Fight Club

Name: Fight Club
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime
Released: October 15, 1999
Duration: 139 min
Rating: 66
Cast: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton

1999

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 1922 Ratings

See All

9.0

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

9.0	Your Score
9.0	User Score Universal acclaim based on 1922 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Fight Club

Now Playing: Fight Club

Movie Details & Credits

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: October 15, 1999 | TV-MA

Starring: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton

Summary: The film's narrator (Norton) attends support groups of all kinds as a way to "experience" something within his unfeeling, commercial existence. On a business trip, he meets Tyler Durden (Pitt) who encourages them to form a fight club as a release for their latent aggressive tendencies.

Director: David Fincher

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller, Crime

Rating: TV-MA

Runtime: 139 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy On

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

Bob Graham

Delivers a sucker punch to the audience and then pulls the rug out from under it. It is sensational. It is also grimly funny. Read full review

100

Film.com Gemma Files

It always surprises, never bores. It's also just damn good, on every possible level -- so go see it. Now. Read full review

Marc Savlov

Fight Club's dirty little secret is it's one of the best comedies of the decade. Read full review

Lawrence Toppman

It's visually surrealistic, acted with integrity, so brutal in spots that I averted my eyes. Read full review

Ann Hornaday

Keeps filmgoers wondering what will happen next even as they are repulsed by what's happening in front of them.

Jonathan Rosenbaum

This exercise in mainstream masochism, macho posturing, and designer-grunge fascism is borderline ridiculous. But it also happens to be David Fincher's richest movie. Read full review

Lisa Schwarzbaum

If, as Fincher has said, this movie is supposed to be funny, then the joke's on us. Read full review

SEE ALL 35 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

RDalvi

Mar 15, 2006

Excellent performances by Norton and Pitt. Carter is hot. Good theme and razor sharp execution.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

bl4ckd4hli4

Mar 8, 2012

Great film; negative reviews here often reflect a sloppy or down-right non-existent understanding of the movie. Case in point: "..spend two hours wondering why the characters would rather punch each other than do something useful with their time and energy." - Alexander G. Now obviously,Great film; negative reviews here often reflect a sloppy or down-right non-existent understanding of the movie. Case in point: "..spend two hours wondering why the characters would rather punch each other than do something useful with their time and energy." - Alexander G. Now obviously, anyone who was actually attentive to the movie knows that they DID do something useful, and they fought for a reason.… Expand

45 of 47 users found this helpful452

StevenV.

Sep 23, 2009

Fight Club is an astonishingly original idea. Im glad the movie did the book justice. Its obviously one of those movies where if you don't get it, you don't get it. I've heard too many people asking why they fought each other. Those people obviously missed the point. These Fight Club is an astonishingly original idea. Im glad the movie did the book justice. Its obviously one of those movies where if you don't get it, you don't get it. I've heard too many people asking why they fought each other. Those people obviously missed the point. These people probably prefer lighter fair like Bio Dome.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

MaxM.

Jun 28, 2006

"The theme is about how modern society has reduced males into enneuchs and how this warps our subconscious into anarcho-fascist mode." No. No No No. Also, the people that say that the movie was good up until the "second-half" say that because the sole humor of the first part becomes "The theme is about how modern society has reduced males into enneuchs and how this warps our subconscious into anarcho-fascist mode." No. No No No. Also, the people that say that the movie was good up until the "second-half" say that because the sole humor of the first part becomes entangled with the complexity of the entire film. In this film there isn't a first and second half, it is a full length movie plain and simple (and believe me, I do understand that they just say that to divide parts of the movie for easier reference). The movie is supposed to be thought like this to show the adaptation of the plot. Please people, seriously! Even the actual critics have ruined what should be an almost, if not completely, perfect score. The scores that some of these critics give leave their comments to "sick, twisted humor" or something of the sort - WHAT?! Go critique somewhere else please, because, although the movie is supposed to be humorous (which can be understood by the more deeper thinkers) it is not only a comedy with a crazy plot twist. This movie of course will be liked by some more than others, but if you don't understand the actual plot line and what it really is, then just leave your comments to yourself or share them with a friend, and if you really want to see what the movie conveys, then read some of these reviews or watch the movie again or something! The movie uses so many great techniques, not only in dialogue but also in camera usage and almost eveyr single possible ability that could be used in a movie, really. Oh yeah and back to the quote that I used to start this off (a quote from one of the other users), the movie is not just about "The theme is about how modern society has reduced males into enneuchs and how this warps our subconscious into anarcho-fascist mode" (did you not notice the entire appearance of the character Marla Singer?) although it may sound sort of corny, the theme could be considered more along the lines of "There is a Tyler Durden in all of us" kind of thing. There is way too much detail to go into for such a well thought out and socially complex movie for me to put in here. Watch the movie again, and if you don't get it - watch it again. An element of the movie that is so genius is that although it is deep and all, the actual approach to the movie and the plot and the entire film, really, is that it doesn't have an "artsy-fartsy" kind of setting and dialogue (to some extent yes it does, but you get the point.. I hope) it uses a more down-to-earth realistic view of ourselves, and I say ourselves as everyone, and the actual fabric of human nature and how some things affect the subconscious. Fight Club is really a very, very good movie.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

theseparator

Feb 11, 2014

Nearly everyone knows the rules, number one of which I’m about to break.

What do you do if you’re sick of your boring, pathetic life? In the most cathartic, DIY approach possible, Fight Club answers this question: you change it. The absolute prototype of an existential thriller, itNearly everyone knows the rules, number one of which I’m about to break.

What do you do if you’re sick of your boring, pathetic life? In the most cathartic, DIY approach possible, Fight Club answers this question: you change it. The absolute prototype of an existential thriller, it wouldn’t be taking too much of a leap to suggest that Fight Club is one of the best films ever made.

Jim Uhls’ excellently adapted screenplay of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel (this is the only major work by Uhls that I can find), this thriller has been exciting male audiences the world over since its release in 1999. Even Palahniuk himself said the film was amazing. In fact, he admitted that film was so good, the book in comparison made him feel ashamed.

A nameless, pitiful, seemingly friend and family-less Office worker (Edward Norton) suffers from insomnia. True to Palahniuk’s style, the solution to the insomnia comes in a bizarre way. He finds relief by attending support groups for diseases, diseases he doesn’t have; these people really listen to him, and afterwards, he sleeps. At these meetings he meets Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Character), a nemesis and lover, and it is through her that Mr. Office worker discovers his true self, but not until after he’s transformed more than just his own life.

Mr. Pitiful Office worker meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). Durden helps Mr. Pitiful Office worker admit to his misery once and for all. Channeling their suppressed male aggression in its rawest form, they start fighting each other. Soon Mr. Pitiful Office worker realizes that he and Durden are not alone.

Men, downtrodden, tired of their insignificance as worthless individuals all aim to do something greater. They jump at the chance to vent their primal steam, and the solo fights turn into group fights.

Durden’s vision eventually transcends aggression in its physical form and becomes something much greater, a community where the individual ceases to exist. As part of this whole, every unnamed member is an equal and significant contributor, and it is through the whole that the individual finds meaning. As part of the whole they are changing the future together.

This movie is a directing marvel. With time shifts, psychological manipulations, and very meticulous scene planning, we are kept on the edge of our seats for the entire film. Accompanied by the pounding soundtrack composed by the Dust Brothers, Fincher achieves the rarity of making a movie better than a book. Fincher turns the concrete basement of Lou’s Tavern into perhaps the most famous arena in all of modern film. The house on Paper Street, a lone abandoned mansion, becomes a factory of redefinition, of reinvention. In the final scene an amazing mesh between the visuals and the music, The Pixies’ “Where is my Mind,” Fincher creates one of the most stunning combinations of sight and sound in all of film. And it's a pretty damn good ending to the plot too.

The most memorable scene is when Durden is behind the wheel of a car full of passengers. He buckles up, pins the gas, and lets go of the wheel. The car veers off the road and crashes, flipping multiple times. We are force fed the hard truth here. The Fight Club mantra: to change to our lives we need to rid ourselves of our past failures, forget the job, the kids, the car, the living room, the flat screen HDTV, and just let go.

You are not your f'cking khakis.… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

yungmuv

Mar 29, 2021

Only the last scene makes me cast a 9 for the movie. A completely different production everyone should watch.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Vlot

Mar 30, 2020

фильм ниочём никому не советую спецеффекты уровня низкобюджетного говна сделаного на коленках

0 of 6 users found this helpful06

SEE ALL 254 REVIEWS

73	#73 Best Movie of 1999
2	#2 Most Discussed Movie of 1999
4	#4 Most Shared Movie of 1999