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Equilibrium 293

Posted by michael from the balanced-review dept.
The_Hiro writes ""Farenheit 451 - meets - Brave New World - meets - Matrix" (minus the overdone wire work). Created on a limited budget, Equilibrium combines the best of sci-fi with the action genre. Unfortunately, the marketing droids at Dimension have neglected to promote the film (release date: Dec. 6th). Chud.com has a glowing review of the film and some pretty pictures. Check out the trailer also."
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Equilibrium

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  • Trailer (Score:5, Funny)

    by Trusty Penfold ( 615679 ) <jon_edwards@spanners4us.com> on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:01PM (#4785259) Journal

    I watched the trailer ... very professionally done.

    But its a film about tooth whitening? Sounds boring to me.

  • The Only Thing Stronger Than The System... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ungulation ( 566406 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:09PM (#4785278) Homepage
    The Only Thing Stronger Than The System
    Is The Man Who Will Overthrow It
    Wow... It would be kinda hard to overthrow it otherwise.

    • is it me or has this theme recently been done in minority report... an enforcer of a allknowing allpowerfull org. finds that the system is "flawed" when it turnes on him.... seems to be a mishmash of themes from mr, 1984... not sure about if the matrix comparison makes alot of sense.... but hey maybe i should see the movei first

  • seems cool.. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:13PM (#4785286)
    Obligatory Internet Movie Database [imdb.com] and MovieTickets [movietickets.com] links (although showtimes, if any, will undoubtedly only be posted closer to next Friday). The movie poster [imdb.com] looks cool.

    It seems cool, I'll try to see it if it ever plays anywhere in Colorado. From scanning the article, it seems cool, but the article has that fanboy edge to it that seems like it's going to give too much away if you actually *read* it.
    • Go ahead and read the article. I read it first, became really excited about the movie, and then watched the trailer and thought, "Well, damn. That spoiled way too much."

      This doesn't seem like The Matrix or any of those other "the experience is drastically changed after you know 'The Secret'" types of movies. The article just outlines the environment, but not the plot, which is absolutely fine.

  • why waste money... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by skydude_20 ( 307538 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:13PM (#4785287) Journal
    ...on trying to promote a sci-fi film anyways? just let the folks at slashdot know about it! instantaniously all your advertising to your target group is done for you

    • Re:why waste money... (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonvmous Coward ( 589068 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:55PM (#4785442)
      "just let the folks at slashdot know about it! instantaniously all your advertising to your target group is done for you..."

      And given our track-record so far, I'd say ur gonna end up with a cancelled flick.

  • The Matrix? (Score:5, Funny)

    by NineNine ( 235196 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:13PM (#4785289)
    Are you there god? It's me, Nine. As you know, people keep making Matrix-esque movies. And also, as you know, I'm a big movie fan. I like to see most movies just for the hell ooop...heck of it. Why, god, do people continue to make Matrix-like movies? Why? The first one was terrible. I tried to leave the theater when I was subjected to the first one, but unfortunately, I was riding with others and I couldn't get my hands on their keys. I really, really tried to enjoy it, but the acting, well, you know. Keanu Reeves was in it. Lawrence Fishburne. I know you never meant for them to be actors. I know that they were meant for other things... like workers in fish canneries, but still, they were in it. And the script. Well, the script actually made me cry. I laughed so hard I cried. It wasn't a good cry either, since part of why I was laughing is because I spent money on admission to hear lines that sounded like they were written by a second grader who ate too much paste. And the story, god. God, the story. Why is a re-hashed version of ancient Western Philosopy, a philosophy that's been around for thousands of years, considered innovative and fresh? Why god, hasn't anybody studied even basic philosophy enough to know that this story is actually ancient? And the plot. Oh god, you didn't spare me on the plot either, you vengeful being you. The plot barely made sense. But why should I tell you that... you're omnipotent. But, since you're omnipresent, you probably had to watch it too. I'm sorry god. I'm so sorry for everything I've done. Please, god, please smite down with terrible wrath and anger all who attempt to make Matrix knockoffs. Are you there god? It's me, Nine.

    • Re:The Matrix? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by autopr0n ( 534291 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:29PM (#4785353) Homepage Journal
      Why is a re-hashed version of ancient Western Philosopy, a philosophy that's been around for thousands of years, considered innovative and fresh?

      Well, I don't remember many people saying the philosophy backing the matrix was anything particularly revolutionary, just that the film was incredibly refined visually and beautiful. I also don't remember anything about living inside giant computers and robot overlords in eastern phil. Maybe I took the wrong class, or maybe illiterate morons such as yourself ascribe any kind of 'deep' thought to 'eastern philosophy'.

