MOVIE TRIVIA
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Trivia for
Fight Club ( 1999 )
- Director David Fincher shot over 1,500 reels of film, more than three times the normal amount
- Brad Pitt 's character was originally going to recite a workable recipe for home-made explosives. In the interest of public safety, the filmmakers decided to substitute fictional, dud recipes for the real ones.
- Author Chuck Palahniuk actually found the modified ending in the film to be better than the one he had written in the novel.
- Although he refused to smoke in Rounders (1998) (despite his character being written as a smoker), Edward Norton did smoke in this film.
- During an exterior shot in a residential, urban area, a man in one of the apartments above the working film crew got annoyed with the noise and threw a 40 oz. beer bottle at them. The bottle hit director of photography Jeff Cronenweth who was not seriously injured and the man was arrested shortly afterward.
- The reverse-tracking shot out of the trash can, an elaborate computer graphic, was the very last shot to be added to the film - as almost an afterthought by the director. It required so much processing time that it almost had to be spliced in "wet" - i.e., fresh from the lab - so that the film could be duplicated on schedule.
- In the short scene when Brad Pitt and Edward Norton are drunk and hitting golf balls, they really are drunk, and the golf balls are sailing directly into the side of the catering truck.
- During rehearsals Brad Pitt and Edward Norton found out that they both hated the new Volkswagen Beetle with a passion. In the film they are seen banging a Volkswagen Beetle with baseball bats. However, after the film's DVD release Pitt is quoted in the commentary section of the DVD as saying he had a change of heart about his feelings for the new VW Beetle.
- One of Project Mayhem's acts of vandalism is the destruction of a display of Apple Macintosh computers. The explosion occurs at exactly 84 minutes into the film, an ironic reference to Apple's famous tribute to George Orwell 's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" when they debuted the Macintosh during the 1984 Super Bowl.
- The brown station wagon against which Edward Norton falls in his first fight with Brad Pitt is the same brown station wagon used in The Game (1997), in which Michael Douglas hid while James Rebhorn drove him to CRS headquarters. The car has a CRS sticker on the windshield.
- Three detectives in the film are named Detective Andrew, Detective Kevin, and Detective Walker. Andrew Kevin Walker was the writer of the David Fincher film Se7en (1995), and did some uncredited work on this movie's script.
- As Tyler jumps into the red convertible outside of the airport a man can be heard yelling, 'Hey, that's my car.'
- In Tyler Durden's house there is a Movieline magazine cover featuring Drew Barrymore , a close friend of Edward Norton .
- While Edward Norton is trying to convince Helena Bonham Carter to leave the city by bus, the crew arranged cinema signs to make references to other films the cast had been in, although only one is visible during the actual scene. Seven Years in Tibet (1997) (starring Brad Pitt ) is visible, although the sign letters actually say "Seven Year In Tibe" as if the theatre didn't have the required letters. Other marquees (in the far background, and not visible) reportedly said The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) (starring Norton) and The Wings of the Dove (1997) (starring Carter).
- The telephone number of the Paper Street Soap Company (as printed on the phone the Narrator uses to call the "1888" office building near the end of the movie) is (288) 555-1534. The Paper Street Soap Company's phone number as listed on Tyler's business card is (288) 555-0153. The narrator's boss' business card shows a phone number of (288) 555-0138. At the time of the film's release, area code 288 was "reserved for future use".
- The zip code on Richard Chesler's (The Narrator's boss) business card is 198090 (shown briefly in the scene where The Narrator beats himself up in his boss's office). In the shot where we see Tyler Durden's business card (just before The Narrator calls him), The Narrator's thumb could possibly be hiding the 6th digit. All we are able to see is 19808...then it's all thumb.
- The "filing cabinet" apartment block that the Narrator lives in is called "Pierson Towers", and the motto is "a place to be somebody" which is the city motto for Wilmington, Delaware.
- There really is a Paper St. in Wilmington, Delaware, but there's no street number 1537 (the numbers on that street don't go that high).
- The typeface used for the titles and logo is named "Big Science".
- Some of fake names used by the narrator in the self-help groups are names of characters in Planet of the Apes (1968), as well as classic roles played by Robert De Niro .
- Director of Photography Jeff Cronenweth 's sister, Christie has a cameo in the film as the airline check-in attendant.
- Cameo: [ Kevin Scott Mack ] Visual effects supervisor is one of the terrified passengers of the plummeting jet.
- Cameo: [ 'Ed Kowalczyk' ] Member of the band Live plays the waiter who serves the Narrator and Marla with the line, "Sir, anything you want is free of charge, Sir."
- In the press packages released for the movie, which came in the form of Ikea-esque catalogues, Edward Norton 's character is referred to as "Jack".
