The Prestige

Alfred Borden is accused of killing Robert Angier when he dies during the execution of an amazing trick, "The Transported Man." These obsessively rival magicians' adversity begins when Borden mistakenly kills Angier's wife during a dangerous magic act. Each tries to hurt or kill the other through their own tricks, and each tries to one-up the other. Angier becomes a very successful magician, but only by copying Borden's greatest trick, "The Transported Man." Angier does it using a double, but no one knows how exactly Borden does it. The key to the whole mystery seems to be an inventor located deep in the Rocky Mountains, Nikola Tesla.

Joel Buhiire

More mistakes in The Prestige

Olivia Wenscombe: He wants me to come work for you and steal your secrets.
Alfred Borden: What does he need my secrets for? His trick is top-notch. He vanishes, and then he reappears instantly on the other side of the stage - mute, overweight, and unless I'm mistaken, very drunk. It's astonishing, how does he do it?

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Trivia: The "Chinaman" in the movie was based on a real-life magician. He wasn't Asian at all, he just dressed and lived the part. The first English he ever spoke in his career were his last words. When a bullet catch went awry, he uttered the words, "My God, I've been shot" just before his death.

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Question: In the very last shot before the credits, the camera has pulled back to reveal a row of tanks containing dead Jackmans. Does this imply that not only did the Tesla machine replicate Angier, but also the tank? One assumes then that Angier has had the forethought to place a floor between where he materializes and the newly replicated tanks appear.

Answer: As we see when Borden goes down under the stage to try to learn how the trick is performed, the tank is already in place before the machine is activated. Angier is using a large number of identical tanks, which is probably one of the deciding factors in only performing the trick a limited number of times.

Tailkinker

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