User:Erik/Fight Club (film)

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[edit] Production

Fox 2000 head Laura Ziskin bought rights to the novel for $10,000.[1]

In August 1997, Twentieth Century Fox announced that director David Fincher would helm the film adaptation of the novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk.[2] The project had been picked up by producer Laura Ziskin, who embraced the film's source material[3] and supported the project when she recognized the creative team as the one from the critically acclaimed Se7en.[4][5]

The adapted screenplay was developed by Jim Uhls, who was receiving his first screen credit as a writer.[6] Screenwriter Andrew Walker from Fincher's Se7en provided the screenplay with a final polish prior to principal photography.[7]

Actor Sean Penn was originally considered to portray Tyler Durden in the film, with Courtney Love as Marla Singer.[3]

Fincher hired Norton based on his performance in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996).[1]

In January 1998, actors Brad Pitt and Edward Norton officially joined the project.[8] The two actors took lessons in boxing, Taekwondo, and grappling to prepare for their roles.[9] They also took soapmaking classes from boutique company owner Auntie Godmother.[10]

Filming lasted 138 days,[11] during which Fincher shot over 1,500 rolls of film, which was three times the average for a Hollywood film.[9] Filming locations were in and around Los Angeles and on sets built at the studio's location in Century City.[11] Over seventy sets were constructed by production designer Alex McDowell.[9] The exterior of Tyler Durden's home on Paper Street was built in San Pedro, California, while the interiors were built on a sound stage at the studio's location. The interiors were designed to possess a sense of decay that reflected the deconstructed world of the characters.[11]

Fincher hired makeup artist Julie Pearce, who collaborated with the director on The Game, to work on the actors in Fight Club. For her tasks, Pearce studied mixed martial arts and pay-per-view boxing. She also designed an extra to have a chunk missing from his ear, for which she cited Mike Tyson as inspiration.[12] To create sweat on cue, two methods were devised: spraying Evian water over a coat of Vaseline, and using straight Evian for "wet sweat". Meat Loaf, who plays a character that has "bitch tits", wore a 90-pound fat harness that gave him big breasts for the role.[9] He also wore 8-inch lifts in his scenes with Norton, being shorter than the actor.[13]

For the film, the director drew Chicago footage from the multimedia collection from Kodak's Image Bank, now known as Getty Images.[14]

[edit] Cinematography

To perform the cinematography for Fight Club, director David Fincher hired Jeff Cronenweth, the son of the late cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth, with whom Fincher had collaborated for Alien³ (1992). Fincher and Cronenweth drew from elements of the visual styles that Fincher had begun exploring with Se7en and The Game. For the narrator's scenes without Tyler Durden, the look was purposely bland and realistic. For scenes with Tyler, Fincher chose a look that was "more hyper-real in a torn-down, deconstructed sense - a visual metaphor of what [the narrator's] heading into". Heavily desaturated colors were used in the costuming, makeup, and art direction, and the crew took advantage of as much natural and practical light at filming locations as possible. The film was shot with the Super 35 process to give the director maximum flexibility in composing shots. The director also took various approaches to take advantage of lighting situations in the film's scenes. Several practical locations were chosen due to the city lights' effects on the shots' backgrounds. Fluorescent lighting at practical locations was also embraced to maintain an element of reality and to light the prosthetics of the characters' injuries appropriately.[11]

The majority of Fight Club was filmed at night, with daytime shots taking place in purposely shadowed locations. For scenes in Lou's basement where fight club took place, the area was lit by $2 work lamps from Home Depot to create a background glow. The director also chose to film fight scenes in the basement from a more objective view, purposely avoiding stylish camerawork and placing the camera in a fixed position. As the fight scenes in the film progressed, the camera moved from a distant observer to the point of view of the fighter.[11]

[edit] Visual effects

Director David Fincher hired visual effects supervisor Tod Haug, who had collaborated with the director for The Game. Fincher chose to illustrate the nameless narrator's perspective with a "mind's eye" view and to create a myopic framework for the film's audience. Haug divided the visual effects work among several facilities, choosing to have them separately address the CG modeling, animation, compositing, and scanning. According to Haug, "We selected the best people for each aspect of the effects work, then coordinated their efforts. In this way. we never had to play to a facility's weakness." Fincher previewed Pixel Liberaton Front's previsualized footage of challenging main-unit shots and shots that would require usage of visual effects. The director considered the preview a problem-solving technique to avoid mistakes from being made during actual filming.[15]

