# Equilibrium - the movie (all spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2009, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equilibrium-the-movie-all-spoilers/495159 "2009-05-03T07:17:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equilibrium-the-movie-all-spoilers/495159/21 "2009-05-04T09:24:24Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Alas they are all terrible movies. _De Gustibus_ - I have watch them all more than once. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equilibrium-the-movie-all-spoilers/495159/22 "2009-05-04T15:12:39Z")
Unbelievably stupid movie, without the redemption of introducing a useful metaphor like _The Matrix_. In the first scene with the shootings in the dark, the “gun kata” skill is described as “standing in the part of the room mathematically least likely to have bullets pass through it, based on the positions of those present.” But in the actual event, he fires his guns in the darkness, making big muzzle flashes. The guys he is shooting at can just return fire at the visible flashes, they don’t need to fire in some pre-programmed lanes he predicted. And he cannot see them in the dark if they move, changing the calculations of where he should stand. And they fire mostly one at a time, instead of all firing at once. In the final scene, he’s been warned repeatedly that the boss is protected by snipers who will kill him from long range. That’s why it’s so surprising that they crowd around him with swords – “sniper” means something very different in our world. It appears almost as if the director (and everyone who advises him) has simply forgotten about the sniper threat by that point in the filming. Were it not for _Highlander II_, and worst of all, the _Thin Red Line_, this would be on my list of dumbest movies of all time – but it’s really not in the same ballpark as those two tributes to the easy availability of stupefying levels of cocaine in Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equilibrium-the-movie-all-spoilers/495159/23 "2009-05-04T15:16:10Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > In the first scene with the shootings in the dark, the “gun kata” skill is described as “standing in the part of the room mathematically least likely to have bullets pass through it, based on the positions of those present.” But in the actual event, he fires his guns in the darkness, making big muzzle flashes. The guys he is shooting at can just return fire at the visible flashes, they don’t need to fire in some pre-programmed lanes he predicted. And he cannot see them in the dark if they move, changing the calculations of where he should stand. And they fire mostly one at a time, instead of all firing at once. I personally would have just thrown a granade into the room. But then, I don’t know gun-fu. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equilibrium-the-movie-all-spoilers/495159/24 "2009-05-04T15:20:24Z")
I don’t watch it for the plot. I like to load it up and skip to the action scenes. If they’d approached it with a mindset akin to Shoot 'Em Up, it would be twice as awesome as it is. Trying to wrap it in the generic dystopian fascist future was a waste of effort that could have gone into more fight scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equilibrium-the-movie-all-spoilers/495159/25 "2009-05-04T16:07:46Z")
A friend of mine described Equilibrium as “mostly boring, but the last ten minutes make it The Best Movie Ever.” She really likes action movies. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equilibrium-the-movie-all-spoilers/495159/26 "2009-05-04T16:23:02Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > That, and apparently _everything_ is a trope. It’s a trope when the good guy wins, it’s a trope when the bad guy wins, it’s a trope when the good guy kills the bad guy with a sword, it’s a trope when the good guy kills the bad guy with a gun, it’s a trope when the good guy wins but doesn’t kill the bad guy, it’s a trope when the good guy tries not to kill the bad guy but then is forced to kill the bad guy. Also, I was thinking a “trope” was a judgmental call about bad things that are done, but apparently even good writing is a trope. Meh. A trope is a pattern or theme used by multiple authors. There’s no judgement call made - no one can make a 100% original story, and besides human nature is a trope so… 🙂 Tropes are only bad when they’ve been used down to the bone, so much that they don’t work anymore and become clichés. Then someone comes up and mocks it, and then someone else copies the subversion and… yup, trope. To give you a simple example, the Rule of Cool is definitely a trope, and a very, very, VERY heavily used one at that. 99% of action flicks, superhero comics and video games run on it. Why does The Bride from Kill Bill lets herself be surrounded by the Crazy 88 ? Because it’s cool. Why does Wolverine never use a gun, when it would save him the discomfort of getting shot at again and again and again as he’s closing in on Weapon X soldiers ? Because claws are cool, and regenerating bullet holes even cooler. Why do cow-boys face off in the middle of the street for 20 minutes, instead of just shooting each other in the back while they’re downing whiskeys in the saloon ? 