10th greatest movie of all time!

Rating: 10/10 (28 March 2013)

'FIGHT CLUB': Five Stars (Out of Five)
Director David Fincher's epic masterpiece is now one of the most beloved movies of all time by film buffs but when it was originally released in theaters it was considered a box office and critical failure. The film was made with a budget of $63 million but grossed just a little over $100 million in it's initial theatrical run. Critics were pretty split on the film with the positive reviews being extremely positive and the negative reviews being extremely negative (which is always the sign of a great movie in my opinion). It was one of the most talked about and controversial films released in 1999 and was heavily criticized for it's violence and (what was seen as) immoral content. The movie went on to be a huge hit on DVD, making it's studio a big profit, and quickly developed a cult following. As it's grown immensely in viewer popularity, since it's release, critics have also changed their tune as well (which is often the case). Many now cite it as a great, ground breaking film and most of it's negative criticisms have all but disappeared.
The film is based on the 1996 novel, of the same name, by Chuck Palahniuk. It was adapted for the screen by Jim Uhls and stars Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter. It tells the story of an unnamed 'everyman' (Norton, who also narrates the film) who works for a traveling automobile company and hates his job. Suffering from depression and severe insomnia he attends several different support groups as a form of relief (pretending to have different problems for each one). He meets a woman, named Marla Singer (Carter), at one who appears to be pulling the same scam. He also meets a soap salesman named Tyler Durden (Pitt), on a flight, and he forms a bizarre relationship with him as well. Durden and our narrator turn to fighting one another at a bar one night as a form of therapy and this later develops into a 'fight club' which attracts a lot of other men with similar problems.
'FIGHT CLUB' was named the 10th greatest movie of all time by Empire magazine readers (in 2008) and also currently claims that same ranking on IMDb's Top 250 movies (voted on by IMDb users). That's about where I'd place it on my 'all time greatest films' list. David Fincher is one of my favorite directors and I'd say it's arguably his best movie (although for me 'THE SOCIAL NETWORK' would be a tough rival). I really liked it when I first saw it in 1999 but I actually, initially, liked a few other films even better that year (like 'DOGMA', 'THE SIXTH SENSE' and 'AMERICAN BEAUTY') but with each viewing I've come to like it even more and I'd now say it's probably my favorite movie of 1999 (as well as one of my top ten favorite films of all time). Anyone who's seen it knows how powerful it is but it holds many different qualities and meanings for each viewer. Without going into the twist and all the different layers to the plot and characters here I'll just say it's a movie that really speaks to me. It did when I first saw it in 1999 and it does even more now. I'd say it's arguably one of the greatest films of all time (and I'm definitely not alone in that viewpoint).
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