History Film / Equilibrium

* CreepyCoolCrosses: The Tetragrammaton logo is a so called ''Krückenkreuz'', or ''Cross potent''.

* BloodlessCarnage: Interestingly, this trope is played straight (much like in ''Film/{{Ultraviolet}}'' after it) with Sweepers and other Tetragrammaton mooks, with plumes of smoke coming out of them instead of blood -- as if they literally were just [[FacelessGoons faceless puppets]] of evil regime, not human beings. However, it is averted with Resistance fighters who do bleed. Special mention goes to a man who tries to grapple Preston and gets shot by Brandt -- Preston's gun and gloves are subsequently covered with his blood.

* SameStoryDifferentNames: Writer-director Kurt Wimmer's follow-up project ''Film/{{Ultraviolet}}'' rehashed most of the basic elements of this film. William Fichtner even appears in both.

* ItIsPronouncedTropay: Preston absolutely murders the pronunciation of Ludwig Van Beethoven.

* AwesomeByAnalysis: GunKata's shtick is that those trained in it can switch targets as fast as possible while avoiding the opponent's shots.

The ultraviolent (although [[BloodlessCarnage surprisingly bloodless)]] science fiction action film ''Equilibrium'' either rips off or brilliantly homages every great work of dystopian fiction (particularly ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', ''Literature/{{We}}'', ''Literature/TheGiver'', ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'', ''Literature/Fahrenheit451'' and ''Film/TheMatrix'') that appears to have inspired it. Although the film lacks originality, fans liked it for [[RuleOfCool being totally shiny]].

The governing body of Libria -- the Tetragrammaton Council -- uses the police to maintain conformity; the high-ranking Grammaton Clerics, trained in the martial art of GunKata, frequently carry out raids where they destroy both "sense offenders" and any offending materials found with them. A pre-[[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy Batman]] Creator/ChristianBale plays the role of John Preston, a highly-regarded Cleric who accidentally fails to take a dose of his emotion-suppressing drugs and ends up feeling emotions -- which attracts the attention of the other Clerics and the Council's leader, the all-powerful "Father"...

The film gained notoriety amongst action film fans for John Preston's on-screen body count -- one of the highest of any character in film history (third place according to [[http://www.moviebodycounts.com/ moviebodycounts.com]]) -- the infamous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLXUn_s8nM4 "puppy shootout" scene]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeHrq_Fs1vk its climactic one-on-one gun battle]].

* FamousLastWords: "Mind the uniform, Cleric. I plan to be wearing it for a long time". Spoken by [[spoiler:Brandt, before trying to take on Preston. In a way, he did wear it for a long time -- right until his death. That is, for about [[CurbStompBattle five following seconds]]]].

** Like in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', the protagonist is eventually told that the totalitarian leader (named here ''Father'' instead of ''Big Brother'') does not really exist.

The governing body of Libria -- the Tetragrammaton Council -- uses the police to maintain conformity; the high-ranking Grammaton Clerics, trained in the martial art of "gun kata", frequently carry out raids where they destroy both "sense offenders" and any offending materials found with them. A pre-[[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy Batman]] Creator/ChristianBale plays the role of John Preston, a highly-regarded Cleric who accidentally fails to take a dose of his emotion-suppressing drugs and ends up feeling emotions -- which attracts the attention of the other Clerics and the Council's leader, the all-powerful "Father"...

The governing body of Libria -- the Tetragrammaton Council -- uses the police to maintain conformity; the high-ranking Grammaton Clerics, trained in the martial art of "gun kata", frequently carry out raids where they destroy both "sense offenders" and any offending materials found with them. A pre-[[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy Batman]] Creator/ChristianBale plays the role of John Preston, a highly-regarded Cleric who accidentally fails to take a dose of his emotion-suppressing drugs and ends up feeling emotions -- which attracts the attention of the Clerics and the Council's leader, the all-powerful "Father"...

* {{Mondegreen}}: When Preston doubts the wisdom of overthrowing the government, he says "What about war, the everyday cruelties that are all gone now?" Jurgen's response is, "Replaced by the Tetragrammaton?" Many think he's saying, "Replaced by a touch of grammaton?"

* {{Dystopia}}: Libria is basically ''1984'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY with Gun Fu]]. Emotion is {{Thoughtcrime}}, all citizens are required to take psychiatric medication to suppress it, and if people resist then the state employs elite supersoldiers to annihilate all the thought-criminals.

