The Equalizer (2014)

A man who believes he has put his mysterious past behind him cannot stand idly by when he meets a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters.

Director:

Antoine Fuqua

Writers:

Richard Wenk, Michael Sloan (based on the television series created by)

Stars:

Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz

1 win & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denzel Washington	...	Robert McCall
Marton Csokas	...	Teddy
Chloë Grace Moretz	...	Teri
David Harbour	...	Masters
Haley Bennett	...	Mandy
Bill Pullman	...	Brian Plummer
Melissa Leo	...	Susan Plummer
David Meunier	...	Slavi
Johnny Skourtis	...	Ralphie
Alex Veadov	...	Tevi
Vladimir Kulich	...	Vladimir Pushkin
E. Roger Mitchell	...	Lead Investigator
James Wilcox	...	Pederson
Mike O'Dea	...	Remar (as Mike P. O'Dea)
Anastasia Mousis Sanidopoulos	...	Jenny (as Anastasia Mousis)

Storyline

Robert McCall,'s a former special service commando who faked his own death in hopes of living out a quiet life. Instead, he comes out of his self-imposed retirement to save a young girl, and finds his desire for justice reawakened after coming face-to-face with members of a brutal Russian gang. McCall becomes the go-to man when the helpless require the kind of vengeance they would never find without his skills.

---

Plot Keywords:

prostitute | vigilante | mysterious past | gangster | ex soldier | 

---

Taglines:

What do you see when you look at me?

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, including some sexual references

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nicolas Winding Refn was the original director, but left the project one month later when he could not agree to contractual terms with the producers on his deal. Rupert Wyatt was the next person approached but he declined, citing scheduling problems (Wyatt also turned down directing Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) for the same reason) before they finally offered it to Antoine Fuqua.

---

Goofs

McCall leaves the diner and walks past the villains' car taking flash photos with his mobile phone. At night he would only get pictures of a dazzling light reflecting off the glass.

---

Quotes

Robert McCall: You gotta be who you are in this world, no matter what.

---

Alternate Versions

The UK cinema, DVD and Blu-ray versions are cut for violence to secure a 15 rating, removing or reducing the following:

• The closeup of the corkscrew being pushed further into Tevi's mouth, and the final shot of his face right before it's withdrawn.
• The first shot of the mercenary bleeding and choking on the barbed wire noose.

Columbia made additional cuts in two more scenes, which appear not to have been requested by the BBFC:

• A closeup of Teddy beating Little John's bloodied face twice, and a shot from behind that shows him readying another punch.
• The gangster being impaled through the neck was shortened at the start and end.

The six cuts total approximately 15 seconds. The UK Ultra HD Blu-ray is uncut and rated 18.

---

Connections

Featured in Joining Forces Again: Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua (2018)

---

Soundtracks

New Dawn Fades
Written by Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner
Performed by Moby
Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group
By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing
and Courtesy of Mute Records Limited, A BMG Chrysalis Company

User Reviews

Home Depot EQUALS a bad place to be while on Robert McCall's bad side

In terms of an action movie I gave the equalizer a 7 but soon after felt the need to watch it again and then upped it to an 8. Why? We'll it's an action movie but yet there's no crazy car chases, there's no bombs or heavy big explosions every where. Really the only action scenes are the fight scenes and even they don't come that often. But when they do come they deliver. Denzel is as awesome as ever in these scenes and the creativity in these scenes are what sets it apart from every other action movie. The main character Robert McCall in an ex specialist of some sort, you don't know what at first but know that he's highly trained in something and is now working as an ordinary man working at Home Depot or home Mart as it is in the movie. He looks like just your every day man but can kill you with just about any everyday weapon. And he does this so calmly that big crazy car scenes and explosions would rake away from his character. A man that takes the bus to come kill a whole gang is pretty bad ass by any standard.

As always I don't want to give spoilers but I do recommend this as a good wholesome action movie.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian Spanish

Release Date:

26 September 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Equalizer

Filming Locations:

Haverhill, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$34,137,828, 28 September 2014

Gross USA:

$101,530,738

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$192,330,738

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, LStar Capital, Village Roadshow Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital Dolby Surround 7.1 Dolby Atmos 12-Track Digital Sound (IMAX 12 track) IMAX 6-Track Sonics-DDP (IMAX version)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1