Fight Club (1999)

Director:

David Fincher

Writers (WGA):

Chuck Palahniuk (novel)
Jim Uhls (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 October 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | 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:

Club | Fight | Office | Boxing | Clinic

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

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:

Fox 2000 Pictures

Trivia:

Edward Norton's apartment building, Pearson Towers, which he returns to at the beginning of the film to find his possessions strewn all over the sidewalk is actually Promenade Towers located at 123 South Figueroa in downtown Los Angeles. The apartment building's slogan in the movie is "A Place to be Somebody" while the actual apartment building's slogan is "A City in a City".

Goofs:

Continuity: In the first scene, when Tyler looks outside the window, the projector that lights his gun is on at first, but seconds later it's off, without anyone touching it.

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:

Referenced in Me, Myself & Irene (2000)

Soundtrack:

GIRL FROM YPSILANTI

A rare film that challenges the viewer to come up with his own interpretations

Faithfully following Chuck Palahniuk's acerbic satire, Fight Club presents the vast emptiness of modern existence- ridden as it is with shallow values, rampant consumerism, empty of meaning, feeling and life itself- in a slick and ironically consumer oriented fashion. In a different vein from American Beauty, Fight Club explores the solutions to the veritable sleepwalking existence that plagues modern life. The film is violent, but it is not gratuitous violence, and any reviewer who claims that the film is promoting violence has missed the entire point of the film. A very black comedy, it is sure to provoke much conversation- it is definitely a film to see with friends. The film is fast-paced, densely packed and merits a second viewing, just to take it all in, especially if you haven't read the book. In typical Fincher style, you the viewer are left to draw your own conclusions. He feels no impetus to tell you how to interpret what you've seen, appropriate since the film condemns falling victim to the strictures of what society tells us to think and to value. My only criticism is that the editing is not as tight as it could be in the middle section of the film, it drags just a bit then picks up again. Other than that, it should definitely be an Oscar contender.