      What eastern phil you might be referring to is beyond me. What does the matrix have to do with the Dao or natural way of the universe which should be followed? What does it have to do with reincarnation or karma? What does it have do with meditating and given up earthly desires to reach enlightenment?

      The only 'eastern' thing about the matrix was the bad-ass fight choreography. That, along with it's visual style was what was 'revolutionary and fresh.' Not it's scatterbrained philosophical underpinnings. It's an enjoyable light movie, and as such, it succeeds widely.

      But what am I talking to you for? You wouldn't know a Zen koan from a Confucian saying, from a <p> tag.
      • You said western philosophy, not eastern. What an odd mistake for me to make.

      • Re:The Matrix? (Score:5, Funny)

        by NineNine ( 235196 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:39PM (#4785385)
        Oh yes god... and while you're at it, please smite those who get easily confused between eastern and western philosophy. Those heathens deserve to be smitten. Especially those heathens who know nothing about Decartes, Plato, or even Hegel. God, why do these people exist to torment me with their ignorance? Why god? Please, take pity on my poor soul and deliver them to the everlasting fires of hell on bolts of lightning. And if the don't know anything abuot Dante, don't you think that they deserve to be thrown into the seventh ring? Are you there god? It's me, Nine.

        • Re:The Matrix? (Score:5, Funny)

          by abhinavnath ( 157483 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:42PM (#4785395)
          This is beautiful. Slashdot's two greatest pr0nographers are flaming each other about philosophy. Doesn't get any better than that.
        • Actually, I somehow read 'eastern' rather then 'western', making my rant rather foolish in retrospect. In any event, my main point, that the matrix was praised for it's visual beauty, not it's philosophical underpinnings, is still valid.

          Can you name one quality, intresting film based on modern philosophy? I mean, I suppose you could call Austin Powers post-modern, but that's beside the point.

          And eastern or western, I still don't see any giant robot overlords in anything 100 years old or so.

      • Re:The Matrix? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by GlenRaphael ( 8539 )
        Why is a re-hashed version of ancient Western Philosopy, a philosophy that's been around for thousands of years, considered innovative and fresh?

        What eastern phil you might be referring to is beyond me. What does the matrix have to do with the Dao or natural way of the universe which should be followed? What does it have to do with reincarnation or karma? What does it have do with meditating and given up earthly desires to reach enlightenment?

        He said western philosophy. And even though I loved Matrix, saw it a dozen times and worked as an extra in the sequels...the guy is right. The notion that we might be "living in a dream world" and unable to trust the evidence of our senses is a very very old idea. And to answer the original question, the important thing isn't what a movie is about so much as how it is about it. Matrix took a few good ideas and made a great looking, kick-ass action film which advanced the state of the art in moviemaking. The directors took visual ideas that had only been tried before in japanese animation and made them work in a live action film by inventing new filming techniques (eg, bullet time) and paying extra attention to shot framing. The look of the Matrix was a bold and expensive experiment that paid off, and techniques that work well tend to be copied by others.

      • Re:The Matrix and Eastern Philosophy (Score:5, Insightful)

        by mkweise ( 629582 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @07:20PM (#4785564)
        What does the matrix have to do with the Dao or natural way of the universe which should be followed? What does it have to do with reincarnation or karma? What does it have do with meditating and given up earthly desires to reach enlightenment?

        The parallel between The Matrix drew from Eastern (more specifically, Vedic) philosophy is the belief that the world we think we live in is an illusion, which affects us only insofar as we believe it it. And of course, if one becomes enlightened - whether by meditating for many lifetimes or by the grace of a scriptwriter - one may gain mystical powers that will really impress the viewing public.

        While The Matrix is vastly overrated IMHO, it does have its merits in that it made many people think.

    • Re:The Matrix? (Score:5, Funny)

      by cybercuzco ( 100904 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:53PM (#4785436) Homepage Journal
      Nine-
      One of my commandments is "thou shalt not commit adultury" Pornography is considered adultury. Not only are you committing this sin, you are helping others commit it. Part of MY PLAN (tm) included having Keanu Reeves and Lawrence Fishburne become actors specifically so that they could make the Matrix (and sequels) in order to punish you for your sins. Have a nice day.
      -God
      • Jehovah, is that you? You've been out drinking and carousing with Allah again, haven't you? You good-for-nothing lowlife. Quit picking on pornographers, they are my chosen people, after all. I'm warning you....

        -Grunjnak, All-farting God of the Troll-people.

