The Illusionist (DVD)

Eisenheim The Illusionist (Edward Norton)  is the talk of the town in turn of century Vienna. His mystical magic act, which consists of the conjuring of the spirits of the dead, dazzles the commoners and the aristocracy alike — one aristocrat in particular, the cruel and dastardly Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell) is determined to expose the magician as a fraud and an enemy of the state (and this is before Eisenheim steals the prince's girl, Sophie [Jessica Biel]. Then, Leopold gets really mad!). With Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti) caught in the middle, the two men go head-to-head over the dead body of young Sophie and it's anyone's guess who will win… and who will live.

At once a romance, a murder mystery, a political thriller and a supernatural horror drama, The Illusionist was deservedly one of the best-reviewed movies of the year. And now that it's out on DVD, everyone can see it (even though it was a $16 m movie that made over $40 m, I am not sure if it was ever very widely released). Click here to read our original review of The Illusionist. http://www.horror.com/php/article-1311-1.html

There's not much sleight of hand when it comes to the extras — they're just slight, at best. In fact, you will learn more about the behind-the-scenes of the movie in our very own exclusive interviews with the cast and director, Neil Burger. http://www.horror.com/php/article-1358-1.html

The making-of featurette is pretty standard EPK stuff, but the director commentary is pretty good. He talks a lot about the film's origins — it's based on a short story, which I read and found to be quite different from the cinematic experience. Actually, I have to wonder why Burger would even bother to option the text. His movie only touches on the most basic tenants of the short tale — and those elements he did use are based on historical fact, anyway (i.e., the tricks and illusions practiced back in the day, how spiritualists did their conjuring). Burger also uses the same names for the characters, but that is it. In his remarks, he also covers the locations, costumes, makeup and so on. It's a competent commentary, but nothing noteworthy.

The main attraction of this DVD is definitely the movie, but that's OK – the film is good enough to stand (practically) alone.

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