Tesla's house and that's why it kept piling up. If that was the case, then wasn't it ALWAYS the copy guy that was standing OUTSIDE the machine and the original inside? So Jackman drowned himself at the first show....or did he keep a 'spare' copy around for that part of the show or what?

I just kept having visions of Michael Keaton in "Multiplicity" and how he got dumber w/each copy of himself!

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

I thought it was too easy to figure out the twin and the duplicating machine thing....

and, yes, I knew it was Bowie right away.


The thing that bugged me was that I had the impression that the "copy" from the duplicating machine is what was getting tossed outside at Tesla's house and that's why it kept piling up. If that was the case, then wasn't it ALWAYS the copy guy that was standing OUTSIDE the machine and the original inside? So Jackman drowned himself at the first show....or did he keep a 'spare' copy around for that part of the show or what?

I just kept having visions of Michael Keaton in "Multiplicity" and how he got dumber w/each copy of himself!

well, I think they showed him shooting the copy/original when he first tried it out - so I "THINK" the question is more about what happened the first time - not the first show...right? ..I'm confused..and I think that makes it possible for him to have kept third around for the show - some at IMDB were talking about a third : one for the stage, one to be drowned, one to show up way up on the balcony.......I think....the original on the stage couldn't have made it up to there (if he is not the one who was drowned )

I really do need to watch this again!!!

 

[GoodFairies]

a couple other things - Borden used "tesla" as the key....and, if Borden hadn't had the machine prior - how would Tesla know what Angier is asking for...

I started reading over at IMDB - I am beginning to think there are no straight out answers...the more that was revealed - the more questions it all just brings up.....

definitely one you can watch over and over!!!!

Borden's "double" was a twin from birth and not a duplicate made by the machine. Borden wrote about Tesla in his journal knowing that when Angier saw his name he would go to America to seek him out. It was a wild goose chase of sorts that would ensure Angier to be out of the magic game for a while and thus Borden would book more shows. Borden does not know that Tesla actually has a machine that would make duplicates and therefore make magic. The only thing he actually knows about Tesla is that show that both he and Angier attended when Tesla showed off his machine which at that time did not work.

Regarding which one is killed when Angier uses the machine -- it doesn't matter -- they are all exact duplicates. We do not know based on the movie whether the original Angier was killed or the copy in the first time the machine is used, but again, it does not matter. There is no difference between Angiers, and this why he comments that he "doesn't know which one of him will die on any given night."

Which one is the bad guy?
Well they both have their faults and I would say neither of them is particularly a good guy. But the point of the movie isn't really about making one the good guy and one the bad guy. It's about who will go further for his obsession over magic. Who is more obsessed? The man who settles for "half a life"? The man who will kill "himself" every night rather than share his ovation? And lets not forget how ALL 3 men allowed Angier's wife to drown rather than revealing the trick to get her out of the tank quickly when the axe didn't work.

I LOVED this movie and can't believe anyone would find it boring. Wow. I would also recommend the book for anyone who may still have questions about the movie.

 

[Charade]

I'm still trying to figure out "The Usual Suspects"...

Oh, I loved that movie!! Didn't "get it" until the very end!

 

[teacherforhi]

I absolutely loved that movie! Seeing David Bowie was a nice surprise.

The one question: do we know which twin died? Was it the one that was the father of the little girl? or the Uncle?

I don't know that there's any way to know, but I just assumed it was the twin that lived. He made the comment that he loved Sarah (the wife), while his brother loved the assistant.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

Borden's "double" was a twin from birth and not a duplicate made by the machine. Borden wrote about Tesla in his journal knowing that when Angier saw his name he would go to America to seek him out. It was a wild goose chase of sorts that would ensure Angier to be out of the magic game for a while and thus Borden would book more shows. Borden does not know that Tesla actually has a machine that would make duplicates and therefore make magic. The only thing he actually knows about Tesla is that show that both he and Angier attended when Tesla showed off his machine which at that time did not work.

Regarding which one is killed when Angier uses the machine -- it doesn't matter -- they are all exact duplicates. We do not know based on the movie whether the original Angier was killed or the copy in the first time the machine is used, but again, it does not matter. There is no difference between Angiers, and this why he comments that he "doesn't know which one of him will die on any given night."

