I think it’s time we revisit both “The Prestige” and “The Illusionist” 15 Years Later…

Both films “The Prestige” and “The Illusionist” turned 15 years old this year (with the former turning 15 tomorrow, 10/20)! I remember when both films came out within two months of one another and everyone was comparing the two. Two similar films being released around the same time by different studios seems to happen a lot.

I loved “The Prestige” so much, I was obsessed with that ending, the story, the acting, everything. Me and my sister and stepdad watched it together and loved it. We later watched The Illusionist but were not nearly as impressed by it. It was fine, and I’m a huge Norton fan, but it just lacked a lot. It felt empty at times. Also, The Prestige had the better ending and cast (I mean, The Prestige had Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and ScarJo while The Illusionist had Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti and Jessica Biel).

Did you like them? Which did you like more?

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by Anonymous

reply 1

November 15, 2021 5:22 PM

I first watched [italic]The Prestige[/italic] when I was ten years old. As a child, it was my understanding that Bale had made one clone of himself, then used that one clone to perform his trick. At the end, Jackman says in disbelief that the other Bale must be a twin, which I suppose is meant to be the explicit confirmation that he is in fact a natural identical twin and not a clone. But I think Jackman also says in that moment that he must just be a lookalike pulled off the street - so I took Jackman's comments as his desperate rationale as to why Bale hadn't also been murdering clones of himself every time he performed the trick.

It was only years later that I found out that he really was a natural twin - but it would have been far better if he were a clone, don't you think.

Because it contrasted with Jackman whose first instinct was to kill his clone, and callously drown the rest. There was another way that he had convinced himself was impossible after that first murder. Bale saw the distinct humanity of his clone, who had his own soul and his own yearning for love.

This seems so obviously superior I don't know why the author of the original book went with twins instead.

Something else I don't understand is why Bale's supposedly fake and deliberately misleading diary leads Jackman right to Tesla and the cloning machine - this is too convoluted if Bale never actually visited Tesla and used the machine.