The Prestige parents guide

The Prestige Parent Guide

Overall C+

Show business can be murder... and that is exactly what happens when the pursuit of fame and accolades engulfs the lives of aspiring prestidigitators, Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) who are competing for the status of London's most remarkable magician.

Release date October 19, 2006

Violence D+
Sexual Content B-
Profanity B
Substance Use B-

Why is The Prestige rated PG-13? The MPAA rated The Prestige PG-13 for violence and disturbing images.

Parent Movie Review

The pursuit of fame, accolades and status as London’s most remarkable magician engulfs the lives of two aspiring prestidigitators in The Prestige. But their obsession with eminence comes at a high cost to both their friendship and personal lives.

As young men, Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) work as audience plants for an illusionist until an accident causes the death of the entertainer’s beautiful, female assistant (Piper Perabo). Torn apart by the girl’s demise, Rupert and Alfred go their separate ways and begin their own careers, pitting them in a life-long rivalry for prominence on the stage.

Taunting and cruel, they try to expose their foe’s tricks by disrupting one another’s shows and causing bodily harm to each other and unfortunate audience volunteers. The competition also spills over into their home lives, triggering acts of deception and marital disharmony that lead to an untimely death when Rupert sends his stagehand, Olivia (Scarlett Johansson), to steal Alfred’s secrets.

The enmity turns to all out war when Alfred introduces an incredible, new act. Unfazed by the sobering cautions of his mentor (Michael Caine), Rupert is driven to find the mystery behind the trick. Traveling across the Atlantic Ocean to Colorado Springs, he meets with the reclusive scientific inventor Nikola Tesla (David Bowie) and begs him and his aide (Andy Serkis) to create an even more inspiring illusion for his own show.

Erratic jumps in the story’s time line and a meandering start make it difficult to connect with the opening scenes of this movie. However, the pace of the script picks up as the rivalry develops, drawing unsuspecting victims into the fray. Unfortunately, the body count also mounts as characters are shot, drowned, disfigured and driven to suicide during the escalating battle between the magicians.

As their obsession with fame slowly sickens both men, the pointlessness of their rivalry becomes clear. And like the unhealthy addiction that neither man can overcome, the film draws the viewer in—but fails to give the kind of satisfying ending most audience members will crave.

Starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale. Theatrical release October 19, 2006. Updated

The Prestige
Rating & Content Info

Why is The Prestige rated PG-13? The Prestige is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for violence and disturbing images.

This story of pursuing your passion at all costs is marred by disturbing images of people being drowned, shot, hung and disfigured as well as birds being crushed. The tension of deception both on the stage and at home causes some characters to turn to alcohol. The film also contains perceived moments of infidelity and brief discussions of sexual encounters.

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The Prestige Parents' Guide

What does Michael Caine’s character mean when he says “obsession is a young man’s game”? How does Rupert and Alfred’s fixation on being the best affect their lives? Why are they unable to walk away from the rivalry? Can the pursuit of fame become addictive?

Although both men are talented performers, what part does showmanship play in their individual success? What sacrifices do the men make for their profession? What would you be willing to give up to be the best at something??

The film proposes several “what if” scenarios. If magic were real, what trick would you want to be able to perform? If Tesla’s invention worked as portrayed, what moral implications would follow? If both men were not so committed to secrecy, what tragedies and deceptions could have been avoided?

Home Video

The most recent home video release of The Prestige movie is February 19, 2007. Here are some details…

DVD Release Date: 20 February 2007

A good magician doesn’t give away his tricks, so it’s little wonder the DVD release of The Prestige only has a couple of featurettes up it’s sleeve. Curious fans will have to be content with The Director’s Notebook: The Cinematic Sleight of Hand of Christopher Nolan and The Art of the Prestige gallery. Audio tracks are available in English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0) and Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0), with subtitles in Spanish and French.

Related home video titles:

Set in a musty Paris opera house during the same time period, The Phantom of the Opera tells the story of a cast of musicians haunted by an unseen presence in the theater. Christian Bale and Michael Caine also share the screen in the superhero tale Batman Begins.