Rating: 
Summary: anarchy, dark humor, and soap
Review: Kids, let's get right down to it: Fight Club is one of the best movies ever made. This is largely due to the genius behind the book, Chuck Palahniuk. Its also due to the genius of David Fincher who just keeps getting better (he's come so far since Madonna...). If you like this movie, get the DVD. If you don't like this movie, then you are probably one of the people this movie is about one way or another. One of the great stories of our time, I can't say that enough...This amazing movie becomes even better when you get to hear Pitt, Norton, and Fincher cracking jokes and relating fascinating stories about the filming of the movie. The commentary on this movie is great, much better than the average DVD. Get it now.
Rating:
Summary: AHHHH! THAT WAS GOOD!
Review: This is probably my number one favorite movie of all time. I first seen it in theater (which made me love it even more). Driving 75 miles to see it was truly worth it. It has been a long time since a movie truly captured my brain and got to cover nearly every genre in movies today. If you thought this movie was about a group of guys who just beat each other up....its not...sorry. Although somewhat confusing near the end, it truly becomes confusing once it's over. It really makes you think...and it's fun to come up with the theories of how the things came about. I strongly suggest this movie to everyone....well, maybe not the easily offended, sick to the stomach type of people...but everyone else. WATCH IT! BUY IT! PRAISE IT!
Rating:
Summary: breaking the first rule
Review: OK first off, if you want a movie that's just fighting and violence then this is not for you. But if you want a movie that's full of dark black humor and lines that will stay with us forever then you're in luck. Edward Norton is at his finest playing an insomniac who goes to support groups as a means to fall asleep, and later ends up creating his own (Fight Club). Along the way he runs into Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt's best role since True Romance) and that's when the fun really starts. I don't want to get to into it because that would ruin some great scenes but watch for a cameo by the lead singer of Live. The commentary is great with Edward Norton and David Fincher (Brad is pretty witty himself) but I could do without Helena Bonham Carter's commentary. She's too full of herself and I think that she had to do it seperatlly because the others hated her... that's what I think at least. The internet promos are cool, the public service announcements are to die for, plus the Spanish adds are cool. You can even see a few adds they geared towards women. There is a nice video for the Dust Brothers video (watch it after the movie) and pictures of the promo catalog that they gave out to hype the film. The booklet on how to start a fight is one of the few DVD booklets worth reading. All and all this is why they made DVD players, for all the bonus material. So much they made two discs.
Rating:
Summary: More than meets the eye
Review: There's more to this movie than what is on the surface, which I feel many Hollywood reviewers simply missed, or didn't understand. On the outside, this movie is full of sex and violence and cussing and all the things we teach our kids to stay away from until they're.. well, at least 40. Yet, this movie brings to life, on the underside, the trials and tribulations that the 20-something males of this world, and this country in particular, face from day to day.Don't be fooled into believe this is a movie showing Brad Pitt and Edward Norton standing in a ring throwing punches at one another. Agreed, fighting does have a play in the movie, but the title of the movie doesn't do the movie any justice. Quite simply, I find this to be an absolutely amazing movie and I loved every second of it. The moment I finished watching the rented VHS I jumped on here and ordered it immediately, and I've never been sorry for doing so. A must-see for everyone, particularly the younger males of this world.. and do try looking past the hype and glamour to what the true meaning of the film holds.
Rating: 
Summary: American Beauty on Steroids
Review: I recently saw two movies about middle class crisis: American Beauty and Fight Club. Fight Club's better. Both are about middle class men getting just a little disillusioned with their lives. Both document a descent into rebellion and insanity. America Beauty does this by providing us with a timid, watered down "Surrealism, Unplugged" glimpse that attempts to redeem itself by taking itself far too seriously. Fight Club does this by punching you square in the nose - definitely the choice for people who aren't afraid of having their sensibilities challenged. It's nice to see a movie that doesn't pull its punches, and it was refreshing to see that this movie was nothing like what the title would imply. It is further gratifying to see all the confused people who take the rebellion seriously, just as it was fun to see others wet themselves out of fear that their beliefs might be challenged. Ultimately, Fight Club (as well as American Beauty) is about the self-absorption that comes of realizing that things aren't working, and the inevitable purile fantasies of rebellion and revenge that follow. The directing was fantastic, showing quite a bit more originality and creativity than that provided by a bed of rose petals, and the acting was spot-on. The only downside to this movie was the ending that took itself almost as seriously as American Beauty, attempting to give a logical explanation to everything, rather than leaving what came before as the cartoon that it really needs to be. Kind of like this review. And, oh yeah, I nearly peed myself, I laughed so hard. This was just a fun, in-your-face funny movie. That's the real point isn't it?
Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly the best film ever made....
Review: ...An outrageous claim, i know, but this is one outrageous movie. Cast away any notions that this is a gratuitously violent film - as many reviews will have you believe - and ponder on the fact that this is perhaps as much about fighting as 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' is about motorcycle maintenance. Yes, there are some rather graphic scenes of fists and blood, but this is merely one part of the complex story that makes up this sensational bit of cinema. Without going into too much detail: Ed Norton [brilliant] is having serious trouble sleeping, and this is the basis for all the mayhem that ensues. This film ought to have you utterly absorbed by the orderly chaos that is Norton's life, which - with a generous dosing of laughter, shock, violence, and stabs at society - builds up to a mind-blowing climax. And that is the best part. The ending. Whereas with '6th Sense' the twist destroys the entire movie, here the climax is truly that. Up until the end this film is excellent. And then it becomes brilliant. Outstanding. Watch this film the first time, and find yourself dazed, as if from a heavy right hook. Watch it a second time to check for flaws. And i think you will find there are none. This DVD also contains various commentaries that make the whole experience even better. You cannot purchase a more worthwhile DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: I now use this film as a single-serving character gauge:
Review: Those that like it aren't worth talking to. I do ask Fight Club fans a question - have they ever had the crap beaten out of them? I mean REALLY had the crap beaten out of them. The film's premise might seem a lot less valid if one has been in such a situation. This move is for dumb little boys (and sadly, some dumb little girls) who haven't had a hard enough life. To give credit where it's due, Ed Norton's performance was wonderful.
Rating: 
Summary: A swing and a miss
Review: A preacher once prayed, "Lord, please give me a good sermon to go with this joke." Likewise, I can imagine Fight Club's writer praying for a good movie to go with his plot twist. But if this was his prayer, it went unanswered. Meet "The Narrator," played masterfully by Ed Norton, who is a deeply troubled young man working for a major auto manufacturer assessing whether recalls on defective auto parts will exceed the cost of all the lawsuits that could result. The Narrator initially has two problems, an insatiable materialism and insomnia, the latter of which he eases by going to various self-help groups for afflictions he doesn't actually have, ranging from testicular cancer to brain parasites. Once he allows himself to cry at a meeting, he can finally sleep again. But trouble rises further when The Narrator meets Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter), another fraud in the support group racket. The Narrator is unable to focus at the groups in her presence, being reminded of his own lie. Marla, looking like a rejected kewpie doll, agrees to attend on different nights so as not to disturb him. The tone of sexual confusion is obvious even this far into the movie, from characters such as Bob (Meat Loaf Aday), who has lost his testicles and since developed breasts. If it sounds like I'm describing a new Woody Allen movie, just read on. Enter soap salesman Tyler Durden, portrayed by a rougher tougher Brad Pitt doing his 12-Monkeys schtick. The two meet on an airplane and it becomes immediately apparent what is brewing: Tyler is everything The Narrator isn't. He's rugged, handsome, and very bold with his words, spouting off the post-modernist nihilism that this movie aspires to. After a very brief and witty exchange, Tyler leaves The Narrator with only a business card. It's not long before these two friends are reunited. The Narrator returns to his apartment to find that it has exploded in his absence, and homeless, he calls Tyler and they go out for a beer. Their night out ends in the parking lot with Tyler telling The Narrator, "I want you to hit me as hard as you can." And thus is born the Fight Club. It begins with only The Narrator and Tyler, but quickly it expands to include hundreds of men in many franchises across the country. Their motive? Simple: To beat the piss out of each other in order to experience a realness they can't get anywhere else. Apparently it's only in pain that we are truly aware of ourselves. Things quickly turn south, however. Tyler starts a lecherous relationship with Marla, troubling The Narrator deeply. And then the Fight Club itself gets skewed when the men who were once only adrenaline-filled over-grown boys fighting it out turn militant, joining Tyler's ultra-secret "Project Mayhem" team. They all live in Tyler's dilapidated house and perform various assignments from destroying corporate art and franchise coffee bars, to urinating in restaurant-goer's soup and inserting porn clips into children's movies at the theatre, with Tyler continuously spewing his anti-capitalistic philosophy all over the audience's lap. The members of Project Mayhem feel as though they are at last real individuals, although they are engaging in mindless cult-like activities. Circumstances begin to spin out of control, and just when you think the plot couldn't be any more derailed, enter The Gratuitous Plot