        PS Anyone have any objections if I tweak the speed of light a little, or perhaps the charge of the proton? 5/32's of +1 charge would be kinda cool, would it not?
      • From the Firm of Lipshitz, Altoona, and Poo

        God--

        Good day. I represent the www.MyPlan.com Corporation. I am writing you to inform you on my client's existing trademarks on "MY PLAN", "MYPLAN", "MYPLAN.COM", "WWW.MYPLAN.COM", and "WWW.MYPLANSUCKS.COM". In occordance with existing Trademark Law in the lower 7 planes of existence, my client has an obligation to enforce his trademark ownership in order to protect it. My client has signed agreements with groups in competition with yourself, and my client does not want your name associated with their trademark.

        -You must IMMEDIATELY stop any and all references to "MY PLAN". All assets utilizing the "MY PLAN" trademark must be destroyed or exchanged with my client.

        -You must reverse the flow of time and remove your references to "MY PLAN" from any and all Slashdot (tm) postings.

        Failure to comply will result in legal action. Thank you for your prompt assistance in this matter.

        Sincerely,
        Leo Fleckmeyerhofferstern
        Partner, Lipshitz, Altoona, and Poo

    • Smite right (Score:3, Interesting)

      by MacAndrew ( 463832 )
      Neo, are you there? I want to rat out an unbeliever. An unbeliever in our midst. One who will never comprehend the Matrix, the question that haunts the believers.

      Out of pretense, and in blasphemous contempt of The One, this unbeliever goes by the name "Nine." Please, thou who art The One, smite this heathen at your earliest opportunity. Disconnect the phone of NineNine first to prevent escape. Then grind the sucker up into that nutritious, gelatinous fluid that we all still need to consume since Liberation because we have absolutely no other source of food, having laid waste to Earth over a century ago in a bizarre Pyrrhic effort to "win."

      (Anyone else notice this? If humans were powered by humans, and their heat powered the machines, wouldn't you run out of calories in a jiffy? Humans don't run on solar or nuclear power. Well, I suppose the machines could be doing some sort of protein synthesis, but if they had the energy to do that why not skip the whole "power plant" thing? And another thing...)

      *

      I do have a point! Movies like these normally require a healthy suspension of disbelief, and Matrix was remarkable because it really caused disbelief. It had certain plot and continuity problems, but not glaring enough to ruin the fun, and the sense of being transferred to a world with screwed-up tint control. It's pretty easy to pick apart, but there's a fine line between being insightful and irritating.

      The philosophy was not new, but the packaging was. I had a little fun with my atheist friend who liked the movie by pointing out, "You realize that Neo was Christ, didn't you?" ;-) The religious theme went right on by him, but left the important question of existence (which i identify with existentialism -- existence precedes essense, and in the Matrix even existence was debatable).

      The acting -- I thought everyone did fine, except for Reeves, who had mercifully few lines and mostly stood looking around stunned, until he become a gun-toting sunglass-wearing matrix rebel.

      And the effects were great. We're getting tired of them now because of all the imitations and parodies (even Shrek!). But the Matrix set a new standard for viewer immersion. And the sum of its parts made it a good movie, one of my top ten futuristic movies along with Bladerunner and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

      I can only hope this one is as good. Trailers are tough to read. FWIW I think Bradbury was better at coming up with ideas than writing about them. The script would have to be quite creative to make it work on the screen.
    • Lawrence Fishburne. I know you never meant for them to be actors.

      Dude, how can you diss Jimmy Jump [imdb.com]? Do you have a pathological hatred of root beer or something?

  • Heh... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:14PM (#4785290)
    "In the near future, freedom is a thing of the past."

    They should have called the movie "Palladium."

  • Another movie that this reminds me of (Score:4, Insightful)

    by rock_climbing_guy ( 630276 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:14PM (#4785291) Journal
    Personally, the idea of a film about a man who battles the system reminds me of the movie Rollerball ( the original, not last year's remake ). Those of you who have seen it may remember that the hero's boss wanted him to retire from the game because they feared that he would rise above the deadly game, which itself was meant to be an analogy to show everyone that no one was greater than the system. Hence in the end, the rules of the game were changed ( no time limit ) so that the game of rollerball was changed from a more violent soccer like game into a deathmatch.

  • Wow, (Score:2, Interesting)

    by delmoi ( 26744 )
    That certanly looks cool :P. Visualy stunning to say the least. The only real problem I see is that so much of what was done (and was new) in the matrix has become cliche. I mean I remember seeing the trailers for the new matrix films and thinkng "I've seen all this before..."

    Definetly a flick I'll have to check out.
  • I love these crazy plotless action films.

    On my my favorite has to be the movie HARD BOILED.

