I happened to catch part of this on FOX, and it was really the most bizarre movie I have ever seen! First, I did not see the start of it, and, FOX had so many commercials that the general incoherence of the plot made it even harder to figure out just why these young men enjoyed beating the crap out of eachother.
First, Brad Pitt finds time from his job to organize a group of young men, who enjoy bare knuckles boxing. He also likes living in a filthy dump of a house, but has lots of (very noisey) sex with the female lead (who appears to be addicted to heroin). Fine, but his understudy: Pitt tortures the hell out of him (pours lye on his hand and holds him while the guy’s skin burns), and lectures him on why pain is good, etc., etc.Plus, beats the crap out of him.
Are these people all masochists? Plus, Pitt’s good looks are his major asset…how did the stunt people manage to avoid bashing up his pretty-boy face? The boxing was brutal…yet, after evry bloody round, the antagonists got up, shook hands, and embraced eachother!
Can’t figure this one out! Was it a box-office turkey?? :smack:
Dude, you’ve never seen Fight Club before? It’s meant to be confusing, but hopefully it falls into place towards the end. There’s a bit of a plot twist - I’m sure you’ll know what I mean if you’ve seen it…
It’s really a movie you need to rent and watchin from the beginning to understand it. Coming in halfway through will probably make a real explantion hard to get(plust, the beginning parts aren’t nearly as fun if you’ve already seen the end first).
It is a movie you should view a second time so you’ll see how the pieces of the puzzle fall together. Also, seeing the film on basic cable with all its cuts for content probably didn’t help things. I wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up taking out 25% of the picture.
Oh yeah, I forgot: The FIRST rule about the Fight Clubs is that you don’t talk about it…
Anyway, I suppose if you are a young male, full of testosterone, a good fistfight might quiet down your raging hormones…but surely, after you come to work every day with missing teeth, black eyes, bruises all over, your boss will start asking questions…
This is a whoosh, right?
Man, there are a lot of movies that you won’t get from just catching part of the middle, but* Fight Club *has to pretty much top that list.
THat’s more useless than seeing the TV-edited version of Showgirls.
You seriously should rent it. You pretty much missed the whole point of the movie, and I don’t want to give it away, because it’s a good film. There’s also some funny and subtle things that happen that I’m sure they had to cut out of the t.v. version.
I thought it was going to be a stupid testosterone movie, so I didn’t see it for a long time. But I finally rented it, and if you follow what’s going on, that’s not what it is at all.
It was about 2 1/2 hours long. 
Ohhh, Casey…
There are a few themes in the movie. One being a rise against the industrialization and media created needs and roles people are essentially designed to live in. Consumerism is bad, it makes us want to be things we can't be and strive to achieve the unattainable which is, when you look at it closely enough, nothing but a big flaming pile of shit (blasting out of your eleven story apartment building window, so to speak).
And then there’s the whole concept of “What does it mean to be a man?” Men are agressive, we’re destructive, we’re brutes. That’s our nature. So, why is it men know about things like flowers and feminine hygene products? Why is it we repress ourselves and consider a life of passifism “Good”? The fighting is a means of getting in touch with one’s inner nature; man’s true beast, if you will. According to the film’s theme, a man is truly himself when he’s his most (slef)destructive.
That’s the bare bones of it, I’m sure someone with a better way of annalyzing these things could fill you in a hell of a lot better on all the social implications and meaning and depth involved, but basically, that’s it. The movie is pretty self explanatory when you watch it form the beginning, and it’s highly entertaining, so go check it out.
Actually I slightly disagree, just slightly though. The point of the movie-IMO-is to think for yourself. The point of the anti-consumerism is that consumerism replaces your critical thinking abilities. Ed Norton’s character is having ads tell him how to live and what to buy and what’s important.
In an ironic twist Tyler Durden tells him to forget all that, that you don’t need that to tell you how to live, and Ed Norton’s character starts to reject consumerism and starts to follow Tyler Durden-as do the rest of the people in the club. So they’ve changed consumerism telling them what to do and think, to Tyler Durden telling them what to do and how to think. “You are not a unique snowflake” illustrates this, as does the scene where the guy says “in death, members of project mayhem have a name” and everyone starts chanting (in fact, other fight clubs are seen chanting this).
