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  Group Movie discussion ~ "The Prestige"

  This is the discussion thread for the Group Movie (June):
  
  The Prestige
  
  (there is a separate thread for "The Machinist")

  Joanne N started this discussion 3 months ago. ( reply )

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  Toni K 

  I loved this movie, although I found it a little disturbing. I do have a question: The first time he cloned....Did he drown himself or the clone?

  posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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  Annie 

  I really liked this movie. I agree with Toni that it was slightly disturbing just for the fact it played with your head. Christian Bale is brilliant as always. For some reason I didn't like Scarlett Johansson as Olivia Wenscombe. I think casting for that role could have been different.

  posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    Juliana C (I'll be away this weekend and Cloumbus Day!) 

    Me neither. I really don't like Scarlett Johansson as an actress.

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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  Joe M (edited)

  I liked this movie a lot, great performances by Bale (especially) and Jackman, and great contrasts in the two main characters. There is a general theme of duality running throughout: the two magicians, twins, doppelgangers/clones, a wife and a mistress, etc.
  
  I have to admit, though, I get tired of the movies that repeatedly have to psyche you out with all their unexpected surprise twists that redefine everything that came before (I think Roger Ebert called it "Keyser Soze Syndrome" :) ). For me, the most compelling aspects to the movie lie in the relationship and psychology between the two main characters--their rivalry and competitiveness and need to outdo, their obsessiveness with their art--much moreso than the plot and the surprise twists.
  
  I also thought David Bowie did a fantastic job.

  posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    optic junkie 

    Bowie's part made me want to get out my Tesla bio again. He was great in that. My hubby asks why he doesn't act more? I wish he would too. I'm laughing at the Keyser Soze Syndrome thing...I call it the Fatal Attraction ending. Well, I guess that would be more like them trying to make you jump out of your seat with fright just one last time and not so much the plot twisting. But you get the idea.

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    Juliana C (I'll be away this weekend and Cloumbus Day!) 

    Yeah, it was weird seeing David Bowie of all people in this movie, but he did a very good job in my opinion.

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    Joanne N 

    i was blaming the fact that i missed obvious bits in the plot because i am not feeling well, but i think you have a good point ~ it may also be because i was focussing more on the relationship between the characters... and the backgrounds and scenery... i do that often with movies... i am so busy admiring the beautiful scenery and interesting settings, that i miss the actual story itself, LoL !!

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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  Toni K 

  The end of the movie was crazy....why did he keep all the clones?

  posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    Juliana C (I'll be away this weekend and Cloumbus Day!) 

    I wondered the same thing. That was kind of stupid on his part.

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    Joanne N 

    Now, i finally got to see this movie today, GREAT pick Toni... loved it... but now i really need to watch it again some time... because don't laugh (haha)... i must not have been watching it properly, what clones??? i know he had a double, that he used for the transporting trick (i was thinking that it was the double that he drowned while trying to frame the other magician)~ and i know that the other magician had the twin, but clones?? huh?? i must have missed that part... this proves to me that i should never watch movies when i am sick... my brain is too foggy to concentrate!! i'll watch it again when i am feeling better, and realize what a dummy i am :)

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    Joanne N 

    yes, i definitely missed an integral part of the movie that i needed to see for the whole thing to make sense ~ now i've been told what i missed, so i understand it all now ~ phew!!

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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  PaigeTurner 

  saw this movie sometime last year, so it's not "fresh" in my head, but I DO remember that I loved it!!! I like movies that make you think!

  posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    Toni K 

    Did anyone figyre out that "Bale's" character was a twin, before they revealed it? I didn't but my husband did.

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    Joe M 

    I suspected while watching it that the assistant must be Bale in some way, for two reasons: in lingering shots the character looked like Bale in disguise, and I kept thinking how odd it was that a character with such a significant presence in the plot (getting buried by Jackman and Caine, and at one emotional point in the movie he poignantly takes the child away while Bale's magician and his wife are arguing) hardly spoke a word and nothing was revealed about him other than he was the assistant.
    