    I think it has a 10 minute long unedited action gunfire scene in it... it was beautifully done.. brought a tear to my eye...

    • Re:Yeah.. I'll go see it... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by c13v3rm0nk3y ( 189767 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:41PM (#4785391) Homepage
      favorite has to be the movie HARD BOILED

      This was my introduction into Hong Kong gangster films done by a master of the oeuvre. Must be one of my all-time favourites. The show-down gun-battle you mention is truly beautifully done.

      A must-see for anyone who digs Tarantino (though, of course, he had a wide range of influences). Highly recommended, as is The Killer.

      The key to this type of film is that they must be extremely character driven, and we have to care about the characters (note the plural) while at the same time be made unsure of the main character's direction. As you say, this genre tends to be relatively plotless, or plot figures less than the dialog and character development.

      • Actually, I thought Hard Boiled had a lot more plot than some of the incoherent rubbish Hollywood churns out, and stands up very well compared to some of the incoherent rubbish to come out of China/HK as well. Both Chow and Tony Leung are actually good actors.

        The problem with most action movies is that they fall apart as soon as the shooting stops. Woo partly avoids this by rarely letting this happen, but the movie always feels more crisply plotted and engaging without feeling totally plotless. Over-the-top doesn't necessarily equate to nonsensical- very few directors (or actors) understand this.

        Damn, I gotta buy that DVD.
    • Blood splattered across a babies face. How can you beat that?

    • Re:How much time (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Zebbers ( 134389 )
      hardboiled has 3 of the best action sequences ever filmed. The opening teahouse scene, ending when chowyun slides through flower and blows a guy away pointblank is incredible. The warehouse scene is fast and furious. The ending hospital shootout is a masterpiece as well which took 35 days to film.

      A few facts: over 100K rounds were fired during filming.

      Over 300 people die in the movie, one of if not the highest movie bodycounts.

      Very good movie...John Woo's first westernstyle film really. The Killer, as mentioned is a much better film plot wise.

  • The Giver (Score:5, Informative)

    by Stinson ( 564450 ) <cancerouspete AT cox DOT net> on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:17PM (#4785307) Homepage Journal
    I'm not sure if anyone else noticed, but the premise of the beginning of this movie seems quite like in the book, "The Giver" by Louis Lowry. In the book, everyone has no real emotion, and has to conform into their spots in society, all emotions are kept by The Giver, i'm not going to go farther into the book, for fear of spoiling, but there definitly seems to be some similarities. Definitly a recomended book to check out

    • Re:The Giver (Score:5, Funny)

      by CBNobi ( 141146 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:21PM (#4785319)
      Sorry if this comes out as a flame (no pun intended), but, that's quite similar to the premise of F451 and Brave New World.

      • Re:The Giver (Score:2, Informative)

        by Faizdog ( 243703 )
        The Giver went a lot deeper than that. Due to there being no emotion, people couldn't even see color. Everything was grey scale. Kinda like Pleasentville.

        That's just one example of how The Giver was different from F451 and Brave New World. It was a similar genre/type of book though.
        • Not only that, but IMO one of the best things about The Giver is that it is written by Lois Lowry, and therefore far more accessible to younger kids than Fahrenheit 451 or Brave New World are. I remember reading The Giver in either 5th or 6th grade and just being blown away. I consider The Giver to be a perfect introduction for kids into the genre of socially commentative sci-fi.
    • Who is that girl in red? Book joke... If you have never read the book you won't get it. If you have read the book then... ok fine, its not funny.


      i hope i'm not mixing this up with some other book... it must have been more then 7 or 8 years sence I read it.
    • Wow, I read that about 5 or 6 years ago. Pretty good book. Although a society fixed by drugs and therapy reminds me more of Greg Bear's, Queen of Angels and its sequel, Slant.
    • Here is what I see.

      1. Costumes from the Highander 2, from the planet zeist.

      2. Farenheit 451, burning stuff.

      3. Take his family, Oh my God Hi-Tech Gladiator.

      4. Logans Run - Contacting the resistence.

      5. Pink Floyd The Wall- Everyone all conforming wearing the same stuff.

      And 100 other stolen ideas from sci fi classics.

      The matrix had good effects and a decent story. One of the better of the sc fis in the past decade, althought not the best are even that good.

      But this one has good cheese effect so we will check it out.

      Gice me John Carpenters The Thing, good stuff that one.

      Puto

  • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Sounds interesting enough... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by rgoer ( 521471 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:19PM (#4785314)
    From the review:
    ...mankind has become a race of self medicating drones who live their lives under constant supervision. The advent of the drug Prozium has helped erase war, murder, and all of the other things that the oppressive powers that be determine is forbidden and each member of society injects the drug to suppress their moods and stave off that hideous thing known as emotion.

