- The first rule of fight club is... you do not talk about fight club.
- The second rule of fight club is... you do not talk about fight club.
- Third rule of fight club, someone yells "Stop!", goes limp, taps out, the fight is over.
- Fourth rule, only two guys to a fight.
- Fifth rule, one fight at a time, fellas.
- Sixth rule, no shirts, no shoes.
- Seventh rule, fights will go on as long as they have to.
- And the eighth and final rule, if this is your first night at fight club, you have to fight.
Hard to believe that it's almost ten years since Brad Pitt's most famous character Tyler Durden uttered these now immortal words for the very first time.
What's also hard to believe is a movie that was considered a box office failure when it was released could have had such a massive impact on movies that followed.
But it was one of the most controversial and most talked about movies of 1999 and was considered a milestone for visual style in cinema establishing a cult following when it was released on DVD. And that powerful tool of word of mouth made it a success that has just grown as the years have gone on.
The film was recognised as an innovator in cinematic form and style as Fincher and co mixed a bland and realistic palette with more hyper visual styles as mixing computer animation and sleight-of-hand editing.
The mundane existence of a product liability evaluator and insomniac, who is addicted to self-help groups, is turned upside down when he meets a sado-masochistic anarchist who is secretly plotting to overthrow civilization.
As their friendship grows, they become increasingly involved in a secret society of "fight clubs" where men act out their aggressions and violently beat one another to a pulp.
In the meantime, the evaluator falls in love with a woman who is also addicted to self-help groups, but is unable to act on his desire for her.
However the violence that was condemned when it was released was merely a metaphor for feeling and wasn't there to glorify physical combat.
Fight Club also led a new mood of American political life as it highlighted the younger generation's disillusion with their place in society and the constraints of being there.
Brad Pitt and Edward Norton produced one of the most explosive partnerships in cinema history and Fight Club still remains a movie that has never been equalled.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
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