    Yet, I was still scratching my head about it up until the point of the reveal, and felt kind of dumb when it was revealed because if you have those suspicions that it was Bale in some other form, twins would be the most obvious, logical explanation (I was thinking it would be some kind of supernatural explanation). Oh well, couldn't fully connect the dots. :)

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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  CrazyBlonde 

  It was a good movie, but I was TOTALLY confused during the whole thing...it kept skipping back and forth so I was pretty lost...when it was over I actually understood it all so I'm proud of myself for that...and I also enjoyed it...though I think that The Illusionist was better.
  CB :-D

  posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    Toni K 

    Funny that you say that...I still can not pick between The Prestige & The Illusionist. They are both AWSOME movies. :)

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    optic junkie 

    I plot-busted Illusionist almost immediately, but for some reason I didn't pick up at all on them being twins. So I liked Prestige much better. I also thought Jackman was great. He played revenge well for me.

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    Juliana C (I'll be away this weekend and Cloumbus Day!) 

    The Illusionist wasn't near as great as The Prestige.

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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  freegirl 

  I really liked The Prestige. I actually watched it one morning before I knew it was one of the movie picks for discussion. I can't remember the main character's name at the moment, but I thought it was kind of interesting how at a certain point, after the success of the "transporting trick," he wasn't feeling being the one dropped through the floor anymore, because after all he was attraction. And it made me think about how most people would want the applause, recognition and prestige, especially if it's their craft. Opposed to someone just thrusted into it, becausetheir heart wouldn't be in it. For them it would just be something to do. And looking back they should have gotten the look-alike out of the spotlight after the first show. And the rivalry between the main charcters
  really took you to a dimension, where messing with one's head, was just as intense as trying to perfect the actual illusion.

  posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    Toni K 

    But I'm still wondering who was killed the first time it happen? The Clone or the Man?

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    freegirl 

    I feel you Toni. I'm a little stumped too. For some reason I think it was the man though.

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    Toni K (edited)

    I was thinking the same. But if you think about it...he didn't really die....his clone has his memories...

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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  Juliana C (I'll be away this weekend and Cloumbus Day!) 

  I thought that it was an excellent movie. It had some great twists that I thought were awesome. It took me a while to actually get it because the first time I saw it, I was watching it with a friend of mine who had already seen it, and throught the whole thing he kept saying "But it's not what you think is happening!" And I was getting really annoyed because I couldn't pay attention to what was going on. And then the second time that I saw the movie, I was watching it with my mom and my aunts who kept talking and saying "I don't get it." Then I was getting really annoyed again because I couldn't hear what was going on. So I watched it a third time by myself, and I finally got it. So over all when I knew what was going on, I loved it. And Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale being in a movie together was totally awesome.

  posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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    Joanne N 

    haha Juliana!!
    you are not alone there ~ i have only seen it once, and i think i'll have to watch it at least once more to totally get it... and i was watching it alone, LoL!!

    posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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  Tara L 

  The Prestige is an excellent movie (I loved The Illusionist, too) and I particularly like the period in which the movie was set...it really added to the sense of mystery and curiosity that would have been present at that time. (Nowadays I don't think anything could shock or surprise me!) I love entertainment but movies that add an element of ethical complexity interest me greatly. I would recommend this movie to others for sure!

  posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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  Linda Ambrosia 

  I believe the director is the same one for the new Dark Knight. To be honest. it was okay until it turned into a clone fantasy. I was completely lost at the end. To this day I haven't figured it out. It shouldn't have introduced the fantasy/sci-fi element at the last minute. Looked really pretty, though. Nice photography, sets.

  posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

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  Ann M 

  I know this is late but I finally watched the film. I guess I am the only person that didn't enjoy the film. I liked the acting (C.Bale, H.Jackman and M.Caine were great) and the mental obsession/rivalry between the characters. What made the movie bad? I didn't like the science fiction twist of cloning. I thought the story would've been great without it. It just muddled it for me instead of being "the awesome twist" of the film. I rate it 2.5 stars. Oh, and as far as the twin, I guessed that one (that wasn't a surprise).

  posted 2 months ago. ( reply )

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    Joanne N 

    Ann, what you are saying makes sense... that you think the story would have been better without the cloning twist... it is funny, because i missed the whole cloning bit (i was sick at the time i watched it so i don't think i was concentrating properly, plus i got distracted during the movie by my son, LoL!) and yet i really enjoyed the movie without having "seen" the cloning bit... so in a way ~ you are right!! it wasn't until i read the comments on here about cloning that i realized that i had missed something along the way :)

    posted 2 months ago. ( reply )

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