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284 of 316 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The most underrated film of the last year, February 10, 2000
When I'm looking at the Top Ten list's of America's critics and the nominations of the DGA,WGA and all the other guilds and press associations, I terribly miss David Fincher's outstanding film "Fight Club", which is possibly the best film of 1999. Not only is the film visualy stunning, it is also very thought-provoking, wickedly funny and, above all, extremely entertaining. Only few films managed to be so many things at once. David Fincher, in my opinion one of the most exciting directors of the decade, fills his movie with so many ideas that it would be sufficient for three more movies, and they are not just gimmicks for their own sake, they all mean something. Edward Norton and Brad Pitt are brilliant in the leads and the soundtrack by the Dust Brothers fits perfectly to the images. Many reviewers thought the film was fascist. I think you can only call this ridiculous, since that assumes Fincher sympathizes with Tyler Durden's project mayhem. In fact, he invites us to form our own opinion, like Stanley Kubrick did in "A Clockwork Orange". "Fight Club" hands over the resposibility to the viewer. This may be uncomfortable to some, others (like myself) will embrace this.
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109 of 119 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The year's best satire, February 2, 2000
FIGHT CLUB arrived in the US with a blaze of publicity stressing its violence and nihilism; some critics (and those close to the production) countered this with the suggestion that it was an anti-materialist jeremiad. On a second viewing, it seems like neither -- it's easier to see it as a smart, committed and complex piece of filmmaking. David Fincher once again dazzles with his direction, which is as intelligently energetic as the acting of Brad Pitt and, especially, Edward Norton. What's really impressive, however, is the way that the film manages to flirt with an anti-materialist, hyper-masculine primitivism even as it suggests that we're all a little too sophisticated to buy it (as it were). FIGHT CLUB may hold that we're not the clothes we wear, or the credit cards in our wallet, but it's savvy enough to realise that our paths of thought and modes of organisation are almost entirely contaminated by the world we've created. Is the solution to destroy that world? Well, that's an option -- but watch closely in the movie's second half and see how subtly and hilariously Fincher undermines this: the anarchists begin to chant management-speak, to dissolve into a collective identity, and to form franchises as if they were selling frappucino rather than revolution. Norton is especially horrified at all this, and his wonderful reactions to the disintegration of 'Project Mayhem' are the calm (and moral) centre of the film. Rather like ANIMAL FARM, Fincher tells us that we can have our revolution, but it's going to cost us dear; perhaps even the individuality and reason which we'd hoped to gain from our actions.
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180 of 209 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This Movie is Why "Professional" Critics Must Go, April 29, 2000
I didn't see this movie in the theaters because it had gotten very mixed reviews from the so-called professional movie reviewers. But, when it hit the local vidoe store, I thought I would give it a try. WOW, what a kick in the teeth, interesting, and fast moving journey into one man's mind. The path this movie takes is fantastic. Norton and Pitt are perfectly cast, and supported by a crew of fight club members that make for a well-acted show. Meatloaf, Ed Gil, Jared Leto, et. al. are great in support as the members/followers of the leads. Helena Bonham Carter has the only real female role in this film and is perfectly cast. But as much as the acting, this movie is made by the story. Unconventional, with a great twist at the end, the whole movie kept me on the edge of my seat. As with many great movies, it is hard to classify the genre (action, comedy, drama), as there is a sampling of all in this film. In the end, I would just classify this as a great film. Much was made of the violence of this movie when it first hit the theaters. Those critics overstated the case. There is blood and violence in the movie, but it is not excessive and it serves the plot well. If you missed this in the theater, see it now. If you saw it once, see it again. I will.
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