'Cause tense duels are cool as a frozen cucumber, that’s why. But are any of these stylistic decisions bad ? Nope. They’re silly and illogical, but they totally work in movieland - possibly because we are conditionned to actually \*expect \*action heroes to do dumb, flashy stunts. > [@](#): > > Okay, here’s another point. Fitchner’s character says they have already planted explosives at all the chemical manufacturers and supply points. They are just waiting for Father to be taken out, so they can blow everything up. He says if they can interrupt the flow of drugs for one day, human nature will take over. Well, if human nature is so powerful and they already have explosives in place, why don’t they just blow everything up? Why wait for Father to be killed? Oh, because Bale has to be a hero and have cool fights. My guess is the death of Father accomplishes two purposes : IIRC, they don’t know that the smirking bastard is really Father, and believe Father is a real person making live broadcasts. Kill him, and society loses its only face, as well as the demotivational speaches. This would make the shock of lacking drugs even harder. The other purpose is more StarWars-y, but still : Father is the leader of the Clerics, the police etc…, kill him and they will lack leadership when faced with a gigantic insurrection, and won’t be as efficient quelling or shooting at it (esp. since they will now have those icky feelings). I admit, it’s the same kind of thinking as “killing Hitler to stop WW2”, but…Oooh, 'splosions ! 😉 ETA : > [@Bosstone](#): > > I don’t watch it for the plot. I like to load it up and skip to the action scenes. If they’d approached it with a mindset akin to Shoot 'Em Up, it would be twice as awesome as it is. Trying to wrap it in the generic dystopian fascist future was a waste of effort that could have gone into more fight scenes. Rent Ultraviolet, seriously. There’s about 3 story scenes, total. The rest is mindless but highly stylized violence. Oh, and gravity-toggling 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equilibrium-the-movie-all-spoilers/495159/27 "2009-05-04T21:27:04Z")
**Kobal2** said: > [@](#): > > A trope is a pattern or theme used by multiple authors. There’s no judgement call made - no one can make a 100% original story, and besides human nature is a trope so… Tropes are only bad when they’ve been used down to the bone, so much that they don’t work anymore and become clichés. Then someone comes up and mocks it, and then someone else copies the subversion and… yup, trope. That’s my point. I didn’t know what a trope was. I was pointed to the website called “tvtropes” pointing out stupid stuff, like, oh, somebody is cut in half with a sword and stands there for 2 seconds before slowly sliding apart. Stupid stuff that couldn’t happen. So here I am thinking tropes are like cliches, but bad cliches, or wrong cliches. Then I run across tropes that are things you _want_ your writer to do. Like, say, Chekov’s gun. Chekov’s gun is the premise that if the author shows you a gun in the first act, it will be used by the time the third act is over. What that means is, if I want to have the good guy save his family by shooting an intruder, I need to establish that the good guy has a gun available. The alternative is “pulling it out of your ass”, i.e. invader comes in, everybody is running around screaming, what can the hero do? He reaches in his pocket and pulls the pistol he always keeps there and shoots the intruder. See, that totally destroys the tension because there was no real reason to fear. But both of those are “tropes”. So apparently I was mislead about what a trope is. And you know what? I’m much less interested in a categorical list of everything a writer could possibly do and how it has already been done. Whereas a categorical list of stupid things authors overdo? That has some interest. I suppose I just prefer mocking. YMMV. > [@](#): > > Why do cow-boys face off in the middle of the street for 20 minutes, instead of just shooting each other in the back while they’re downing whiskeys in the saloon? Because one of those was actually legal? ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equilibrium-the-movie-all-spoilers/495159/28 "2009-05-05T01:01:18Z")
I should point out that I’m pretty sure this movie is what got Christian Bale the Batman audition, though. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equilibrium-the-movie-all-spoilers/495159/29 "2009-05-05T02:30:52Z")
Every once in a while I run into somebody who doesn’t think that Highlander and Equilibrium are quite possibly the best movies ever. Invariably, these people have made the error of watching Highlander and Equilibrium while over the age of 16 and sober. They’re the kind of people who would not lose at least a full day on tvtropes. I’m sure they have their place. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equilibrium-the-movie-all-spoilers/495159/30 "2009-05-05T04:07:03Z")
**3trew** said: > [@](#): > > Invariably, these people have made the error of watching Highlander and Equilibrium while over the age of 16 and sober. Guilty on both counts. At least for Equilibrium. I think I was younger than 16 for Highlander. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equilibrium-the-movie-all-spoilers/495159/31 "2009-05-05T13:19:55Z")
The thing I hated was the fact that they ran everything through the Gothalizer a couple of times before releasing it. This movie is just like 1984…If George Orwell had been a 14-year old girl in black lipstick listening to Evanescence in her room while fuming about her cold, unfeeling parents. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equilibrium-the-movie-all-spoilers/495159.md?page=1)