Finally Ed Norton’s character wakes up and is ready to think for himself. He realizes the truth and rejects Tyler. In fact, he has to ‘kill’ Tyler to finally divorce himself from Tyler and to think for himself. Remember the scene with the gun? Ed realizes that the power is in his mind, not in Tyler and what Tyler says.
That’s the way I see it. I think this sort of theme can be seen whenever Tyler starts talking about what you should and shouldn’t be. Tyler says ‘do real men look like this’ (or something close) when pointing to a poster of guess models-the irony being that Brad Pitt does look like that.
Again, I think that’s what Tyler is trying to tell us, but not what the film is ultimately about.
Hey, I could be completely wrong, this is just how I see it though. 
I definitely agree, it’s very entertaining. I just think that when people start saying that consumerism sucks, yet Fight Club was the shiznit, they are missing an obvious point in the movie.
I mean, why does consumerism suck? Because it’s trying to get you to believe certain things and to buy certain things without thinking about them critically.
What does Tyler try to get his people to do? Believe certain things, without thinking about them critically.
Now what was the first rule of Fight Club again?
Is this a trick question Mr. Durden?
You said you would say that.
**I’m not Tyler Durden! **
Without giving away too much of the plot, here is what Fight Club is about. This is just some basic overview and background stuff so no spoilers are really necessary:
Narrarator (Ed Norton) - He is an everyday white collar working stiff about 30 years old. His life is pretty empty - no girlfriend, no hobbies hates his job, we never meet any friends or family. He suffers from insomnia exacerbated by jet lag from having to travel frequently for his generic corporate job, working for a car manufactuer. He attempts to fill the void in his life by buying all kinds of crap from IKEA and DKNY and such and going to “groups” for diseases he does not have(testicular cancer, etc). We never learn his name.
Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) - One of the “single serving” friends the Narrarator meets on a flight. He is an enigmatic young man who basically lives life by his own set of rules. After a freak explosion destroys the Narrarators appartment, he moves in with Tyler in his dilapadated house on Paper Street. He makes soap for a living among other odd jobs.
Marla (Helena Bonham Carter) - The Narrarator meets this odd woman in one of his groups. He recognizes her as a “tourist” - someone like himself who just shows up to these meetings for their own reasons. They have a kind of strange love-hate relationship.
Robert ‘Bob’ Paulson (Meat Loaf) - Bob is an acquaintance the Narrarator meets in group. Steroids have given him testicular cancer and hormone treatment has left him with large “bitch tits”.
Fight Club - After drinking a few beers, Tyler proclaims that he “has never been in a fight” and prompts the Narrarator to hit him. After some hesitation, he oblidges Tyler and Fight Club is born. They find that men from all walks of life are eager to join. Their weekly battles in the basement of “Lou’s Bar” gives them the commaraderie and meaning that was lacking in their lives.
Project Mahem - After awhile, Fight Club is not enough to satisfy Tyler. What was once an underground boxing club soon evolves into vandelism and terrorism.
Commentary on Society - The movie deals with the lack of direction and emptiness many men feel in the modern world (the movie does focus on men as Marla is one of the only female characters). The theme can be summed up by Tylers quote - men “working jobs we hate for shit we don’t need”. But the question is how far should you go to find that meaning in your life? What does it mean to truly feel “alive” and is it worth destroying what you have helped to create?
You said you would say that too, Sir.
*All right then, I’m Tyler Durden. Listen to me, I’m giving you a direct order. We’re aborting this mission right now. *
Careful, guys. This thread has remained spoiler-free, and you’re getting awefully close. Remember, the OP still hasn’t really seen the movie.
Loved Fight Club, thought it was a great book and an even better movie, except for one small plot hole. If anyone can fill this in, I’d be most appreciative.
So the first fight club gets started because a couple of guys are watching Tyler and the Narrator fight and one of them calls next, right? Here’s the thing. Tyler doesn’t exist outside of the Narrator’s mind, so the guys are watching the Narrator beat himself up. No one’s going to call “next” on that. Everyone is going to go to great lengths to avoid the guy who’s whaling on himself. Thus, there’s no reasonable way that the first fight club could have gotten started based on what’s presented in the film, bringing the whole movie crashing down around itself.
Anyone?
Ummm. . . . "Thank you?"