I saw The Illusionist first, and while that one was visually beautiful, it was on the dull side, and so I wasn't sure how The Prestige would fare.

It fared very well, much to my pleasure. The story flowed without flaw and was worth the entire journey, not merely to reach the title element...It had the visual appeal of the time period, the characters and plot made sense and it kept me guessing. The ending was one I never saw coming and was tickled to be caught off guard by.