Release date: November 17, 2009
Fox Home Entertainment
MSRP: $34.99
Starring: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham-Carter, Meat Loaf
Screenplay by Jim Uhls
Directed by David Fincher
I feel like one of a handful of people who had never seen Fight Club or read Chuck Palahniuk’s novel before getting the chance to review this Blu-ray release. Edward Norton plays the unnamed narrator, an auto insurance investigator fed up with the monotony of his life who attends support groups for sufferers of various ailments in hopes of curing insomnia. This works until he meets Marla Singer (Helena Bonham-Carter), who, like the narrator, attends multiple support groups but shows no sign she really needs them.
The narrator fixates on Marla until, on one of his many business flights, he meets flashy philosophical soap salesman Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). After a fire destroys his apartment, the narrator moves in with Tyler, who introduces him to a nationwide underground network of fight clubs. Through these clubs, Tyler amasses an army of men, all similarly disillusioned with their lives and seduced into Tyler’s destructive philosophy.
Fight Club seemed like just a dark, satirical social commentary until, about two-thirds through my first viewing, I saw the lines between the narrator and Tyler blurring. I realized Fight Club was also a commentary on identity and how dangerous it is to become detached from our actions. That message is as relevant today as it was ten years ago.
Highly recommended.
The Blu-ray release features four commentaries, with the director, cast, writers, and technical staff respectively, along with all the content from the 2-DVD Special Edition. Exclusive to Blu-ray are an interactive featurette on the sound design of Fight Club, footage of Fincher, Norton, and Pitt accepting a Spike TV award on behalf of Fight Club, and a search index.
–Gerald So
