Equilibrium (2002)

In an oppressive future where all forms of feeling are illegal, a man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system and state.

Director:

Kurt Wimmer

Writer:

Kurt Wimmer

Stars:

Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Emily Watson

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christian Bale	...	John Preston
Dominic Purcell	...	Seamus
Sean Bean	...	Partridge
Christian Kahrmann	...	Officer in Charge
John Keogh	...	Chemist
Sean Pertwee	...	Father
William Fichtner	...	Jurgen
Angus Macfadyen	...	Dupont (as Angus MacFadyen)
David Barrash	...	Evidentiary Storage Officer
Dirk Martens	...	Gate Guard
Taye Diggs	...	Brandt
Matthew Harbour	...	Robbie Preston
Maria Pia Calzone	...	Preston's Wife
Emily Siewert	...	Lisa Preston
Emily Watson	...	Mary O'Brien

Storyline

In a futuristic world, a strict regime has eliminated war by suppressing emotions: books, art and music are strictly forbidden and feeling is a crime punishable by death. Cleric John Preston (Bale) is a top ranking government agent responsible for destroying those who resist the rules. When he misses a dose of Prozium, a mind-altering drug that hinders emotion, Preston, who has been trained to enforce the strict laws of the new regime, suddenly becomes the only person capable of overthrowing it.

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Plot Keywords:

dystopia | suppression of emotion | gun fu | law | brainwashing | 

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Taglines:

The only thing more powerful than the system, is the man that will overthrow it.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

In certain scenes, the muzzle flash of the pistols and rifles fired by the Clerics and guards will reveal the Tetragrammaton insignia.

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Goofs

Brandt shows clear anger all throughout his quest to arrest Preston, yet no one questions it.

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Quotes

[first lines]
DuPont: In the first years of the 21st century, a third World War broke out. Those of us who survived knew mankind could never survive a fourth; that our own volatile natures could simply no longer be risked. So we have created a new arm of the law: The Grammaton Cleric, whose sole task it is to seek out and eradicate the true source of man's inhumanity to man - his ability to feel.

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Connections

Featured in Bad Movie Beatdown: X-Men Origins Wolverine (2010)

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Soundtracks

Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125: I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven

User Reviews

A rare dose of originality

If there is one complaint about the Hollywood system that rings true, it is that Hollywood seems quite bereft of ideas. Then films like Equilibrium come out and remind us that it's not that we're out of ideas so much as we're just not trying hard enough. Not that Equilibrium is inherently new - it borrows a fair few plot concepts from Farenheit 451 and Nineteen Eighty-Four, to name the most prominent examples. It is the way in which the old ideas are combined with the new that makes Equilibrium a fun and underrated experience.

The premise is simple enough. In a kneejerk reaction to the horrors of World War Three, the survivors outlaw what they blame the chaos upon. Their own emotions, in other words. As the lead character has a series of revelations, we begin to understand that in so doing, they have also outlawed much of what gives our existence a point. In the bland, lifeless world that the law-abiding citizens inhabit, everything that the audience takes for granted to make their lives worthwhile is being systematically destroyed. Shades of the America of today, the whole principle of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, are shown in a stark horror show.

I've read people comparing this film to The Matrix or its sequels. Where The Matrix series' fights were overlong, and often with no payoff, Equilibrium's fights are short and to the point. The difference this makes is, needless to say, as uplifting as Preston's fight to regain the humanity he stripped so many others of. Instead of having fights with no emotional connection to the characters, the story is given sufficient development to make the audience care what happens.

The film is not entirely without flaws. The Prozium element seems to have been written with no regard for the facts about psychiatric medicines. Their purpose is not to suppress emotion at all, but to balance the chemical system of the brain in order to give the patient better control of them. Sure, they're not without problems of their own, but exaggerating them like this does not do the portion of the community that needs them any favours. That aside, however, the on-camera struggle is one of the most intriguing I've viewed for some time. Ergo, this minor plot problem is made up for. The only other real complaint I have is that the film could have done with a little more footage to give some characters more of a chance to develop.

I gave Equilibrium an eight out of ten. It's not the best negative science fiction you'll ever see, but it is enough of a breath of fresh air that this won't entirely matter. If the MPAA made more films like this, it wouldn't be suffering the constant financial dire straits that it so loves to blame everyone else for.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 December 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Librium

Filming Locations:

Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$541,512, 8 December 2002

Gross USA:

$1,203,794

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,368,217

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films, Blue Tulip Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1