Fight Club 1999

Oops, I guess you can say that, yes, I am aware I am breaking the first two rules initiated. But, fuck it! Fight Club sets out to break the rules. This classic about the Narrator, an insomniac who meets an odd but very cool soap salesman, named Tyler Durden, is fucking amazing in every single way! Once the narrator's apartment burns down, he begins to live with Durden, where soon, they create a secret fight club taken place under grounds. One of the coolest part about the movie is that not only does fight club become a favoured ground but it additionally ends up becoming a movement.

I think that Fight Club is such a hilarious; quotable; intense; brutal; and intelligent film. The cinematography is amazing but don’t even get me started on the script. The concept is intelligent in every single way. This movie is quotable af, and Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, and Helena Bonham Carter completely epitomize their characters. So much talent in one film. It isn’t even just them but the supporting characters, too.

Fight Club demonstrates such a bleak and raw portrayal of human society. The narrator has such a dull life and relentlessly desires more, therefore, creating the imaginary Tyler Durden, whom, to quote the man, “All the ways you wish you could be, that’s me. I look like you wanna look, I fuck like you wanna fuck, I am smart, capable and most importantly, I am free in all the ways you are not.” The film teaches the audience that people should allow to accept their authentic selves. We are not special in this world. “Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need” (Tyler Durden), being cool and edgy, owning fancy clothes, and having a nice home and a kick-ass car does not make us special. And Fight Club completely mocks that utilizing it in the Durden’s “masculinity.” In this film, we learn to just wake tf up and take a look at the reality around us. No one is special and in the end, the movie just portrays the bleak and brutal, dark side of reality in which Durden faces; death. The narrator is left with a chance to start all over.

I remember not liking it all that much when I first saw it, but I can’t for the life of me remember my own reasoning for that.
Now it’s my favourite film.
That’s kinda interesting in its own right, as this is such a Gen X movie, which I’m not a part of. It’s a movie that to me seems to delve into the general sentiment about a lack of direction/purpose and ideals to strive towards this generation was feeling around the time, which I don’t think directly translates to Millennials or Gen Z.
Yet, because the writing is so compelling and rich, it’s still engaging from beginning to end. Its themes are not dated in the slightest, and have only become more and more relevant as time went on.
It has 3 great characters at the center, fantastic and tight storytelling ( the twist is genius ) with lots of sharp and poignant dialogue, and Fincher is on top of his directing game.
The cinematography and score are both raw, dirty and disgusting, and I mean that in the best possible way.
It’s also quite challenging in the way it analyzes masculinity and its place in our modern, capitalist society. None of that is handed to you on a plate, you have to put some thought into its ideological messaging, otherwise you might very well get to the wrong conclusion.
It may not be the most accessible film on first viewing, but the film will open up on a second viewing, because your entire perspective as a viewer is completely different.

10/10

The Five Emojis of Fight Club:

:heart_eyes:
Helena Bonham Carter in what should be considered a career defining role; totally stealing the show in a part that should have been bigger.
Brad Pitt in one of his more colorful and memorable performances.
Edward Norton is a great lead, with his narration carrying the plot forward; it takes most of the movie before his performance turns to his usual explosive self as his character is pushed aside from the spotlight.
Loads of great and quotable dialogue.
The primary cast is small, but the caharcters are distinct and fleshed out.
Fight Club only gets properly interesting in its final hour, once it picks up on both speed and intensity.
As the fight club turns into the maniac cult Project Mayhem things truly take a turn for worse and spin out of control, and this is where the film excels.
The big twist smacks you right in the face but is perfectly logical and oh so powerful.
Memorable and truly amazing climactic sequence. It does a lot to actually improve the final product.
:smiley:
Visually, it's playful and creative, with most of the CGI still holding up today.
Varied and shifting storytelling keeps the film interesting.
Director David Fincher takes his sweet time to truly create deep characters and a gritty world, but the plot itself takes only minor steps forward.
The greatest scenes are those few ones that are riddled with dark humor and irony as well as the actual fight club parts.
Jared Leto in a small put surpringly interesting role.
Great visual and character directing from Fincher.
:neutral_face:
Most of the narration is kind of hit and miss.
Takes a good while to get interesting, and another good while to actually go anywhere.
There is a lack of real tension until the very end and it feels like the movie just floats between different genres until the twist towards the end.
That ending is a bit meh.
Perfectly watchable once, but there is little here to enjoy on further viewings, apart from the final hour.
:frowning2:
It kind of forgets its main plot for huge chunks of the film.
The lack of plot progression in the first hour is frustrating.
I find no deeper meaning in violence as a way to deal with stress and depression, and if there are deeper layers to this film, they are definitely lost in the midst of the confusing narration.
:face_vomiting:

Final Emoji: :smiley:

David Fincher's 'Fight Club' has become a cultural phenomenon since its release, with its iconic characters, witty dialogue and unique storytelling. The film tells the story of a man experiencing an existential crisis who creates a movement, and it is elevated by the dynamic performances of Edward Norton and Brad Pitt as unlikely partners, and Helena Bonham Carter as the quirky Marla Singer. The film's originality, part-time drama, part-time dark comedy, and its themes of existentialism, masculinity and consumerism have made it a timeless classic. While the film may feel a bit dated at times, it's undeniable that 'Fight Club' has left an indelible mark on cinema and pop culture.

'Fight Club' de David Fincher se ha convertido en un fenómeno cultural desde su lanzamiento, con sus personajes icónicos, diálogos ingeniosos y narraciones únicas. La película cuenta la historia de un hombre que experimenta una crisis existencial que crea un movimiento, y se eleva con las actuaciones dinámicas de Edward Norton y Brad Pitt como socios poco probables, y Helena Bonham Carter como la peculiar Marla Singer. La originalidad de la película, el drama a tiempo parcial, la comedia negra a tiempo parcial y sus temas de existencialismo, masculinidad y consumismo la han convertido en un clásico atemporal. Si bien la película puede parecer un poco anticuada a veces, es innegable que 'Fight Club' ha dejado una marca indeleble en el cine y la cultura pop.

It's fine. It's very fine. Edward Norton and Brad Pitt do what they need to, with charismatic and despicable performances that are the same and different in all the right ways. There's some inspired cinematography and an electric energy to Fincher's directing; the man did not phone it in by any means. It's just not quite as smart as it wants to be.

Fight Club falls prey to the biggest pitfall any satire or cautionary tale must avoid: glamorizing what it wants to condemn. Of course the point of the film is to criticize Durden's toxic masculinity and cynicism, but those aspects get far more attention than the narrator's path to redemption. Perhaps if more time was paid to his relationship with Marla, if we really saw how they connected and the benefits of him letting his walls down and being vulnerable, or if we got more showing us and less telling us that giving in to these urges did not make the narrator truly happy but left him hollow, its themes would hit harder.

But the titular fight club and all the vices related to it, the cynicism and bitterness that breeds it, get far more attention than what it takes to get out of it. In a sense I can't blame the audience members who took the wrong message- it is a failing of the film. I'm reminded of American Psycho, which in my opinion did a far better job conveying the pathetic and empty insipidness and emptiness of the protagonist and the time and system that birthed him.

I can't say this is a bad film, but I can't say it's a great one, either. It gains some great momentum as it propels towards the end- for some reason I was under the impression before watching that the famous twist was more of an unconfirmed theory a la the one for Ferris Bueller- but it's set up very well and adds a level of intrigue to the film, making many scenes more fascinating by the reveal, and I respect the film more for committing to it. But on a whole, the film revels too much in its subject to be an effective warning for those it wants to reach, and for those already on its message's side edgy lines like "We used to read pornography- now it's the Horchow Collection" or constant mention of 'man tits' may get more chuckles, eye rolls, or sighs out of you than deep thought. I'm not sure who this movie is for, but I am sure it's not me. In the end, Fight Club is not a movie that'll stick with me. I'll have no trouble obeying its first rule.

I didn't enjoy this, pretty much at all, but still kinda appreciate how it all comes together. It's a weird one for me.

Overall, 'Fight Club' underwhelmed me. I actually knew very little before viewing it, despite hearing about it on a surface level for years and years; well, one 'regulatory' part of it anyway. It's much deeper than I had expected. Unfortunately, I didn't find entertainment with any of it - it was, to be honest, a slog to sit through.

The only scene I can remember enjoying is the very last one, and I don't mean that negatively because the end shot is terrific. It's just everything that comes before didn't do anything for me. Yet, I still rate its intentions. It did keep me guessing amidst my, near, boredom and the 'event' is a good one on paper. It just failed to connect on me in actuality.

Brad Pitt is good as Tyler, though the likes of Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter give meh performances in my opinion. Meat Loaf is interesting, I guess, as Bob.

I'm evidently in the extreme minority with my thoughts, each to their own, but I honestly didn't get into it sadly. As noted, though, I still partially rate it weirdly. 6* feels harsh, so I give it 7*.