Fight Club

Rating:
Summary: Not 6.1 Sound and about an hour too long......
Review: I purchased this special edition thinking it would have 6.1 sound to drive my rear speakers. Even though many sites indicate there is 6.1 sound, it is not so. This movie runs about an hour too long. The twist is given away early in the movie on the airplane "Hey, I have the same briefcase". I found this movie boring and resold it used, at a minimal loss. I could barely make it through the movie and did not waste any time on the commentaries. This rates with The Mexican on my sleep list. Seven is much better and has much better sound....

Rating:
Summary: A guy's movie, but a must have for anyone
Review: Well I love Chuck Palahniuk's work and this is an awesome transition from a novel to a film. Dialogue still intact, even though the story line is slightly altered. Actors succeed in bringing Chucks' characters to life and so does the Director in creating the world of Tyler Durden. Amazing book that leads to an amazing movie

Rating:
Summary: Fight Club
Review: This is one of my favorite movies. The cinematography in great. And the story is even better. This movie messes with your head in a way that most movies out there cannot and will not. I had to watch it a couple of times before I understood it, and to tell you the truth I still don't completely get it--but it still kicks ass. I WANT YOU TO HIT ME AS HARD AS YOU CAN.

Rating:
Summary: a study in contrasts
Review: This movie has become my favorite. I first saw it on pay-per-view a few years ago, and found it so interesting that I watched it three times that day. I've never done that before, and haven't since.

I like the fact that the movie has so many layers. Its "in your face" but its also subtle. I'm watching it again and after about the 8th time, I still see details and nuances that I've missed before - but not because I haven't noticed them in a "oh gee, look at that" kind of way. I missed them because they were intentionally MADE hard to see. Difficult to understand? Not really, more in the way of "I've never seen that in a movie before so it can't be happening now" kind of way. Except in this movie, it IS being shown that way.

Lots and lots of scenes, situations, and dialog are just plain unexpected. Off the wall, yes. But also (I hate to use this word because it sounds so "film-class 101") profound. Yes, this movie has profound moments.

If you've become addicted to this movie like I have, you have your own favorite moments in the movie, and these define you and your character at times.

I like the way contrasting views on so many topics are expressed by the "dual starring personalities". The twist of just who these people Really are, well that remains there in the background, tweaking your brain cells. Tweaking MY brain cells, anyway.

If another movie supplants this one as my favorite, I'll return to this forum and alter my story, but otherwise, I'm sticking to it.

Rating:
Summary: I want you to hit me as hard as you can
Review: David Fincher, hands down is one of my favorite Directors working in film. Seven,The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room and even Alien 3(The script sucked, wasnt his fault)are examples of how a Great Director can make or break a Film. Finchers style fits Palahniuk's visions perfectly from Novel to Film. Im not going to rehash the plot here but pick this one up if you havent already. In fact grab anything by Fincher, he rarely dissapoints you, even if the material he is working with is sub-par. Fight Club isnt though and he parades us through Edward Norton's world of insomniac laden malcontent, a lifestyle of the 90's male stereotype. "We are a generation of Men raised by women." Tyler tells us, raised in a era of Divorce and materialism.Youre not your f*&(n khaki's! Still though, Buy it now!

Rating:
Summary: This is your life. and its ending one mitute at a time
Review: This is my favorite all time movie. its the best move. its basicly about.. u know wat its....i dont know just agreat inspiring moveie

Rating:
Summary: Brad Pitt Sizzles In His Greatest Film Role To Date!
Review: Fight Club. Wow, what more can I say? It has to be one of the greatest films I have ever seen in my whole life for so many amazing reasons. It is a brilliantly-acted, superbly-portrayed, beautifully captured, complex masterpiece that was easily the film of 1999. Forget the Matrix and Star Wars for a minute and watch this. You'll soon see that special effects aren't everything and that all you need is a mind-blowing script like the one on display here to make a seismic impact. The film is riddled with dark humor and sharp quotes, violent action and emotional turmoil all of which result in the demise of one man's descent into madness as the approaching millennium beckons. Upon its release the film made a big impact by word-of-mouth, but was harshly snubbed by many award show judges. In the past five years, however, it has gone on to become an uncalculated masterpiece of the highest order that not only appeals to a wide audience, but teaches a strict lesson about the fabrication and consumer-obsessed society that we live in.

Edward Norton plays Jack, a man on the verge of being the biggest loser in the world. With no friends or family and stuck in a dead-end job, he turns to victim support groups. The man suffers terrible insomnia and feeds off the depression that the other group members pour forth. His apartment later explodes, forcing him to turn to a man whom he first meets on a plane...

The man is of course Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and in all his cocky arrogance and fast-paced way of life makes a big impression on Jack. Tyler is the complete embodiment of the guy who is bad, but we love him because of it. He steals fat from liposuction clinics which he makes into soap, before selling it back to the rich and fat ladies it once came from; urinates in the soup of the restaurant in which he works; and splices single frames of pornography into family movies. He has one main motivation in life: to disrupt social ethics and the way in which we live our lives. The people with the typical SUV, the 2.4 children and the idyllic lifestyle that everyone wants.

The two man are complete opposites - day and night, as it were. Jack moves in with Tyler when his place is destroyed, and soon finds his life completely changing. When Jack gets talked into a fight with Tyler, he is amazed by how raw and primal he feels from inside. And the rest is history. "Fight Club" is formed, a secret underground society where men meet, one-on-one prepared to go head to head bare-knuckles style. The first rule of Fight Club is: "You do not talk about Fight Club." The second rule is the same. You get the picture.

Helena Bonham Carter is really fantastic as Marla, who is another fake visiting social victim groups when she meets Jack. She drives him crazy, and the rest of the plot is pretty much too hard for me to explain. I've only seen this film twice, bt I still have a hard time explaining what lies beneath it. The genius at work, director David Fincher, has created an intricate and glowing masterpiece that unfortunately gained a reputation as a guy-film because of the violence. It's anything but, and I encourage anyone who enjoys films such as American Beauty to watch it - not for the violence, but for the lesson you'll undoubtedly learn from society's fabrication.

You can't really watch this film without seeing how beautifully-filmed it is. Filled with dark and brooding colours and tones of blues and blacks, we get a perfect view of the society in which Tyler and Jack inhabit. Most of the scenes take place at night and the run-down city just reflects the storyline completely. There's also the eye-candy on offer: I don't want to sound cliché, but Brad Pitt is just so beautiful in this film! There isn't a hotter man alive on the face of the Earth, and this factor alone makes it worth watching a million times, especially the scenes where he's in the bathtub, bedroom, dressing gown, etc. Yum yum!

OVERALL GRADE: 10/10

Fight Club was criticised because of its violence, but for me I can't really see what a fuss people were making of it. Yeah, it deserved its rating and it's not suitable for children, but I truly believe that there's nothing stomach-churning in this film that would make the faint-hearted squeamish! The film makes an impact right from the start and Jack's smart narration is a part of this completely. I haven't revealed the twist that this movie contains, but it's really smart and very well-done. Without knowning what this twist is, you might think that this is just another movie, but you'd be wrong. View it for what it is: a sharp and bright look at society and the ways in which we are told to live.

Rating:
Summary: Free In All The Ways You Are Not...
Review: A real twisted, thought provoking, psychiatric thriller yet I cannot help being entertained by this movie. Both Brad Pitt and Ed Norton play their parts beautifully along with a comical, interesting script and some rather interesting facts and ideas.

In every sense, 'Fight Club' excels. It's visually stunning, the cast is superb, the screenplay, directing, Fincher's fingertip touch of adapting the book, the novel itself; it's all a masterpiece and a brilliant observation of todays society and the struggles of defining yourself as a man. Fight club works in every way; as a clever, entertaining movie - as an important forum of discussion - as a remarkable music video etc etc.

The first time I saw it, I felt weird, unsure of the movie's quality. It took me a few times to fully realize the meaning of this film, and when I did, I immediately bought it on DVD. Fight Club makes you think, and above all, makes you direct your thinking in ways you haven't previously thought.

With a mind blowing conclusion, this film cannot get any better, but remember - you do not talk about Fight Club!

Rating:
Summary: Most people miss the point... Including Roger Ebert
Review: I went to see Fight Club the first Saturday it opened only because Ed Norton was in it and I was impressed with his contribution to "Rounders" - I hade never heard of Norton before seeing "Rounders". In any event, the theatre was half filled with "Twenty-Something" guys apparently looking for a some violent orgiastic 'dust-up'. Many of the youngsters left when they discovered that was not the idea of the film. True, there are several scenes of pugilistic mayhem BUT, in my opinion, most people miss the whole idea. The movie is purely symbolic ... bear with me here... The story is actually about the 'Feminization of the American Male' and the movie is a very effective though cloaked response. I do not want to spoil the fun in uncovering the often times very clever symbolism so I will offer only two examples. The first is the character played by Meatloaf who is a member of the 'testicular cancer support group'. Meatloaf's character is plainly a male becoming defacto feminized as evidenced by his growth of breasts from the hormone imbalance induced from having his testicles removed. Of course his emasculation is from disease and not politics or the despicable 'Political Correctness' movement. A second humorous episode is the apparent vandalism of rolling a giant bronze sphere "statue" in down a hill through the front glass of a "fern bar". There are DOZENS of subtle, not so subtle, and hilarious symbolic offerings.
A person could EASILY write a lengthy, dry and self-important facetiously erudite exploration of the why and wherefores of the 'Feminization of the American Male' in an attempt to "spell it all out" for the dummies but Fight Club dispenses with all of that. The movie is truly not an indictment of a societies need to tame if not 'domesticate' the American Male. It simply explores how slowly moving cultural attitudes can catch the less circumspect off guard and, well, drive them nutz - literally and figuratively. I was truly disappointed by Ebert's review of the movie (to whom I usually pay attention) when he described Fight Club as 'Homosexual sado-masochism' - Caused me to wonder what kind of weird stuff he has living in his closet.
Fight Club ranks in importance with A Clockwork Orange as social commentary but, in my opinion, is much more subtle and sophisticated. Regards,

Rating:
Summary: "The things you own end up owning you..."
Review: "We are consumers. We are victims of a lifestyle obsession."

I won't explain or run through the whole plot of the movie, but I would like to discuss some important points (SPOILERS AHEAD): Jack (Edward Norton) works in automotive insurance. His job consists of flying all over the world to take pictures of horrifying traffic accidents that were usually caused by a defect in the car that was his company's mistake. Jack is also an insomniac, and he feels that no one truly listens or pays attention to him. He begins to go to grief groups and support groups for diseases and conditions he doesn't have, like testicular cancer and tuberculosis. No one really listens to Jack until they think he is dying, and with his new feeling of acceptance he can finally sleep well. But then a woman named Marla (Helena Bonham Carter) shows up at all the same groups and Jack knows she isn't sick either. Her lie reflects his lie and once again he cannot sleep. Jack is totally fed up with everything wrong in the world (materialism, big business, falsity in advertising, etc.) and creates an alternate personality named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) that acts out his anarchistic self-destructive fantasies. If you watch the movie closely you can see little flashes on the screen of Tyler before Jack and him actually "meet", because Tyler was a part of Jack's psyche all along. Jack and Tyler beat each other up all the time in order to get out their violence, sexual frustration, and natural male anger. When this idea catches on and attract other men with similar backgrounds, the fights are done weekly and it is called Fight Club. The members of Fight Club also receive missions that reflect Tyler's anti-social attitude. Tyler's ideas and philosophies are well-respected and he achieves a cult-like status. Fight Club eventually evolves into Project Mayhem which is far more serious and dangerous. When Bob, a man Jack met at the testicular cancer support group gets shot and killed on a mission serving Project Mayhem, Jack gets his first wake up call. His and Tyler's foolish little missions have resulted in the death of a man. Jack begins to realize his "friendship" with Tyler is disintegrating as Tyler takes control and kind of leaves Jack behind. Tyler's "empire" of Project Mayhem begins to spread all over the country and Jack realizes that it needs to be stopped before the anarchistic behavior takes over. He confronts Tyler and they literally fight each other for the dominant personality. Jack eventually rids himself of Tyler-- with a bullet to the head. Jack doesn't die, but the shock of the bullet to his head destroys his alternate personality (I don't know if this is possible in real life). Jack knows that it is only natural to have evil thoughts and ideas, but to act them out physically harms other people and threatens their right to live.

"Most importantly, I am free in all the ways you are not."

This film was the inspiration for my High School research paper on the dangers of materialism. While some of the philosophy of the film may not be agreeable to some, they are certainly thought-provoking and demand you to step back and take a look at the bigger picture.

"His name is Robert Paulson."

"Fight Club" is an amazing film that provides great questions to the viewer. While some viewers may not agree with all of it's ideas and philosophies, I would reccomend it to everyone. Also check out the book of the same title by Chuck Palahnuik, and if you decide to buy it try to find the out-of-print 2-disc special edition that has been reviewed here. The special features are interesting and plentiful. Multiple commentaries, special effects vignettes, trailers and the awesome PSA's, etc. There are some great Easter Eggs, too! It's one of the best DVD's I own and is comparable to Criterion collection movies.

"Slide."