For the visual effects of the opening ninety-second pullback scene from within the narrator's brain, Fincher hired Digital Domain and its visual effects supervisor Kevin Mack, who won an Academy Award for Visual Effects for What Dreams May Come (1998). The computer-generated brain was mapped using an L-system,[16] and the design was detailed using renderings by medical illustrator Kathryn Jones. The passage through the brain included the presence of action potentials and a hair follicle as the shot drew out from within the skull. Haug explained Fincher's artistic licensing with the shot, "While he wanted to keep the brain passage looking like electron microscope photography, that look had to be coupled with the feel of a night dive - wet, scary, and with a low depth of field." The depth of field was accomplished with the process of ray tracing.[15]

One of the beginning scenes in which the camera surveys the destructive equipment of Project Mayhem in the streets and building parking lots was a 3D composition of nearly a hundred photographs of Los Angeles and Century City by photographer Michael Douglas Middleton. The final scene of the buildings being demolished was designed by Richard Baily of Image Savant, who worked on the scene for fourteen months.[15]

Fincher included the cue mark sequence in which Durden points out the "cigarette burn" flash to serve as a thematic element. The director described the film's initial progression as a "fairly subjective reality" for audiences, with the sequence foreshadowing the coming break in which the reality is subverted. "Suddenly it's as though the projectionist missed the changeover, the viewers have to start looking at the movie in a whole new way," explained Fincher.[15]

[edit] Themes

[edit] Violence as a metaphor

Fincher explained that the violence in Fight Club was not meant to promote or glorify the notion, but to serve as a metaphor for feeling. "It's a film about the problems or requirements involved with being masculine in today's society," said Fincher. The director described Edward Norton's character as a victim to that society, with Brad Pitt's character representing the good, bad, and indifferent ideas about the definition of masculinity. For Fincher, the fight club in the film was formed "not to win, but to fight and to feel".[17] Norton and Pitt described the fights for the men in the film as a metaphorical rebellion against being cocooned by society. According to Norton, "[The fights] strip away... the fears of pain, and the reliance on material signifiers of their self-worth," leaving the men to be thankful for their experiences. The actor did not consider the film's violence to advocate violence in general as a means to an end.[18]

Pitt said the point of Fight Club was not to encourage violence among people, but instead about "taking a punch" and learning how to survive.[19]

Norton said that people's actions are their own responsibilities, and their pathologies determine the outlets through their environment.[20]

Norton: "The fights in the movie are a metaphor. They are a physicalization of the fights against one's own impulses to get cocooned. This is why the guys hit each other with everything they have, but then get up and hug each other when the fight is called. They're thanking each for helping them to get in touch with their feelings and for helping strip down their fears."[21]

Norton describes how the narrator asks, "How far do you want to go with something like this?" He suggests that Tyler does not advocate violence against others as a method of redemption. Tyler asks the narrator to hit him for the first time and explains that he wants to have real experiences without dying. According to Norton, the aggression and radicalism in the film are directed inward, with fight clubs being metaphors in fighting against the "impulses to get cocooned in things". Norton said, "When the guys fight, they get up and hug each other at the end and thank each other for the experience. It's the gesture that's helping them strip away the fears; the fears of pain and the reliance on the material signifiers of their self-worth."[22]

Pitt described the motif of the book and the film as not to get out aggression, but to stop being a spectator and stop watching people live their lives. In Fight Club, Tyler Durden initially requests of the narrator, "Hit me," wanting to have real experiences before he dies. Tyler's desire eventually transforms into advocacy of revolutionary violence, where the nameless narrator pulls back from that path, asking, "How far do you want to go with this?"[18]

[edit] Nihilism and its limitation

The character Tyler Durden represents the Nietzschean model of the Übermensch in possessing the nihilistic attitude of rejecting and destroying institutions and value systems that enslave society. While Norton describes Tyler's attitude as seductive and liberating, he also asks at what point does that attitude becomes like the ideals that are being critiqued and at what point does Tyler's initiatives become dehumanizing.[20] Pitt compares Tyler's usage of a megaphone to order around members of Project Mayhem to the approach of Chinese re-education camps.[13]

Norton explained that the Tyler Durden's dialectic was one-half of the film's own dialectic, as the protagonist has pulled back from Tyler's path.[22] The actor said that Fight Club possessed an ambiguous message for film audiences to interpret.[20]

Fincher: "I love this idea that you can have fascism without offereing any direction or solution. Isn't the point of fascism to say, 'This is the way we should be going'? But this movie couldn't be further from offering any kind of solution."[7]

[edit] Self-identity

In the film, the narrator calls Marla Singer after his apartment is destroyed, but he hangs up on her and calls Tyler instead. The narrator hangs up on her because he sees too much of himself in her and hates his own lies.[13]

Tyler Durden represents the Id, ego, and super-ego in his impulsive nature.[13]

Fight Club is similar to The Graduate in carrying the themes of being out of sync of what's expected and youthful dislocation. Both films seek the path to happiness and provide an ambiguous ending.[13]

Norton described the film's ending as one that was more redemptive of the narrator than in the book. "There's a definite pulling back from Tyler, and [there's] the defeat of Tyler, and everything Tyler is going through," said Norton. He compared the sense of accomplishment to the protagonist's resulting path in The Graduate, having achieved a middle ground between the two conflicting selves.[18]

Norton: "It's very true to the spirit of the book. There's very little text in the film that's not verbatim out of the novel. I think the ending is amplified into a more cinematic ending. In some ways, it's shifted a little more toward the redemptive, in the sense that there's a definite pulling back from Tyler — a defeat of Tyler and a retreat from everything Tyler's going towards. In this film, like at the end of The Graduate, he's accomplished something. You don't know what he's accomplished exactly, but you get the sense that he's reached some kind of middle ground between his old self and this side of himself that he's been battling."[22]

In Fight Club, the unreliable narrator advocates fight clubs to become "carved out of wood" and feel powerful. Instead, the narrator's body worsens throughout his fights, while Tyler Durden's self-image instead improves due to the narrator's idealistic perception of him. Norton lost weight in the course of production, while Pitt worked out and became tan to reflect the opposite changes.[23]

Fincher: ""(Screenwriter) Jim Uhls and I got to this point - actually, I think Jim was the first one to identify this - where we were sitting there saying, 'OK, why don't the bombs explode at he end?' 'Well, because they would destroy all these great public buildings.' I was like, 'And why don't we wanna do this? They're credit card companies, right? So why don't we do it?' Originally we were going to have Ed and Helena in this van with the Space Monkeys (Tylers secret army), driving away while all the buildings collapse, but it was a little long. But I never thought the mental institution thing with Tyler worked. I always felt - and I said this to Chuck - that the book, to me, seemed like the film: totally in love with Tyler Durden. It couldn't stand to let him go. I wanted people to love Tyler, but I also wanted them to be OK with his vanquishing."[7]

[edit] Relationships

The relationship between the characters Tyler Durden and the nameless narrator initiates with the exploration of new horizons together, but Tyler's involvement with Marla Singer and Project Mayhem alienates the narrator. Tyler focuses on pursuing the revolutionary movement, leaving the narrator emotionally hurt over the forking of the two character's paths.[18]

Tyler's analysis in the film, "We're a generation of men raised by women, and I'm wondering if another woman is the answer," served as a suggestion to realize personal responsibility on one's own and to break out of the preset patterns of life.[18]

Norton describes Marla Singer as the nameless narrator's female animus, with enough similarities between the two to establish a connection.[22]

Norton: "And in moving towards her ... in a way, I think she's almost like his female animus. She's exactly the same as he is, on a certain level, and he can move towards her and have a connection. He can go toward this more seductive, negativist approach or someone who's essentially saying, "Let's try something else. Don't go towards what you know already." So he moves towards that. I don't mean negative in the sense of bad, but in the sense of, let's contend with what we've been sold on."[22]

Norton indicates the scene in which the narrator and Tyler Durden argue during a car drive as a reflection that the narrator has not committed as strongly to Tyler's philosophy as Tyler himself, instead being comfortable with the personal connection. This connection had been disrupted when Marla Singer becomes involved with Tyler, causing jealousy for the narrator. When Tyler and the narrator argue, Tyler explains that the relationship was secondary to the active pursuit of the philosophy that the two had initially discovered. The narrator is left emotionally hurt, causing the beginning of a divide between the two.[22]

