Customer Reviews

The Illusionist [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everyone knows the story of boy meets girl, boy loses girl. However, there is more to this story here. Set in turn-of-the-century Vienna, Norton is Herr Eisenheim, famous magician (rather, illusionist), whose stage performance has captivated the attention of the Crown Prince, who is to wed Duchess von Deschem (J. Biel), childhood friend of Eisenheim. A crime takes place, but who has done it? Chief Inspector Uhl (P. Giamatti) investigates. -- If you're not into period films, you might actually like this. If you're into such films, you'll hopefully be as captivated by The Illusionist as much as I was. The decor makes you feel you are actually in Vienna, the music is excellent (what more to expect from Philip Glass!), the colors and lighting are superb. Several underused actors, and not always at their best in other movies, yet I found them excellent here, and their characters' presentation is fascinating and very well set, from the beginning. Rufus Sewell (Crown Prince) might be considered as overacting, but his character demands this, as he is violent and pompous (to say the least). A wonderful directing work from Neil Burger. In my eyes, this is the most interesting script and the most beautiful film photography (and editing) of a movie picture of this decade.... so far.

Every time watched shows you more you didn't see before. Trying to guess the exact ending is almost impossible. Every performance leaves you with questions. I loved it and will be watching it many times more!

I was staggered by how good this movie is. It was on my mind for days - a sure sign of it's quality. The action begins from the first frame, and holds you throughout. A wonderful twist which no-one I know could see coming. For once a sex scene that is totally in tune with the plot, and tastefully done. Everyone I have recommended this movie to has thanked me for sending them. I have never reviewed a movie before, but had to redress the view of the only other review currently in Amazon.

The Picture Quality of this release is one the best I've watched, and this is no minor feat for a movie with great amount of nightime scenes or scenes in dark theaters, in which blacks are solid and no noise is noticeable.

The aspect ratio is 1:85:1, which is the original, as detailed on [...].

The sound is robust (I heard the 5.1 DTS-HD master). Sounds are strong, dialogues are clear, and Phillip Glass' music is well enhanced.

Since it's a bare bones release (as most Alliance blu-rays have been), you can't escape the feeling that this is a "provisional" BD, something that you will have to replace with whatever edition they release in the United States or somewhere else. But if you're not a friend of extras and bonus materials, and don't even need subtitles of any kind, this is a good option.

Other options for audio are: English 5.1 Dolby Digital and French 5.1 Dolby Digital.

The movie is great! But this blu-ray release does not have any subtitles, bonuses etc.

I bought this DVD by chance. Mostly because of Edward Norton whose acting is always first rate, and partly because of its setting being in Vienna. And what a pleasant surprise it was! I just love everything about this film. There are not many movies on the list of my favorites, but The Illusionist has become one of them after the first viewing.

I recommend it to everybody.

One of the most interesting and entertaining movies I have seen, of which adds up to 4 times so far.

i really liked this movie.it held my interest right to the very end.it's a much more complex movie than it seems at 1st glance.there is some depth to both the story and the characters.Jessica Biel,in particular impressed me with the deph she brought to her character,proving she can hold her own with some heavyweights in the industry.the movie is set mostly in Vienna,sometime in the 19th century,if i'm correct,and i thought that was a very appropriate setting for this movie.Vienna seems like it would be a romantic city,and the movie is a romance at its core,but also much more than that.it also contains plenty of intrigue and suspense.these elements all work very well together in this movie,at least i think so.i also liked the ending.it was low key,almost anti climatic,but it works."The Illusionist" gets a strong 4/5 from me.

I have never written a review for a film before, but The Illusionist is definitely worth the effort. If you like period films, and this is a good one; if you just like a really good movie, it's all that, too! Masterful acting from Edward Norton (we would expect nothing less from him), Jessica Biel, and Paul Giamatti. Rufus Sewell does an excellent job in making us hate his guts as the Crown Prince. This film is well directed and beautiful to behold. A tastefully done love story, with interesting twists and turns, that makes the whole experience pure `magic'.

"The Illusionist" is luxuriously filmed and scored in the opulent style of Joel Schumacher's recent "The Phantom of the Opera." And this might not be a bad thing had the movie not taken itself so dreadfully serious. In fact to be honest, "The Illusionist" is the worst kind of film making: dull, sickeningly pretentious, overstuffed visually and pompously acted. Even the excellent Edward Norton, who can usually do no wrong, is caught up in all the declamatory, melodrama style of acting on exhibit here. To top it all off Phillip Glass borrows many themes from his irritating score of "The Hours" which underscores and sometimes over scores what little action there is in this static bore of a film.

Despite all of this, the actual bare bones story is unusual and interesting having to do with reality/illusion, love/desire, sexual attraction and the walls between social classes that existed in turn of the century Vienna. Director Neil Burger's take on all this is simply just wrong. In a nutshell: if your story is tricky, complicated, mysterious, etc...you had better make all the window dressing, including the acting, very straightforward and pure devoid of old-style stage gesticulations and overly dramatic musical crescendos. Burger, of course does just the opposite and what we have then is once again: an excellent cast miss-used, an interesting story miss-directed...another case of great aspirations turned into a big, over-fed, corpulent sow of a movie.