Which one is the bad guy?
Well they both have their faults and I would say neither of them is particularly a good guy. But the point of the movie isn't really about making one the good guy and one the bad guy. It's about who will go further for his obsession over magic. Who is more obsessed? The man who settles for "half a life"? The man who will kill "himself" every night rather than share his ovation? And lets not forget how ALL 3 men allowed Angier's wife to drown rather than revealing the trick to get her out of the tank quickly when the axe didn't work.

I LOVED this movie and can't believe anyone would find it boring. Wow. I would also recommend the book for anyone who may still have questions about the movie.

ahhh - I see!!! Thank you!!!

 

[Bonnie40]

Watched it last night and loved it!

 

[SueM in MN]

I don't know that there's any way to know, but I just assumed it was the twin that lived. He made the comment that he loved Sarah (the wife), while his brother loved the assistant.

The wife also made a comment to (what she thought was her husband) saying she didn't understand him because sometimes he loved her and sometimes he didn't.
I'm assuming that the real father was the one she said loved her (not sure she would be 'in the mood' with the one who didn't love her).

 

[JoyG]

Another thing I thought of that was interesting...

Borden was always saying he didn't know which knot he tied that day when Jackman's wife died....I didn't realize until the end of the movie that he really didn't know which knot it was...because the twin answering the knot question wouldn't be the twin that actually tied the knot.

 

[GoodFairies]

Another thing I thought of that was interesting...

Borden was always saying he didn't know which knot he tied that day when Jackman's wife died....I didn't realize until the end of the movie that he really didn't know which knot it was...because the twin answering the knot question wouldn't be the twin that actually tied the knot.

Exactly!

 

[bgirldeb]

This was a GREAT movie, and I recognized David Bowie right away

 

[SueM in MN]

Another thing I thought of that was interesting...

Borden was always saying he didn't know which knot he tied that day when Jackman's wife died....I didn't realize until the end of the movie that he really didn't know which knot it was...because the twin answering the knot question wouldn't be the twin that actually tied the knot.

Had not thought about that - but it could be.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

Bale had a twin brother, from birth, that he used for the trasportation act.

Jackson found an actor who supposedly looked just like him, to do the act, but it wasn't working in the end.

yes, the machine in the end was making copies. the "copies" ended up in the balcony of the theater, and the one who was performing the trick on the stage dropped thru the floor into a tank of water and yes, died each time. so now the copy will go on to do the trick the next night, make another "copy" and the original copy will fall into the tank, and so on. that's why he said he only wanted to do the trick so many times, so he only had so many "copies" dead in tanks of water under the stage.

it's also why he only hired blind people to handle everything behind the scenes, so they wouldn't see him "Dying" everynight of the show. that's why when Bale's character saw what was happeneing, everything went wrong.


.......did that make any sense? it's easier to explain in person. i actually really liked the movie, but i like magicians and stuff like that.

 

[DawnCt1]

Borden's "double" was a twin from birth and not a duplicate made by the machine. Borden wrote about Tesla in his journal knowing that when Angier saw his name he would go to America to seek him out. It was a wild goose chase of sorts that would ensure Angier to be out of the magic game for a while and thus Borden would book more shows. Borden does not know that Tesla actually has a machine that would make duplicates and therefore make magic. The only thing he actually knows about Tesla is that show that both he and Angier attended when Tesla showed off his machine which at that time did not work.

Regarding which one is killed when Angier uses the machine -- it doesn't matter -- they are all exact duplicates. We do not know based on the movie whether the original Angier was killed or the copy in the first time the machine is used, but again, it does not matter. There is no difference between Angiers, and this why he comments that he "doesn't know which one of him will die on any given night."

Which one is the bad guy?
Well they both have their faults and I would say neither of them is particularly a good guy. But the point of the movie isn't really about making one the good guy and one the bad guy. It's about who will go further for his obsession over magic. Who is more obsessed? The man who settles for "half a life"? The man who will kill "himself" every night rather than share his ovation? And lets not forget how ALL 3 men allowed Angier's wife to drown rather than revealing the trick to get her out of the tank quickly when the axe didn't work.

I LOVED this movie and can't believe anyone would find it boring. Wow. I would also recommend the book for anyone who may still have questions about the movie.

Our whole family loved the movie and we have watched it at least twice, some of us three times. You did a great job with the details and meaning of the movie. Congratulations on your insight and your ability to articulate the story.