The Prestige (DVD)

The Prestige is not a horror movie. However, it will appeal to fans of the genre because there is plenty of sci-fi, suspense, murder, dismemberment, and of course everyone's favorite American Psycho, Christian Bale.

The story follows two Victorian-era dueling magicians (Bale, Hugh Jackman), each trying to outdo the other following the tragic, onstage death of one their fellow performers. Read the original theatrical release review here. http://www.horror.com/php/article-1413-1.html

The DVD kind of pulls a disappearing act when it comes to additional release material, but it's enough to warrant a small round of applause.

The Director’s Notebook: The Cinematic Sleight of Hand of Christopher Nolan — is not what you might think. It's not a video diary or the inner-thoughts of Nolan at all; it's just a standard making-of featurette. Still, it's interesting enough. Nolan talks about his desire to give The Prestige a timeless feel, and to break free of the corset-like restraints of the look of Victorian London and its inhabitants. He explains how he tried to mirror out present-day obsession with celebrity, advertising, reality TV, and the like, within those constraints and what a unique challenge it was. He also reveals that he purposely avoided casting actors who are known for "period pieces", opting instead for a cast that could convey an ageless aura to the onscreen proceedings.

The Director's Notebook encompasses the following chapters: Conjuring the Past; The Visual Maze; Metaphors of Deception; and a stills gallery entitled The Art of The Prestige.

The Visual Maze was of particular interest to me, because a lot of made of DP Wally Pfister's use of a handheld camera to give the movie a sense of immediacy and really being in the moment. It's a testament to his talent, because not once did he resort to the annoying "shaky-cam" effect, yet he did achieve his goal in spades.

Tesla: The Man Who Invented the Twentieth Century is another mini-featurette, and in it, it's revealed how an at-first reluctant David Bowie was convinced to play the role of Nikola Tesla. All the featurettes include  interviews with the cast (including the great Michael Caine), screenwriter Jonathan Nolan (Christopher’s brother), and many more.

I wish there had been a commentary, and perhaps a documentary about magic and magicians in the Victorian era (especially the popularity of spiritualism), but overall I thought the producers of the DVD did a good job, and even if it was just the movie alone, The Prestige disc would still be well worth the price.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson