Equilibrium (2002)
Christian Bale: John Preston
Photos
Quotes
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Mary : Let me ask you something.
[Grabs his hand]
Mary : Why are you alive?
John Preston : [Breaks free] I'm alive... I live... to safeguard the continuity of this great society. To serve Libria.
Mary : It's circular. You exist to continue your existence. What's the point?
John Preston : What's the point of your existence?
Mary : To feel. 'Cause you've never done it, you can never know it. But it's as vital as breath. And without it, without love, without anger, without sorrow, breath is just a clock... ticking.
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John Preston : I'll do what I can to see they go easy on you.
Partridge : We both know they never "go easy".
John Preston : Then, I'm sorry.
Partridge : No, you're not. You don't even know the meaning. Its just a vestigial word for a feeling you've never felt.
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[last lines]
DuPont : Wait! Wait! Look at me. Look at me. I'm life. I live... I, I breathe... I feel. Now that you know it... can you really take it? Is it really worth the price?
[Preston sees a flash of Mary's face]
John Preston : I pay it gladly.
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DuPont : And you, Preston, the supposed savior of the resistance, are now its destroyer, and, along with them, you've given me yourself... calmly... coolly... entirely without incident.
John Preston : [Polygraph machine scribbling rapidly] No.
[Polygraph suddenly registers Preston completely in control]
Polygraph Technician : Oh... Shit.
John Preston : Not without incident.
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John Preston : There's no war. No murder.
Partridge : What is it you think we do?
John Preston : No. You've been with me, you've seen how it can be - the jealousy, rage.
Partridge : A heavy cost. I pay it gladly.
[Reaches for his gun]
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Robbie Preston : Looking for something. If I were you I'd be more careful in future.
John Preston : How long?
Robbie Preston : Since mom
John Preston : And Lisa
Robbie Preston : Of course
John Preston : How did you know?
Robbie Preston : You forget. It's my job to know what you're thinking.
John Preston : And you know what I'm gonna do now.
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Robbie Preston : [Mutes TV] John?
John Preston : Yes?
Robbie Preston : I saw Robbie Taylor crying today. He didn't know, but I saw. Do you think I should report him?
John Preston : Unquestionably.
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Brandt : Always practicing, Cleric. Maybe that's why you're the best.
John Preston : Maybe I'm just better.
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John Preston : When we return from the Nether it always reminds me of why we do what we do.
Partridge : It does?
John Preston : [pauses; He takes notice of Partridge's intonation] I beg your pardon?
Partridge : [Withdraws Prozium-administering device from his pocket and injects himself with it] It does.
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[trying to convince a group of rebels that he's letting them escape]
John Preston : Go. Go, damn you!
[sees another rebel being shot and knows this group will be next]
John Preston : Get out of here, God damn it! If you don't, you're dead!
Rebel : Don't do it. He'll shoot us in the back.
John Preston : If I was gonna shoot you, I'd shoot you in the face. Now go.
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John Preston : Then I have no choice but to remand you to the Palace of Justice for processing.
Mary : Processing. You mean execution, don't you?
John Preston : Processing.
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John Preston : You're an offender!
Reading Room Proprietor : I'm not!
John Preston : No? Then why are you so scared of me?
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Mary : You can't do this! You cannot do this!
John Preston : Tetragrammaton. There's nothing we can't do.
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DuPont : It is not the will of the Council, it is the will of Father and he is law.
John Preston : Sir... without the logic of process, is it not just mayhem - what we have worked so hard to eradicate?
DuPont : You must understand, Preston, that while you - and even I - may not always agree with it,it is not the message that is important, it is our obedience to it. Father's will. Call it faith. You have it, I assume?
John Preston : Yes. I have it.
DuPont : Good.
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Mary : What... what'll you do?
John Preston : ...I don't know.
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John Preston : I'm coming.
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John Preston : You're absolutely 100% right, sir.
DuPont : Of course I am.
