Equilibrium
 

diergray had mentioned it in the Favorite Sci-Fi thread, I hadn't heard of it until about a month ago. I had the pleasure of watching it tonight. And its incredible, one of the best movies I've seen in the past 2 years I'd say.
Special effects aren't as good as The Matrix, but the violence (fight scenes, gun action) makes the Neo and Trinity scene on the ground floor of that building look boring.
Its got a pretty good story line too. A couple twists in it as well, nothing real real unexpected, but enough to keep you entertained.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to watch in the theatres because it didn't get released here, instead I downloaded it. That movie was incredible, I absolutely loved it. Christian Bale is Hollywood's most underused actor. I loved the dreary futile tone to the film, the action was great too, Gun-Kata. However my favourite thing about this movie is the ending. I won't say what happens but I believe it was executed perfectly, I loved the way they shot the city.

The DVD is set for release soon, no doubt I'll be picking it up first day it's on the shelves.

Re: Equilibrium
 

I totally agree...I caught this film while it was in the theater. This was a really underrated film. The movie was awesome.

It seems that what they did right, they REALLY did right. The Storyline was solid, the scenery was good, the stunts and action sequences were awesome (right up there with Matrix).

But what they did wrong, they REALLY did wrong...the dialogue was REALLY bad and tired. The props were terrible (I guess in the future they drive around in 1990 Dodge Shadows painted all in white).

All in all, awesome movie, though...:-)

I can't wait to see this movie again on DVD! Anyone know the release date?

May 13

I believe....:-)

I hope it comes out soon. I never heard of it really till I saw a random online tralier, but since then I've been wanting to see it!

Yes just seen it very good a bit matrix in style etc but good all the same.

A friend of mine got one of those advanced store-viewing copies and we watched it. It was pretty badass, like 1984 and a commentary on the drug culture combines. Plus, they shoot stuff.

I was lucky enough to see this in the theatre when it was released and thought it was great. Wonderful old-school science fiction with a great action component. The gun play is amazing. A must see for sci-fi fans.

This seems to be the best unknown movie. I've been reading posts on and off for months about it but never even heard of the film. I've seen fan sites and a gun-kata website... but no movie...

I will however buy this film on hype alone... I'm such a sucker for DVDs

I know the feeling!

I downloaded a screener of this a few months ago and loved it. I'm curious as to what's gonna be on the DVD .. anyone have any ideas?

Rick

it is too bad it was released limited(ly)... Luckily it comes out on DVD two days before the Matrix Reloaded... SO, anyone who is a fan of action, just buy it... don't rent it... buy it.

Here's a review of the DVD
http://www.comingsoon.net/dvdreviews/equilibrium.php

Equilibrium
 

I was wondering if anyone else here saw the movie Equilibrium and if you did, did you like it? I saw it and thought it was awesome.

I downloaded it after seeing it mentioned on the threads here. Have to say I loved it, and will be buying the dvd the day it comes out.

Thanks for the DVD link Mr. Deflock. I wish they had more features however. Oh well, the movie was excellent in itself and worth the buy! :)

http://www.freewebs.com/equilibrium-movie/ has a countdown till when the DVD comes out.

It's very sad that such a cult hit of a movie had such an underwhelming impact upon the box-office.

Then again, if memory serves me right, Blade Runner was a flop at the Box-Office too, and now look at it, perhaps the best sci-fi film ever made with unanimous agreement from fans and critics alike.

I saw it a few weeks back. It was enjoyable although I was not too enamoured by the start of it, last 45minutes was great though

Post removed.

The clerics were such badasses because they'd undergone years of training since childhood in not only gunkata but many other forms of physical and mental disciplines. Preston's son was in training to be a cleric and he was at most 10 years old.

i just saw this recently, and i thought it was quite good.

I liked the movie, but I must admit that I laughed about the third time that the cleric was surounded in a perfect circle by guys with guns, allowing him to stand still and do his gunkata. The people I was watching it with actually got up and left.

Despite that, it was still pretty sweet.

I think the greatest thing about this movie was that it borrowed themes from some of the great works of the twenieth century. Farenheit 451 at times, Orwellian in the paternal themes of it all. The story line I truly believe to be far more significant to The Matrix, as it strikes common chords in most of the citizens of this planet. Soviet "republics" under Stalin; Germany, Austria, Italy under Hitler and Mussolini's fascisti; Spain under Franco, and Cuba under Castro (to a lesser extent). All these places lived through times when the "party" or "father" had power over every aspect of their lives. That theme, though far from original, was taken in a different avenue entirely. Rather than burning literature for its contents, or denying access to other forms of media simply due to the contents of it, they banned the emotions created by the contents of all "EC-10" material.