    Their enemies are known as "Sense Offenders", people who feel and take in music and art into their lives...
    Sounds like somebody thought about where this current Bush-Ashcroft Ministry of Truth/Thought Police thing was going, listened to 2112 [progreviews.com] a few times (and maybe a few times too many), watched Fellowship and realized what a good actor Sean Bean [imdb.com] is, and started putting 2 and 2 and 2 together. In any case, it will give me something to do next weekend besides pine over The Two Towers...

  • another... ripoff? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ak_hepcat ( 468765 ) <slashdot@akhepc[ ]com ['at.' in gap]> on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:21PM (#4785318) Homepage Journal
    When i first read about it, i thought it was just another matrix/minority-report/apocolypic-genre rip-off film.

    Now, after having seen the trailer and read the article, i can't say that i've change my mind much, but i'm probably more likely to see the film now.

    It almost makes a person wonder -- how much of an influence does the internet have on the film industry? Does it make it easier to get crappy ideas on film, because there's an easier access now? If so, i've got this great idea for a horror flick or two....

  • matrix and all that. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by mkoz ( 323688 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:22PM (#4785320)
    Sure another movie like the matrix, and yes the matrix popularized a bunch of types of special effects...

    But really people...

    The matrix was not the first time these things had been done. Check a little film history and get out and look at some less Hollywood movies once and a while. It does not make any of these movies better or worse, almost all movies build on previous work and copy some of the effects from previous movies. Get over it.
    • I think he made the reference to The Matrix because, after watching the trailer, it does look AMAZINGLY like The Matrix. Another guy wearing an all-black overcoat (yet it appears he dons white at some point in this flic), with 2+ guns in each hand, shootin' and flippin' all over the place. I would have thought it to be a very very very similar movie to The Matrix, until I read the review, which only sounds very familiar.

      He made the reference to quickly distinguish between the two, not to say that The Matrix was the first in the line of Orwellian thought.

  • No Promotion? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by USC-MBA ( 629057 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:22PM (#4785324) Homepage
    I have a feeling the reason for this film's lack of promotion is that there is a sense the central theme is played out. Totalitarianism just doesn't sell.

    Considering how long ago and under what circumstances the classics of totalitarain sci-fi (1984, Brave new World, Animal Farm) were written, it can be seen that fears of the all-powerful state are in fact a product of the Fascist (1930s-1940s)and Cold War (1946-1992) eras.

    With the fall of communism, fears of totalitarian states have eased, and at present, the most immediate threat in people's minds is of course terrorism. As President Bush's "National Security Strategy Of the United States" puts it: "(our biggest threat) is less from conquering states than from failing ones". Evidence that Americans, and hence the movie-going public, agrees with this assessment can be seen in the widespread acceptance of the PATRIOT act's intrusive extension of law-enforcement's powers. It seems Americans want more government, not less.

    My point, however, is not a political one. Whatever one might think of present attitudes toward government, the fact remains that marketing is an objective science, and marketers need to react to present attitudes as they exist. Therefore, given today's pro-government climate of public opinion, it was a rational decision not to spend too much money promoting a movie that is at odds with present attitiudes.

    • The other way around (Score:5, Insightful)

      by lommer ( 566164 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @08:29PM (#4785822)
      Actually, I believe that the very fact that this film even got made is what is significant. You mention that the last time that orwellian predictions were brought up on a regular basis was during the cold war. I doubt that this was because we could see the opression in Soviet nations, but more because these were the times when western society felt threatened and gave extra powers to their governments in order to stay safe. It is at times like these when those who can see the trend towards an orwellian society feel that they must voice words of caution about the dangers involved in absolute governement power. That is why we saw these movies and books in the cold war, and that is why we are seeing them again now.

      • Re:The other way around (Score:4, Informative)

        by Jonathan ( 5011 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @08:52PM (#4785884) Homepage
        Well, perhaps the best way to look at this was to see what the original source (Orwell's novels) actually contained. It is a cliche to say "Orwell wasn't talking about the Soviet Union; he was talking about where Western society was headed". But that just isn't supported by the books.

