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Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter

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

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95% liked it

965,529 ratings

R, 2 hrs. 20 min.

Directed by: David Fincher

Release Date: October 15, 1999

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DVD Release Date: June 6, 2000

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Flixster Reviews (88,415)

  • magnum32004
    October 10, 2006
    magnum32004
    Sick, twisted, violent, but it's still an entertaining and wild anarchic ride.
  • AgentLexi2132
    October 6, 2009
    AgentLexi2132
    Photobucket

    ''Fuck off with your sofa units and strine green stripe patterns, I say never be complete, I say stop

    ...( read more)being perfect, I say let... lets evolve, let the chips fall where they may.''

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

    Edward Norton: The Narrator

    Brad Pitt: Tyler Durden

    Helena Bonham Carter: Marla Singer

    Fight Club is after looking past all the violence, extreme cinematographic techniques, computer-enhanced images, and other tricks Fight Club plays on us, we see another level to this film. It's a show about young men trying to find their place in society at the end of the 1990s.

    Edward Norton and Brad Pitt play a couple of typical guys in typical situations for men of their age, with no idea where to go with their lives. Okay, you can argue that Pitt's character isn't so typical, and that he has some idea what to do. I'd say he's only about a half-step ahead of Norton.
    Helena Bonam Carter also shines as Marla Singer, shes such a good actress and displays her fondness for roles which provide questions and deeper meanings, like her many unusual characters portrayed, Fight Club is another one of her esteemed choices, that redefined her career as an actress.
    It begins with nameless character, known in credits only as the Narrator, spiritually and physically beaten 30-year-old professional fighting insomnia and seeking a way to reconnect with the world, although I doubt he was ever properly connected to begin with. He is engaged in a losing battle with life he chose (although judging by his misery you would think somebody else chose it for him). Battle that's fought on modern day yuppie frontlines - corporate offices, airports, his expensive IKEA decorated condo, airline first class, business trips etc., and is in desperate need of something. He is essentially inside a materialist prison, a brain washed zombie clone in society,
    Watching from aside one would think that something is emotional comfort, meaning, love or a thing along those lines. Whatever it is, he seems to have found it, albeit briefly, in various disease support groups that he now starts to frequent pretending to have different ailment or disease for every day of the week. Listening to people, in some cases dying, open up about their problems gives him a visceral sense of freedom. Suddenly he can sleep and enjoy life again. "I let go. I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom", he reasons. Until,as fate would have it, Marla Singer strolls into his life and messes all of that up. She, you see, is also a pretender and the knowledge that another person like him is present at these meetings bothers our Narrator to the point that his insomnia returns.
    We also understand how Tyler invents his later apparent alter ego of sorts, when we re-watch. This being represented with quick flashes of his mental perception of himself coming forth. Later in Fight Club even these quick cuts are explained, giving an extra dimension to the film itself, a film within a film within a film, worlds within worlds.
    The story then shifts to the Narrator's relationship with a strange, confident individual named Tyler Durden with whom he hits it off on a plane during a business trip, soap and crashing arise in the conversation, a random friendship results, in which we learn more. Their bond intensifies, solidifies, then after Narrator returns home and finds his condo blown sky high as a result of an electrical malfunction. This act the first escape from the possessions and materialistic shackles confining him.
    Having no family or friends to turn to in a time of need, he calls Marla, hesitates, then calls Tyler before moving in with him in a boarded-up apocalyptic house. On Tyler's insistence they create a weekly fight club that starts up as a jealously guarded secret gathering, where a few young males can nurse their anxieties and frustrations by beating each other to a bloody pulp! Bingo! This is what Narrator has been looking for all his life, a release and escape from reality.

    ''This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time.''

    Norton & Pitt's characters, went through school, graduated college, and got normal, thoughtless jobs...jobs, not careers, because they felt it was expected of them, they in a way, conformed to society. Now they don't know what's expected of them. Their fathers are gone and can no longer tell them what to do. They've been confronted with opposing images of what constitutes a man all their lives: the cold, power-hungry yuppie, the sensitive, caring friend to the environment, the politician that cheats and lies to the people he represents, the attractive actors and models who don't seem to be capable of having an original thought.
    Like so many other viewers I found this a worthwhile movie to watch for about the first third. The film deals out some hard blows against modern consumer society, that could be called daring or even paradoxical for a high budget Hollywood production. The given thesis of relief and the chance to achieve self-discovery through violence, is inane as we allow it to be. As the story develops we see that the whole Fight Club thing leads the protagonists to become some sort of a terrorist organization, culminating in a series of attacks that obviously destroy a good part of the town in the end. Isn't that turning the whole point upside down, so that the message could be: Non conformity will inevitably lead to chaos and destruction, so please avoid any critical assumptions.
    In a way I felt that in the end the script-writer attempts to apologizes for the hard strokes dispersed in the dawn of the effort.

