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Equilibrium

EMAILPRINTDimension Films / Miramax Films

Equilibrium reviews
33
8.5 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 22 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 139 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller

Written by: Kurt Wimmer

Directed by: Kurt Wimmer

Release Date:
Theatrical: December 6, 2002
DVD: May 13, 2003

Running Time: minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R for violence

Starring Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs, Angus MacFadyen, Sean Bean, William Fichtner, and Dominic Purcell

In a future society, citizens are prevented from expressing emotions and are controlled by militaristic police with the enforced use of a dehumanizing drug.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Would be a mindless action picture, except that it has a mind. It doesn't do a lot of deep thinking, but unlike many futuristic combos of sf and f/x, it does make a statement:

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70

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

A terrific cast, stylish direction, and elegantly choreographed mayhem help make it far better than it might have been -- Though ultimately silly, Equilibrium's shopworn but stylish synthesis of ammo and ideas is surprisingly engrossing.

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70

LA Weekly Ron Stringer

The fun here is not so much in the solid if stolid performances from Bale and co-stars Taye Diggs and Emily Watson (gussied up to resemble the Jefferson Airplane–era Grace Slick) or in Wimmer's overpolished plot devices as it is in the production values.

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63

USA Today Claudia Puig

The martial-arts sequences take this prosaic thriller to a higher level.

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60

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

Equilibrium improves as it rolls along -- either that or, ironically, it wears down the senses until the viewer succumbs.

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50

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Not a picture that makes you think very much -- except to wonder why the studios keep making movies like this.

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50

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

A preachy parable stylized with a touch of John Woo bullet ballet.

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50

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Mostly plays like a routine thriller with a classy cast.

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50

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

The best thing about Equilibrium is its impressive look. Along with its generally fine cast and some well-choreographed fights, that goes a long way to making the movie watchable -- despite its underlying stupidity.

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50

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Just because it's a good idea doesn't mean it's easy to do well. Screenwriter-turned-director Kurt Wimmer has a hard time keeping his actors from, well, acting a lot of the time.

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40

TV Guide Ken Fox

Flashy, "MATRIX"-style action sequences trump ideas; it's hard not to feel you've just watched a feature-length video game with some really heavy back story.

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40

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

This operates at the intellectual level of the old "Star Trek" in its limp last season, and the professed humanism is belied by the extreme violence and Nazi-chic production design (not to mention a voice-over that traces the outlawing of emotion to "the revolutionary precept of the hate crime").

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38

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

It's not only an ultraviolent, ludicrously inconsistent rip-off of Bradbury's idea, but it poisons the well for future efforts.

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38

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Equilibrium just happens to be a really bad comic book.

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30

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

An accidental entertainment, Equilibrium is a science-fiction pastiche so lacking in originality that if you stripped away its inspirations there would be precious little left.

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25

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Super- violent, super-serious and super-stupid.

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25

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Equilibrium doesn't tread softly on our dreams; it tramples them.

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20

Variety Dennis Harvey

Misses with its blowhard treatment of a silly, obvious script. Results might hazard "Battlefield Earth" comparison if new pic were a tad more fun.

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20

Film Threat David Grove

Since Equilibrium shamelessly rips off every Orwellian science fiction thriller in film history, what other reason is there besides sheer desperation for the film to be so stupidly violent?

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10

Village Voice Dennis Lim

As this clueless, bulimic debacle madly regurgitates ideas and iconography from Lang to the brothers Wachowski, Leni Riefenstahl to L. Ron Hubbard, Ray Bradbury to Susan Faludi, it's not just Bale who has a hard time keeping a straight face.

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10

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Equilibrium is like a remake of "1984" by someone who's seen "The Matrix" 25 times while eating Twinkies and doing methamphetamines.