According to Helena Bonham Carter, the narrator chose to engender Tyler Durden as male due to the narrator's inability to fulfill a relationship with Marla Singer. With Tyler capable of doing what the narrator could not, his gender would enable him to pursue a relationship with Marla.[13]

[edit] Opposition to materialism

Norton described how the advertising culture of society has defined people's values for them, with the culture saying, "These are the external signifiers of happiness you should aspire to." Pitt explained that the material objects themselves were not the problem, but instead the problem was the chase for them. "It's about working from the outside in, to achieve some kind of spiritual happiness," Pitt said.[19]

Norton compared Fight Club to Rebel Without a Cause in being deeply rooted in the dynamics of frustrations with society. "I feel that Fight Club really, in a way... probed into the despair and paralysis that people feel in the face of having inherited this value system out of advertising," said Norton.[18]

Norton: "We've been reduced to a generation of spectators. We've been emasculated."[21]

Norton: "It was the first thing I read that I thought could really be what The Graduate was for that generation or Rebel Without a Cause; something that really rooted around in the dynamics of this frustration."[22]

[edit] Satire

The film is a black comedy that is rife with heavy satire, notably in the scenes of the support groups.[13]

"[Fight Club] was a dark, comic, sort of surrealist look at some of the dysfunctions of our generation and of young people who are feeling out of sync with the value system they are expected to engage in."[23]

Fincher: "I think there was always a worry that it was going to be sinister and seditious. And we always said, 'No, it's gonna be funny and seditious.' The sinister element is the context for the understanding. The things we talk about in the film are dark fantasies or ... you know ... stewing rages that come out in unexpected ways. We always wanted to temper it with humour."[7]

[edit] Film Comment stuff

Fincher: "It seemed kind of a coming of age for people who are coming of age in their 30s instead of in their late teens or early 20s. In our society, kids are much more sophisticated at an earlier age and much less emotionally capable at a later age. Those two things are sort of moving against each other."[24]

"I don't know if it's Buddhism, but there's the idea that on the path to enlightenment you have to kill your parents, your god, and your teacher. So the story begins at the moment when the Edward Norton character is 29 years old. He's tried to do everything he was taught to do, tried to fit into the world by becoming the thing that he isn't. He's been told, "If you do this, get an education, get a good job, be responsible, present yourself in a certain way, your furniture and your car and your clothes, you'll find happiness." And he hasn't. And so the movie introduces him at the point when he's killed off his parents and he realizes that they're wrong. But he's still caught up, trapped in this world he's created for himself. And then he meets Tyler Durden, and they fly in the face of God - they do all these things that they're not supposed to do, all the things that you do in your 20s when you're no longer being wathced over by your parents, and end up being, in hindsight, very dangerous. And then finally, he has to kill off this teacher, Tyler Durden. So the movie is really about that process of maturing."[24]

The narrator is an everyman. "[The Graduate] was talking about that moment in time when you have this world of possibilities, all these expectations, and you don't know who it is you're supposed to be. And you choose this one path, Mrs. Robinson, and it turns out to be bleak, but it's part of your initiation, your trial by fire. And then, by choosing the wrong path, you find your way onto the right path, but you've created this mess. Fight Club is the Nineties inverse of that: a guy who does not have a world a possibilities in front of him, he had no possibilities, he literally cannot imagine a way to change his life."[24]

[edit] Homoeroticism

Palahniuk admits his novel contains homo-erotic overtones and adds that director David Fincher "purposely pushed that envelope.

"He told me The Fight Club was going to be the most homo-erotic mainstream American film ever made. He said it's all part of the plan to make the audience as uncomfortable as possible so that all the shocks and twists-and-turns of the movie will take them by surprise."[25]

[edit] Influences

Fight Club draws a number of parallels with the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. The film also reflects The Graduate in the narrator's angst and the subsequent love triangle. The character Tyler Durden represents The Graduate's Mrs. Robinson, and the character Marla Singer represents Elaine.[13]

The nameless narrator uses a mélange of aliases that are drawn from the 1970s roles of actor Robert DeNiro and the characters of Planet of the Apes.[13]