The ultraviolent (although [[BloodlessCarnage surprisingly bloodless)]] science fiction action film ''Equilibrium'' either rips off or brilliantly homages every great work of dystopian fiction (particularly ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', ''Literature/{{We}}'', ''Literature/TheGiver'', ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'', and ''Film/TheMatrix'') that appears to have inspired it. Although the film lacks originality, fans liked it for [[RuleOfCool being totally shiny]].

%%* RuleOfCool: The gunfights in general, but check out the [[http://www.imfdb.org/index.php?title=Image:Equilibriumflash.jpg Tetragrammaton muzzle flashes]].

* TheOnlyBeliever: Downplayed. Preston is obviously not the only user of Prozium in the regime at the beginning of the film, but it turns out all those whom he (and the viewer) thought the most loyal adepts of the Anti-Emotion doctrine actually abandoned their dosages a long time ago: [[spoiler:his son started doing it since the death of his wife, [=DuPont=] can also do it because he is actually the most powerful person in Libria, and Brandt is probably also free of Prozium too given his great pleased smiles.]]

* DullSurprise: Possibly the ONLY film in existence that not only justifies its existence, but makes it a plot driven requirement! Specifically, since everyone is on emotion-suppressing drugs, or at least supposed to be, they either lack the capacity to react to the unexpected otherwise, or have to fake such a (lack of) reaction to avoid being outed as sense offenders.

** [[spoiler:[=DuPont=] gets progressively more unnerved as he watches Preston [[CurbStompBattle defeat]] each layer of his defenses. However, the look on his face when John dispatches entire team of his personal, katana-wielding bodyguards in about five seconds is just priceless]].

* PetTheDog: Done literally, as a first

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: The flag of Libria is very similar to the Nazi flag. The black uniforms of the clerics and other law-enforcement people are also reminiscent of Nazi Germany. Moreover, the film was shot in several buildings of the Nazi era (the Olympic Stadium of Berlin, Deutschlandhalle, and Berlin Tempelhof Airport).

* PuttingOnTheReich: Libria, whose Hitler Youth-esque candidates for Cleric training wear very fascist-inspired outfits, as well as the basic soldier consisting of either [[PoliceBrutality riot police]] or helmeted goons in Gestapo-esque trenchcoats.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: [[spoiler:"Not without incident."]] The trailer doesn't provide enough context for it to be a real spoiler, but you'll know where it's coming in the movie, and it was clearly intended to be unexpected.

* GunKata: XanatosSpeedChess with [[MoreDakka guns]]. However, Preston and [[spoiler: [=DuPont=]]] are the only ones we see doing any actual GunKata: Partridge is deliberately letting Preston do all the work, Brandt's only on-screen shooting is with an assault rifle, and none of the other Clerics bother.
* GunsAkimbo: All Clerics use double Berettas as part of their "gun kata".
* GoneHorriblyRight: [[spoiler:Father deciding to use an UnwittingPawn to track down the resistance. It works. It works perfectly.]]

* GunKata: The TropeNamer is the style of gunplay used by the Grammaton Clerics in this film. The style was choreographed by a Karate expert, and you can see the Clerics often adopt very Karate-like stances while practicing or fighting.
* GunsAkimbo: John Preston wields dual pistols and is quite literally untouchable by mooks. In an early scene, he jumps into a crossfire and stands calmly (then again, with emotions held under check he can't quite panic or anything) in one place while the opposition fires away with automatic weaponry and fails to hit him. The film [[JustifiedTrope attempts to explain this]] by inventing a fighting style known as GunKata, which teaches its practitioners to seek out locations in a fight where there is minimum probability of getting shot at and it's not "behind cover"). In a later fight, Preston reloads by a mechanism that inserts fresh magazines into the guns from his sleeves.

* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: The Tetragrammaton Clerics are tasked with rooting out and apprehending or killing Sense Offenders. Preston, stated as being one of the best Clerics, fails to realize that [[spoiler: his entire family, both partners, and his boss are all Sense Offenders]]. It's clear that his reputation is based on A) his combat skills, and B) his contraband-sniffing skills, rather than his ability to '''actually find the people he's supposed to be hunting'''. Though it could also be that he is better at spotting sense offending in strangers.

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: The flag of Libria is very similar to the Nazi flag. The black uniforms of the clerics and other law-enforcement people are also reminiscent of Nazi Germany. Moreover, the film was shot in several buildings of the Nazi era (the Olympic Stadium of Berlin), Deutschlandhalle, and Berlin Tempelhof Airport).

