The DrawingBoard

by **Captain Genius** » Tue May 20, 2003 12:31 pm

for all you matrix loving monkeys that don't live in one of the 8 cities that got this movie on the big screen, now it's on dvd. Get your butts out to Blockbuster or Best Buy and buy or rent the hell outta this cool movie. It's got that kid from Newsies kicking ass.

by **Nox04** » Thu May 22, 2003 2:51 pm

still gotta see this. maybe this weekend. it looks pretty damn cool

by **Ghost of Skimmy** » Fri May 23, 2003 2:25 am

I got it via Netflix this weekend. It should be called the Faketrix, however, I will watch it. Chritian Bale is cool.

by **Nox04** » Fri May 23, 2003 2:54 pm

just saw it. it actually wasn't THAT much like the matrix. it was kinda boreing though except for the very end, but even that went by way too fast. a little anticlimatic (sp) the gun fights were fuckin insane though. coolest thing with guns i've ever seen.

by **Musashi** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 3:45 am

Just watched Equilibrium. It does kick ass. <a href="http://www.zenwavearts.com">Zenwave Arts</a>

by **HellboyOne** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 7:02 am

I saw this recently and was pleasantly surprised. Decent science fiction and, yes, the action scenes are pretty unique. I wish they were shot just a tad better but kudos to the filmmakers for resisting the trends of the time. R. <a href="http://www.rickcortes.com"><img src="http://www.rickcortes.com/sitemarker.jpg"/></a> <a href="http://www.sketchbooksessions.com"><img src="http://homepage.mac.com/artsyfartsy/.Pictures/ssbanner1.gif"/></a>

by **3r0therGr1mm** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 10:39 am

Agreed. The gun kata stuff was great. - Aron <a href="http://www.grimmdesign.com" target="top"><img src="http://www.grimmdesign.com/portfolio/picfolder/banner1.gif" style="border:0;"/></a>

by **The Jodycody** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 7:18 pm

I just saw this the other night....i liked the fights, but I thought their "future" was retarded... It seemed like a government for the sake of government....since everyone was slipped a mickey, why would anyone give a shit about doing anything? Now if the TetraGrammaton Clerics were the only "emotionless" beings in the society, then we have a story with a punch.....we have a reason to feel a little something when our main character starts backsliding.... Everytihng else just had me asking questions... Why would families still live together? We would anyone be married? Would paternal/maternal pair bonding even be a necessity? They'd all be like roommates.....why even have the kids around if you really don't interact with them or "care".... And what did everyone do during the day, except for walk around being watched by children and self-medicate? Those that weren't walking around seemed to sit around in open air churches and listen to "father".....well, why? Were they "new" to society? Were they from the "nethers" and being introduced to Libria? Can civilization be trusted to shoot themselves up with Prozium? Apparently they can't.... Why didn't the government just outfit everyone with implants that regulated that shit? And why were there even "ranks"? Everyone is following the same books and rules, and if they're truly medicating, there is no alternative to the rule, so why even have someone giving you orders? You'd know what to do, and you'd just do it, because that was the rule..... If they were truly emotionless, wouldn't they be like robots? I just didn't see a point in making everone "emotionless"....apparently there was a ton more people that could feel, other than Father....why else would they give a crap when the polygraph went dead, signifying our hero about to go buck nutty.... I did think it was funny that the clerics gun flashes their little logo....I also liked that most of the Librian guards had rifles but still clustered into groups at the first opportunity and usually ran right up on their opponents.... Woo....sorry for the rant.... I think I think way too much while watching movies..... I was the only guy I knew that had a problem with the Hulk's pants.....It's a fake person, he can go nude....they can just hide Hulk bits with compu-shadow... Actually, the Hulk wearing stretched pants is one thing....seeing Bruce at home still being able to wear them is another.... <a href="http://www.joelcarroll.com/">JOELCARROLL.COM</a>

by **CameronStewart** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 8:09 pm

I read several reviews along the lines of Joel's post...one went so far as to call it the most spectacularly awful film since Battlefield Earth. The trailers had me in stitches...that bit where Christian Bale looks at the Mona Lisa and grimly intones, "burn it...", Prozium... "Sense Offense"... It's such a ridiculous, ham-fisted idea, the kind of thing a 16 year old kid or particularly amatuerish writer would come up with. Farenheit 451 had an outrageous but at least halfway-plausible premise - this is just stupid, so stupid as to make suspension of disbelief impossible. And does it say anything that hasn't already been said by Orwell, Bradbury, or any of their countless imitators? I haven't seen it, so obviously I can't make any absolute judgements, but my "crap film sense" goes off like wildfire whenever I hear the title... -C <a href="http://www.cameron-stewart.com">www.cameron-stewart.com</a>

by **The Jodycody** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 3:24 am

Yeah, this was VERY Fahrenheit 451.....except, like you said, Bradbury kind of thought his story out a tad.... I wouldn't say that Equilibrium was as bad as Battlefield Earth....I at least watched this one all the way through..... But I wouldn't necessarily recommend it beyond pointing out that the gunfights were cool....and even then the gunfights reeked of, "wouldn't it be cool if this guy just shot everyone all the time, without ever, EVER having any danger of being shot himself"...... I would definitely admit that if I were in my teens, I probably would have watched this five more times over the weekend and loved it......but I'm a grumpy old man that thinks too much <a href="http://www.joelcarroll.com/">JOELCARROLL.COM</a>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub127.ezboard.com/bcartoonandillustrationparadise66133.showUserPublicProfile?gid=thejodycody>The Jodycody</A> at: 7/7/03 6:33 am

