Fight Club [Blu-ray] [1999]

Product Information

Ed Norton's no name character is living a banal, materialistic yuppie life. He has no friends, no gal, and his possessions define him. Low and behold, he can't sleep. Standing amongst those giants, 'Fight Club' still towers as a singular experience, one that seems to almost burst with the limitless possibilities of turn-of-the-century filmmaking. Think about all those computer-assisted camera moves that zoomed through buildings and brains. We see those every week on the various 'CSI' series, but at the time nobody had done that before (or even thought to do that before). In fact, virtually every stylistic element of 'Fight Club,' from its opening title sequence to its casual mixture of violence and nihilism to its gotcha(!) twist ending have been aped, parodied, or shamelessly ripped off in the decade since its release. Despite being marketed as a 10th Anniversary release, Fight Club is surprisingly short on new and exclusive extras. In fact, there are only three new Blu-ray exclusive features on the disc, which include the following: This section contains well designed biographies for eighteen members of the cast and crew, including the writers, producers, and musical talent. This is how talent files should be done, and I hope other releases mirror this type of extensive cast and crew information in the future. From the two leads to the costume designer, all the bases are covered in this section.

This movie left me with the strong impression of watching one of the most aggressive criticisms towards the dangers of excessive consumerism, of my generation. Does it deliver in the ways you'd expect? Not exactly. While Fox claims that David Fincher was deeply involved with the production of this Blu-ray, his involvement isn't really apparent anywhere (save for a cute Easter Egg I'll get to in a minute). Considering Fincher was knee-deep into pre-production on 'The Social Network' (aka 'The Facebook Movie'), I don't think he devoted a whole lot of time or attention to this release. Remember the 'Seven' DVD that had Fincher explaining how he re-corrected every frame of the movie? There's nothing like that here. Here you'll find high definition, self-playing galleries of visual effects stills, photos of the Paper People often ask me “What’s your favorite DVD?” to which I respond “My favorite DVD or my favorite movie?” Yes, I know, everyone loves a question answered with a question don’t they? Still, when it comes to my favorite piece of audio from my DVD (now Blu-ray) library, it begins and ends with the plane collision sequence in this film. Now this sounded good in Dolby Digital 5.1 EX a decade ago. My receiver has changed but my speakers haven’t. So the first thing I did was skip to the chapter where this sequence was. Wow. Amazing. I though my apartment building was going to crumble. I turned the receiver up to where I usually hold it and let ‘er rip. Have I said “Wow. Amazing.” yet? Ok, I have. This really is one of the best audio mixes on disc and if you’ve never heard “Fight Club” in uncompressed sound then this is something you must do before you die. Once you get past the “Booms” and “Thuds” the remainder of the dialogue sounds very warm and uncompromising – essentially everything you’d expect from this movie. Quite simply put, this is the best all-around example of sound on a movie that I own. Supplements: What are the extras? Fight Club makes more keen social comments. When our hereo begins to let go of his yuppie lifestyle and begins his 12-step programs, he is only trading one costume for another. The film is as critical of the 'lets cry and find our power animal' psudo-psychology that has infested out culture as it is the crass materialism it replaces. It is like the alcoholic who goes to AA, and this replaces the liqour as the base for his or her identity.Visual Effect Stills- This shows a gallery of still photos from the visual effects team, mostly of the head used in the gun shot scene. There are also several on set photos, including some of the ice cave location. Airport- This offers the chance to view the location scout for this scene, as well as the principle photography involved. A split screen option is also available. The audio for both is also available, and you switch between the two audio and video as you like. Storyboards are also included for this sequence. spookiness and big beats sound a bit dated now, but the music is still bold and effective. I really Soon, he meets Tyler. Tyler has no use for material objects, but has as much distain for the touchy feely, microwave sensativity alter-exisistance of our protagonist. Tyler beleives in living in the moment, which requires shedding of all attachments, physical and mental. "It is only when you have lost everything," he says, "that you are free to do anything" It's sort of hard to fathom that 'Fight Club,' David Fincher's blistering thriller, was released ten years ago. It makes me feel very old. It was a film released in the midst of a wave of energetic filmmaking, made by a media savvy crop of young filmmakers that looked like it would affect the way that movies were made (and viewed) for the new millennium. Its Films of 1999 classmates included such boundary-pushing affairs as 'Being John Malkovich,' 'Three Kings,' 'Election,' 'The Matrix' and 'Magnolia' (imagine that yearbook).

A beautifully aesthetically stunning crafted movie, fluid as our thouth processes are. From the start it displays a voyage through the brain's fear center. As a fable that it is, the use of special effects and creative, aggressive, edgy cinematography suspends your disbelief into a journey in a very human experience, a tale about our war. As Tyler Durden says when he puts the finger on our greed/consumerism epidemic, "our war is a spiritual war". Interwoven masterfully are the elements of a man's struggle with this disease and fighting our war. It never stops being an action film. The violence in Fight Club is really not violence as we think of it. Everyone fighting wants to be there, and the intent of the fighting is collective liberation, not to do harm to another. It is a means to an end: with other characters, the boxing could have been pottery or fly fishing. So it is difficult to be upset by this "violence" when you consider its unique roll in the story. While these features are numerous, none offer any new material for fans. The four feature-length commentaries, while interesting, are a tad redundant at times and are unlikely to be utilized by most viewers. The "Behind the Scenes" vignettes offer brief insights into the production and development of the film, but none delve into any topic with any significant detail. Instead, the short videos piece together brief production footage with final cut footage and very little narrative. The deleted and alternate scenes come accompanied by menu summaries that identify the differences between the selected scenes and the final cut – a small but well-appreciated effort. The PSAs, which feature Tyler Durden and The Narrator, are amusing, but account for only a few minutes of supplemental viewing. A preachy dark ode to violence with strong nihilistic overtones, David Fincher's "Fight Club" (1999) is the perfect example of a good idea gone terribly wrong. The film supposedly condemns everything its protagonists promote, but it does so in a manner that is so transparently exploitative that it resonates better as a flashy fascist tale than a condemnation of the excessive brutality its narrative is built upon. Courtesy of German distributors Kinowelt. Disingenuous – Despite other critics' claims that Fight Club condemns what it shows, thus forcing one to ponder why nihilism is embraced and propagandized by well-educated individuals, the film actually resonates better as a promo ad, not as a condemnation. Unsurprisingly, nowadays Fight Club is remembered for its aggressive imagery, not because of its supposedly subtle critique on violence.This area is filled with artwork from the production of the film. Below the content is broken down by divisions. Critics and viewers who think this is about getting your macho up miss the point. So do those who think this is a "violent" film. Fight Club is really about personal liberation, and genius that osolates into insanity. Includes three trailers, 17 TV spots, 5 internet spots, 2 hilarious public service announcements, a