The power of this movie is not solely based on the overarching theme concerning totalitarianism and its action scenes, but also the underlying theme concerning "waging peace." When going into the "Nether," the clerics themselves waged their own war, creating their own chaos, creating the very emotions they sought to banish so doggedly. Much the same as modern day superpowers and even mid-17th to 19th century powers did, the Grammaton "wages peace" by terrorism, exercising pure physical might and crushing anything other than "acceptable" forms of living. This underlying theme is directed (in my opinion) to nations such as my own (USA) that are spread throughout the world keeping it "safe" from the evil out there. Not that I don't believe we have responsibilities as the most powerful nation, but more as a warning that "waging peace" can be more damaging and terrifying than "waging war" is and has been. What good life and peace if not with freedom? What good freedom if it provides you no true life to speak of? Guess this turned into a more philosophical post than movie post, but I think the movie's strengths lay far more in its message and undercurrents of tone and theme than simply in its blatant appeal to anti-Naziism/anti-fascism/anti-sovietism

i wrote a lengthy post on the previous equilibrium post...I was so excited to see it (saw preview on apple.com/trailers), but was DAMN DISSAPOINTED to find they limited released it... so I bootlegged it (hate bootlegs, they suck).... then I bought the DVD.... This movie is much like the Boondock saints... its a little known movie that is TOTALLY badass..

damn, you guys got me so pumped up, I had to pull out my dled and burned copy and pop it in the drive to watch again.

Eq. rocks. end of story.

I have a question
 

Since I started this thread and have a question pertaining to the film I thought it would be approiate if I posted it here

When did the gun swap take place? In the movie it flashes back to when Bale is asked by that dude to execute the people and he hands the gun back. But I actually think it occured much sooner, before the dog killing scene. On the hood of the car.

Someone convince me otherwise.

My question is this. Why the hell am I getting screwed out of seeing all these great movies?

Equilibrium: not released here, can't find a video store within 20 miles that rents it.

Boondock Saints: hadn't even heard of this one until about 6 months ago, and again, can't find a video store that carries it.

Brotherhood of the Wolf: no theatrical release near here, no video store release near here, I finally had to buy it when I was on vacation in North Carolina, and pray it was good. Luckily it was.

But i could watch the fuck out of pure shit like Ya Ya Sisterhood and From Justin to Kelly if i wanted to. Which i don't. Guess i should thank my lucky stars that they allowed Matrix into the state.

friend of mine thinks equilibrium is like the best movie ever. and hyped it unbelievably before its release. rest of us missed it for the week it was in theatres and give him uneneding shit for its lack of popularity. guess i'll have to see it eventually :)

A) www.netflicks.com

B) www.ebay.com

problem solved?

Re: I have a question
 

As far as this goes, I've watched the movie multiple times, and the first several I watched, I thought it had occurred there, but as you say that is misleading. The last time I watched all the way through, I caught that scene and thought of maybe one or two others. Unsure if the others are even plausible, but yes, I think you are right as far as the time of switch.

The first time I saw the gun switch, it was mostly a :hmm: expression as that scene was far too open for him to have done a proper switch.

Great flick. Reminded me of the first time watching the Matrix.

I really liked this movie, the fight scenes were really bad ass.

i thought it was great, i d/led it...i'd heard that it was supposed to be cool...but there weren't any theaters playing it...so...thank the internet...

i loved how their fighting technique allowed the guy to dodge all the bullets...

too bad Boromir couldn't stick around throughout about the entire movie though...

Just finished watching this. Great movie! Yes, it's obviously derived from some great stories, and it requires suspension of belief on the level of a kung fu movie. So what? Very entertaining. The gun kata made for some original fight scenes too. Loved the final encounter that was done like the Escrima sticky hands but with guns.

The gun switch didn't bother me as much as the cut/blood on him at the end. It felt like a scene was cut that would have explained it.

I don't understand the confusion about the gun switch. They even explain it to you as his partner is trying to figure out what happened. The blood seems pretty obivious too. It was meant to show that he had been killing his way thru the building to get to that point. That's all.

That's the thing about the gun switch. Whose flashback is it? Preston's or Blake's? And truly, there was zero possibility of a switch in that scene. Large number of people watching, far too open of a room with Blake watching him intently. However, the scene with the gun on the hood of the car is far more viable as an option.

As for the cut/blood, it may have been from editing that it just showed up. I've heard that the director's commentary on the dvd is very helpful in explaining many things and expounding on what would have occured if they had a larger budget during production.

An awesome movie that had almost no theatre time and maybe containing some of the best computer generated stunts and graphic that I have ever seen. Definatley a must see.

/still a badass movie

awsome movie

and i saw it in theaters and on my computer

Man, this thread got me so hyped up to see this movie, but I didn't think any of my local video stores carried it. But tonight I finally found it, and it didn't disappoint. Preston kicks some serious ass in the end. Damn!

i had to get it on vcd.
i love the way that he just kills Taye Diggs (i 4get his characters name) straight away, no messin', no big fight sequence, he just cuts his face off!

great movie. it hasn't come out over here in australia either, but fortunately, i saw the online trailer for this movie and was keen on seeing it, so when i found out it was a no-show, i got the VCD.

ever since, loved the movie. there was only one thing wrong with it, and that was some of the props sucked ass, but i suspect that was due to budget considerations

Great movie. The plot itself is pretty predictable, however the fight-sceen coreography is top notch!