        In both 1984 and Animal Farm, all the main characters were exact analogies for Soviet figures. Big Brother and Napoleon were obviously Stalin, and Goldstein and Snowball were obviously Trotsky. The problems of Western society, as real as they are, just didn't enter into the equation.
  • In the article, the self medicating to maintain an even emotional state reminded me a lot of THX1138. I'd throw that into the mix of prior art. :-)
  • Does this seem....a little familiar? maybe even cliche? Why can't we just have more movies showing utilitarianism actually working... instead of one guy fighting the man, and destroying the civilization; we all know that is how it ends... I am not advocating utilitarianism, but can't these hollywood writers come up with something that isn't a + b + c = new movie... 1984 was great not because it was a struggle, but because none of the good guys actually save the day. I mean common!! this is almost as bad as G.I. Joe, you know who is going to win, even before the episode starts...or that stupid hercules cartoon. Can ANYONE come up with some original ideas that don't involve drag queens... thank you (rant ends here...)

  • The release date is... (Score:5, Informative)

    by dagg ( 153577 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:25PM (#4785336) Journal
    It took me a while to find the release date info. Here are the US release dates from IMDB:
    • 18-Oct-2002 - Premiere
    • 06-Dec-2002 - Limited Release
    --

    Your Sex [tilegarden.com]

  • Demographic Equilibrium (Score:5, Funny)

    by sssmashy ( 612587 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:26PM (#4785341)
    The premise of Equilibrium is this: In the not-too-distant future, mankind has become a race of self medicating drones who live their lives under constant supervision.

    In other news: In the not-too-distant future, the rapidly aging "Baby Boomers" will become a generation of self medicating drones who live their lives under constant supervision in nursing homes and managed-care facilities.

    Art imitating life? Maybe I shouldn't take my parents to see this movie...

  • Unfortunately, the marketing droids at Dimension have neglected to promote the film (release date: Dec. 6th).

    I don't know man, to me, movies shouldn't be about a 30 second trailer that comes a year or more before their release (eg Matrix, T3...)...

    For once, I'm surprised by a new release, and I'll definitely go and see it. Even if it's bad, it's got my attention by being confident enough to say "fuck advertising my ass off for months ahead to try and make a few bucks for my distributors".

    My 2 cents.

  • [like the Matrix] minus the overdone wire work

    Hmph. Wire-fu is here to stay, methinks, and there was plenty of it in this trailer as well. At least there was a plausible reason (within the story) for the incredible acrobatics the heroes were capable of in The Matrix.

    In this particular case, we just have to believe that they are so darned over-skilled that they can do the things they can. No cheating real-world physics (remember: "there is no spoon"), like in The Matrix.

    Preview looks like nice eye-candy, at least. Might be worth sitting through at your local megalo-plex. I don't much care for the warmed-over operatic score in the trailer. Here's hoping the actual movie soundtrack is more interesting.

  • Anyone watch USA Networks or TNT? Whenever they come up with an "original" movie, they start to hype the shit out of it. That's when I know it will stink ass. Movie studios do that too, but not to that extent. I got the same feeling from this review. The negative aspects are brushed aside so quickly, I got whiplash. Is this movie really that good? I, for one, doubt it.

  • Oh, someone explain to me (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Inf0phreak ( 627499 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @06:34PM (#4785366)
    WHY THE H*** THEY WON'T LET ME DOWNLOAD A HQ TRAILER TO MY HARDDRIVE!! I just don't get their logic. It's a commercial for them; something they put there because they want people to know about their product, yet they don't want me to see it in anything but shitty quality? I "only" have 256k (and there are still a lot of modem users out there!) and I don't get to see that trailer in all it's (potential) glory.

    Bitch/moan++: even if I had 768k, I still wouldn't be able to see it if I didn't have IE... well SCREW THEM! If they don't even want me to see their trailer, I don't want to spend any money on their movie.

    I see this as somewhat akin to gamespot's move to a pay-to-see-video business model. It surprises me that anybody has signed up, because all they (essentially) get is commercials for games. That's right! They pay to see commercials! It would be ironic if it wasn't such a damned tragedy that someone went ahead and actually bough into that.
    • I can see them using these limitations as a method of guaging interest in a product by tracking the number of visits to the trailer from unique IPs. While this would allows them to see how much market penetration they're getting from advertising, it comes back to bite them in the ass when it comes to friends sharing trailers with their friends, not to mention the bandwidth costs that could be saved by the host.

      Either way, after reading the review and watching the trailer, I'm going to see this movie... but probably not for the 13 dollars CDN the local theatre charges, when it's more comfortable (and less distracting) to watch in the privacy of my own home.

    • HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE TRAILER LOCALLY (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Ignoring your question, here's how you can actually CAN download it:

      Clicky for ASFRecorder! [sourceforge.net].

