Equilibrium (2002)

Logans Run Reloaded

I have read the first couple of pages of the reviews and am surprised that no-one has yet made the comparison to Logans Run, the 70s sci-fi classic, where Michael Yorke is a Sandman, an emotionless cop tasked with killing "runners", people who try and escape the domed city the story is set in to avoid being forcibly terminated on their 30th birthdays. Logan tasked with infiltrating the resistance begins to empathise with them and becomes a runner himself. Sounds familiar?

Equilibrium obviously tries to cash in on the Matrix but they are very different films, both in terms of budget and premise. This film looks very stylish and revolves far more around the characterisation, costumes and cinematography, as obviously the budget was limited. And the director does a fantastic job in creating the dystopic future and capturing the set piece battles. Even the startling way the film is shot, lots of black and white costumes with a lack of colour enhances the look and feel of the film. It really is a nice piece of work and you can watch and enjoy this even if you think the Matrix is the greatest film ever (and of course, it is pretty amazing.)

The plot as many people have pointed out is a little shaky and the premise of the film doesn't really hold up to over scrutiny, but it is sci-fi, the "fi" bit being "fiction" which means we should allow the director to present his world and accept it for what it is. Personally, I like the "gun-kata", its one of those pieces of "film-science" that makes you think that "hmmm, maybe its possible". I remember at a job interview for the Defence Research Agency many years ago being told about some one who had attempted to break down aerial combat into a set of algorithms so that an aircrafts computer could calculate the probability of a successful engagement and inform the pilot. If this was true, the "gun-kata" might not seem so terribly far-fetched.

Bale is of course immense, you could put him in the tellytubbies and he would probably binge eat for 6 months and paint himself purple to get into role. He is ably supported by a cast of British and Irish actors including "Beaner" who is the working mans Sean Connery.

This film could have been crap, but it isn't. It is really really good, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
December 23, 2008

Kurt Wimmer Shines

Christian Bale and Taye Diggs did a fantastic job in this movie and we can't forget the commanding scenes with Sean Bean and Emily Watson in the film. I think Christian Bale proved in this film that he was ready to be Batman. It was in a sense a feature length introduction

At the end of the day though this movie is Kurt Wimmer's. He's a very experienced playwright. He demonstrated that he can write an engaging story that has developed almost a cult following years after the production and release of Equilibrium. As a director, he worked within his budget and came up with all kinds of innovative ideas on how to make the movie shine. His hard work comes across in this movie and I have to applaud him for such talent.

With this directorial debut, he has proven that he can step out of the purely creative chair of writing a play and has demonstrated that he can juggle all of the pieces of a film direction to create on the screen. Its not an easy job that many get wrong. Wimmer gets it right, and he gets it right in a responsible and hard working fashion very unlike many new directors who simply look through the lens and accept what's there. Wimmer is the opposite. He puts what he needs into the screen and he considers what it will cost him to put a certain effect into the screen and when he needs to conserve budget, he comes up with an interesting trick - like simply having the muzzle lights light a scene: very unique and interesting.

The story is strong from a science fiction standpoint. Think Farenheit 451 plus the Matrix all mixed into one but without the gigantic budget of the Matrix. The director and crew had to work here to take a small budget and stretch it. The studio probably gave him Christian Bale who was a rising star and needed a movie like this and a modest budget and Wimmer had to make it work - and he did wonderfully.

Not only that, this movie has a great cult following. It would be great to see another Kurt Wimmer directed movie. I wonder what he could produce with a larger budget?

If you're a student of Art and movies, see this movie - you'll see the hard work.

If you're a fan of Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Emily Watson, or Tye Diggs -- this is a great B budget movie that elevates itself to A status through its tremendous actors, original story, and extremely hard work by a director who is taking the director's chair for the first time. December 8, 2008

Not as Bad as I Thought It Would Be ... Not as Good as It Could Have Been

My teenage son brought this movie from the library.

Judging from the cover, I was concerned that this would be a low-budget rip-off of the Matrix. (As an aside, some reviewers have protested the comparisons to Matrix. Please. Just compare the jacket covers.)

It wasn't a blatant rip-off. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But it wasn't nearly as good as it could have been.

To his credit, Christian Bale had some interesting scenes. IMHO, Sean Bean was wasted in this movie. The 'Gun Kata' was, as several other reviewers have pointed out, simply silly. Intriguing notion, but silly execution (if one will pardon the pun).

I found myself in agreement with most of the other two star reviews, especially Gautner's.

This is a B-level movie that had potential. Unfortunately, it missed.

Tim Warneka, author

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Awesome!!!!

I was skeptical at first when someone suggested this movie and I was hooked after watching the opening fight/gun scene. I liked it better than The Matrix as there are no crazy special effects and people floating in mid-air, etc. Another Christian Bale DVD added to the collection. Taye Diggs is a bit of a tool in this movie but did a swell job in a supporting role. Shipping was superfast btw, especially me being overseas an all....kudos to Amazon!!! :D November 17, 2008

Atmospheric Movie..

This movie features a bleak, emotionless future to resolve human conflicts such as war, interesting as it is, instead of just putting the 'sense offenders' back on medication, they choose to kill them. I did not understand the meaning behind that, and how any society would ever find that to be a solution, however for the sake of moviemaker plot line, it was a pretty surrealist look into a world ironically not too different from ours... in some parts of the world anyway.

Christian Bale did an amazing job, as he normally does, playing a top level agent that seeks out the 'sense offenders' and destroys them. When he finds he has missed a dose of Prozaim, the 'it' drug of the times.... He starts to feel, as he begins to process emotions for the first time, he discovers there are 'feelers' all around him, he joins the resistance and now has to fight 'Father' the leader of this non-feeling movement.

It is a great story to remind us all why being human is important and special... though I cannot understand how Taye Diggs was supposed to be considered on those drugs.... he may have needed a stronger dose, since all I got out of him was emotion... more so even when Bale's character is supposed to be off the drugs...

Anyway it is definitely a great movie, I gave it 5 stars, merely because anything that allows me to watch Christian Bale for an hour and a half has to be good :) November 13, 2008

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