* ShoutOut: Fifteen seconds before the end of the movie features an explosion amidst the city reflected in [[spoiler:Preston]]'s eye. [[Film/BladeRunner Sound familiar?]]

* TheManInFrontOfTheMan: [[spoiler:The dystopian state of Libria is ruled by a mysterious figure known only as "Father", who delegates much of his authority to Vice Council [=DuPont=], who acts as [[MouthOfSauron "Father's Voice"]]. At the end, it's revealed that Father died several years ago and they've been using his image for propaganda purposes. The Council simply elected [=DuPont=] himself to ''de facto'' assume the responsibilities of Father's office.]]

* {{Irony}}: The culmination of the film [[spoiler:involves Preston, an agent of the Resistance, attaining what the Tetragrammaton has been seeking since its founding -- total emotional mastery -- ''without'' Prozium. Unfortunately for the Tetragrammaton, this control manifests as [[TranquilFury the ability to channel his near-volcanic anger into an awesome display of precision ass-kicking]]]].

* PropagandaMachine: Father's lectures are constantly being broadcasted around Libria, from giant TV screens on outside walls of buildings, inside homes or work places and on the zeppelins flying overhead. At least we see that those in the home can be turned off, unlike in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. [[spoiler:In the finale, Preston destroys the control center for this, shutting them all down.

* EmotionSuppression: Everyone uses a drug called Prozium to suppress their emotions. Refusal to administer it is [[{{Dystopia}} punishable by death]].

--> NOTE: Shooting a dog doesn't automatically fit the Shoot The Dog trope, which is something a protagonist might do. Mentioned above as Kick The Dog.

* ChurchMilitant: Despite serving a secular state, the Grammaton Clerics use the trappings of this trope.
** Some of the quasi-religious vibes are a bit more subtle: Though it also sort of resembles the Nazi swastika, the symbol of the Librian regime is most similar to the type of cross seen on the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Jerusalem coat of arms of the medieval Kingdom of Jerusalem]], or the "decapitated cross" of ''Literature/BraveNewWorld''. Moreover, "Tetragrammaton"[[note]]loosely translated as "the four-letter word", referring to the Hebrew appellation Yod-He-Vau-He, YHVH[[/note]] is an euphemism used to refer to the name of {{God}}.

* CoolGun: Lots of them, but special mention goes to modified Beretta pistols used by Clerics. They are concealed under their sleeves and via cool mechanism hidden there, they can be drawn instantly. That same mechanism allows to reload them both just as quickly. On top of that, they homehow produce a Tetragrammaton logo-shaped shot flares. Oh, and they have those nasty, retractable nails in handle for use in melee combat.
* ContractOnTheHitman: Preston is a highly-trained police officer/executioner for the Fascist theocratic government of Libria. Once he [[HitmanWithAHeart recovers his own emotions]] and realizes what monstrous society has been created in the name of peace and tranquility, he [[HeelFaceTurn becomes a rebel himself]] and turns the tables on his former employers, [[spoiler:[[AssassinOutclassin killing the people send out to kill him]] and executing the head of the State Church.]]

* CulturePolice: The Grammaton Clerics are an elite police force tasked with destroying all art and killing anyone who possesses art. This was because the {{dystopia}}n government was attempting to stabilize society by completely eliminating human emotion (why the government needs an elite, GunKata trained task force to carry this out is [[RuleOfCool never really explained]]).
** It's likely it has to do with the division of power, so that neither the Clerics nor the Sweepers are singularly responsible for enforcement of the law. Having them separate allows the head man to play them off of each other. Same pattern as in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, the archetypal evil empires.

* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler:Preston's final fight against Brandt.]]
** RealLifeWritesThePlot: [[spoiler: According to the DVD commentary, the whole film was shot on a tight schedule, and the final confrontation scenes in particular were made in a rush. They actually ''had'' planned for a legitimate fight scene between Preston and Brandt, but they simply couldn't get Taye Diggs available in time to do the scene, so they did a pragmatic move and turned the whole thing into a SingleStrokeBattle, with a body double standing in for Diggs.]]

* {{Dystopia}}: Libria is basically ''1984'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY with Gun Fu]]. Emotion is {{Thoughtcrime}}, all citizens are required to take psychiatric medication to suppress it, and if people resist then the State employs elite supersoldiers to annihilate all the thought-criminals.

** [[spoiler:[=DuPont=]]] is seen angrily slapping a table during a conversation with Preston, suggesting that [[spoiler:he's not on Prozium]].

