Fight Club (1999)

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:

Club | Fight | Office | Boxing | Car Crash

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)
El club de la pelea (Argentina) (Mexico) [es]
Fight Club (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Бойцовский клуб (Russia) [ru]
аНИЖНБЯЙХИ йКСА (Russia) [ru]
Borilacki klub (Serbia) [sr]
Clube da Luta (Brazil) [pt]
Clube de Combate (Portugal) [pt]
Dövüs kulübü (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
El club de la lucha (Spain) [es]
Fight Club (Greece) [el]
Fight Club (Austria) [de]
Fight Club (Denmark) [da]
Harcosok klubja (Hungary) [hu]
Klub bitkárov (Slovakia) [sk]
Klub boraca (Croatia) [hr]
Klub rvácu (Czech Republic) [cs]
Podziemny krag (Poland) [pl]

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 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:

Fox 2000 Pictures

Trivia:

In conjunction with director David Fincher, first time director of photography Jeff Cronenweth decided to shoot the film using spherical lenses instead of the more common anamorphic lenses. This was primarily because many scenes where to be shot on practical locations using practical lighting, which wouldn't provide enough luminosity for an anamorphic lens to capture the image (anamorphic lenses require more light that spherical lenses for correct exposure). The disadvantage of shooting with spherical lenses is that the negative has to be blown up for the extraction process (unlike an anamorphic negative), meaning that the final print has a grainier texture than that shot using anamorphic. However, both Fincher and Cronenweth felt that this extra grain actually suited the tone of the film, and no attempts were made to clean it up or reduce it in the post-production process.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: At the end of the movie, while the narrator is sitting in the chair and Tyler is holding a gun, Tyler lights up a takes out a cigarette out of a pack, flips it with his fingers and puts it in his mouth. In a real situation, no cigarette packs are packed tobacco side up, so some say the pack Tyler was using had to be pre-packed for the shot. However, some smokers flip a single cigarette upside down and leave it in the pack until it is the last one left. this is known as a "wish smoke". It is possible that Tyler/writers/director did this on purpose given the situation.

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 The Invisible Man (1933)

Soundtrack:

SVARGA

Probably the best movie of the decade

After watching this movie I was totally filled with enthusiasm. Fight Club is definitly Fincher's best movie even better than se7en. It's not only the story but the optics which fascinated me. When I had seen it for the second time I could see this movie with the knowledge of the conclusion which is really fascinating as you'll see Fight Club in a totally different perspective. Also great about Fight Club is its soundtrack performed by the Dust Brothers and especially the song 'Where is my mind' by the Pixies which really fit to the end of the movie. Unfortunately Fight Club didn't have much success in Germany but anyway the movie got best reviews of the German press. I also have to mention the brilliance of Ed Norton and Brad Pitt who plays best in roles in which he performs the villain. But it's quiet amazing what Edward Norton is able to do - he is just overwhelming. For that role he has to get the oscar.