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Equilibrium is NOT GOOD at all

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Equilibrium is NOT GOOD at all

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Old 05-21-03 | 11:39 AM
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Equilibrium is NOT GOOD at all

I rented this movie last night based on the buzz on the forum, and I thought the movie was horrible! I mean the action scenes were pretty neat, but the rest of the movie was just silly. A few plot holes that glared out at me:

Spoiler:
So the "system" thinks they have tricked Cleric into giving up his weapons (I guess it was a sword) but they didn't ask for his guns? That doesn't make any sense. They knew he would be carrying guns, not just a sword. Or if they were really serious about it, they would have searched him because they might be suspecting he has guns on him

Then the whole "gun-switch" frame didn't make sense either. Hadn't he already killed the officers before he did the gun switch.

This next one is a nitpick Whats up with the puppy? Why did after seeing all those people get gunned down..did he get all sappy over a puppy? And what happens to the puppy after he kills all the dudes


Blah, this movie was silly.
Old 05-21-03 | 12:07 PM
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Silly, but mama like anyway.

Spoiler:
You're right, though. The gun-switch makes no sense. I was hoping he[Kurt Wimmer] would address this in the commentary, but I wouldn't want to touch that loophole if I was the director so I don't blame him.


I still liked it though--getting the DVD was a pre-Reloaded treat.
Old 05-21-03 | 12:53 PM
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I didn't understand the buzz this movie got from this forum either. I'm a big fan of Christian Bale, The Matrix AND 1984 but was bored by this movie.
Old 05-21-03 | 01:10 PM
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Ah the internet.. were your voice could be heard infront of millions of people and all anyone ever has to say is how much something sucked.
Old 05-21-03 | 01:45 PM
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Please JackSkeleton. I don't know what your problem is. I didn't say the movie sucked and I provided reasons on why I thought it was silly. Thats not just writing "Equilibrium sucks" and leaving it at that.
Old 05-21-03 | 02:55 PM
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Ok, I'll say it...Equilibrium sucks. This flick hardly deserves the attention it’s getting here.
Old 05-21-03 | 02:57 PM
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I didn't see all good buzz about this movie around here. But I saw enough. So I rented it. Was it great? No. Was it awful? No again. It was a decent rental. Nothing more, nothing less. I was never bored either.
Old 05-21-03 | 06:54 PM
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I never saw this movie yet but people STILL don't understand what action movies are all about.

All action movies have silly plotting.

Action movies are all about heroes kicking the bad guys asses and that's all action movie fans want to see.

If plotting in action movies is all you care about, then you are not a true action movie fan. Period.
Old 05-21-03 | 07:00 PM
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Originally posted by Rocky_Stallone
I never saw this movie yet but people STILL don't understand what action movies are all about.

All action movies have silly plotting.

Action movies are all about heroes kicking the bad guys asses and that's all action movie fans want to see.

If plotting in action movies is all you care about, then you are not a true action movie fan. Period.
Um... no.

If you don't care about anyone in the film, it ain't good action (in my book). It doesn't have to have great plot, but good characters and good conflict.

Equilibrium didn't really have them.
Old 05-21-03 | 08:41 PM
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Sigh......another Equilibrium thread. If you didnt like it good for you. Can I make a thread for every movie that is popular here that I dont like?
Old 05-21-03 | 08:43 PM
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I can name some great action movies that DO have good plotting and you DO care about the characters. Aliens, Lord of the Rings, Predator, so on. Every movie has a plot hole here and there, but to expect nothing but action and stupidity from an action movie means you are missing a lot. Granted you can only be so deep of a movie when one of the main elements is action. Action movies are by nature gratuitous...action is there for entertainment, rarely for any other reason. Sometimes it is...but rarely are those movies even categorized as action movies. Say...Pulp Fiction or Apocalypse Now. But having a exploitative element does not necessarily condemn a movie to being dumb all around.

Regarding Equilibrium, it was a fun movie. There were some definite issues of plot here and there, but I felt the movie set a quality mood and had some great action sequences. Mainly mindless fodder as the utopian element of the movie isn't really delved into very deeply but used as more of a clothesline to hang the story on. Though it did have some interest in the issues it presented, though I would've liked to see them taken further. For instance I thought it would have been far more interesting to see the child of the Cleric really be as he acts. It was an interesting dynamic that was shot down for the happy ending.
Old 05-21-03 | 08:48 PM
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Also about the gun switch: [spoiler]the data on the computer said his gun was the one traced to the shooting but it was all a set up anyways so they could have just fabricated that.[spoiler\]
Old 05-21-03 | 09:11 PM
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Originally posted by jaeufraser
I can name some great action movies that DO have good plotting and you DO care about the characters. Aliens, Lord of the Rings, Predator, so on.
Okay.......lets not get out of bounds. Predator?!?!
I love Predator, but I would never put it on a list of well plotted movies. To map the movies plot I need a napkin, to wipe my mouth, and a hair to write the plot on.