- The only remaining pink and white giant "fat soap" prop (appox. 12" x 10") featured in the movie can be seen briefly but clearly behind the character Warren Henley in a scene in the film Automatic (2001) as a framed piece of art.
- In the closed captioning, whenever the Narrator speaks and is not seen, the closed caption begins with "Rupert:"
- The original "pillow talk"-scene had Marla saying "I want to have your abortion". When this was objected, it was exchanged for what we see now: "I haven't been fucked like that since grade school". When those who had protested saw this they were even more outraged and wanted the original line back. But by then it was too late.
- Chuck Palahniuk thought up the character Tyler Durden years before he ever wrote his book. He got the idea after an encounter with a real life person named Tyler Lovelly whom he was seated next to on a plane.
- Fox originally wanted someone with a name to play Marla after they decided not to go with Helena Bonham Carter . The only other name thrown in was Reese Witherspoon . But Fincher, Witherspoon, and the studio declined saying that she was too young, and Witherspoon said it was just too dark.
- David Fincher took 12 takes of the stuntman rolling down the stairs when the narrator gets thrown down the stone steps in the parking lot by Tyler in their final fight, but the shot used in the movie is the very first take.
- Tyler Durden comes from Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1960) and a former coworker of Palahniuk's who left under a sexual harassment cloud.
- Chuck Palahniuk came up with the story after getting beaten up on a camping trip by some people who'd refused to turn down their loud radio in a neighboring campsite.
- David Fincher had to receive separate funding for the complex "Fear Center" title sequence. In the DVD commentary, Fincher remarks that the studio told him "if the movie's good" they would allow him to do the very expensive introduction.
- Edward Norton 's apartment building, Pearson Towers, which he returns to at the beginning of the film to find his possessions strewn all over the sidewalk is actually Promenade Towers located at 123 South Figueroa in downtown Los Angeles. The apartment building's slogan in the movie is "A Place to be Somebody" while the actual apartment building's slogan is "A City in a City".
- Marla Singer's phone number, 555-0134, is the same as Teddy's number in Memento (2000).
- Marla Singer ( Helena Bonham Carter ) says she goes to support groups because "It's cheaper than a movie, and there's free coffee". In Margaret's Museum (1995) (starring Helena Bonham Carter), Kate Nelligan says she goes to funerals because it's cheaper than bingo, and there's free food.
- After the copyright warning, there is another warning on the DVD. This warning is from Tyler Durden, and is only there for a second. "If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this is useless fine print is another second off your life. Don't you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can't think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all who claim it? Do you read everything you're supposed to read? Do you think everything you're supposed to think? Buy what you're told you should want? Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned.......Tyler"
- David Fincher claimed in an interview in UK film magazine Empire, that there is a Starbucks coffee cup visible in every shot in the movie (see also The Game (1997)) .
- When a Fight Club member sprays the priest with a hose, the camera briefly shakes. This happens because the cameraman couldn't keep himself from laughing.
- The workprint for this film ran about 153 minutes. It featured all of the deleted/alternate scenes from the DVD, small scenes/lines not included on the DVD (such as the "blow up baggage" sequence seen in one of the behind-the-scenes documentaries), completely different feel to the narration and almost no Dust Brothers music. Where there was music, it was nothing like the music used for the final film. Overall, this version of the film had a lot different mood from the final.
- When the Narrator is writing haiku poems at work and sending them to coworkers, the names on the email list include those of Production Assistants and other crew members.
- The Narrator works at Federated Motor Corporation, in the Compliance and Liability division. FMC is located at 39210 North Pennfield Boulevard in Bradford (the state is not specified). His Manager's phone number is (288) 555-0138, and his fax number is (288) 555-0149, both non-existant area codes.
- Helena Bonham Carter wore platform shoes to help close up the disparity in height between her and Edward Norton and Brad Pitt .
- Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter 's sex scene is largely computer generated.
- Brad Pitt and Edward Norton actually learned how to make soap.
- Tyler Durden and his Paper Street address (420 Paper St. Wilmington, DE 19886) are a sample name and address on the front of a box of Matte White Ink Jet Avery Labels (#8293).
- In an early version of the script the Narrator confirms that he lives in Wilmington, Delaware.
- Courtney Love and Winona Ryder were also considered for the role of Marla Singer.
- The term 'Paper Street' refers to a road or street that has been planned by city engineers but has yet to be constructed. A paper street is sometimes published in common street directories by accident, but does not yet exist.
- Voted #4 in Total Film's 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time list (November 2005).
