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Equilibrium (DVD, 2003)
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Sci-fi flick with stunning visuals, "Equilibrium" deserves much more attention not only from fans of genre, but also from general audiences. Sure, its flaws are too visible, borrowing Orwellian ideas from other films like, say, "Brazil," but it is not that ideas themselves but the way they are put into practice that really counts, and on that score "Equiliburium" is a winner. (And critics, please let me know, why do you all praise Steven's "Minority Report" which actually borrows ideas from other films of this genre? So, why not give this one a due respect?) I can understand the urge to compare "Equilibrium" and "The Matrix". Both films feature dark, foreboding cinematography. Both films are about rebellion against a warped reality. Both films feature a reluctant, messianic protagonist. And, finally, both films rely heavily on stylistic, hyper-kinetic combat scenes that can only be described as, well, reverent. That is where the similarity ends because while "Equilibrium" has a few moments of slow-motion it's action scenes are much more original than those of "The Matrix Trilogy". No Wires, just pure crazy choreography which makes the action feel all the more authentic. The environment is also a great deal more organic in contrast to the cryptic automaton of the Matrix. "Equilibrium", in short, manages to be entirely its own movie. Where The Matrix relies on "bending" the rules of physics in an imaginary construct of a world, "Equilibrium" goes the other way and hypothesizes the "Gun-Kata", a martial arts ballet that allows it's practitioners to predict and anticipate close quarters gun fighting and hand to hand combat. Then, through a series of precise, dance like movements, a person can take on several combatants, using exacting, fluid actions to eliminate his attackers. Given a decidedly artistic presentation within the course of the film, these rapid-fire rhapsodies are exhilarating and oddly beautiful. They glamorize death as an abstract expression of powder bursts and shrieking projectiles. The film features some of the best choreographed shootouts I have ever seen, and ends up putting anything in The Matrix Trilogy to shame. "Equilibrium" is a film that explores what it theorizes to be the root of all worldly chaos, human emotion. The movie takes place in the near future after a third world war that leaves Earth on the verge of total destruction. From the ashes arises a government that regulates everything and everyone through mind control. The drug Prozium is hailed as the elixir to the world's problems because it suppresses human emotion and thus eliminates the possibility war. All art, music, poetry and any emotion are considered contraband and must be destroyed upon discovery. "Equilibrium" is not science fiction so much as political speculation. It's that mainstay of movies, the cautionary tale, twisted into a decidedly dense and deceptive action thriller. While it may not always deliver in the thought department, we sure get some wonderful visual flourishes. And if a sci-fi film can stir your imagination, it's won most of the battle. The creation of the enigmatic weapons battle dance, "Gun-Kata", makes the movie a see at least once exercise in speculative movie making.Read full review
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 number of plot concepts from Fahrenheit 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 this: in a knee jerk reaction to the horrors of World War Three, the survivors outlaw what they blame the chaos upon. Human emotion has been declared the culprit. 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 about 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 favors. 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.Read full review
'Equilibrium' incorporates elements of truly great stories, like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, while developing a unique world. The plot isn't the greatest. Don't expect anything new about human nature or emotion to be revealed. This film shines as a visual treat. Made on a ridiculously low budget, the movie pulls off all kinds of nifty tricks. The protagonist is an enforcer of the totalitarian regime who gradually begins realizing his humanity and joins the Resistance. As the highest ranking Tetragrammaton Cleric in Libria, John Preston (Christian Bale) is a master of the gun kata, a (entirely made-up) martial art designed to deal maximum damage with dual auto Berettas. Also an expert with the katana, Preston engages a rival cleric (Taye Diggs) in several memorable sword fighting confrontations. Watch this movie for fun fighting and you won't be disappointed!Read full review
Beyond being a genuinely moving redemption-revolution story, as well as a uniquely stylized action flick, Equilibrium*s plot contains a fascinating use of the term: Tetragrammaton. In the story*s post-apocalyptic future, the enforcers of the UNrighteous government are called clerics of the Tetragrammaton. It throws around words like father and faith under a horrifying and false peace. Fact check: In reality, the Tetragrammaton is the term for the 4 Hebrew consonants that comprise the personal name of God in the Bible. It is pronounced *Yahweh* in Hebrew, and in English is pronounced *Jehovah*. Prior to Moses, God had not related with humans using a unique name, but only gave his title. Reference Exodus 6:3. It seems much like how babies learn *Papa* and *Mama* before we learn their actual names and complex characters. So, even the diverse cultures that spawned after the Great Flood had mostly fled from intimacy with the Creator. Yet, the record shows that God was deliberately connecting his righteous behavior toward a discreet group of people with his unique name because it appears in the Hebrew Scriptures nearly 7,000 times! (Precisely, 6,973 times.) Jehovah was distinguishing himself from the fictions of all made-up gods. History gives evidence that superstitious Jews and the false churches of Christendom went to great lengths to obscure God*s true history, including literally replacing the occurrence of his name in the scriptures with the vague and impersonal title *LORD*. That ACTUALITY seems more compelling than Equilibrium*s POSSIBILITY of our government destroying valuable artifacts and art on a totalitarian scale. Then again, we're warming up with a democratic version, aren*t we. (Reference how we did NOT help Iraq preserve it*s museums in the documentary *No End In Sight*. And check Ferguson's follow-up, *Inside Job*, while you*re at it.) What is so fascinating about Equilibrium*s use of well-worn themes is that it presents a major reference to the name of the true God that WOULD be ironic if the author intended to go that deep, but he did not. Based on his commentary, writer Kurt Wimmer seems only superficially aware of his own implications. THAT is some of the best fodder for conversation from any sci-fi movie, EVER! Will anybody who sees this movie or reads its plethora of wanting reviews have studied actual history, the Bible, or true science at all? Mostly not. That*s right, eat your cookie and you*ll feel right as rain. . . then you can twitter about it and dream of fishes becoming dogs . . . Or become a part of the revolution going on now, hiding in plain sight, that is NOT being televized for profit but IS knocking at your door for free.Read full review
Well I had the movie before before it got stolen and I really enjoyed all the action a1 like steak sauce
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