An intense, visually magical, emotionally charged piece of work

Rating: 9/10 (24 October 2006)

The visual experience of this extremely authentic period piece, consummate acting and storyline will leave most earnest moviegoers with a truly exhilarating experience. You expect the leading actors to do something familiar from their other work but they give us new dimensions. Michael Caine again proves his timeless value to the enhancement of any role while David Bowie offers a portrait of elegant, aged sophistication fronting electrical spectaculars, ancient reminders of Ziggy Stardust. Although the film has slower expository moments, the contribution to the grand finale is something to behold. If magic is what you wish for, magic is what you will receive. The name only belies the true "Prestige" of the final act. There are facets that make this film watchable with a repetitiveness that will seem tireless. It can and will involve a satisfaction and identification of inner emotions that are played out and identified by all of us. The film can easily define the recently modern terminology "obsessive-compulsive" behavior. It also can serve as a guide on the price of success at any cost affecting so many of our fellow human beings today. For those who scrutinize detail, there are scenes of turn of the century London you will find irreconcilable with modern sanitation and relative cleanliness of large cities. The artifacts, apparatus, equipment, and scenery seem to have been crafted with such exact precision as to have been transported from history. The character of Nicola Tesla was real and a real genius overshadowed by Edison; Tesla and elements of his work are still shrouded in mystery to this day. In summation, this movie is magical and a fulfilling treat for those with imagination and the absolute enjoyment of carefully merged fact with unknown possibilities.