    They're finally coming to a point where they have to figure out what they want to do with their lives, or give up life by these images society presents them.

    ''Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.''

    Whether you're offended by the violence or not, you have to appreciate the symbolic importance of the conflict. You have to appreciate wanting to be someone else, and in the end, wanting to be simply just yourself. This is essentially what Fight Club is, an eternal battle with ones self, a culmination of struggle, and a release from the prison society creates for us. Fight Club is a revolution of the mind.

    ''It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.''

    Photobucket
  • SirPant
    September 16, 2009
    SirPant
    David Fincher?s adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk?s cult best seller has changed modern cinema forever. Not only has it raised the bar in editing and cinematography but it?s also stuck it?s two fingers up at lazy producers and the concept of the Blockbuster action movie. A movie has ...( read more)always got to make a profit, but it should never be the main drive behind a production. Fightclub opened up a lot of eyes in the industry as to what could be achieved. It?s also one of few productions that defied the critics by filming an ?Un-filmable book?, and to its credit, many young and gifted film-makers have followed suit and underground/Cult literature is finding its way into cinemas. Fincher had never really received the credit that was due him, even after the success of Seven. Now I think it?s safe to say he is in the top ten of best directors working today. Fightclub is a modern classic and an important, seminal masterpiece.
  • ogerre225
    August 31, 2009
    ogerre225
    Brilliant...I only wish they would have used real explosive recipes.
  • Passenger1986
    August 7, 2009
    Passenger1986
    Oh wow, what can I say about this movie? This movie is like The Wizard Of Oz/Gone With The Wind in the sense that a majority of the generation it was filmed in has seen it, embraced it, become one with it. At the same time, it's also like The Dark Knight of its year for being per...( read more)haps the most talked about movie, with everyone quoting it every chance they get (though I am sick to death of everyone quoting/writing questions on the first rule of Fight Club. By default, the new first rule should be "You do not overuse that quote or even use it at all unless you are actually talking about the goddamned movie).
    The biggest problem, however, comes really not from the movie itself but from the fact that since most people have seen it, there isn't much ground left to cover. So this review won't really be so much as an analysis of the film's deeper themes, mostly me commenting on the performances and other aspects.

    For those who haven't seen it (and I have at least ten friends on my list who haven't but want to), I'll try and keep spoilers to a minimum if I feel the need to cover anything that could be considered a spoiler. However, I will go by the assumption that the plot is common knowledge so I won't go into detail about it.

    What I do want to focus on are some of the performances in this film. Let's start with Edward Norton. The (initially) apathetic, insomniac narrator of the film who finds a new zest for life in the dealings of the Fight Club. I watched this movie when I was a lot younger than I am now (oddly enough, around the same time I was introduced to A Clockwork Orange which I will go into later in the review) and this was the first movie I saw with Edward (OK, a first for most of the talent involved but that's not the point) and, like in most films, he gives off an intense vibe, even when subdued. Almost like he's going to blow at any moment and it works really well for him (see the exact opposite in another of his best roles, in American History X, in which he starts off as a powder keg but becomes more tranquil). The guy is easily one of the most convincing actors in this day and age.

    For the record, I am not really a fan of Brad Pitt. Maybe it's not so much him but the hype surrounding him (plus, Angelina? Really Brad? She got your balls or something? Christ, if Tyler Durden could see you... but I digress). That being said, he's damn good here. A little more subdued than the narrator, his menace lies in his words, his charms. He's like a cult leader minus the promises of eternal love. In its place is a hatred of the comfortable nature mankind has just slumped into. I seem to enjoy Brad's work more when he works with Fincher so fingers crossed that The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button makes him a triple threat.

    And then we come to Helena Bonham Carter. I was really surprised to find out that she was an English actress after seeing this, her American accent is damn convincing. Helena is really on fire here, the sheer balls her character has (really amusing that she enters a group of men that have testicular cancer that she's the one with balls...) and her strong, domineering nature. She could almost be a positive role model (key word being almost. When it comes right down to it, very little of this film should be emulated).

    What attracts me to this movie is how unrelenting it is with its depiction of the violent acts. No stone unturned, no flinching away from the action, no, we as the audience are right there watching things unfold. That doesn't mean to say I'm going to go out and recreate the events myself but it's a bold move to see such things.