Twist, that staple of recent flicks, to shock (trick) the audience into thinking this is a deep and enigmatic movie. Deep? Enigmatic? I'm not buying it, friends. What director David Fincher (Seven, The Game) and writer Chuck Palahnuik have created is in my opinion art for the sake of being artistic. While some critics would hail this as genius, don't be taken in. It is much more difficult to write a real story with real characters. It is much more difficult to tell a story that is supposed to be believable rather than one that is almost entirely symbolic. Films such as Fight Club take the easy way out by exploring surreal themes - if it's uncharted and undefined, then how can they do it wrong? They can rest assured that it will appeal to at least one underground coterie. The real challenge would have been for Fincher and Palahnuik to delve into the topics of masculinity and nihilism from a more traditional story format. If an avant-garde movie such as Fight Club is to be given credence, it needs to be superbly beyond superb. And, alas, Fight Club, while containing some good one-liners and excellent acting, never gets off the ground despite taking a giant leap. The average movie-goer will wonder what this film is supposed to be. A commentary on manhood? Mr. Mom did a better job. Is it a comedy as Palahnuik himself suggests? I'm not laughing. Is it a moral critique? I hope not - "capitalism is bad, but urinating in soup and putting porn in Cinderella is good,"? I don't want to take everything away from the film - there were certainly some clever aspects. For one, Tyler's home-made soap is fashioned from human fat, which he sells to high-end department stores. What we have then is people reveling (washing) in their own refuse (fat), Tyler's main message throughout the movie. And the acting is not to be questioned, but would we expect otherwise from Norton and Pitt? Unfortunately, though, Fight Club seems to fall on the very grounds on which it tries to stand - what it attempts to say is undermined by what it actually is. It is nothing more than a product of the very attitudes it aspires to spurn in the film. Overdone visual effects, gratuitous violence, unabashed sex scenes - does this sound like the movie of a true reformer or a good ol' boy looking for fun on a Saturday night? It's very hard to take the movie's message seriously, especially when it makes the trendy accusation against materialistic values, but only offers fascist ideals in their stead. I don't think Fight Club is going to produce any proselytes to its counterfeit grown-up suggestions, since one would almost have to already be a cemented nihilist to sit through it. But it should be enough to trick a few intellectuals into thinking that they alone bear the burden of "getting it." I fear Fight Club is destined to become nothing more than a scar on Fincher's otherwise excellent resume.
Rating:
Summary: A great movie all the way through!
Review: This movie was absolutely awesome. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole movie, trying to figure it out, and at the end I fell off of my seat. Brad Pitt plays a great villain, and Edward Norton does a great job as Mr. Rational...
Rating:
Summary: Cinematic Perfection!
Review: GENIUS! .... if it were even remotely possibly to capture the artistic brilliance of this cinematic masterpiece in a word (as feeble an attempt it may be), it would have to be CLEVER. One can not even begin to describe this film without failing to do it well-deserved justice. Unjustly promoted as a typical Hollywood sell-out action flick, starring Brad Pitt, I never had any intention of seeing Fight Club. The only potential element of redemption I foresaw in it at all, was my appreciation for Edward Norton's extraordinary talent. Fearful of losing respect for Norton as an actor, I braved the potential cinematic disappointment after receiving a positive review from a respected movie buff friend of mine. Skeptically, I entered the theatre, unaware of what would prove to be significantly different from what I was led to expect. What instead unfolded before me was a divine delivery of unusually witty dialogue, biting dark humor, exceptional acting (surprisingly, even from Brad Pitt), hilariously insightful narration, a remarkably original script, phenomenal directing, ingenious filming and inventive imagery, as well as a wonderfully complimentary soundtrack, collectively juxtaposed in rare harmonic perfection. Cleverly shocking, Fight Club unravels as a brilliant satire of modern civilization as well as a disturbing poke at the mundaneness of a consumerist existence. Iconoclastic in it's portrayal of our cultural conventions and values, the philosophy entertained in this movie challenges our most basic beliefs and assumptions about reality. The bland and insignificant Jack, personifies repression and dissatisfaction with existence, while the irreverant and radically anarchistic enigma, Tyler Durden, personifies reckless freedom and intensity of experience. These dangerous extremes, on both personal and social levels (capitalism vs. fascism), are shown in a critical light. The riveting and refreshingly unpredictable plot leave intelligent viewers both amazed and bewildered, intensely satisfied with the quality of cinema displayed. As for the author, Jack Palahniuk, how is that working out for you, being clever?
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