Fight Club (Exclusive Series) (Hulu)

RIP MEAT LOAF (aka ROBERT PAULSEN)

Initial release date: October 15, 1999

Studios: 20th Century Fox/ Fox 2000/ Regency Enterprises

Tagline: How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight?

Losing all hope is freedom

Plot: A depressed man suffering from insomnia meets a strange soap salesman named Tyler Durden and soon finds himself living in his squalid house after his perfect apartment is destroyed. The two bored men form an underground club with strict rules and fight other men who are fed up with their mundane lives. Their perfect partnership frays when Marla, a fellow support group crasher, attracts Tyler’s attention.

Cast

Edward Norton - Narrator

Brad Pitt - Tyler Durden

Meat Loaf - Robert Paulsen

Zach Grenier - Richard Chesler (Regional Manager)

Helena Bonham Carter - Marla Singer

Holt McCallany - The Mehanie

Jared Leto - Angel Face

Writer: Jim Uhls (Jumper)

Chuck Palahniuk (based on the novel by)

Director: David Fincher (Netflix’s Monk; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)

Rated R for disturbing and graphic depiction of violent anti-social behavior, sexuality and language (139 minutes)

David Fincher’s ‘Fight Club’ was one of the most talked about and controversial films to come out of the 1990s. When it was first released, it actually garnered okay reviews and positive word of mouth from people who saw it. But, despite that, ‘Fight Club’ didn’t do well at the box office.

The movie, however, did generate revenue and more word of mouth when it was available on home media. From there, it eventually became one of the most-watched cult classics ever released. I have seen this movie multiple times over the years. The main reason I decided to take another look at this movie was because it featured a small, yet memorable role from the late Meat Loaf.

‘Fight Club’ features a lot of great acting, primarily from stars Edward Norton and Brad Pitt. In most of their scenes together, the actors work really well together and some of their scenes can be sort of on the hilarious side. Indeed, the movie can get really violent a good amount of the time. And there is a good amount of dark humor scattered throughout that can make you chuckle a little bit.

The movie is mainly well known for its twist ending that is really incredible. Not going to spoil it here since I’m sure there are some people who haven’t seen the movie yet. Even after numerous viewings, I can still pick up certain hints that lead up to the ending.

‘Fight Club’ can currently be streamed on Hulu.

Here are quite a few interesting tidbits for ‘Fight Club’:

• Author Chuck Palahniuk first came up with the idea for the novel after being beat 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 with this societal “blocking” which became the foundation for the novel.

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

• In the short scene when Pitt and Norton are drunk and hitting golf balls, they really are drunk, and the golf balls are sailing directly into the side of the catering truck.

• When The Narrator hits Tyler Durden in the ear, Norton actually did hit Pitt in the ear. He was originally going to fake hit him, but before the scene, David Fincher pulled Norton aside and told him to hit him in the ear. After Norton hit him in the scene, you can see him smiling and laughing while Pitt is in pain.

• Norton lost 17 to 20 pounds for this role after having to beef up tremendously for his role as a Neo-Nazi skinhead in ‘American History X.’

• Fincher shot over 1500 reels of film, more than 3 times the usual amount for a two hour film.

• The movie’s line - “The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club” was No. 27 of “The 100 Greatest Movie Lines” by Premiere in 2007.

• Filming lasted 138 days, with over 300 scenes shot on 200 locations and 72 sets constructed.

• Voted No. 4 in TotalFIlm’s 100 Greatest Movies of All Time list (November 2005).

• The ‘Fight Club’ novel was published in 1996.

• The studio held the film’s premiere at the 56th Venice International Film Festival on September 10, 1999.

• ‘Fight Club’ opened commercially in the US and Canada on October 15, 1999 and earned $11 million in 1,963 theaters over the opening weekend. In its original theatrical run, the film grossed $37 million domestically and $63.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $100.9 million.

• When the two disc special edition DVD went out of print, the studio re-released it in 2004 because of fans requests. It sold more than six million copies of DVD and video sales within the first decade. With a weak box office performance in the US and Canada, a better performance in other territories and the highly successful DVD release, ‘Fight Club’ generated a $10 million profit for the studio.

• ‘Fight Club’ was one of the most controversial and talked about films of the 1990s. The film was perceived as the forerunner of a new mood in American political life.