From top hats to top secrets, this book is a celebration of illusion technology and mechanisms of trickery through a genre-crossing selection of films. Heroes, villains, spies, con-men, and madmen, magicians all, have utilized complex constructs and trickery in thrilling cinematic adventures from the earliest days of cinema to the present. Current blockbusters such as
Spider-Man: Far from Home
and the
Mission: Impossible
series feature amazing acts of deception, often appearing far-fetched, that are in fact surprisingly close to today's technology. Along with the
James Bond
saga, classics such as
The Wizard of Oz, Nightmare Alley
, and
The Sting
are joined by a host of other movies superficially seeming to be very different, yet proving there is more than meets the eye.