      Point it at:

      http://mfile.akamai.com/7357/asf/hollywood.downl oa d.akamai.com/7287/windows/equilibrium_t_700.asx

      ...and you're set. As I pointed out in another thread (trying to get this to play under FreeBSD), you can also save using 'mplayer -dumpfile eq.asf -dumpstream [url]'
      • Like the parent comment suggested, using asfrecorder [sourceforge.net] does work, but the provided link to the trailer didn't.

        "mms://a1919.v7287f.c7287.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/ 1919/7287/v0001/hollywood.download.akamai.com/7287 /windows/equilibrium_t_700.asf" does work (for now anyways) and runs about 12.4 MB (be sure to delete the space after the /7/).

        Note that I obtained the URL by changing 300 to 700 in a link mentioned in another comment, and you can likely access whatever format you prefer by changing the URL accordingly.

    • Re:Oh, someone explain to me (Score:5, Informative)

      by Bishop ( 4500 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @07:22PM (#4785574)
      Annoying as hell isn't it. The following seems to work:

      mencoder -o equilib.avi -oac copy -ovc copy "mms://a1919.v7287f.c7287.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/ 1919/7287/v0001/hollywood.download.akamai.com/7287 /windows/equilibrium_t_300.asf"
    • Bitch/moan++: even if I had 768k, I still wouldn't be able to see it if I didn't have IE... well SCREW THEM! If they don't even want me to see their trailer, I don't want to spend any money on their movie.

      Umm... what? I viewed the trailer just fine with Chimera .6 - unless you're talking about that download link from one of the previous posts. That one's fubared for sure, but there's other trailers that I was able to download from the site. I grabbed a few to send to my dad, who's still stuck on 28.8 dialup - it's his fault I got into comic books. so I grabbed a Daredevil trailer for him :D
  • Do these Goverment Agencies/Ultra-companies/Secret societies ALWAYS create the ultimate weapon then invariably decide to turn against him?

    They try to arrest him with 3 people. Or send 2 people to kill him when they DAMN WELL KNOW that the ultimate weapon was trained to go against an army an win?

    Oh when will these govt agencies learn?
    • Do these Goverment Agencies/Ultra-companies/Secret societies ALWAYS create the ultimate weapon then invariably decide to turn against him?

      They try to arrest him with 3 people.

      Yeah, like that Saturday Night Live skit where they show a clip of black-clad ninjas attacking two karate masters and then the ninjas are all sitting in their locker room at their hideout nursing their injuries and talking about how they could have done better.

      "Why do we always attack one at a time?!"

      "And when we do attack at the same time, let's try not to do a running attack directly opposite each other, because the guy always just moves out of the way and we clunk our heads together..."

      Funny stuff.
    • They've obviously never read the "how to be an evil genius" book.

      I for one, will make damn sure to not make my daring last minute escape via a helicopter with its rope/chain ladder.
  • This is such a rip off of Minority Report it's pathetic.

    The only real difference is this one is low tech while Minority Report actually introduced some sci-fi ideals. This is just wanna be matrix-minority report nonsense.

    Maybe it will be good, Christian Bale is a fine actor, so is Tay Diggs, but honestly, the movie is unoriginal.
    • Other then that the main character is in law enforcement, and it takes place in 'the future' I don't see much similarity at all. I guess you could say they were both fathers, but one still has his kids and the other does not. You could say they were both on drugs, but in MR drugs are looked down oppon, while in this they are required. They are hugely diffrent movies.
  • Three observations:

    If this movie is 1/3rd as good as the trailer looks, it's gonna be amazing. And we all know that movies are quite capable of being less than 1/3rd as good as the trailer looks.

    Finally! I get to see a movie that looks really good within 1.5 years of finding out about it!

    Pardon me stating the obvious, but the way technology and the Bush administration are rolling along utterly without any reigns -- either external or internal -- this might be nothing short of a documentary. Yes, I realize I'm being bombastic. And yes, I really think we're heading toward this.

    • Pardon me stating the obvious, but the way technology and the Bush administration are rolling along utterly without any reigns

      Except that the supreme court, even packed with Republican appointees, has been steadily expanding your freedoms for most of the past 50 years, and many of the rights we take for granted and bitch about today were unheard of for much of our nation's history (ahem, abortion). Sure, Bush would love to change the makeup of the court, but people seem to spend more time bitching than doing anything about it.

      Don't forget, too, that the (failed) Clipper Chip scheme was Clinton's fault. We also have much stronger- and 100% legal- cryptography now, that the NSA won't be able to break, and there's no practical way this can be supressed. Carnivore is essentially a joke, because my sense is that we could easily defeat it with ubiquitous strong encryption but the apps just aren't there yet.

