Gets better with each viewing!

Rating: 10/10 (19 February 2002)

When I first saw "Fight Club", had mixed feelings about it. I thought that the "twist" in it was preposterous and unbelievable. But having watched the DVD several times now, including all four commentary tracks, I now feel this is one of the most brilliant films I have ever seen - indeed, many people have called this "the first film of the 21st century", and they are right.
You really do have to see this film several times, ideally on DVD with headphones, to see and hear the many layers and hidden details throughout the film. For example, just before Jack (the Narrator) confronts Marla in a self-help group, you can clearly see a guy walking toward Marla, probably hoping to pick her up, but he turns away as Jack approaches. Another example: as the "space monkeys" go upstairs after being handed their homework assignments, you can see Meatloaf in the background breathing from an oxygen tank - apparently he was so hot in his body suit, he needed extra air! In another scene, after the space monkeys threaten the commissioner and are leaving the building, you can see Meatloaf pulling up his pants!
The visual effects in this film are spectacular and ground-breaking, but not overdone. They add to the movie, but do not overwhelm it. Almost as amazing as the visuals is the *sound*. Again, DVD with headphones is the best way to pick up on this - the sounds are so real, I often found myself quickly jerking away my headphones thinking that the sound (such as a dog barking or glass breaking) had come from outside. It's no surprise that this film won several awards for sound.
This is one of the few films I've seen that made me want to read the book - which I did in only one day. It's fascinating to see where the book and film are similar, and where they diverge. In many respects, the film is actually better than the book. Certain scenes are changed, often for the better. For example, in the car crash scene, Jack is talking with a mechanic - in the film, he talks with Tyler. In the book, it is Jack who confronts the storekeeper, Raymond Hessel - in the film, it is Tyler. The endings are also somewhat different, and I actually preferred the film's ending to the book's.
This is definitely not a film for everyone - it is violent, but is about so much more than simply violence. Ultimately, Jack, by rejecting Tyler, rejects violence, and I think this what the film is about - finding that elusive middle ground between being a boring, office consumerized clone and being totally out-of-control.