Equilibrium

"In a future where freedom is outlawed, outlaws will become heroes."

2002 1h 47m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 5,260

ActionScience FictionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the populace with a drug, and displays of emotion are punishable by death. A man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system.

“In a future where freedom is outlawed, outlaws will become heroes.”

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Cast

Christian Bale
John Preston
Emily Watson
Mary O'Brien
Taye Diggs
Brandt
Angus Macfadyen
DuPont
Sean Bean
Errol Partridge
Sean Pertwee
Father
Matthew Harbour
Robbie Preston
William Fichtner
Jürgen

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Kurt Wimmer
Writers: Kurt Wimmer
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 27% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 24 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Kurt Wimmer, shot by Dion Beebe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Klaus Badelt. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tom Rolf shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Christian Bale and Emily Watson and Taye Diggs carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "In a future where freedom is outlawed, outlaws will become heroes.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0238380 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Kurt Wimmer directs. Dion Beebe behind the camera. Klaus Badelt scores. Tom Rolf cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 27% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 24 years ago.
3Directed by Kurt Wimmer, shot by Dion Beebe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Klaus Badelt. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Tom Rolf shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Christian Bale and Emily Watson and Taye Diggs carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "In a future where freedom is outlawed, outlaws will become heroes.".
8IMDB entry: tt0238380 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 16 themes, including "martial arts", "resistance", "dystopia", "fascism".

The technical file

Cinematography: Dion Beebe
Original score: Klaus Badelt
Editing: Tom Rolf
Production design: Wolf Kroeger
Costume design: Joseph A. Porro
Makeup / hair: Hasso von Hugo
VFX supervisor: David Sosalla
Sound: Jeffrey Perkins
Stunt coordinator: Jim Vickers
Runtime: 107 min · 1h 47m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $20,000,000
Box office: $5,400,000
Return: 27% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Equilibrium (2002)

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Kurt Wimmer

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Community reviews

What people are saying

DanDare2018-04-19
★ 5/10
Set in an Orwellian Dystopian future after a nasty world war 3 in the early part of the 21st century. The population are forced to take drugs that suppress their emotions. You see emotions causes conflict and war. However some people exhibit emotions by not taking the medicine. They want to listen to music, experience their senses by seeing artwork, read books or having pets. These people are exterminated by clerics, an elite hit squad. Christian Bale is the best of the clerics but once he stops taking his medicine, he feels for the first time and gets into contact with a resistance group to overthrow the leader. Filmed in Berlin, Equilibrium comes across like an updated version of Fahrenheit 451 but feels too much like a knockoff of The Matrix with a rather a sterile narrative at the beginning which made it rather uninvolving. Bale's behaviour is so odd once he stops taking the drugs, he should just had been caught and shot.
Gimly2018-10-26
★ 8/10
So there's a pretty decent chance that Equilibrium doesn't have an original bone in its entire makeup, but I still just love it. Final rating:★★★★ - Very strong appeal. A personal favourite.
John Chard2020-07-10
★ 8/10
Mankind united with infinitely greater purpose in pursuit of war than he ever did in pursuit of peace. Equilibrium is written and directed by Kurt Wimmer and stars Christian Bale, Taye Diggs, Emily Watson and Angus Macfadyen. Bale plays John Preston, an enforcement Cleric in Libria, a dystopian future where forms of emotional expression are deemed illegal. All citizens of Libria are required to inject drugs (known as Prozium) to suppress emotions. However, Preston misses one of his doses and starts to become emotionally conflicted about the world he now lives in. Welcome to a dystopian world where art is banned, music destroyed and basic emotions illegal. A world where Christian Bale looks cool in long black coats and "Gun-Kata" martial artistry is the order of the day. It's impossible to write a review for Equilibrium without mentioning the film it so dearly wants to be, "The Matrix". That it's not nearly as good as that film in terms of story and action is no reason to do it down. What is not in doubt is that the story here is indeed weak, very much so - in fact it appears that Wimmer has merely cribbed elements from notable moments of sci-fi morality works before it - and then cloaked it in a whirling big bang montage of attention grabbing set pieces. But honestly, those set pieces are alone worth spending time with this movie for. It's standard sci-fi shenanigans for the most part. We have the ruling body of the country, all very fascist and with a badge that looks unsurprisingly Swastika like. A cop character finding a conscience and turning into a rebel on the loose. The underground resistance. And of course the twist ending as the reveal, and plot strands, come together for one final (brilliant) bout of carnage. So yes, it's rammed full of clichés. But it is exciting energised fun. Stylish fun, in fact. Even if at the core it's awash with unimaginative writing. Brain checked at the door for this one then, enjoy. 8/10