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Equilibrium Trivia






 Casting Trivia
  • According to Kurt Wimmer at the Atlanta Q&A only Christian Bale had actually been offered the role of Preston.
  • The studio wanted him to consider Vin Diesel. (Atlanta Q&A)
  • Dominic Purcell of Fox's John Doe was considered for Preston. (see DVD Commentary 1, Chapter 1)
  • In April of 2000 a factually incorrect news release stated that Leonardo DiCaprio had signed on. This was later retracted. (see Romanian studio backs down from DiCaprio boast - off site)

  • "The injector unit has a function on it which detects the presence of human hemoglobin. On Partridge's unit it states 'human hemoglobin detected' and 'deployment confirmed.'" (Thanks to Queenie & Libby for spotting this.)

  • Kurt Wimmer had originally cut the Beethoven sequence to the Karajan arrangement of the Ninth Symphony but due to cost had to recut it to a different version. (see comments @ CHUD.com & on the DVD commentary.)

  • No "wire-fu" is used on any of the action sequences in Equilibrium. (see comments by Kurt Wimmer on the bottom of the site's Action Info page & Second DVD Commentary, Chapter 10)

  • Preston uses the underhanded fighting style of Zatoichi, the blind swordsman. ( see Kurt Wimmer's DVD Commentary, Chapter 10 )

  • In the church scene, Partridge is really thumbing through and reading Sylvia Plath's poetry--not Yeats.' We always see him holding the book, "The Poetry of William Butler Yeats," but if you pause the film where it does a close up on the pages, he is reading two long poems by Sylvia Plath: "The Detective" and "The Bee Meeting."

(Thanks to Bane Wulfe for spotting this!! See message board thread Mistaken Poetry! Yeats vs. Sylvia Plath)
 Alternate Titles for Equilibrium


  • The painting of the young girl during the opening raid sequence is "The Story Book" by Adolphe-William Bouguereau. (thanks to Bella for finding this!!)

  • The inspiration for the cityscapes and the design of Libria come mainly from the works of Hugh Ferriss, an early 20th century conceptual artist. ( see DVD Commentary 1, Chapter 17)

  • The white suit Preston wears at the end is a virtual replica of Bruce Lee's mourning suit from 'The Chinese Connection' and the black under-suit he wears through most of the film is the black version of that.

  • The Cleric's coat is based on a 19th century American deacon's frock coat. (see DVD Commentary Transcripts - Chapter 9)

  • The 'kendo' type swords used during the sparing scene were designed specially for the film & are turned wood which broke quite easily during filming because Bale & Taye were really whacking each other with them. (see DVD Commentary 2, Chapter 10)

  • The gyro clips used during the Hall of Mirrors sequence were patterned after Weeble Wobble toys.

  • The Clerics "drive white 1998 Cadillac Seville STS Sedans, modified interior design, pure white in the cabin as well, and a high priced tint job." Cleric Ryan, Resistance Member
 Body Counts

  • Entire film - 236

  • Cleric John Preston's Tally (thanks to ClericMike for counting these. See Message Board )

Pitch Black Justice - 22
Partridge gets a tracheotomy - 1
Puppy Shootout - 13
Sector 7 Beat Down - 8
Not Without Incident - 9
Hallway Deliverance - 53
DuPont's Office slice-n-dice - 8
Brandt's Ownage - 1
DuPont gets capped - 1
Preston's Hegemony - 2

Preston's Total - 118

"As for the movie's other guns, I counted H&K G36, Kalashnikov AK-47 and Nikonov AN-95 assault rifles, H&K MP5K and FN P90 submachine guns, a Walther WA2000 rifle (used to shoot the dogs) and Remington 870 tactical 12 gauge shotguns. There were a few other things in use among the rebel forces, but I'd have to see the movie again to pick them all out." - Sathanai, Resistance Member

More guns spotted by askew - Tech-9 and Walther MPLS.

see Equilibrium Firearms List

  • Writer/director Kurt Wimmer's cameos in EQ - 1. Silhouetted figure in the Grammaton Cleric introduction with narration, 2. Rebel who is pushed up against the column in the warehouse raid and executed. (Detailed comments by Wimmer on the Action Info page. )

  • The breed of the puppy used in the film is Bernese Mountain Dog.

  • When the trace is made on the firearm extra information can be seen about Brandt.
    - First Name - Andrew.
    - Age - 30
    - Height - 5' 11''
    (Thanks to NoodleCleric for spotting this & Giusy for the height info.)

  • Grammaton Cleric wristwatch used in the film is an Android Alien watch with a black face, no maker name on the dial. (For purchasing info see EQ Merchandise.)

  • The film, Equilibrium, is often abbreviated as "EQ." One definition of "EQ" is "e(motional) q(uotient)."

    • EQ (n.) - Intelligence regarding the emotions, especially in the ability to monitor one's own or others' emotions and to interact effectively with others. (from Dictionary.com)

  • Dominic Purcell of Fox's John Doe has a bit part in the opening sequence of film.

Dominic Purcell

"I'm playing a freedom fighter, Seamus O'Clancy," Purcell previews. "I just open the film; I inspire the troops to rebel against Christian Bale's character - and Christian comes along and pops me off three scenes later. It's a very small role, but I was very thankful to the director, Kurt Wimmer, who wrote me a role in the film and flew me over to Berlin to shoot it. It was a lot of fun, and a very sweet thing he did." - TV Guide, John Doe's Bare Assets Revealed (thanks to Zazu)

  • EC-10 "is a not-so-subtle poke at NC-17" and the MPAA. (Find more info about it at the bottom of the EC-10 page.)

  • The music Preston listens to on the Victrola is Ludwig Van Beethoven's 9th Symphony, First Movement. (Audio commentary by Kurt Wimmer about this scene can be found on the DVD page.)

  • Tetragrammaton - The four Hebrew letters usually transliterated as YHWH or JHVH, used as a biblical proper name for God. (Dictionary.com)

  • The Tetragrammaton symbol can be seen in some of the muzzle flashes from the Cleric and guards weapons. One of which is "when Preston first shoots his pistol during the dog scene." - Thanks to Chuck @ CHUD Message Board (thanks to Roy for the symbol & images)
 Yeats Poem

The W.B. Yeats poem used was published in the collection The Wind Among the Reeds (1899). Highlighted section is the portion quoted in EQ. (thanks to Roy for the image)

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

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