That said, Predator rules.
Old 05-21-03 | 09:12 PM
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Originally posted by CheapBastid
Um... no.

If you don't care about anyone in the film, it ain't good action (in my book). It doesn't have to have great plot, but good characters and good conflict.

Equilibrium didn't really have them.
That is entitled to your own opinion.

As I said I had never seen the movie, but action movies are all about the good guys kicking the bad guys asses.

"Action" movies do not concentrate the story/plotting that much. The "action" movies concentrate on the action scenes is what makes the genre in all in good fun.

The characters are important true, that is what I meant when I said heroes kicking the bad guys asses.

Plotting does not make a difference in "action" movies, it's all about doing good fighting scenes.
Old 05-21-03 | 10:09 PM
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Equilibrium had better action scenes than any movie I've ever seen. That alone puts it above many other flicks.
Old 05-21-03 | 11:01 PM
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Originally posted by Rocky_Stallone
That is entitled to your own opinion.

As I said I had never seen the movie, but action movies are all about the good guys kicking the bad guys asses.

"Action" movies do not concentrate the story/plotting that much. The "action" movies concentrate on the action scenes is what makes the genre in all in good fun.

The characters are important true, that is what I meant when I said heroes kicking the bad guys asses.

Plotting does not make a difference in "action" movies, it's all about doing good fighting scenes.
Did you read what I posted, or just the fact that I disagreed with you?

I agree that:

Plot isn't vital to a good action flick
Action movies are about the Good Guys whomping the Bad Guys

I simply made a statement that a good action movie has characters and conflict that one cares about. in my view Equilibrium lacked both and so it was 10 minutes of really cool action surrounded by fluff and bad plot.

When one is engaged in a good action flick the plot deficiencies can be easily overlooked. I would argue that Equilibrium is not a good action flick and therefore it is easy to pick at its faults.

in my opinion of course.

=)
Old 05-21-03 | 11:41 PM
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Re: Equilibrium is NOT GOOD at all

Originally posted by chanster
I rented this movie last night based on the buzz on the forum, and I thought the movie was horrible! I mean the action scenes were pretty neat, but the rest of the movie was just silly. A few plot holes that glared out at me:

Spoiler:
So the "system" thinks they have tricked Cleric into giving up his weapons (I guess it was a sword) but they didn't ask for his guns? That doesn't make any sense. They knew he would be carrying guns, not just a sword. Or if they were really serious about it, they would have searched him because they might be suspecting he has guns on him

Then the whole "gun-switch" frame didn't make sense either. Hadn't he already killed the officers before he did the gun switch.

This next one is a nitpick Whats up with the puppy? Why did after seeing all those people get gunned down..did he get all sappy over a puppy? And what happens to the puppy after he kills all the dudes


Blah, this movie was silly.
In reply to your questions...

Spoiler:
If you listen to the commentary, director Kurt Wimmer mentions a scene that was cut (or was scripted but never filmed, i forget) where they show that there's a metal detector that is in the room just outside where Preston is getting tested, that he must go through before meeting with Father. So at that moment in the film the audience would have known that Preston would still have his guns but they would have been removed anyway. Regardless, Dupont expected Preston to make it to him but also expected to Brandt or himself would be able to defeat him at the end.

The gun switch was out of order, that's the only thing about the movie that bugs me.

What's wrong with caring about a puppy? Heck, think about the audience reaction and compare it to Preston. Watch dozens of men get killed and the audience thinks its cool.... watch a cute animal get shot and the audience grimaces. It's human nature to care for the cuddly animal As for the puppy, you see it at the end licking his daughter's hand.


Anyway, like i said in another thread, i think you'll enjoy the movie if you buy into the world. I did, and i loved the movie, especially the fight scenes. If you watch the first 15 minutes and think "bleh" then the action won't save it for you. As for nitpicking about the action scenes... it's an action movie, watch Christian Bale kick ass and look cool and enjoy it. For someone like me that loves those psuedo utopian future stories, this movie rocked
Old 05-22-03 | 12:05 AM
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are you guys sure on the gun switch? seems like an HUGE plot mistake that i doubt could have gotten by editors/producers/etc.
Old 05-22-03 | 12:56 AM
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Regarding the gun switch:

[spoilers] Preston switched guns with Brandt in the scene right before the puppy rescue, not while in the room with the offenders lined up. Watch that scene again, and you'l notice Preston hands Brandt a gun that was sitting on the hood of a car.[/spoiler]

The movie was great IMO....
Old 05-22-03 | 01:38 AM
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Originally posted by mee2
Regarding the gun switch:

[spoilers] Preston switched guns with Brandt in the scene right before the puppy rescue, not while in the room with the offenders lined up. Watch that scene again, and you'l notice Preston hands Brandt a gun that was sitting on the hood of a car.[/spoiler]

The movie was great IMO....
Thanks a lot for spoiling the movie for me.


