History Film / ThePrestige

* NoodleIncident: The first time Angier shows his version of The Transported Man to the theater owner, the stunner owner starts talking about how rare it is to see real magic, and that he hasn't seen it happen since... and then Angier cuts him off.

* ILetGwenStacyDie: Piper Perabo's character, Julia, who drowns during a stage performance, setting Angier against Borden.

** Also, DavidBowie as the famously celibate Tesla.
* {{Jerkass}}: Borden [[spoiler:(the one who gets hanged)]], and Angier's double.

* MagiciansAreWizards: Subverted: the movie explains every trick, and at one point Michael Caine snaps "You're a magician, not a bloody wizard! If you want to do magic, you've got to get your hands dirty." [[spoiler:Perhaps more specifically, Tesla is the wizard, having created Angier's cloning device.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In the book, [[spoiler:Borden shuts off the power to Angier's machine while the latter is in the midst of the In A Flash act. This effectively creates a ghostly version of Angier who is seemingly immortal and more vengeful than before.]]

** ScarlettJohansson got some criticism for her accent as Olivia Wenscombe. Olivia is an American in the novel, which means it might have been deliberate for Scarlett to talk like an American imitating an English accent. Maybe.

The story follows an escalating rivalry between two magicians, [[FunWithAcronyms Alfred Borden]] and [[ThemeInitials Robert Angier]]. They started their careers as "voluntaries" to another stage magician until Angier's wife died during a performance, possibly because Borden may have tied a stronger rope knot than necessary (with the wife's permission). The rivalry extends into the magician scene as the two compete to see who is the best at their craft while sabotaging each other's acts.

** Its not perfect though: [[spoiler: The women they love can tell some difference. Specifically, Sarah can tell that sometimes Borden genuinely means it when he says he loves her, and sometimes he doesn't.]]

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: A key thematic element of the rivalry between Borden (the technician) and Angier (the performer). There's also a bit of this between Angier and his double (whose drunken antics have quite the theatric touch) [[spoiler: There are hints that the two Bordens differ on this as well--one is is a technician, the other more or less along for the ride.]]

* MadArtist: Angier shows more traits than his rival. In the end he explains that the magic shows's main point (and all that it implied) was to puzzle the audience and be considered the best magician ever. Judging from his popularity it was a complete success, [[PoweredByAForsakenChild but the price he paid was very high]].

* MagiciansAreWizards: Subverted: the movie explains every trick, and at one point Michael Cane snaps "You're a magician, not a bloody wizard! If you want to do magic, you've got to get your hands dirty." [[spoiler:Perhaps more specifically, Tesla is the wizard, having created Angier's cloning device.]]

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Nikola Tesla invented a [[spoiler: duplication machine]].

->"''Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call the prestige.''"

* ItGotWorse: And then some.

** [[spoiler: Also, when Borden is performing his bullet catch, he asks if his volunteer is "man enough."]]

The story follows an escalating rivalry between two magicians, [[FunWithAcronyms Alfred Borden]] and [[ThemeInitials Robert Angier]]. They started their careers as partners until Angier's wife died during a performance, possibly because Borden may have tied a stronger rope knot than necessary (with the wife's permission). The rivalry extends into the magician scene as the two compete to see who is the best at their craft while sabotaging each other's acts.

* FakeBrit: ScarlettJohansson got some criticism for her accent as Olivia Wenscombe.
** [[FridgeBrilliance Interestingly]], Olivia is an American in the novel, which means it might have been deliberate for Scarlett to talk like an American imitating an English accent.
** Also, Daniel Davis of ''TheNanny'', using the exact same accent as he did in said show.
** And Piper Perabo as Angier's wife Julia.
* FakeAmerican: Aussie HughJackman as the American Angier. [[spoiler:He's actually a FakeBrit, Lord Caldlow, ''pretending'' to be an American.]]
** Andy Serkis, a Londoner, plays Alley with an excellent [[BigApplesauce New York]] accent. Justified, since Alley says he is from that part of the country.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Thomas Edison is hinted to be a ruthless, violent man who crushes his foes by sending FacelessGoons to burn down their labs to destroy everything and run them out of town. Even way up in the mountains, Tesla couldn't escape his wrath.

* LightningCanDoAnything: In this case, it can even [[spoiler:duplicate things]] in Angier's case. In Borden's version, it's just for show.

* FakeBrit: ScarlettJohansson got some criticism for her accent as Olivia Wenscombe. [[FridgeBrilliance Interestingly]], Olivia is an American in the novel, which means it might have been deliberate for Scarlett to talk like an American imitating an English accent.

