Fight Club (1999)

User Rating:

8.8/10   

Director:

David Fincher

Writers (WGA):

Chuck Palahniuk (novel)
Jim Uhls (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 October 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

How much can you know about yourself if you've never been in a fight?

Plot:

An office employee and a soap salesman build a global organization to help vent male aggression.

Plot Keywords:

Fight | Club | Boxing | Office | Bare Chested Male Fighting

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Edward Norton	...	The Narrator
Brad Pitt	...	Tyler Durden
Helena Bonham Carter	...	Marla Singer
Meat Loaf	...	Robert 'Bob' Paulson (as Meat Loaf Aday)
Zach Grenier	...	Richard Chesler
Richmond Arquette	...	Intern
David Andrews	...	Thomas
George Maguire	...	Group Leader
Eugenie Bondurant	...	Weeping Woman
Christina Cabot	...	Group Leader
Sydney 'Big Dawg' Colston	...	Speaker
Rachel Singer	...	Chloe
Christie Cronenweth	...	Airline Attendant
Tim De Zarn	...	Inspector Bird
Ezra Buzzington	...	Inspector Dent

Also Known As:

Fight Club (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing and graphic depiction of violent anti-social behavior, sexuality and language.

Runtime:

139 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX | Dolby Digital | DTS-ES

Certification:

UK:18 (video re-rating) (2005) | USA:R (certificate #36857) | Malaysia:18PL | Italy:VM14 (cut) | Italy:VM18 (DVD rating) (uncut) | Brazil:18 | USA:TV-MA (TV rating) | South Korea:15 (cable rating) (cut) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Belgium:KNT | Canada:18+ (Québec) | Canada:18A | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | Finland:K-16 (video rating) (cut) | Finland:K-18 (DVD rating) | France:-16 | Germany:18 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 (cut) | Israel:16 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:18 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 (cut) | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:R(A) | Philippines:R-18

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Art Linson Productions

Trivia:

The shot surveying Project Mayhem's destructive equipment lying in underground parking lots was a three-dimensional composition of over 100 photographs of Los Angeles and Century City by special effects photographer Michael Douglas Middleton.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Narrator is quitting his job, the thermostat changes between silver and black as the shot cuts back and forth between him and his boss. Also, the distance between the chair and the desk in the background changes between shots.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[Tyler points a gun into the Narrator's mouth]
Narrator: [voiceover] People are always asking me if I know Tyler Durden.
Tyler Durden: Three minutes. This is it - ground zero. Would you like to say a few words to mark the occasion?
Narrator: ...i... ann... iinn... ff... nnyin...
Narrator: [voiceover] With a gun barrel between your teeth, you speak only in vowels.
[Tyler removes the gun from the Narrator's mouth]
Narrator: I can't think of anything.
Narrator: [voiceover] For a second I totally forgot about Tyler's whole controlled demolition thing and I wonder how clean that gun is.

Movie Connections:

References Seven Years in Tibet (1997)

Soundtrack:

NO LOVE, NO NOTHIN'

A unique film

Fight Club is one of the most unique films I have ever seen. In addition to presenting a rather fresh take on life, FC also presents its material in a fresh way. My main interest in the film is in that, in my opinion, it does not present characters for us to think about. Rather, it presents actions for us to think about. I will say that I cannot recall *ever* having been "asked" by a film to both suspend my disbelief the way this film asks in its third act AND at the same time come to terms with an understanding that there is no room--or need--for disbelief.

Perhaps these comments will not make sense to the average movie goer who will dismiss this film--and, unfortunately, its premise--as another hollywood flick filled with gratuitous violence. I'd go as far as to say that this film is not about violence. It is about choices. It is about activity. It is about lethargy. It is about waking up and realizing that at some point in the past we've gone to the toilet and thrown up our dreams without even realizing that society has stuck its fingers down our throat.

I would argue that anyone caught, at some point in their lives, between a rock and a hard place--anyone who has reached bottom on a mental level--anyone who has uttered to themselves "Wait, this isn't right. I would not do/say/feel what it is that I just did/said/felt... I do not like this. I must change before I am forever stuck being the person that I am not." These people, they will know what I'm talking about. These people will not only recognize the similarities between Edward Norton's character and themselves--they will be uncomfortably familiar with him. These people will appreciate Fight Club for what it is: a wake up call that we are not alone.

As David Berman once said: "I'm afraid I've got more in common with who I was than who I am becoming." If this sentence makes any sense to you, go see Fight Club. You won't regret it.

L.