Ten years and still kicking (and punching)
Fight Club was my first introduction to director David Fincher. He, along with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, put together a extremely violent film called Fight Club. For all intents and purposes it pushed the envelope when it came to onscreen fighting and more important onscreen sound effects. While it certainly wasn’t Star Wars by any stretch of the imagination (that was almost six months off from boring the crap out of audiences), it really set new standards in filmmaking and turned a small corner when it came to turning pretty people (such as Brad Pitt) into non-pretty people. More importantly, it was a film that truly spoke to a ‘male’ generation that desperately needed some guidance. Before I get into that analytical gibberish, let’s talk story.
Fight Club followed a lost individual trying to find purpose in his life (Edward Norton). He worked for a car company that sent him on trips to gauge the destruction of their products (through the horrible luck of car crash victims) and if the company should do a recall or not. Lifeless, pointless, our main man was definitely lost and more importantly not sleeping. Then through happenstance he meets a unique individual named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) who guides him down a destructive path towards the very low point of his life. The catch? The guy enjoys losing everything. The losing begins as fighting, as people are put against one another in violent underground fight club. Before he knows it, fight club has expanded and the legend of Tyler Durden has with it. Blood, sweat, tears, big teats and sex help to drive both the man and Tyler Durden.
Fight Club isn’t an easy film to ‘get’. For most people, it’s just Brad Pitt and Edward Norton fighting to the point of insanity. At the end there’s a twist and that’s really all to the movie; for most people. It’s certainly true that Fight Club runs that course, but the film really does represent a generation of people that weren’t part of a war. This generation wasn’t part of a suffering of any kind (like a depression or a draft). Most of all, the generation was a generation of kids from ‘baby boomers’ who’s divorce rate is higher than any other generation in modern history, which ultimately equals out to less parental guidance. All of this equals out to a generation trying to find its own identity on its own. That is what the film is talking about from the first to last scene. Fight Club is telling this through very real characters. One end you have a wild and uncaring Tyler Durden, who is willing to recruit lost souls to join a fraternity to feel wanted. On the other end, you have a man trying to find himself and pull together what broken life he has. Each, helps feed that lost generation and it tells the story.
The film is very aware of what it’s trying to do and it doesn’t apologize for it. It doesn’t say sorry for putting blood in nearly every dirty, yellow scene. It never apologizes for the wretched, subpar living conditions that almost every character lives in and firmly believes is ‘okay’. No, the film turns to the audience and says, “Free yourself, it’s okay. It’s the only way to feel alive.” Folks, this film speaks to a lost generation and gives them hope that there is life out there. It encourages the audience to let go of their day-to-day struggles and to see what it feels like to live.
It’s an incredible cinematic achievement that will never get appreciated by the general public only because it doesn’t fit the mold.
With that said, maybe the film itself, on a cinematic level, is too aware of itself. A big turn off for a lot of critics was how much violence was in the film. About three-fourths through the film you have a brutal confrontation with Edward Norton and Jared Leto’s characters. It’s over-the-top grotesque and probably still one of the worst sounding, feeling fights onscreen. After ten years it still gives me chills watching the scene. Critics hated this and maybe it was a bit much. I tend to agree that possibly it was too brutal and at the same time completely too artistic. After Norton climbs off the bloodied, beaten Leto Brad Pitt’s character says, “Where did you go, Psycho Boy?” and Norton simply responds, “I wanted to destroy something beautiful.” A bit much for my taste and it brings the film to a far too serious peak (something that it clearly doesn’t represent). In fact, this particular scene goes against the overall ‘Let yourself go theme’ because it doesn’t let this incident go. Other than this one scene, the rest of the fights are well placed.
Now, if you listen to the awesome commentary on this blu-ray (you have multiple choices), you’ll find commentary with Fincher, Norton, Pitt, and Helena Bonham Carter. Most of the commentary is the three gentlemen harping on Carter, and that pretty much defines her role. She’s merely in the film as a device used to keep Norton and Pitt’s characters from crossing into each other. She’s mostly a distraction and while she certainly does have some great moments she simply doesn’t fit the film well. I have always felt like she was the odd person out and after a decade I still feel that way. Had she been nixed from the movie it probably would have been a character development nightmare, so it’s like having to bring your little brother/sister on a trip with you to an amusement park while on a date; it’s annoying, but regretfully necessary.
Anyway, outside of those two complaints I feel like this film is still one of the better films from the 90s. Yes, I like it better than The Matrix and The Crow. It speaks a lot clearer and louder to a movie generation that needed to hear something.
Folks, this is blu-ray at its best
I always go into blu-ray reviews with high standards. I expect a movie made after 1972 to look like gold. You folks are paying more money for high-definition televisions and blu-ray players, so the studios should deliver. As of recently, some older films from the 90s have crapped out on blu-ray. It’s completely unacceptable for a studio not to truly upgrade their movies at the highest quality possible. With that said, 20th Century Fox has treated Fight Club like it was their favorite child. They upgraded and improved everything about the film in the highest HD transfer possible. Dear readers, I saw things in the film that I didn’t catch in the theater or on DVD. Did you know that Brad Pitt was naked on his bike ride through his house? I had no idea, but his ass was crystal clear on screen. That is only one example, out of several, that made me think gush about the visuals in the film; my wife had to shut me up after viewing it.
Now, the second part of this blu-ray, which is quite possibly the best part, is how well the audio/music was remastered. Coming to you on a DTS-HD remastered track, you’ll have the pleasure (or displeasure) of hearing all the brutal punches, sounds and squishes coming from the fights. Hell, you’ll probably go visit a dentist when you hear the crunch of Norton pulling his molar from his mouth. It’s brutal to the ears, but lovely for the movie. Add the fun Chemical Brothers soundtrack that the film sports and you’ll be in heaven; if angels had fistfights and looked ripped.
Now for the bread and butter portion of this blu-ray. Having an ‘Anniversary Edition’ or ‘Ultimate Edition’ or ‘Criterion Edition’ of a blu-ray is fine. You can call it whatever you like, but once you make it ‘special’ with a title you had better follow up with the ‘special’. Upon looking at the features on here your first thought will be, “Wow, there’s a ton of commentary.” Yes, there is a ton of commentary, but it’s broken up into sections. You get the director’s commentary, the director and actor’s commentary and then you get a wonderful set of commentary from cast and crew of the film for specific scenes. On top of this, you get some blu-ray exclusive features, which are good, that go into the sound effects and into what appears to be the ‘Guy Movie Hall of Fame’ celebration hosted by Mel Gibson. The last feature is probably the most important though; the Insomniac Mode: I am Jack’s Search Index. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s in fact a budding filmmaker’s wet dream. The search index breaks down the film into informative commentary pieces about pretty much everything on the film. From lighting, to location to how Meatloaf had big teats; the search index covers everything. Simply put, it’s one of the most innovative features I’ve seen on a blu-ray in some time.
Outside of visuals, audio and features please enjoy the first menu you see.