SPOILERS -
- SPOILER: Tyler appears in the film at least five times before the Narrator glimpses him on the moving walkway in the airport. In the four appearances, Tyler flashes onscreen for just an instant and is only visible when the Narrator has insomnia:
- At the photocopier at work;
- In the doctor's office, when the Narrator is learning about the testicular cancer support group;
- At that group's meeting;
- As the Narrator sees Marla leaving a meeting but doesn't follow her.
- Tyler shows up as a waiter in the presentation video of a hotel de narrator stays at.
- SPOILER: When Tyler is about to tell the Narrator about how he met Marla, the Narrator says "I already knew the story before he told it to me."
- SPOILER: When the Narrator is traveling, frantically trying to find Tyler, he says, "I was living in a state of perpetual déjà vu. Everywhere I went I felt like I'd already been there. It was like following an invisible man."
- SPOILER: The Narrator says, "I know this because Tyler knows this."
- SPOILER: Chuck Palahniuk revealed that when he wrote the book, he did not actually know that Tyler and Jack (or Jake in the book) were the same person until he was two thirds of the way through writing the story. He noticed that they acted together as one person and chose to finish the story as such.
- SPOILER: When the Narrator fights himself during the scene with his boss he says that he thought of his first fight with Tyler.
- SPOILER: In the car scene where Tyler tells Jack to "Just let go!" Tyler is driving, yet Jack gets out of the driver's side door after the crash. This, in fact, was unintentional, and while looking at the dailys Fincher chose to keep it.
- SPOILER: Everything Tyler says to the Narrator when he receives a phone call from the arson police investigator is true.
- SPOILER: When Tyler tells the Narrator that he is leaving, the Narrator has a bruise on his head. When the Narrator wakes up "the next morning" the bruise is gone, obviously indicating that it has been some time that he's been asleep (in actuality he wasn't asleep but went all over the country as Tyler setting up the fight clubs.)
- SPOILER: At the airport, the Narrator says "Could you wake up as a different person?" and the camera follows Tyler.
- SPOILER: For a brief moment in the beginning of the film, the Narrator can be seen as Tyler's reflection in the window.
- SPOILER: Early on, we see the Narrator getting off a bus with one of the Project Mayhem folders.
- SPOILER: The Narrator wanders the house while Tyler and Marla noisily have sex upstairs. When the detective calls and the Narrator answers the phone, the sounds of the lovemaking instantly stop.
- SPOILER: When the airport employee "lends" Tyler the car, the Narrator and Tyler get in through the same door. After the crash where Tyler was driving, Tyler pulls the Narrator out of the driver's side of the car.
- SPOILER: When the airport valet lends Tyler and the narrator the car, while addressing "Mr. Durden" he is looking straight at the Narrator.
- SPOILER: When the Narrator is talking to the doctor about his sleeping problem, he states that he might have narcolepsy, for he sleeps and wakes up strange places that he's never been to. Later, he states that Tyler was a night person. In one Scene, Bob ('Meatloaf' ) even says that he has heard rumors that Tyler only sleeps one hour a day.
- SPOILER: On the airplane the Narrator mentions that they have the exact same briefcase. And although Tyler opens his, we never see the contents of the Narrator's.
- SPOILER: At the payphone when the Narrator gets a phone call from Tyler, the sign on the payphone reads: "No Incoming Calls Allowed".
- SPOILER: When the Narrator asks the members of Project Mayhem what they did after they vandalized that building and made a happy face on it, they laugh as if he'd just made a joke about not knowing what was going on.
- SPOILER: When the Narrator threatens his boss, after he finds the Fight Club rules in the photocopy machine, he says to himself, "Tyler's words, coming out of my mouth."
- SPOILER: When entering Lou's Tavern, the Narrator enters first and the guy out the front only acknowledges the Narrator, as though Tyler doesn't even exist.
- SPOILER: When going to the convenience store where Raymond K Hessel works, Tyler gets the gun out of the Narrator's bag. The Narrator obviously didn't know the gun was there, indicated by his astonishment "Is that a gun?". Despite the fact that it's his backpack.
- SPOILER: When the Narrator enters the house prior to seeing the news report of the happy face on the building, he is carrying one of Project Mayhem's folders.
- SPOILER: When the narrator gets on the bus with Tyler, he only pays the fare for one person.
- SPOILER: When Tyler and the Narrator are on the bus, the long-haired guy pushes past Tyler without a word, then says "excuse me" as he pushes past the Narrator.
- SPOILER: When the Narrator and Tyler are discussing their fathers, Tyler mentions how his father didn't go to college but expected Tyler to. The Narrator says that sounds familiar.
- SPOILER: The buildings that blow up in the end are all Fox-owned buildings digitally composited into the shot. It was feared that they would invite legal action against the production if they portrayed real credit card companies blowing up.