Old 05-22-03 | 02:28 AM
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Bleh, well there go spoilers.

Spoiler:
Anyway, the problem with that, which i also thought of while trying to come up with a reason for the gun switch, is that there is a brief flash back from Brandt and he thinks about the switch that occurs later. Of course, you can think that Brandt himself is thinking about the wrong incident, however this isn't the type of film that would make you try and think over that incident and give the audience false information. There are many ways to reason why the gun switch makes sense, but i think in the end it was just a major goof.
Old 05-22-03 | 03:18 AM
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From: City of the lakers.. riots.. and drug dealing cops.. los(t) Angel(e)s. ca.
Originally posted by Rocky_Stallone
I never saw this movie yet but people STILL don't understand what action movies are all about.

All action movies have silly plotting.

Action movies are all about heroes kicking the bad guys asses and that's all action movie fans want to see.

If plotting in action movies is all you care about, then you are not a true action movie fan. Period.
I have to wonder.. what the hell are you smoking? First off if you are a fan of big booms and no stoy then you are just a fan of explosion films. it could be a 60 minute collection of B roll of bombs going off for all that matters.

Action films need a story. It might be paper thin, but unless you give me a reason to care for the hero and hate the villian, Your just wasting my two hours and no matter how much action is in it, I wont care about the characters and most of all, I wont care to watch it.

Not all Action films have silly plotting. some are very nicely done and have a good mix of both... then again the way you sound you just care that the hero has an AK blowing away the cardboard cut out villian.. right?
Old 05-22-03 | 03:30 AM
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Originally posted by Rocky_Stallone
I never saw this movie yet but people STILL don't understand what action movies are all about.

All action movies have silly plotting.
HAHAHAHAHA! Maybe all of Stallone's action movies have silly plotting (sorry, couldn't resist), but that's just a ridiculous claim.
Plotting does not make a difference in "action" movies, it's all about doing good fighting scenes.
That's like saying the only important thing about food is that you don't feel hungry afterwards.

Last edited by Tyler_Durden; 05-22-03 at 03:32 AM.
Old 05-22-03 | 03:33 AM
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Yeah, you really don't say "Stallone" and "interesting plot" in the same sentence when talking about his movies...
Old 05-22-03 | 05:47 AM
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Originally posted by Jackskeleton
I have to wonder.. what the hell are you smoking? First off if you are a fan of big booms and no stoy then you are just a fan of explosion films. it could be a 60 minute collection of B roll of bombs going off for all that matters.

Action films need a story. It might be paper thin, but unless you give me a reason to care for the hero and hate the villian, Your just wasting my two hours and no matter how much action is in it, I wont care about the characters and most of all, I wont care to watch it.

Not all Action films have silly plotting. some are very nicely done and have a good mix of both... then again the way you sound you just care that the hero has an AK blowing away the cardboard cut out villian.. right?
Yes, some "action" films do have nicely done scripting I agree. Movies like "Big Trouble In Little China", "Terminator", "Rambo: First Blood", "Die Hard", etc. are great examples of that, those are some of the movies with great writing.

But many action movies do have silly plotting and bad acting, many Stallone movies included. I agree that most Stallone "action" movies have bad plotting, but I don't care about that. I just want to see a really intense badass action heroes beating the bad guys. Action movie fans do not care about the plotting. They just want to see good "non-stop" action.

Oh, and I like more than just the explosions and stunts. I like "action" movies with really intense fight scenes, that's what die-hard action fans look for when watching an action film. It's all in good mindless fun, that's all "action" movies are for.

"Action" movies are my favorite genre the most, and I grew up watching the genre ever since I was a little kid. I've done a lot of research about "action" movies so I know a lot about it. If you look in my DVD collection, you would see that my collection holds mostly action flicks. Most have bad plotted, but they are just fun and entertaining movies.

Most people find the "The Transporter" terrible with it's bad script, you know what, at some point, I agree, "The Transporter" does have bad writing, I just love the movie for what it is, it has really intense action scenes.

If you would like to continue this discussion on "action" films, I'll make a new thread sometime today so we won't go off topic in this thread so it won't get closed by a mod. I'm very good at explaining about "action" movies and getting people to understand them, so don't hesitate to agree and disagree on things.


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