The Illusionist was a very good movie. Haven’t bothered to see The Prestige.
I don’t know if this helps, but I’ve seen both of them and still have trouble remembering which pretty good bits and which pretty awful bits were in which one.
If I think hard on it, I tend to agree with CJJ’s* summary. The Illusionist is a quieter movie, it’s more thoughtful throughout, but at the same time, it doesn’t think too deep on anything. The Prestige takes more risks, but as a result has more noticeable moments when the risk doesn’t pay off. It’s the kind of movie where there is more to talk about after, although here at Chez Del, there was a high frequency of crabbing in the talk.
They were both pretty mediocre IMHO, but The Prestige at least had the hotter chick.
I like The Prestige better, though I agree with James Berardinelli’s comment that it takes a turn that “alters the suspension of disbelief curve,” which disrupts the flow of the movie.
The Illusionist is too obvious, and the protagonists are too unsympathetic (at least on reflection). It’s well worth watching, but I think I prefer The Prestige.
How are they unsympathetic?
Admittedly, Rufus Sewell’s character was an asshole, and did specific nasty stuff like slap Jessica Biel around and try to force her into marriage. However, while there was a rumor that he’d offed a chorus girl or something, all it was was gossip. The heroes of the story could easily have just faked Biel’s death and thus run away happily together, but they went out of their way to frame an innocent (of her murder, and possibly any murder) man.
I considered that when I watched the movie, but after a re-watch, it felt more compelling to believe that this ties in with Norton’s agenda agains the prevailing social structure. A coup as an added bonus, one could say.
My problem with The Illusionist was the M. Night Shyamawhatever trick ending. Not only was it not true to the rest of the movie, but Giamatti’s grotesque mugging while the camera spun around him as he “put it all together” was to laugh.
Gee, I had no idea that walking, talking, three-dimensional holograms were so advanced in the 1800s. :rolleyes:
I wasn’t terribly fond of either one of them, but I would describe *The Illusionist * as a fairy tale (and we know that fairy tales can be dark, to say the least) and I would describe *The Prestige * as a suspense/horror movie. YMMV.
Depends what you mean by “advanced”. It was certainly the “Hollywood” version. Had the movie version been identical to the trick as it was performed in real life, it would have been obvious to the Paul Giamatti character what was going on as soon as he got on stage. But a version of the trick was performed.
The Illusionist was considerably better than The Prestige, by a long shot.
I enjoyed The Prestige more, but Ed Norton was great in The Illusionist.
The Prestige was a fantastic movie. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman were outstanding, as were Michael Caine and David Bowie. The story was compelling and well-imagined. Highly recommended.
The Illusionist was kind of corny and predictable, esp. after seeing The Prestige. JMO, but *The Prestige * was a far better movie.
I was really looking forward to both of these, and was really underwhelmed by both. Once they explained the trick in The Prestige, I thought the final scene - which apparently was intended to impress - was obvious and unnecessary.
And I had major problems with Ed Norton’s apparent supernatural abilities in The Illusionist.
I think I preferred the latter, mainly because I really like Norton, and think Jessica is hotter than Scarlett. Both were okay rentals IMO, but little more.
By the way, I just finished reading The Prestige, and the book the movie is based on was better than the movie by a long shot. Excellent writing that you can still enjoy, even though you know the twist that’s coming.
The magic in the Illusionist was more interesting, simply because it was a replication of Victorian magic - well, except for that polished hologram… But I like the Prestige more myself, even though I didn’t like either of the magicians.
singular1, is the story essentially the same? Including Borden’s big secret and Tesla’s machine?
I thought the ending to the Illusionist, as an other poster here already said, had a very distinctive “we need an M. Shyamalan ending” tacked-on feel to it.
It totally negated everything that happened before and didn’t even make the least bit of sense.
I am eagerly awaiting the release of The Prestige on DVD, as I haven’t seen it yet.
Haven’t seen the Illusionist, but really enjoyed the Prestige. I still find myself thinking about it, months after seeing it - a good sign in my book.
Although it was set in Victorian England and dealt with feuding magicians, I really feel it is more like
a Greek tragedy, where an unintended act of pride (Bale’s wanting to try the new knot in the escape trick with Jackman’s gal) leads to far-reaching blood-war consequences that invoke the gods (or at least, the supernatural) and where Man’s hubris forces the warring player’s hands and ultimately leads to tragedy for all involved, because they pursued their revenge at the expense of harmony with the gods…
I also like Christopher Nolan’s movie direction. As with Memento - the other plot-twisty movie he directed, his attention to detail is wonderful and the things he reveals early on without really tipping his hat are very cool…
I preferred The Prestige, mainly because I couldn’t get over the magical holograms of The Illusionist. Plus, although Ed Norton did a great job, I hated his character. In Prestige I saw Bales secret early on and Jackman’s long before the final scene, but it was still a much more satisfying movie.