Nope. Roommate and I watched it last night on the enthusiastic recommendation of another friend, and we tried to like it, really we did. I don't see what people see in this movie. Some of the action sequences are solid, but there are so many distractingly bad things about this movie we weren't able to enjoy them. For us the movie broke when he wakes up and looks out at the sun/rain outside his window. I shouted "NO! No rainbow! I can't take it!" and sure enough, there was the rainbow. I think this film got exactly the recognition it deserves. This should be a cult film like "Plan 9 From Outer Space." The movie cribs from sources like Brave New World, 1984, Total Recall...on and on, and yet manages to live up to none of them. Terrible. Just terrible.

didnt worship it, but by and large a smarter sci fi movie, or at least attempts to be, then a lot of whats been out recently. as has been said, fight choreography was top notch, highly stylistic without being cliched (read: a matrix ripoff)

it is simply one of the greatest movies ever.

I loove the costume design.

I weep for cinema.

i thought this movie was excellent. granted some parts are kind of blah but what movie doesn't have a few bad points. a really solid movie for what the producers had to work with.

This is a fucking horrible movie, and I can't understand at all how any reasonable person could like it so much. It steals SO much from so many books and movies, ones that did it better the first time. I mean, the incredible active lack of originality on its own is enough to hate it, but add on the retarded thread of "OMG WE LOOK SO KOOL D00D" and it's a real loser.

Good movie.
I was impressed, I was not expecting that much from a movie that I didn't heard until the DVD release.

Great gun and fight sequences, very smooth fighting.

Consider this

Are all unoriginal movies bad? Does a movie have to be original to be good?

Just because a movie isn't original doesn't mean that it's automatically. While Equilibrium seems like a rehash of other past movies, it is still good and it's a pleasure to watch. It's executed very well, and most of the acting and direction was well done.

My only major criticism is that the movie took a little while to get rolling. But once the first action scene kicked into gear, the movie just took off.

I rented this movie last weekend with no idea what to expect aside from all the hype about it on this here forum. I must concur that I was entertained throughout and found the performances to be very good. Of course it's Farenheit 451, 1984, and Brave New World with The Matrix attitude all mixed together. Still, I was entertained and got my money's worth.

i was confused by 'the father'.
They infered that he wasn't taking the emotion inhibiting drug. Wouldn't that destroy the concept of their whole emotionless paradise, if their leader doesn't even take the drug?
His office was decked out in carpets and artwork and a HUGE chandeller! Someone want to fill me in on what that was all about?

I have the DVD now, and it's incredible. This is one of the best movies I have ever seen.

And Marburg, I think that was used as a way to point out the irony of the system. "Father" was only in it for control, so he could do whatever he wanted behind closed doors

It was a good movie, but damn, those guys dressed in black are terrible shots. I mean, I really enjoyed the fight scenes, but you'd think they could hit him. ANyways, I really enjoyed this movie

Watched it, liked it. Not enough action for me to love it.

I loved this movie, though it was abit short, i thought it could do with more gun-kata scenes :D

Also, ending kinda sucked.

Lots of holes on the plot too. But Christian Bale was superb. Can't wait for him in Batman 5.

kickass movie! *thumbs up!* i woulda seen that at the movies if it came here... still great! and NO it did not steal from the matrix.. everyone says that about every fucking action movie that came out after the matrix...

action sequences good, Bail good, plot so full of holes that many trucks could drive through- to me it doesnt matter if the action is good , if the PLOT MAKES SENSE- acting is important, very damn imortant, but I felt that despite that it was like putting the worlds best crew on the titanic, it still went down and few were saved.....

i liked this movie alot.

I hate how this movie was pitched. "Forget the Matrix!" Fuck that. That's bullshit. The Matrix didn't focus on fucking gun-kata or any of that shit. While cool, Equilibrium just ain't the fuckin' Matrix when it comes to sci-fi goodness, or even action goodness.

My buddy said you can get the dvd for 15 bucks at Wal Mart, I hunted that thing down for a while before dropping 25 on it. Bastards..

I think it's silly to compare movies to each other. Take it for what it is. Equillibrium I found very entertaining and the action scenes were absolutely friggin awsome.

If you wanna get picky, 'Matrix' stole BIGTIME from 'Drive' so.. Hollywood is all about inbreeding.

Equilibrium is just 1984 on steroids. It's pretty awesome.

I guess I'm the only one that didn't like the fight scene. They were so slow and so fake, very boring fight scene IMO. The story was pretty good though.

I thought that this movie rocked. I own it now. As good as Matrix? Not in my opinion. But....damn good!

Why is Equilibrium always compared with The Matrix? Except maybe for the fight scenes...

The Matrix is about a fight against "robots". Equilibrium is more a fight against the rules of the country. You can compair it with 1984 from George Orwell ofcourse.

I don't know what happened, but there was a time where I was totally sick and annoyed of all things Matrix. Then this movie came along, and had a way better idea that I could get behind. Granted, alot of my friends hated this movie, and I can see why. But I just really like the whole "rebelling against Big Brother" type a thing, with hyper unrealistic but totally kick ass action sequences. I just find it kinda silly when people compare and debate movies. It's all like a big verbal circle jerk. Or verbal masturbation, much like this.

Good for you.