Fight Club discussion (Spoilers)

[scorsetinogilliam]

Originally Posted by Blu-Benny

that's why i want to give it another try. hopefully i can see why everyone likes this movie so much!!!

after i get a chance to sit down and watch it, i'll be back to post what i think!!

and B the W, the only thing better than bad boys 2 is transformers 2!!!

you should read the book first...although that might make you dislike the movie more, it helps the ideas that are going to be brought up to already be present and stirring in your mind, also it's a quick read, couple hours...also, way better than the movie...i love the movie..wonderful stuff, but a quote from fincher says it all...when asked if he was going to adapt another palahniuk book he said, "I would but it takes so long to dumb them down so an american moviegoing audience will get it." Sometimes it's embarrassing to be a part of that.

[Clark Kent]

I will never forget seeing it opening night. One of my favorite films from the moment I saw it. It does help to go into the movie completely unaware of any spoilers or plot developments. Fincher's masterpiece in many ways is a superior film to Seven, which is more popular with the general audience. Few, if any, Hollywood movies of the last twenty years touch on the themes within Fight Club. The feminization of the culture and the rampant excesses of consumerism bristle beneath the surface.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Rob J in WNY

CZAR,

Just go right ahead and blind buy it. Visually, it's very good. Sonically, it will blow you away. The lossless soundtrack is to die for. And yes, it's such a well put together story. If you like smart dialog, you won't be disappointed.

Got 'em...

Thats what I keep hearing. Well see how this weekend goes. Got Em!!

[Q?]

Originally Posted by CZAR

Thats what I keep hearing. Well see how this weekend goes. Got Em!!

Don't you forget about Blade Runner & 2001: A Space Odyssey
Go!!

[jsteinhauer]

My wife and I watched this Saturday night. Neither of us had seen it, and neither of us read the book. I can't argue that it was not a good movie and not a good story, but once you finally figure out what is really going on, the fun-factor is really zapped.

[Show spoiler]Movies about mental illness just have a heaviness about them

I don't know, if I could watch it again because of that.

[Sponge-worthy]

I think the mistake some people make going into this film is that they assume that it is, or intends to be, realistic. It is not. The movie is really an allegory for Gen X/Y types vis-a-vis themes of celeb-obsession, materialism, and even sprituality and happiness to an extent.

The only real flaw in the movie is that it does date itself by relying on a lot of specific allusions (Calvin Klein, IKEA, etc.), the contextual impact of each will necessarily degrade over time as new and younger audiences discover the film. Aside from that, the movie strikes me as effectively poetic and not really grounded in reality, strictly speaking, as the various narrative elements are all rather outrageous.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by Q!

Don't you forget about Blade Runner & 2001: A Space Odyssey
Go!!

See the thing is since those movies garnered my interest based on feedback etc...and not my initial interest, its hard for me to buy especially at top dollar. Now if Bladerunner or 2001 drops in price then I wouldnt have no prob in purchasing them. Lets hope black friday is kind to us! Got Em!!

[Pauliesr]

Bob has b*tch-tits...


Love the movie

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by Jmills

The fighting is an underlying message to the new male in society. That the male is now amongst women, maybe more so in relying on materialistic items while living a metro sexual lifestyle. The things that made us "models" for god has vanished and men look to fighting to bond and to feel as if they did when men were just that... men and to compensate for what they've lost in a generation being raised by women.

yeah, the only problem is, how does joining a secret, cult club, with secret rules make you less free? and thus, offer a solution to an oppressive society? it doesnt. you're less free after joining the club than before you did.

but, of course, there is an intellectual rationalization for this: this is the way all men should be (as represented by durden). well, if it is the natural state of men to be zombie-walking drones without self will, then why the need to rebel from society in the first place?

durden (as put by ebert) sounds to me like a dude who just tripped over the nietzsche poster at borders. as i said before and will say again: i loved this as an action flick, but beyond that is where i'm put off. i will buy it, but not for its moral philosophical teaching.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by Suntory_Times

I honestly cannot fathom how some people do not see this. It's not the end of the world, but when you meet people who seem to have understood A Space Oddesey 2001, yet Fight Club goes over there heads it confuzzles me.

2001 mentioned in a fight club thread?? heresy!!

[Q?]

Originally Posted by CZAR

See the thing is since those movies garnered my interest based on feedback etc...and not my initial interest, its hard for me to buy especially at top dollar. Now if Bladerunner or 2001 drops in price then I wouldnt have no prob in purchasing them. Lets hope black friday is kind to us! Got Em!!

No pressure CZAR
In your time... in your time...
Go!!

[Blu Myers]

One of my all-time favorites. So many great lines, and a movie that really makes you think.

"I haven't been f@#*ed like that since grade school."

"I wanna have your abortion."

And I'll just go ahead and say David Fincher is one of the greats.

[Clark Kent]

It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything.

[Blu Myers]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything.

Great line.

[Duffy12]

Man, this movie ranks right up there with Apocalypse Now for so many great memorable lines!

[Show spoiler]Narrator: You're making a big mistake, fellas!
Police Officer: You said you would say that.
Narrator: I'm not Tyler Durden!
Police Officer: You told us you'd say that, too.
Narrator: All right then, I'm Tyler Durden. Listen to me, I'm giving you a direct order. We're aborting this mission right now.
Police Officer: You said you would definitely say that.

I am going to have to move this movie up into my TOP FIVE favorites!

.