[edit] Adaptation

Author Chuck Palahniuk expressed praise for the faithful film adaptation of his novel Fight Club and applauded how the film's plot was more streamlined than the book. Palahniuk also described how there was contention over the believability of the novel's plot twist for film audiences, but director David Fincher included the twist, saying, "If they accept everything up to this point, they'll accept the plot twist. If they're still in the theater, they'll stay with it." Palahniuk was angered by the change of a single ingredient in the film's explanation of making napalm to render the recipe useless, since the author had researched the components extensively. A substitution that the author was amenable to was Marla Singer's line, "My God, I haven't been fucked like that since grade school," after having sex with Tyler Durden, in place of her line from the novel, "I want to have your abortion."[26] Producer Laura Ziskin had initially petitioned for Fincher to remove the abortion line, and Fincher purposely replaced it with the grade school line. Ziskin asked the director to change the line back, but the director refused.[3] According to Palahniuk, "I thought David's line was even more effective because you needed a laugh at that point to break the tension after all the sex was portrayed, and David's line gets a laugh whereas my line just gets a shock."[26]

Norton said that most of the film's dialogue was retrieved from the novel.[18]

[edit] Reception

Fight Club was originally slated to be released in July 1999,[3] later changed to August 6, 1999. The studio delayed film's release again to autumn due to a crowded summer schedule and a hurried post-production process.[27] The film held its world premiere at the 56th Venice International Film Festival on September 10, 1999.[28] Fight Club commercially opened in the United States on October 15, 1999 and earned $11,035,485 in 1,963 theaters over the opening weekend.[29] Fight Club placed #1 for its opening weekend, ahead of Double Jeopardy and The Story of Us, a fellow weekend opener.[30] The gender mix of audiences for Fight Club, initially argued to be "the ultimate anti-date flick", was 61% male and 39% female, with 58% of the audience below the age of 21. Despite the top placement, its opening reception had fallen short of the studio's expectations.[31] The following weekend, Fight Club dropped 42.6% in revenue and earned $6,335,870.[32] The film, whose production budget was $63 million, went on to gross $37,030,102 during its domestic run. Fight Club earned $100,853,753 in theaters worldwide.[29] The underwhelming domestic performance of Fight Club soured the relationship between studio head Bill Mechanic and media executive Rupert Murdoch, which eventually lead to the resignation of Mechanic in June 2000.[33]

For the UK release of Fight Club on November 12, 1999, the British Board of Film Classification removed two of the film's scenes that had involved "an indulgence in the excitement of beating a (defenseless) man's face into a pulp". The film was awarded an 18 certificate, limiting the release to adult-only audiences in the UK. The BBFC did not censor any further, having considered and dismissed claims that Fight Club contained "dangerously instructive information" and could "encourage anti-social (behavior)". The board noted of the film: "The film as a whole is -- quite clearly -- critical and sharply parodic of the amateur fascism which in part it portrays. Its central theme of male machismo (and the anti-social behaviour that flows from it) is emphatically rejected by the central character in the concluding reels."[34]

On Rotten Tomatoes, Fight Club received 81% overall approval out of 124 reviews from critics, with a Cream of the Crop rating of 65% out of 23 reviews from major media outlets.[35]

The UK film magazine Total Film ranked Fight Club the best film in the past ten years, the lifetime of the magazine's existence.[36]

BELOW IS FROM ARTICLE -- INTEGRATE WHEN POSSIBLE

While some critics raved about the film, many high-profile critics denounced it. Janet Maslin of The New York Times compared it favorably to American Beauty while Roger Ebert called it "macho porn."[37] Perhaps the strongest negative reaction was from critic Rex Reed, who called it "A film without a single redeeming quality, which may have to find its audience in Hell." The graphic violence of the fights seemed to upset most critics, although only two death scenes actually occur in the film, neither of which are related to the fights in question. One of the most controversial critical moves occurred on The Rosie O'Donnell Show when Rosie O'Donnell spoiled the twist ending to the movie before it was in wide release as protest to the perceived violent message. The film was also criticized as a result of being released into theaters while the social and cultural effects of the Columbine High School massacre were still lingering.

Fight Club ranked 10th on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's My Favourite Film. The film was the only entry in the top 10 to split the presenter panel along gender lines, with the three male presenters endorsing the film and the three female presenters offering a negative reaction.

