Speaking of banning books, Fahrenheit 451 was one of the books I had to read in school. The award-winning classic novel by Ray Bradbury takes place in a dystopian future where books are banned and burned by firefighters. And the title? According to the author, books ignite and burn at the temperature of 451οΎF.
Inspired by Fahrenheit 451, Equilibrium takes place in a dystopian future where anything that elicits feelings and emotions is prohibited. Like in George Lucas' THX 1138, citizens inject themselves with a drug called Prozium at regular intervals to suppress their feelings, which has been blamed for humanity's wrongs that led to a Third World War.
The fascist Tetragrammaton Council governs the City of Libria. The government uses an elite law enforcement group called the Grammaton Cleric to fight and capture criminal "sense offenders" who possess books, art, music, and so on. Clerics are practitioners of gun kata, in which martial arts meets efficient and accurate gunfighting.
Equilibrium is one of Christian Bale's very best films. Writer and director Kurt Wimmer may not be widely known, but he's been involved in movies that I've showcased in Ted's MOVIE OF THE WEEK--Point Break (2015) and Total Recall (2012).
Despite having some of the coolest "gun fu" fight scenes, Equilibrium is hardcore science fiction, and the pacing is slower than most action films. Nonetheless, Equilibrium has become a cult classic, and if you haven't seen it, you should see this movie gem before people start thinking about banning films.
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