Equilibrium(2002)
Dimension Films Dec 6, 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.
Release Details
Original Release | Dec 6, 2002 | Limited
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$1,203,794
$4,164,423
$5,368,217
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- Tue Sep 1
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Director & Top Cast
Technical Specifications
Sound Mix: DTS,Dolby Digital,SDDS
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1
Other Details
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Summaries
Plot Summary
- Libria, a totalitarian city-state established by survivors of World War III, blames human emotion as the cause for the war. Any activity or object that stimulates emotion is strictly forbidden. Those in violation are labeled "Sense Offenders" and sentenced to death. The population is forced to take a daily injection of "Prozium II" to suppress emotion. Libria is governed by the Tetragrammaton Council, led by "Father" (Sean Pertwee), who communicates propaganda through giant video screens throughout the city. At the pinnacle of law enforcement are the Grammaton Clerics, trained in the martial art of gun Kata (which increases their gun efficiency by 120%, while keeping them safe from the known angles of return fire). Clerics frequently raid homes to search for and destroy illegal materials - art, literature and music - executing violators on the spot. A resistance movement, known as the "Underground", emerges to topple Father and the Tetragrammaton Council.In 2072, John Preston (Christian Bale) is a high-ranking Cleric whose wife, Viviana (Alexa Summer), was executed as a Sense Offender (by ignoring to take her Prozium and thereby feeling emotions), leaving him as a single parent of two. Following a raid, Preston notices his partner, Errol Partridge (Sean Bean), saves a book of poems by W. B. Yeats instead of turning it in for incineration. He checks the evidence center later and finds that Errol hasn't turned the book in, as per protocol. He follows Partridge to the Nether - a term for regions outside the city - and finds him reading the book. After seeing Preston, Partridge claims he gladly pays the heavy price of feeling emotion; Preston executes him as Partridge slowly reaches for his gun.Preston accidentally breaks a daily vial of Prozium and is unable to replace it before going on the next raid. Preston is supposed to report to the "Equilibrium" to get a replacement dose. The Equilibrium building is the command-and-control center of the Government, and heavily fortified. But before Preston walks, he is picked up by his new partner to accompany him on a raid.Brief episodes of emotion (sunlight, rain) set in evoking memories, stirring feelings, and making him more aware of his surroundings. He intentionally skips additional doses of Prozium, hiding them behind the mirror in his bathroom. Partridge is replaced with an ambitious, career-conscious Brandt (Taye Diggs), who expresses admiration for Preston's "uncompromising" work as a Cleric. On a raid, they arrest Sense Offender Mary O'Brien (Emily Watson). To Brandt's surprise, Preston prevents him from executing O'Brien (even after Mary tries to shoot Preston when he finds the hidden room where Mary had kept the old-world artifacts and promised her that he would find her associates), saying she should be kept alive for interrogation. Brandt grows suspicious of Preston's hesitation. Mary say that the point of her existence is to feel. Preston assigns Mary for "processing" at the palace of justice.Preston begins to feel remorse for killing Partridge and develops an emotional relationship with O'Brien. On one of the raids, after killing a group of resistance fighters who hit a Prozium factory, Prestn discovers a hidden basement with old world artifacts. Brandt is further suspicious when he saves a puppy from execution, who was found in the back yard of the resisters. Preston later returns to the nether to return the puppy, but is followed secretly by Brandt. Preston is found releasing the puppy by a team of police enforcers, who are about to shoot him. But Preston's gun Kata training kicks in and he decimates his opponents.Vice-Counsel DuPont (Angus Macfadyen) (who is the voice of the Father in public) meets with Preston to reveal that there is a traitor in the upper ranks of the Clerics. Although DuPont appears to know it is Preston, he assigns him the task of unmasking the traitor. Relieved, Preston accepts and promises to locate the Underground's leadership.At the next raid, Preston finds some resisters hidden behind the walls and allows them to escape. He again kills a team of police enforcers when the resisters are discovered. Brandt still finds the resisters and kills them off. But the resisters now consider Preston as an ally. Preston uncovers clues (He finds that Errol knew Mary. he questions Mary and follows the leads to a Govt building which was hiding the underground HQ) that lead to meeting Jurgen (William Fichtner), leader of the Underground. Jurgen is planning to disrupt Prozium production to spark a populace uprising and convinces Preston that Father must be assassinated.Meanwhile, O'Brien is set to be executed, and Jurgen advises against interfering believing it could sabotage plans for the revolution. Unable to bear her death, Preston attempts to stop the execution and fails. He has an emotional breakdown and is arrested by Brandt, who brings him before DuPont. Preston tricks DuPont into believing that Brandt is the traitor (It was Brandt's gun at the 2 massacres of the police enforcers, which Preston had switched with his own gun). Following Brandt's arrest, Preston is told that his home will be searched as a formality. He rushes home to destroy the hidden vials only to discover his son Robbie (Matthew Harbour), who stopped taking Prozium after his mother died, already has.Jurgen tells Preston to capture the leaders of the resistance to regain government trust, hoping it will get Preston close enough to assassinate Father. Preston is granted an exclusive audience with Father only to discover that Brandt was not arrested; it was part of a ruse to expose Preston and the Underground. DuPont reveals he is Father, having secretly replaced the original Father who died, and that he doesn't take Prozium to suppress emotion. He taunts Preston, asking how it felt to betray the Underground. Enraged, Preston fights his way through an army of bodyguards to DuPont's office, confronting and killing Brandt in a Katana battle.DuPont and Preston engage in a gun Kata showdown. Preston wins as DuPont pleads for his life asking, "Is it really worth the price?" Paying homage to Partridge's last words, he responds, "I pay it gladly" and kills DuPont. He destroys the command center that broadcasts Father propaganda. Preston watches with satisfaction from above as the Underground destroys Prozium manufacturing plants, signaling the beginning of the revolution.
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. — Anonymous At the end of World War III, the world fell under the control of Father and the Tetragrammaton: a government that outlaws all forms of art and emotion. Citizens are forced to take drugs that eliminate emotions. However, "Sense Offenders": citizens who resist the laws and operate underground are continually at war with the Tetragrammaton. John Preston is a Cleric, an elite super-soldier who's mission is to hunt down and eliminate Sense Offenders with the help of a ruthless police force. One day, Preston accidentally breaks his morning dose of emotion suppressant drug and begins to feel. Soon, he begins sympathizing with the Sense Offenders and begins to understand the beauty of feeling... A beauty that the government, in which Preston spent his life serving, would like to see destroyed. — redcommander27 In the future, after the Third World War, the world is ruled by a totalitarian and fascist society with the leadership of 'The Father'. Arts, music, books, luxury and feelings are not acceptable, and persons uses a drug called 'Prozium' in a daily basis to repress their feelings and feel happy. The opponents to this new world are called offenders and they form the underground resistance to the system, who are destroyed by very-well trained and powerful agents called 'The Clericks'. John Preston is one of this agents, and his life changes when he misses his daily dose of 'Prozium'. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