      The only thing that I'm really worried about is this program Poindexter is heading. But I'm not worried about Bush, per se, but some of the people who'll be in charge. (I didn't vote for Bush and don't like him very much, but I'm annoyed that liberals speak about him in the same tones that conservatives used to speak about Clinton.)
  • Is it me or does the trailer remind me of MR movie?

  • I'm not sure about the claim that there is little promotion of the film. I've seen quite a few ads for the movie on TV, probably all in the past week. The ads are not really very good -- they make this look like a low-budget cheesy rip-off of "The Matrix."

    On the separate topic mentioning "The Giver" versus F451 and Brave New World -- I recently read "The Giver" for the first time (I'm looking to change careers to become an English teacher) and it was quite clear to me that Lois Lowry's goal in writing "The Giver" was essentially to address many of the same issues as in "Brave New World" (and to a lesser extent, some of the issues in "Farenheit 451"), but for a young-adult audience. "The Giver" is a book frequently used in 8th and 9th grade classrooms.

    I also just watched the movie "The Handmaid's Tale" (based Margaret Atwood's book of the same title, which I haven't yet read), and some of the same issues come up there, too. The issues of forced conformity and censorship are recurring, and nobody can claim to "own" them. As I think about it, my head is swirling with all kinds of plots from books, short stories, and TV episodes (especially Twilight Zone and Outer Limits) that offer variations on these same themes.

  • From the review [chud.com]:
    "The advent of the drug Prozium has helped erase war, murder, and all of the other things that the oppressive powers that be determine is forbidden and each member of society injects the drug to suppress their moods and stave off that hideous thing known as emotion."

    Sounds like Philip K. Dick's " Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep [is.free.fr] "?

    "My schedule for today lists a six-hour self-accusatory depression," Iran said.

    "What? Why did you schedule that?" It defeated the whole purpose of the mood organ. "I didn't even know you could set it for that," he said gloomily.

  • here [presqaco.host.sk]

  • New trailer (Score:3, Funny)

    by zephc ( 225327 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @08:44PM (#4785857)
    He's been an animal.
    He's been a girl.
    And on December 6th,
    Rob Schneider is: the Cleric

    Watch him try to bring justice to an unfair world, all the while trying to make his way through blahdiddy blah blah blah.

    Rated G, for high-adrenaline sexual innuendo and some drug references.

  • Unpromoted? Shock. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Angst Badger ( 8636 ) on Saturday November 30, 2002 @09:20PM (#4785944)
    No wonder this film isn't getting any promotion. The idea of drugging a society into obedience probably sounds pretty reasonable to a population spooked by an isolated terrorist attack that killed almost three-quarters as many Americans as died of heart disease and cancer every day, 365 days a year.

    Of course, you don't get as many votes by waging war on heart disease and cancer as you do by vaporizing foreigners with exotic bombs.

    Yeah, I'm totally off-topic. The movie sounds cool. Mod me into oblivion. I was just feeling cranky and wanted to add to my PATRIOT Act dossier.
    • The idea of drugging a society into obedience probably sounds pretty reasonable to a population spooked by an isolated terrorist attack that killed almost three-quarters as many Americans as died of heart disease and cancer every day, 365 days a year.

      Right, and we know how pro-drug the current administration is.

      To make your analogy work, you'd have to imagine heart disease explosively wiping out a quarter of the stadium during the Superbowl all at once. (okay, perhaps that isn't so far out...)
  • Karel Capek [kirjasto.sci.fi], an Czech author from the 20's and 30's, wrote several stories about man being stripped of his human essence in order to change him into an efficient and manageable working machine. The word robot was first coined in his best-known novel, "Rossum's Universal Robots", which was about this very same subject:

    "Young Rossum invented a worker with the minimum amount of requirements. He had to simplify him. He rejected everything that did not contribute directly to the progress of work. He rejected everything that makes man more expensive. In fact, he rejected man and made the Robot. My dear Miss Glory, the Robots are not people. Mechanically they are more perfect than we are, they have an enormously developed intelligence, but they have no soul. Have you ever seen what a Robot looks like inside?" (from R.U.R., 1920, trans. by Paul Selver)

    Before this, he wrote a humorous short story about a crafty businessman who rounds up all of society's undesirables, purges them of all emotion through lack of artistic and sensual stimulation, and turns them into a phenomenal working force. But his design is put in ruins when the keepers inadvertently leave the light on during a working man's monthly conjugal encounter. That man is so inspired by her beauty that he breaks out in song during work, and the domino effect continues as within days the men have organized debating societies, newspapers, amateur theater troupes and the like. Before the week is out, the men rebel against their oppression and lay the entire operation to waste.

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