* GoodCostumeSwitch: Preston dons an all white suit before the FinalBattle, presumably his parade uniform since he's going to see Father. He even has his sword with him in a white scabbard. Then again, why a society with no emotions would need a parade uniform is unclear.
** They probably did occasional [[MillionMookMarch Mook Marches]], to the remind the populus (resistence or otherwise) what they were up against for sense offence.

* GovernmentDrugEnforcement: Prozium is this all over.

* HeroicBSOD: John suffers quite a few times: in a flashback, after his wife's immolation, despite being on Prozium, reliving the memories after withdrwaing from Prozium, and then [[spoiler:after Mary's execution.]]

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: The Tetragrammaton planned to use Preston as bait for the Resistance leaders.]]

* {{Hypocrite}}: Vice-Council [=DuPont=] rules the totalitarian Libria by forcing everyone to suppress their emotions with a drug called Prozium. [[spoiler: When Preston raids his office in the climax, it is decorated with fine art that wasn't incinerated and [=DuPont=] outright states that he is a Sense Offender himself in a last-ditch appeal to stop Preston from shooting. However, since the original Father died years ago, it's unknown if he was a hypocrite or not.]]
* IdiotBall. [[spoiler:The BigBad lets Preston, the highly trained Cleric who has killed multiple FacelessGoons and proven himself a serious threat, walk into the main headquarters without even bothering to search him for weaponry. He then tells Preston the master plan and as soon as his villainous monologue ends, Preston pulls out some firearms and fights his way to the boss's room. In a deleted scene, it would've shown earlier that the metal detectors are at the ''next'' door Preston walks through after taking the lie-detector, which raises the question of why they put the anti-gun security measure ''there'' instead of ''before'' the room they planned to spring their trap in.]]
** [[spoiler: In addition to just shooting Preston after they captured the resistance, they also could have shot him up with more Prozium to remove his emotions again.]]

--> '''Father''': Intrinsically, humans, as creatures of the Earth were drawn inherently always back to one thing, war. And thus we seek to correct not the symptom, but the disease itself. We have sought to [[IndividualityIsIllegal shrug off individuality]], replacing it with conformity. Replacing it with sameness, with unity, [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans allowing each man, woman, and child in this great society to lead identical lives.]]

* TheManInFrontOfTheMan: [[spoiler:The dystopian state of Libria is ruled by a mysterious figure known only as "Father", who delegates much of his authority to Vice Council [=DuPont=], who acts as [[MouthOfSauron "Father's Voice"]]. At the end, it's revealed that Father died several years ago and they've been using his image for propaganda purposes. The Council simply elected [=DuPont=] himself to de facto assume the responsibilies of Father's office.]]
* MediaWatchdog: What the dystopia is all about.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When Preston rewatches the recording of his wife's incineration, this time being able to feel. His face becomes a mask of complete and utter horror when he sees how he had just stood then, uncaring and cold, while she had been sent to a gruesome fiery death.

* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:The leadership of Libria still runs with the propaganda that their totalitarian dystopia is [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill necessary to stamp out human conflict]], but if they ever did believe in it themselves, by the point of the film they are just interested in perpetuating their own power and consider themselves above the rules they set for others. [=DuPont=] and Brandt are both sense-offenders.]]

* PendulumWar: The minute Preston stops the broadcasts from Father, the previously completely ineffective sense-offenders ZergRush the Sweepers with zero casualties observed.

* PistolWhipping: The scene where Preston tries to let the sense-offenders escape. The resulting beatdown leaves several Sweepers dead.

* RuleOfSymbolism: Probably the only reason the drug ampules looks like bullets and the drug is injected with an apparatus that looks like a gun.

** Father extolls Prozium as the "opiate of the masses", a frequent variation on Karl Marx's view of religion as the "opium of the people".

* {{Thoughtcrime}}: "Sense Offense"

* TranquilFury: Four words: [[spoiler:"No. Not without incident."]]

* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: The Tetragrammaton Council (and Father) think of the lack of emotion amongst Libria's populace as a fair trade for the near-eradication of all crime.

* WhamShot: A few occur in quick succession right before the climax. [[spoiler:Brandt, who was supposedly arrested and [[DeadlyEuphemism processed]] after getting framed by Preston, appears next to him at the start of interrogation, revealing it was all just a part of the plan. Then Father appears on the screen in front of Preston, claiming he's been used as an UnwittingPawn from the beginning. And when John expresses his doubt how Father knew about him if they never met, the image on screen dissolves into... face of [=DuPont=], who's been secretly ruling Libria himself while posing as Father this entire time]].