[edit] Real world fight clubs

Inspired by the film and/or novel, people have started their own local fight clubs. While measures are taken against fight clubs for teens and preteens, adult fight clubs on private property are not interfered with unless "someone complains or is sent to a hospital" according to police in Menlo Park, California.[38]

Michael Messner, a professor of sociology and gender studies at the University of Southern California, attributes this behaviour to "bottled-up violent impulses learned in childhood from video games, cartoons and movies." Michael Kimmel, a professor of sociology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, asserted "a sadomasochistic thread" in the clubs.[38]

  • A "Gentleman's Fight Club" was started in Silicon Valley in 2000, with members mostly from the high tech industry. They are equipped with fencing and hockey masks[38] during their one-minute fights against non-critical weapons such as blunted aluminum training knives and soap wrapped inside towels.[39] Most members have martial arts training,[39] and the injuries have been limited to several broken noses, ribs, and fingers.[38]
  • In 2006, a fight club in Arlington, Texas injured an unwilling participant from high school. The DVD sales of the fight led to the arrest of six teenagers who had edited, produced and distributed two previous DVDs of fights taking place in Arlington and Mansfield, Texas. The producer said he did not instigate any of the fights, and that the fights would take place regardless of the filming. The fights often had spectators, who may be arrested as accomplices under Texas law. While these videos feature African-American teens, a video in Grand Prairie, Texas features white teens.[40]
  • In fall 2000, students at Princeton University started a fight club for three-minute fights that take place in dark locations around the campus.[41] The fighters agree to the rules and fighting style before the fight,[42] which ends by the sight of blood or a fighter's signal.[41] While the club was influenced by the film, it asserts its own sanity and safety independent of the film's characters and plot.[42]
  • The Real Fight Club is a club for white-collar men and women that cannot be joined by anyone who has boxed before. The York Hall in London, England has been one of the venues for such boxing matches.[43] One of their causes has been to fundraise for charity.[44]
  • A Harvard Medical School team has established a "fly fight club" wherein two fruit flies are pitted against each other to study their fighting styles.[46][47] The research established that the fruitless gene determines the male and female fighting styles, and has helped in the understanding of sexual differences and aggression.[48]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Peter Biskind. "Extreme Norton", Vanity Fair, Aug. 1999. 
  2. ^ Michael Fleming. "Thornton holds reins of 'Horses'", Variety, 1997-08-19. 
  3. ^ a b c d Benjamnin Svetkey. "Blood, Sweat, and Fears", Entertainment Weekly, 1999-10-15. 
  4. ^ Christian Moerk; Claude Brodesser. "The green team", Variety, 1999-09-29. 
  5. ^ Seven (1995). Rotten Tomatoes.
  6. ^ Michael Fleming. "D'Works' 'Semper Fi' hits the beach at NBC", Variety, 1999-09-30. 
  7. ^ a b c d Damon Wise. "Menace II Society", Empire, Dec. 1999. 
  8. ^ Chris Petrikin. "Studio Report Card: Fox", Variety, 1998-01-07. 
  9. ^ a b c d Stephen Garrett. "Freeze Frame", Details, Jul. 1999. 
  10. ^ Johanna Schneller. "Brad Pitt and Edward Norton make 'Fight Club'", Premiere, Aug. 1999. 
  11. ^ a b c d e Christopher Probst. "Anarchy in the U.S.A.", American Cinematographer, Nov. 1999. 
  12. ^ "It Bruiser: Julie Pearce", Entertainment Weekly, 1999-07-25. 
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i Fight Club DVD commentary featuring David Fincher, Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter, [2000].
  14. ^ Marc Graser. "Getty buys Image Bank from Kodak", Variety, 1999-09-22. 
  15. ^ a b c d Kevin H. Martin. "A World of Hurt", Cinefex, Jan. 2000. 
  16. ^ Mark Frauenfelder. "Hollywood's Head Case", Wired, Aug. 1999. 
