Greetings from a new fan

[Ganymed]

Hello and Greetings from Germany!

I just found this board and JenGe´s website and wanted to greet the "fans".

"Equilibrium" was totally unknown to me until I saw the rental DVD in my video rental store and rented it.
Wow - I was BLOWN AWAY by watching this movie. This was the best Sci-Fi action movie I have seen in a long time. I knew Christian Bale before (from "American Psycho" of course, I loved it... "Reign of Fire", "Maria" and "Empire of the Sun") but wasnt a special "fan" of him as an actor. This movie changed my mind....
His performance is really so fantastic, I couldnt believe it. This movie was filled with action, drama, tense, surprise, emotion, psychology, symbolism, mythology - and almost no dull or ridicolous moments or scenes. How the dystopian society portrayed in the movie really "works" isnt totally believable, but the focus of "Equlibrium" is in my opinion on Bales Charakter and his development and in this way it works wonderful.
I liked that director Kurt Wimmer was couragous enough to to show the protagonist as a real "hero" in the best meaning, not like dull action-heroes of the 80ies (Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis) with a lot of muscles but no brian or emotion, but in a "new" way.
The settings with the cold and sterile surroundings were convincing. OK, some special effects were cheap, but doesnt matter.... I am no martial arts expert so I cant justify the "Gun-Kata" but the action choreography was convincing and entertaining. I did enjoy Klaus Badelts music very much, too (I love his "Time Machine" score).

The movie (like every other movie) isnt "perfect", for example I considered the "Black Guard" uniforms with the black biker helmets and the SS-leather coates a bit strange and B-movie like.
Surely, the critics are right, this movie "borrows" a lot ideas and stories from other films (books) (1984, Fahrenheit 451) and the mythological, symbolical, social and political references to Fascism, Communism and Christianity are obvious, but done in a refreshing and original way making you think about a possible dystopian future and human nature (and entertaining you at the same time on the highest level).

I am glad that there are so many people out there who also like this movie (wow, I didnt exspect the very high IMDB rating - very well...).

So, thats all for now....
bye

Ganymed

[StarDancer]

Hi, Ganymed!

Where abouts in Germany are you from? They filmed a lot of Equilibrium there.

[Ganymed]

I am from Munich, the famous city in South Germany.

"Equilibrium" was partially filmed in Berlin (the capital city).

The only thing which makes me very, very sad
is that the german DVD coming in September will probably NOT include any features of the RC1.

I love audio commentaries and would have liked to hear what Kurt Wimmer told about the movie....

a bad thing...
G.

[JenGe]

Hey, my parents live in Germany. They're in Pforzheim. My mother is a pure German and my father is from Idaho...don't even ask!!!

Nice to see you here and glad you found EQ!!

[Imylover]

Ganymed said:

Hello and Greetings from Germany!

I liked that director Kurt Wimmer was couragous enough to to show the protagonist as a real "hero" in the best meaning, not like dull action-heroes of the 80ies (Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis) with a lot of muscles but no brian or emotion, but in a "new" way.
Ganymed

Although I've always been a fan of Stallone, Schwarzenegger & Willis, I agree with you! The versions of heroes they played back then has played its role in movie history, it's really no longer fun to JUST see muscles & hear some cool lines, if any at all.

The audience of today wants heroes of today. And to my huge enjoyment I have discovered that that is that heroes are allowed to be normal, have feelings & be vulnerable. Willis' John McClane wasn't that far away from that, I must confess. But there are much better examples of emotional heroes in today's films.

But today's movie heroes haven't just become more human in combination with their special skills & in some cases superpowers & so on. They also show a new kind of bravery! John Preston sure is a great example!
The bravery is to face yourself & realize the wrong you have been doing & change who you are into something better! Easily described this is more known as character development! A rare thing in action films of the past, they mostly needed sequels to go through all that John does just half way through EQ!

John Preston is not unique, but still very rare as a character, especially in this genre. What I fancy so much about him, & which I thank Kurt Wimmer & Chris Bale for from the bottom of my heart, is the fact that underneath the surface, the discipline, the Gun Kata & the uniform, is a normal human being. And once the Prozium disappears & allows us to see through the surface, we meet a man that most of us can identify with. A brave man with huge amounts of compassion that he didn't even know he had. A man with vulnerabilities & strenghts. A man that is just as intelligent as he can fight. A man that is not perfect & can't think of everything, yet is creative & not afraid to act when needed.
And, in the end, John is really a man that wants to survive, do what's best for his children & make a difference in this world, with or without the Prozium included.

We want our heroes (& also villains!) to be cool, courages, say cool lines & save the day in the end. That will never change. But if they manage to move us & be human along the way, then they stand a much greater chanse to remain in our hearts & not just be another of those action heroes.

John Preston is as cool as the heroes of yesterday. But will never become another one of those, I garantee you that! Because he is so much more than what they ever were.

[TreadXSoftly]

International fans! Welcome!

btw, I rather liked the leather/biker helmet combo. ;D

[StarDancer]

Imylover said:

... John McClane wasn't that far away from that, I must confess...

John McClane is too cool!

You are right, most of the action heros from the 80's are over muscled men using profuse violence. I think Clint Eastwood started it with the Dirty Harry movies. The evolution of the hero has been cool, because if I can have Preston, the thinking man's provocateur, then I'm happy.

[Tavolski]

Ganymed said:

...for example I considered the "Black Guard" uniforms with the black biker helmets and the SS-leather coates a bit strange and B-movie like.

I agree, they didn't look human, which I thought was counter to what Libria stood for (yes, it was merely a movie, but I can't shut off my powers of observation and reasoning).

I do like fact that Wimmer incorporated the children choosing the Sense Offenders out of the crowd. Does this remind anyone of an actual occurence VERY similar that occured in Cambodia? *cough*Khmer Rouge*cough* I think this added to the sense of incredulousness that is felt when we find that the "cure" for war, destruction, violence, crime is to eliminate emotions all together. Just a thought...

BTW, I like the terribly cheesy muscle-action movies of the eighties and early/mid-nineties--they give me something that satiates my bloodlust while not needing me to think (in fact, thinking too much detracts from the experience).