    With all that being said, and keeping in mind the controversy it generated, I still think A Clockwork Orange's Alexander DeLarge is a scarier human than Tyler Durden. When it boils down to the simplest form, Project Mayhem seems to be about freeing humanity from the shackles of comfort. It's about getting the human population to go back to their primal urges, a simple nature. It's anarchy with a goal, which is an oxymoron. Alexander DeLarge's motivation for doing what he does? He just wants to do it. That's all he needs. He wants to rape? He does. Burn down a school? If he desired it, he'd get his droogs and do so. Similar to the portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight, it's doing heinous acts almost for the sake of heinous acts. Violence without purpose will always be more dangerous than violence looking like a political statement. Why? Because you can give in to anarchy's demands, you can change things. But you can't reason with someone who's violent because they want to be. All you can do is cross your fingers and hope you're not in the line of fire.

    There's not much more I can say other than this movie is an unrelenting, unforgiving, unbelievable experience. Edward Norton's played a similar role in a movie he did years back (slight hint at the twist ending) but sometimes, cliches just click into place. When the author of the book its based on says the movie is superior, that's all the praise you need (having Meat Loaf in a supporting role is a nice little bonus too). Truly a modern day classic.
  • leon261
    November 23, 2009
    leon261
    isy eine sehr schonne fielm
  • sandraf12000
    November 21, 2009
    sandraf12000
    Great partnership between Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Love that movie
  • Sissylovesyou18
    November 20, 2009
    Sissylovesyou18
    I just want to see it cause its got Brad Pitt in there.
  • fluturash
    November 20, 2009
    fluturash
    i've seen it the second time recently (and that almost never happens). someone's influence made it seem even more appealing than it first was. i must admit it is a great movie. still... i am not the anarchist type. i do appreciate the effort. i liked the style and the ending.
  • firestarter142
    November 20, 2009
    firestarter142
    great movie we are the all singing all dancing crap of the world

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Comments

  • XeroStealer
    November 15, 2008
    XeroStealer
    Very, Very kickass movie. Favorite by far. It made me think twice about using soap too
  • aSpaceCowboy
    September 11, 2008
    aSpaceCowboy
    He's never been addressed by his real name in Fight Club. Though, he was credited as "The Narrator". ALSO: he was also referred to as Cornelius, Rupert, Tyler Durden, and Ozzy and/or Harry
  • Bats618
    September 1, 2008
    Bats618
    Anybody Know the name of Edward Norton's Character?
  • KeyserSoze93
    June 22, 2008
    KeyserSoze93
    Brilliant movie, maybe the most macho movie out there.
  • froboy93
    June 9, 2008
    froboy93
    For those of you who haven't read Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. Is missing out on a lot. The movie is awesome and is one thing, but the book is a whole level higher.
  • DramaQueenV
    May 26, 2008
    DramaQueenV
    For the Ten Year Anniversary of Fight Club, Fincher is planning to bring the movie to Broadway in the form of a musical.

    At first i thought this was a joke, i saw it on an interview with Jared Leto
    (http://youtube.com/watch?v=1PWyQc2DC4I)
    And thought that it was unreal. I then searched it on the internet and it does seem as if Fincher is serious about this.

    I'm really excited to see how they do this
    and how people will react.
  • tabogolz
    March 28, 2008
    tabogolz
    "the things you own end up owning you"
    this movie is a certified *ss kicker
  • Alexander666b
    March 26, 2008
    Alexander666b
    I agree with all of you, Fight Club is the best movie ever, and the best book, you should read it.
  • xXxHarleyxQuinnxXx
    February 12, 2008
    xXxHarleyxQuinnxXx
    ...and your too...BLOND!
  • jsfan101
    February 3, 2008
    jsfan101
    Milky Jared Leto plays Angel Face in this movie. The pretty Blond that Edward Norton beats up when he feels like breaking sometyhing beautiful.
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  • Reference:
    This movie references:
    Seven (Se7en) (1995)
    Three of the detectives in the film are named Detective Andrew, Kevin, and Walker. Andrew Kevin Walker wrote Se7en.
  • Fun Fact:
    Author Chuck Palahniuk thought the film version of Fight Club was better than his novel.
  • DVD Easter Egg:
    How to find it:
    Insert the second disc of the special edition (the one with all the extras). From the main menu, go to the 'Advertising' menu and press your remote control's arrow 'D...( read more)own' key three times until a smiley face appears right underneath the 'Promotional Gallery' entry. Press enter.
    What happens:
    You will be taken to a section where you can look at some of the official 'Fight Club' merchandise, which includes soap bars, t-shirts, bags and other promo items, al...( read more)l of them accompanied by amusing anecdotes.
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