** And Piper Perabo.

** Londoner Andy Serkis plays Alley with an excellent [[BigApplesauce New York]] accent. Justified, since Alley says he is from that part of the country.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Edison is hinted to be a ruthless, violent man who crushes his foes by sending FacelessGoons to their labs to destroy everything and run them out of town. Even way up in the mountains, Tesla couldn't escape his wrath.

* LightningCanDoAnything: In this case, it can even [[spoiler:duplicate things.]]

* MisappliedPhlebotinum: Apparently neither Tesla nor Angier stopped to consider that [[spoiler:a perfect matter replicator [[CutLexLuthorACheck could be put to more benevolent and/or lucrative uses]] than a stage performance]].

* SingleMindedTwins: [[spoiler:"Borden" is actually a pair of twins who have made it their life's work to be so identical to each other that no one can tell the difference. The one flaw in their arrangement is that they fall in love with different women.]]

* TwinSwitch: Angier and his double, Root. [[spoiler:And the Bordens, identical twins who swap roles, and the Fallon disguise, without anyone knowing.]] It works better since with the Borden twins, and with Angier and Root, Jackman and Bale are ActingForTwo.

* OneSceneWonder: DavidBowie only appears in a handful of scenes, but he absolutely ''nails'' them.

** RealityIsUnrealistic: Edison was obviously never convicted of acting like a mobster, but his hatred of Tesla ''[[RefugeInAudacity cannot be understated]].'' He was [[[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#Work_relations a liar, a cheat, and a thief.]] He was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#War_of_currents a brutal and opportunistic character assassin.]] All in all, history and science lost more to him than it gained from him.

* DuelingMovies: One of two period pieces that focus on magicians to come out in 2006 (along with ''Film/TheIllusionist'', which is actually quite different).

The story follows an escalating rivalry between two magicians, [[FunWithAcronyms Alfred Borden]] and [[ThemeInitials Robert Angier]]. They started their careers as partners until Angier's wife died during a performance, possibly because Borden may have tied a stronger rope knot than necessary (with the wife's permission). The rivalry extends into the magician scene as the two compete to see who is the best at their craft.

** Londoner Andy Serkis plays Alley with a [[BigApplesauce New York]] accent. Justified, since Alley says he is from that part of the country.

* ActingForTwo: [[spoiler: Bale as the Borden twins. See FridgeBrilliance tab.]]

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Nikolai Tesla invented a [[spoiler: duplication machine]].

* [[TheDeterminator Determinator]]: Angier and Borden. [[spoiler:Angier killing himself several times is just psychotic, particularly since he never knows whether he'll be the man on the stage or the man in the box. Borden is nearly as bad, willing to have two of his fingers severed just to keep matching his twin.]]

* FaceHeelDoubleTurn: Angier starts out with the audience's sympathy after his wife dies and Borden just seems to be a Jerkass. But as the film goes on we start to see Borden become more sympathetic as Angier slips even further into revenge.
* FakeBrit: ScarlettJohansson got some criticism for her accent. [[FridgeBrilliance Interestingly]], her character is an American in the novel, which means it might have been deliberate for her to talk like an American imitating an English accent.

** Londoner Andy Serkis plays Alley with a BigApplesauce accent.
* {{Fingore}}: The malfunctioning magic trick that crushes a poor volunteer's hand, then Borden losing two fingers, [[spoiler: and subsequently his twin brother]].

* ObfuscatingDisability: Chung Ling Soo, the ancient Chinese performer with stiff legs.

* ShoutOut: In the Bullet Catch scene, one of the performers on the list is "[[TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]]".

** Its not perfect though [[spoiler: The women they love can tell some difference. Specifically, the wife can tell that sometimes Borden genuinely means it when he says he loves her, and sometimes he doesn't.]]

* StealthPun: Tesla's assistant is named Alley. He has a cat.

* TwinSwitch: Angier and his double, Root. [[spoiler:And the Bordens, identical twins who swap roles, and the Fallon disguise, without anyone knowing.]]

* WhiteDwarfStarlet: The actor Angier hires to be his double is a drunken, arrogant, washed-up Shakespearean.
* AWizardDidIt: It's never described how NikolaTesla built [[spoiler:a cloning machine]]. He's just a genius.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Ricky Jay, the film's magic consultant, has a role as an incompetent stage magician.

* LovelyAssistant: Olivia is this to both of the stage magicians involved (and has affairs with both of them). Angier's wife was also this.