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0

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

If someone left "1984," "Fahrenheit 451," "Brave New World," "Gattaca" and the Sylvester Stallone potboilers "Judge Dredd" and "Demolition Man" out in the sun and threw the runny glop onto a movie screen, it would still be a better picture than Equilibrium, a movie that could be stupider only if it were longer.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 139 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Bob B gave it a1:
Wow, Roger EBERT gave it a good review? Roger Ebert is also the premier elevator of pop garbage movies to pseudo-intellectual status. This movie is a steaming pile of cultural backwash re-digested by the hackneyed screenplay writer whose only major accomplishment was to insert every distopian cliche ever written since the 19th century. This movie pretends to think while not having a single original thought. It also insults the audience with its excruciatingly obvious flogging of the already overtread plot points. This society destroys art? Well, how can stupid moviegoer me possibly understand how awful it is to burn paintings? OH NOEZ the Mona Lisa, now I KNOW this is a big deal, because anything less than the Mona Lisa being destroyed and my phillistine brain will just want to smear dung and shout at the screen, but since you showed me the MOST famous painting IN THE WORLD, NOW I am able to understand it. Wouldn't they have found the Mona Lisa a long time ago? Wouldn't the only art left be a bit more obscure so they'd miss it? Does Sean Bean HAVE to be reading Yates? Nuff said.

Sandun d gave it a10:
Whats up with most of these critics. If they didn't see the depth and the message in this movie, well they are a bunch of retards who were probably dropped as infants. This in one of the most iconic movies I've seen for a long time. A definite cult fav. Hats off.

joe gave it an8:
Seriously, these critics are retards. Notice that that Roger Ebert gave it the HIGHEST score of all the critics, and he tends to be one of the tougher ones (he wrote the book "your movie sucks" if that says anything). I would say Ebert is right on this, 75 to 80 is probably a fair score for this movie. How anyone can call this movie stupid and then go give higher ratings to other films like "Shoot em' up" I will never know, but I really can't help but think someone was paid to hate this film. Yeah the plot is a litte extreme and uses other authors and movies themes, but by that logic 99% of ALL action and romance films should have never been made (just try and name a few love stories or martial arts films that are REALLY original; now think of the ones that aren't and critics seem to love). So let's say the film had no plot, but retained it's amazing action (that was creative AND inventive) that right there earns it a decent score. Now throw in a message that was at least important if not a little corny as well as some good acting and that makes for a pretty good movie. I just don't see how, because the movie happens to not have the most ORIGINAL plot, that people can hate it for have GOOD things thrown on top of that unoriginal plot. Ever seen DARK CITY or films like that? Horrid action and a plot that you might find on some kids Live Journal, yet are still enjoyable and somehow critics love it. Well this movie had a more sensible plot and better action and somehow that makes it worse? At least the oldest and wisest of movie critics isn't affected by bribes, and if anyones ever seen the original Fahrenheit 451 it has an even corneir plot and NO action and people somehow say it's SO much better. Honesty, these critics really pissed me off and anyone who just says this movie was bad because of unoriginality or because "it takes itself to seriously" is just being asinine; how do you think the characters are going to act, like monkeys in a cage? The movie deserved to be made and to that extent it was made well, so lay off.

Markus W gave it a10:
Once of my alltime favourite movies. Drama and Action could go together before the new BSG. But it´s hardly surprising that a movie warning of "soft totalitarianism" isn´t well recieved the media. Make a movie about a clicheed fascist gouvernement seizing power using anti-terror as an excuse and they love you. But a movie talking about how the concept of hate-crimes will lead to policing of thought and you are a heretic.

Jen G. gave it a10:
This is an excellent rendition of the potential of totalitarianism today. I have to agree with some other users, that the "critics" are truly in denial about society. Take a hard look at the world today, know anyone on anti-depressants or Ritalin? Do you feel world news is uncensored? If you feel that world leaders and nations aren't manipulating emotions for political/financial gain or profit, you are truly in denial as well.

[Anonymous] gave it a3:
I'm surprised that there haven't been more comparisons with Logan's run because it is a direct extraction of the theme of enforcer who joins an underground movement in a dystopia. I wanted to enjoy this movie. It has a few redeeming qualities, it is watchable, but overall it fails to obey its own rules and I cannot recommend it.

Philip F. gave it a10:
Excellent movie, great fight scenes, and they actually managed to make gun fights amazingly interesting. Gun-kata is actually something i'd enjoy seeing in future movies, even if it is fictional. plot only really became cheesy for about a 10 minute period towards the end, but other than that, great flick.

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