  17. ^ Michael Moses. "Fighting Words: An interview with Fight Club director David Fincher", Dr. Drew, 1999. 
  18. ^ a b c d e f g Stephen Schaefer. "Brad Pitt & Edward Norton", MrShowbiz.com, Oct. 1999. 
  19. ^ a b Jim Slotek. "Cruisin' for a bruisin'", Toronto Sun, 1999-10-10. 
  20. ^ a b c Graham Fuller. "Fighting Talk", Interview, Nov. 1999. 
  21. ^ a b Louis B. Hobson. "Get ready to rumble", Calgary Sun, 1999-10-10. 
  22. ^ a b c d e f g Barbara Teasdall. "Edward Norton Fights His Way to the Top", Reel.com, 1999. 
  23. ^ a b Robby O'Connor. "Interview with Edward Norton", Yale Herald, 1999-10-08. 
  24. ^ a b c Gavin Smith. "Gavin Smith goes one-on-one with David Fincher", Film Comment, Sept/Oct 1999. 
  25. ^ Louis B. Hobson. "Fiction for real", Calgary Sun, 1999-10-10. 
  26. ^ a b Interview With Fight Club Author Chuck Palahniuk. DVD Talk.
  27. ^ Leonard Klady. "Fox holds the 'Fight' to fall", Variety, 1999-06-17. 
  28. ^ A. G. Basoli. "The Venice Diaries", indieWIRE, 1999-09-18. Retrieved on 2006-11-14. 
  29. ^ a b Fight Club (1999). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2006-11-14.
  30. ^ Weekend Box Office Results for October 15-17, 1999. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2006-11-14.
  31. ^ Dade Hayes. "'Jeopardy' just barely", Variety, 1999-10-18. 
  32. ^ Weekend Box Office Results for October 22-24, 1999. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2006-11-14.
  33. ^ Rick Lyman. "MEDIA TALK; Changes at Fox Studio End Pax Hollywood" (subscription only), The New York Times, 2000-06-26. Retrieved on 2007-02-24. 
  34. ^ Adam Dawtrey. "U.K. to cut 'Club'", Variety, 1999-11-09. 
  35. ^ Fight Club (1999). Rotten Tomatoes.
  36. ^ "Ten Greatest Films of the Past Decade", Total Film, April 2007, pp. 98. 
  37. ^ Roger Ebert. "Fight Club", Chicago Sun-Times, 1999-10-15. 
  38. ^ a b c d e Associated Press. "Fight club draws techies for bloody underground beatdowns", USA Today, 2006-05-29. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  39. ^ a b John Gibson. "Silicon Valley 'Techies' Make Real-Life Fight Club" (transcribed interview), FOX News, 2006-06-15. Retrieved on 2007-06-20. 
  40. ^ a b Bruce Rosenstein. "Illegal, violent teen fight clubs face police crackdown", USA Today, 2006-08-01. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. 
  41. ^ a b "At Princeton, no punches pulled" (fee required), The Philadelphia Inquirer (Associated Press), 2001-06-06, pp. B14. Retrieved on 2007-06-20. 
  42. ^ a b Nate Rawlings. "A 'Fight Club' you can talk about", The Daily Princetonian, 2000-11-17. Retrieved on 2007-06-20. 
  43. ^ Steve Bruce. "Boxing: Women the latest to be tempted by the fight club that mixes brains and brawn" (fee required), The Independent, 2004-11-25. Retrieved on 2007-06-20. 
  44. ^ Marcel Berlins. "A great lord chancellor we never had, an intriguing encounter, and the judges spoiling for a fight", Guardian Unlimited, 2003-09-23. Retrieved on 2007-06-20. 
  45. ^ "Indio Boy, 16, Dies in `Fight Club'", Los Angeles Times, 2006-10-03. Retrieved on 2007-06-20. 
  46. ^ Damien. "Fly fight club", New Scientist, 2006-11-20. Retrieved on 2007-06-20. 
  47. ^ Ian Sample. "Flies reveal gene that makes girls fight like boys", Guardian Unlimited, 2006-11-20. Retrieved on 2007-06-20. 
  48. ^ Fighting Like a Girl or Boy Determined By Gene in Fruit Flies. Harvard Medical School (2006-11-19). Retrieved on 2007-06-20.

[edit] Citations

[edit] Coverage

[edit] Essential DVD

  • "Ed Norton's character isn't named in the film but is 'Jack' in the script.
  • The cold breath in the ice cave is leftover digitised breath from Titanic.
  • Two fat suits were designed for Meat Loaf, one with nipples and one without. The studio was reluctant to use the one with nipples since they felt they were abnormally prominent.
  • Pitt and Norton were drunk during filming of the golfing scene. They hit most of the balls into the side of the catering truck.
  • The names used by the narrator in his support groups are characters from Planet of the Apes and Robert De Niro roles of the '70s."
  • "100 DVDs You Must Own", Empire, January 2003, pp. 31. 

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