David Fincher is one of the finest director’s currently working in Hollywood with a whole range of fine movie projects to his name.
He is famed for taking on dark and gritty movies that are full of tension - not to mention they always look fantastic.
He is back this week with his new movie The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo as he delivers an American adaptation of the hit novel by Stieg Larsson.
So to celebrate the release of the movie we take a look at some of the essential Fincher movies that really need to be in your movie collection.
- Se7en
Despite the fact that it was released back in 1995 Se7en remains my favourite Fincher movie as it is gripping from start to finish - with an excellent twist.
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins to choose and murder his victims.
Se7en proved to be the breakthrough movie for Fincher as he teamed up with Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, a role that really helped cement him as leading man material.
Se7en is a dark and very stylish thriller that handles the violence with great sensitivity - it never becomes a slasher movie.
It’s a claustrophobic watch and still remains a giant in the crime film genre.
- Fight Club
In 1999 Fincher reunited with Pitt for one of his most infamous movies… Fight Club, which was an adaptation of the Chuck Palahniuk novel.
The film also starred Ed Norton and followed an office employee and a soap salesman build a global organization to help vent male aggression.
This is an inventive and extremely bold movie that really stood out from the crowd when it was released back in 1999.
And while it may have divided the critics when it was released, everyone moaning about the level of violence, the film gained a cult following on DVD and now the movie is regarded as one of the best movies of the nineties.
- Zodiac
After a hiatus of five years Fincher returned with Zodiac, an adaptation of Robert Graysmith's novel, with an impressive cast of Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, and Brian Cox
A San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac killer.
This movie is a gripping character study that becomes more and more intense as the movie progresses. It’s a very complex drama with some great twists and turns and it’s impossible not to enjoy.
While the critics raved about the movie back in 2007 sadly the film did not to as well at the box office as it deserved to do.
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was loosely based on the story by F. Scott Fitzgerald and was a third collaboration with Pitt for the director.
The movie tells the story of Benjamin Button, who begins ageing backwards, and the experiences he goes on during his incredible life.
It’s a beautiful movie that incorporates beautiful and understated performances from its two lead stars, it’s great to see Pitt mixing up his roles and moving away from the pretty boy label that has dogged him his entire career.
It’s a well conceived and superbly delivered movie that saw the two lead actors, Pitt & Cate Blanchett, deliver great performances.
It was one of the best movies of 2009 and went on to be nominated for best Picture at the Oscars.
- The Social Network
Last year Fincher was back with The Social Network, which was one of the most talked about and highly acclaimed movies of 2010.
The movie followed Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg, and the invention and launch of social media group Facebook.
This was a well written, well directed and brilliantly acted movie that that was a rich character study that looked at friendship, betrayal and greed.
The movie was a hit at the box office and with the critics and went on to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, losing out to The King’s Speech earlier this year.
- The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is one of the most anticipated movies of this year as Fincher puts his own stamp on the very popular novel, which was only adapted for the big screen last year.
He has brought together another impressive cast that includes Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Robin Wright and Stellan Skarsgard.
Harriet Vanger disappeared off the secluded island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger family. There was no corpse, no witnesses, no evidence.
Nearly forty years later a journalist by the name of Mikael Blomqvist gets an unusual assignment. He’s contacted by Harriet’s uncle, Henrik Vanger, who wants him to find out what really happened to Harriet.
Mikael takes on the job, with help from mysterious biker girl and computer hacker Lisbeth Salander.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is released 26th December
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in David Fincher The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo