Fight Club is not only director David Fincher’s most famous work but probably one of the biggest movies from the 90’s/00’s. The darkly comic indictment of consumerism still stands today as a cinematic powerhouse. If you’re like me, you have probably already watched the movie 100 times before but I decided to write up a few facts that I think really enhance the viewer’s experience. Spoilers, obviously.
Fight Club almost had a very different cast.
As with most of your favorite films, it can be pretty hard to imagine the movie with different performers playing the main characters. For Tyler Durden, both Pitt and Russell Crowe were considered for the role. For Edward Norton’s role as “Narrator” studios were interested in casting someone like Matt Damon or Sean Penn. Fincher noted that he was interested in Norton because of his performance in The People vs. Larry Flynt but at the time the actor was contractually obligated to another studio and couldn’t accept the role immediately.
For the Marla Singer character, Fincher wanted Janeane Garofalo but she wasn’t on board with the film’s sexual content. From there, Courtney Love, Winona Ryder, and even Reese Witherspoon were considered for the role before Helena Bonham Carter was cast.
Studios had no idea how to market the film.
Was the movie an art film? An Action movie? Studios weren’t sure what to label the movie and struggled to develop a marketing strategy. It was a violent and largely male-centric film so looking to Brad Pitt’s female fan base didn’t seem like a probable option.
Fincher and the studios also disagreed about using Pitt as a focal point for the poster advertising. Fincher contracted a firm that devised the now iconic pink bar of soap image but at the time, the studios were completely against the visual. Disagreements continued over fake PSA trailers that Fincher made to promote the film.
Upon release, Fight Club received very mixed reactions from critics.
The movie performed poorly at the box office (possibly thanks to the crappy marketing job by the studio) but it was also controversial with critics upon release. It was the ‘love it or hate it’ film of 1999 where critics were divided over the strong themes of the film and it’s overtly violent nature. Some critics recognized the skill involved with Fincher’s direction while others were referring to the film as “appalling.”
Critic Gary Crowdus from Cineaste looked at the initial critical response noting:
“Many critics praised Fight Club, hailing it as one of the most exciting, original, and thought-provoking films of the year. While Fight Club had numerous critical champions, the film’s critical attackers were far more vocal, a negative chorus which became hysterical about what they felt to be the excessively graphic scenes of fisticuffs … They felt such scenes served only as a mindless glamorization of brutality, a morally irresponsible portrayal, which they feared might encourage impressionable young male viewers to set up their own real-life fight clubs in order to beat each other senseless.”
The movie later went on to become a cult classic after it was released on DVD. Later versions of the DVD packaging actually included a booklet that had quotes from negative reviews.
Fincher was very involved with the home video release of the film.
In order to complete the total film experience, Fincher tailored many aspects of Fight Club’s DVD packaging and bonus content.
The packaging resembled a plain craft paper package with the title branded boldly on the cover. According to Wikipedia, the first special edition DVDs include a “commentary track, behind-the-scenes clips, deleted scenes, trailers, fake public service announcements, the promotional music video “This is Your Life”, Internet spots, still galleries, cast biographies, storyboards, and publicity materials.” Other versions, including the Blu Ray, included fake menu screens for the Drew Barrymore romantic comedy Never Been Kissed.
At the time, it was not commonplace for filmmakers to have such a large involvement with the home release process. The extra care that went into the film’s DVD won the film the awards for Best DVD & Best DVD Special Features from the 2000 Online Film Critics Society.
The film has a ton of fun Easter Eggs.
If you’re not familiar with the term, an Easter Egg is a small hidden feature placed in a movie (or any form of media) that is intentionally included as an inside reference. Check out some of the cooler Easter Eggs found in Fight Club:
- HIDDING MESSAGE POSING AS AN FBI WARNING – Right after the basic FBI warning pops on the initial DVD screen, a fake one appears that reads: “If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second of your life. Don’t you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can’t think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all who claim it? Do you read everything you’re supposed to read? Do you think everything you’re supposed to think? Buy what you’re told you should want? Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you’re alive. If you don’t claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned…….Tyler.” [LINK]
- SEEING SEVEN – The movie playing in the background of the scene where Tyler leaves the Fight Club is Seven. [LINK]
- DURDEN IS PRESENT BEFORE HIS INTRO – Tyler appears several times in the movie before the character is introduced. (1.) A flash of the character appears while the Narrator is making copies. (2.) He appears briefly when the Narrator is talking with the doctor. (3.) Another single frame shot is seen at the Testicular Cancer support group. (4.) While watching Marla walk down an alley, Tyler makes his final single frame appearence. (5.) A commercial featuring waiters appears on TV when the Narrator is sitting on the hotel bed. Tyler is the waiter on the far right. [LINK]
- SLIPPING IT IN – Just as Tyler mentions he did during his time as a movie theater projectionist, a naughty frame is spliced into the very end of the film after the buildings collapse and before the credits start. [LINK]
- COFFEE BREAK – According to Fincher, there’s a coffee cup in every scene of the movie and it’s usually Starbucks. The director has said that he included this little easter egg in the movie to poke fun of the ubiquitous corporate branding of Starbucks. [LINK]
What do you think about Fight Club? Do you have any other cool tidbits or easter eggs to add? Let me know in the comments below!