[makaveli21]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

yeah, the only problem is, how does joining a secret, cult club, with secret rules make you less free? and thus, offer a solution to an oppressive society? it doesnt. you're less free after joining the club than before you did.

but, of course, there is an intellectual rationalization for this: this is the way all men should be (as represented by durden). well, if it is the natural state of men to be zombie-walking drones without self will, then why the need to rebel from society in the first place?

durden (as put by ebert) sounds to me like a dude who just tripped over the nietzsche poster at borders. as i said before and will say again: i loved this as an action flick, but beyond that is where i'm put off. i will buy it, but not for its moral philosophical teaching.

Well I think you're making a common mistake in assuming that the movie is actually advocating the same philosophies and behavior that is it showing. I think both author and director believe in the statements made about man's current role in culture, but I don't think they are espousing that Tyler's reaction to it is the correct one.

[makaveli21]

It's my favorite movie of all time. I saw it 7 times in the theaters. I think it is the only movie that I have ever seen that has caused me to really examine my own life, philosophy, etc., especially at the particular time of my life that I was in when it was first released.

There are few, if any, movies like it--a true postmodern classic.

[Duffy12]

Here is some trivia from IMDb.

- Author Chuck Palahniuk has stated that he found the film to be an improvement on his novel.

- Author Chuck Palahniuk first came up with the idea for the novel after being beaten up on a camping trip when he complained to some nearby campers about the noise of their radio. When he returned to work, he was fascinated to find that nobody would mention or acknowledge his injuries, instead saying such commonplace things as "How was your weekend?" Palahniuk concluded that the reason people reacted this way was because if they asked him what had happened, a degree of personal interaction would be necessary, and his workmates simply didn't care enough to connect with him on a personal level. It was his fascination with this societal 'blocking' which became the foundation for the novel.

- When a Fight Club member sprays the priest with a hose, the camera briefly shakes. This happens because the cameraman couldn't keep himself from laughing.

- Prior to principal photography, Pitt visited a dentist to have his front tooth chipped.

- Voted #4 in Total Film's 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time list (November 2005).

- Voted #10 on Empire magazine's 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time (September 2008).

- 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.

- When Tyler (Brad Pitt) catches The Narrator (Edward Norton) listening at the door as he has sex with Marla (Helena Bonham Carter), he is wearing a rubber glove. This was Brad Pitt's idea, and caused a great deal of controversy with President of Production at Fox 2000 Pictures, Laura Ziskin. She was horrified when she saw the scene and demanded that it be removed. However at a subsequent test screening, the appearance of the glove got the biggest laugh of the whole movie, prompting Ziskin to change her mind.

- When The Narrator comes downstairs in his house, after supposedly being asleep following the car crash, he enters the kitchen and Steph (Evan Mirand) is slapping a Space Monkey, shouting at him about how worthless he is. Whilst shooting this scene, the original extra playing the Space Monkey got so fed up with being slapped that he stormed off set and had to be replaced. The actor seen in the finished film is the replacement actor.

- In an infamous incident, the Friday that the film was released theatrically in the United States, Rosie O'Donnell appeared on her TV show and revealed that she had seen the film earlier in the week, and had been unable to sleep ever since. She then proceeded to

[Show spoiler]give away the twist ending of the film

and urged all of her viewers to avoid the movie at all costs. Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and David Fincher discuss this incident on their DVD commentary track, with Pitt calling 'O'Donnell's actions "unforgivable".

.

[Ernest Rister]

Fight Club...liked it better when it was called Walden.

Seriously though, cats, this is one of those times when I have to throw up my hands and walk away because I just can't talk about this movie on film forums. I think Fight Club is a great film, but not for the reasons many of its fans think it's a great film. The film is childish, infuriating, infantile, it slouches towards profundity and mistakes violence for anti-conformity. But because it has inspired so many Alabama teenage rednecks to go film themsleves pounding each other and advertising their nonsene on YouTube, one can't ignore the cultural signifigance of the film.

Woah! Sorry if that got you guys going. It's not serious, I'm just aping the film. The film has a maddening lack of conviction. The film is inflamatory and then backs away from it's flame. It tries to raise hell and then critiques those who raise hell. It is anti-consumerist, anti-property, yet also seems to salivate at the idea of gaining ground against a perceived enemy. This fierce ambilvalence is why the film has attracted so many followers, because no matter how you feel, you'll find your views justified by the film.

That's what pisses me off about it. It takes Walden and Carpe Diem and then spreads its legs and *****s itself out so as to not offend anyone who were pissed off about its consumerist message by creating villains out of its own heroes. It has no convictions. Maybe that's the point.

Regardless, I just find the whole thing cowardly and annoying and reeking of frat club conformity while trying to hide behind a criticisim of frat club conformity. I don't buy it. The damn thing glorifies conformity while pretending to criticize it.

So pound away, Alabama rednecks. We all laugh and shake our heads at your conformity aping a move that pretends to advocate anti-conformity. That's why Fight Club is great movie. The damn thing doesn't even understand itself, but that doesn't stop it from being incredibly influential.

[Riff Magnum]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Fight Club...liked it better when it was called Walden.

Seriously though, cats, this is one of those times when I have to throw up my hands and walk away because I just can't talk about this movie on film forums. I think Fight Club is a great film, but not for the reasons many of its fans think it's a great film. The film is childish, infuriating, infantile, it slouches towards profundity and mistakes violence for anti-conformity. But because it has inspired so many Alabama teenage rednecks to go film themsleves pounding each other and advertising their nonsene on YouTube, one can't ignore the cultural signifigance of the film.

I agree to a certain extent with what you're saying as well. I think the message of do what u want with your life and get back to basics is a good one, but i don't understand the macho "tired of being raised by women" schtick. Since when weren't people raised by women. I think that's been happening for quite some time, not just a late 20th century phenomenon.