The Prestige (2006)

All Critics (190) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (152) | Rotten (46) | DVD (35)

The film is never less than engaging, though considering that the title The Prestige refers to the moment in a magic act that gives it its "wow" factor, it's kind of a shame that the ultimate "reveal" in the movie is a little too tricky for its own good.

October 18, 2008 Full Review

Bob Mondello

NPR.org

Top Critic

It's quite a movie -- atmospheric, obsessive, almost satanic.

September 7, 2007 Full Review | Comments (4)

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

The who's-bilking-whom mind games make for compelling fun, but once the presto moment of The Prestige is revealed, you're left with nothing but shattered illusions.

February 3, 2007 Full Review

Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out New York

Top Critic

Not only does it tell you how it's all done, it takes so long about it that you've got time to look up its sleeves and work it out for yourself.

November 9, 2006 Full Review | Comments (2)

Ben Walters

Time Out

Top Critic

Jackman and Bale give standout performances as rivals whose mutual obsession destroys all sense of perspective and ruins lives.

October 25, 2006 Full Review

Richard Roeper

Ebert & Roeper

Top Critic

The film is lavishly mounted, set-wise, costume-wise, makeup-wise and special-effects-wise. But the magicians themselves are cold and devious, and the chill permeates the whole film.

October 25, 2006 | Comments (5)

Andrew Sarris

New York Observer

Top Critic

Until an inexplicably awful revelation at the end, The Prestige is a taut, exciting portrait of obsession and the dark competitive spirit of professional magicians.

September 19, 2009 Full Review | Comments (2)

Gabe Leibowitz

Film and Felt

Risible inanity

August 28, 2009 Full Review | Comments (15)

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Although the slowish pacing early on over-indicates how both magicians' marquee misdirection (a disappearing act) will be achieved, The Prestige still manages a neat trick of its own.

April 23, 2009 Full Review

Justine Elias

Boston Phoenix

Show me a director better suited for a movie about magic than Christopher Nolan and I'll show you... a magician?

November 20, 2008 Full Review

Brian Marder

Hollywood.com

Rival magicians battle in smart, dark period tale.

July 16, 2008 Full Review

Cynthia Fuchs

Common Sense Media

"The Prestige" is a cinematic trick, nothing more, and the deadpan seriousness is part of the effect, and not an end in itself.

April 17, 2008 Full Review

Brian Holcomb

Beyond Hollywood

In a movie about people who make their livings on misdirection, The Prestige utterly forgets to employ its own.

February 28, 2008 Full Review | Comments (19)

Brandon Fibbs

BrandonFibbs.com

nesavr%u0161ena iluzija je jo%u0161 uvijek svjetlosnim godinama ispred iluzije koje nam nude beskrvni i bezidejni holivudski "blockbusteri",

September 28, 2007 Full Review

Dragan Antulov

Index.hr

Nolan balances Hollywood and indie sensibilities pulling off a film that is smart, complicated and carries a big look.

August 13, 2007 Full Review

Ryan Cracknell

Calgary Movies

As the magicians attempt various versions of "The Transported Man," you can't help but feel transported yourself to a time when magic was the big entertainment.

July 25, 2007 Full Review

James Plath

Movie Metropolis

As is his want, Mr. Nolan jumps between time periods and voice-overs with reckless abandon. The movie's real trick is that it all somehow manages to congeal.

July 14, 2007 Full Review | Comment (1)

Joe Lozito

Big Picture Big Sound

You wouldn't have guessed it from The Prestige's marketing, but this movie about rival Victorian magicians is actually a science fiction film . . .

June 4, 2007 Full Review

James O'Ehley

Sci-Fi Movie Page

An example of old-fashioned storytelling, the kind of magical movie that could have been made fifty years ago and, consequently, will still be watched fifty years from now.

March 24, 2007 Full Review

Brian Tallerico

UGO

• 1. Robert Angier: Man's reach exceeds his imagination!
  – Submitted by Typhon Q (56 days ago)
• 1. Olivia Wenscombe: It's inhuman to be so cold.
  – Submitted by Kia M (2 months ago)
• 1. Robert Angier: He's out of his mind!
  2. Olivia Wenscombe: He's an out-of-work actor, of course he's out of his mind.
  – Submitted by Kia M (2 months ago)
• 1. Olivia Wenscombe: You're going to need a better disguise.
  – Submitted by Kia M (2 months ago)
• 1. Olivia Wenscombe: You're going to do something to that man, aren't you?
  – Submitted by Kia M (2 months ago)
• 1. Cutter: The Real Transported Man is the most sought-after illusion in the business and I have te right to sell it on.
  – Submitted by joseph j (4 months ago)