by **JasonLatour** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 4:13 am

I agree with you guys. I even wrote a short review of the flick for a local paper not long ago. I posted it below just in case anyone cares to read it. "In no doubt trying to expand upon and update some of the core concepts of the classic novel 1984 and wrap them in an aesthetic action genre' which was no doubt inspired by films like THE MATRIX--- EQUILIBRIUM, written and directed by Kurt Wimmer, somehow fails to live up either of them. Bale plays Grammaton Cleric John Preston, a futuristic magistrate who polices "sense offenders" in the post WW3 future society of Libria. In this stale and anthestitic future all dangerous emotion has been eliminated by mandatorily prescribing the masses to a drug called Prozium. The thinking is that war, murder and generally everything bad are a by product of emotion, therefore emotion in all its forms --art, literature, etc. must be eliminated. "Sense offenders" or people who have still cling to the ways of old society are systematically eliminated---or in other words put to death. Bale hands in his usual solid performance---easily believable while doubling as a man coming to grips with his first touches of human emotion and as an emotionless killing machine. Diggs, while a personal favorite, seems ill tailored for the role of Preston's new partner/rival Brandt. His personaility shines through a bit too much for my taste, given the fact that he is supposed to be a emotionless soldier. Angus McFadden turns in an even performance as Preston's superior who obviously doesn't totally practice what he preaches.Emily Watson puts forth both believable tenderness and contempt for Preston in the role of his new found infatution despite limited screen time. While it is true that the film suffers from a bit of "Matrix-itis" it doesn't overtly copy the film. The movie lies heavily on the "cool factor" of a new fighting style dubbed "gunkata"---a sort of gun fu---what while visually stunning at times lends an almost unneccessarily B movie type action to a film which is for the most part rather serious in tone. The result is an uneven film which as amazingly well thought out scenes depicting Preston's coming to grips with his new found emotions yet is cartoonishly contrasted by "one man army" like fight scenes. Perhaps what makes something like the "gunkata" more of a stretch to the imagination than say the wire-fu acrobatics of the Matrix is that we are led to believe that the battles take place in the "real world" and not within the confines of a computer program who's rules are meant to be broken. The sets, though purposely bland and aesthetic, are however somewhat uninspired and cliche' (honestly how many times have we seen black helmets, leather, machine guns and motorcycles on our futuristic police forces by now) but the film itself is impressively shot with effects and cgi skylines that betray an obviously lower budget than your average sci-fi studio flick. But perhaps the most glaring problems are the leaps logic and plot holes/character inconsistencies. For example Taye Diggs' Brandt is constantly cracks smiles and brags about using Preston downfall to advance his career--- obviously is a sign of ambition--which is driven largely by such emotions as greed,self betterment, self fufilment. Not what you would expect from a emotionless cleric. And while its seems that most of societies long standing rituals of love and emotion are now non-existent----strangely marriage still exists. It would seem that this all knowing emotionless government would have better sense than to allow men and women to co-habitate--risking the chances that love or raw sexual attraction might overcome their wonder drug. In fact so many characters seem to be influenced by emotion or things that are by products of emotion that it exposes the core concept as perhaps just another vehicle for an action film. The better aspects of EQUILIBRIUM are most assuredly the character moments. Despite any flaws with concept or plot it does deliver heavily in this department. Bale's performance is a nice subtle slow burn that builds nicely as he becomes reconnected with a world he never knew existed. If only this had been touched upon more, especially towards the films climax where it seems the "thinking" aspect of the film was tossed out the window in favor of body count. The film has already garnered quite the cult following and it leaves one to ponder just how much more well recieved it may have been if it had been released prior to the massive flooding of the market with films of the science fiction/action genre' or if it would have even existed in the first place without such an oversaturation. All and all it is an uneven tone that makes EQUILIBRIUM feel just a bit off balance. " J-La

by **HellboyOne** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 5:40 am

<blockquote>Quote:<hr> I would definitely admit that if I were in my teens, I probably would have watched this five more times over the weekend and loved it......but I'm a grumpy old man that thinks too much<hr></blockquote> Perhaps I'm still in this frame of mind sometimes. Then again, I was working on my sketchbook at the same time I was watching this and only half-way paying attention. Perhaps I'll watch it again. Oh, Cameron....'Equilibrium' isn't a film. It's a movie. Big difference. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START

--><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"> R. <a href="http://www.rickcortes.com"><img src="http://www.rickcortes.com/sitemarker.jpg"/></a> <a href="http://www.sketchbooksessions.com"><img src="http://homepage.mac.com/artsyfartsy/.Pictures/ssbanner1.gif"/></a>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub127.ezboard.com/bcartoonandillustrationparadise66133.showUserPublicProfile?gid=hellboyone>HellboyOne</A> at: 7/7/03 8:40 am

by **CameronStewart** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 6:55 am

I just use "film" by habit. I'm not suggesting it's Art. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START

--><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"> -C <a href="http://www.cameron-stewart.com">www.cameron-stewart.com</a>

by **sukeband** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 8:48 am

I find your habitual use of the term "film" high brow, and offensive. Please never use the term again. thank you.

by **CameronStewart** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 9:18 am

I'm hoping there's a smiley at the end of that post... -C <a href="http://www.cameron-stewart.com">www.cameron-stewart.com</a>

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