Taglines: In a future where freedom is outlawed outlaws will become heroes.
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.
Equilibrium is a 2002 American dystopian science fiction action film written and directed by Kurt Wimmer and starring Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs, Sean Bean, Christian Kahrmann, Dominic Purcell, William Fichtner, Maria Pia Calzone and Emily Siewert.
Most of the filming used locations in Berlin, due to its unique mixture of fascist and modern architecture. According to the visual effects supervisor Tim McGovern, who worked alongside Kurt Wimmer, the fascist architecture was chosen “to make the individual feel small and insignificant so the government seems more powerful”.
In addition, the modern architecture of Berlin emphasizes the futuristic and stolid appearance of the city-state of Libria. Libria’s thick walls are represented by an abandoned fortress-like East German military base, while the exterior of the city, where many of the surviving rebels reside, was filmed in decrepit neighborhoods of East Germany. In addition to the geographic location, a few European art directors also made substantial contributions to the production.
The film had an estimated production budget of $20 million. International pre-release sales had already made a profit, so the studio reduced the film’s promotion and advertising budget to avoid the risk of the film losing money; as a consequence, theatrical release was limited.
The film was shown in only 301 theaters at its widest release in the United States, earning $541,512 in its opening week, and only $1.2 million when it closed on December 26, 2002; the film earned $4.1 million internationally, for a total of $5.3 million worldwide.
Equilibrium (2002)
Directed by: Kurt Wimmer
Starring: Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs, Sean Bean, Christian Kahrmann, Dominic Purcell, William Fichtner, Maria Pia Calzone, Emily Siewert
Screenplay by: Kurt Wimmer
Production Design by: Wolf Kroeger
Cinematography by: Dion Beebe
Film Editing by: Tom Rolf, William Yeh
Costume Design by: Joseph A. Porro
Set Decoration by: Anne Kuljian
Art Direction by: Erik Olson, Justin Warburton-Brown
Music by: Klaus Badelt
MPAA Rating: R for violence.
Distributed by: Dimension Films, Miramax Films
Release Date: December 6, 2002
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