Based on the book of the same name by author Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club is a cult classic that polarized audiences and critics upon release but went on to find success when released on DVD. Directed by David Fincher - who at that time had only helmed three films, Alien 3Seven, and The Game - Fight Club generated lots of controversy when it first hit cinemas in America for its depiction of violence and dark themes including nihilism, fascism, and self-worth, wrapped up in the guise of a coming of age story.

The film is a complex look at Generation X and the way people born in this era navigate a culture that advertises fake happiness. Of course, it goes much deeper than that but if I were to explain all the nuances of the plot I would be here all day. Suffice to say, Fight Club is a thought-provoking look at the way we live our lives that's still relevant today, almost two decades since the film was released.

Fight Club not only turned Fincher into one of the most in-demand directors of our generation but solidified Brad Pitt's leading man status and highlighted Edward Norton as an acting talent. Along with Helena Bonham Carter, the three actors and director created a piece of art that still has people asking questions all these years later. This piece looks at helping answer some of those questions while also addressing facts about the film you might not have known.

23 You Can't Escape Advertising

via: fightclubstarbucks.tumblr.com

Fight Club tackles some heavy themes throughout its runtime but that doesn't mean director David Fincher didn't have fun while filming. Along with adding the extra special warning before the film on the video release as explained above, Fincher also filled Fight Club with cups of Starbucks coffee. Considering one of the major themes in the film is about giant corporations ruling our lives it makes sense Starbucks would make an appearance. In several interviews over the years, Fincher has stated that there was a Starbucks cup in almost every frame of the film. He used Starbucks as a way to show how a massive corporation can have an influence on the world, although it was meant as a joke and not a slight on Starbucks. For their part, Starbucks seemed to enjoy the publicity and had no qualms about their product being used, as long as their name wasn't actually seen or spoken, especially in the scene where the coffee shop gets destroyed.

If you can't be bothered rewatching the film and trying to spot all the coffee cups then you're in luck as someone has done the hard work for you. Starbucks In Fight Club is a website showing all the Starbucks cups featured in Fight Club, including the time they appeared in the film.

22 There's A Reason Pitt And Norton Look So Different

via: substance.media

Watching Fight Club you'll notice how different Brad Pitt and Edward Norton look physically, particularly as the film goes on. Director David Fincher and stars Pitt and Norton agreed that the two characters should look remarkably different, as Pitt's Tyler Durden sees himself as the epitome of masculinity and Norton's The Narrator a shell of the man he once was. Both actors took on different workout regiments and implemented completely opposite diet strategies. Pitt worked out extensively and got himself into tip top shape, showing off his muscular frame throughout the film. Norton, who had beefed up for his role in the acclaimed American History X, was forced to do the opposite. He had to lose over 20 pounds of muscle to portray the sickly looking Narrator but it was well worth the effort, as the distinction between him and Durden was noticeable.

Another interesting tidbit Norton has discussed in interviews concerns The Narrator being based on fictional character Holden Caulfield from author J. D. Salinger's 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye. While I don't see the similarities myself the book obviously impacted Norton and helped in his creation of The Narrator.

21 Please Don't Watch Mum And Dad

via: ebaumsworld.com/

As an actor, you put everything you have onto the screen for others to devour and critique, and if your performance was well received I'd imagine you'd want as many people to see it as possible. Brad Pitt thought differently when Fight Club hit cinemas, with the actor pleading with his parents not to watch. It's understandable his parents wanted to support him and see what his latest film was like but Pitt believed Fight Club to be too much, even for them. Despite warning them about the film, his parents William Alvin Pitt and Jane Etta (nee Hillhouse) were adamant they wanted to see what the big deal was. Pitt was going to relent until he decided to show them a short clip from the film so they understood what they were in for.

The clip in question was the scene where Pitt's Durden pours stuff on Norton's and convinces him that he has to come to terms with his mortality.

He convinces The Narrator it's only once we know we will die that we are free to do anything. It's quite a powerful and painful scene to watch and Pitt's parents thought the same. After watching they both took their sons advice and gave Fight Club a miss, much to Pitt's relief.

20 Tyler Durden's Warning

via: imgur.com

These days most people watch films via streaming services but back when Fight Club was released people would visit places called video shops where they could rent videos and DVDs to take home and watch. Most of these videos included a warning that appeared before the film began. The small print was there to persuade people from pirating the film, warning them of the consequences they would face. After the warning label appeared but before the beginning of Fight Club, another one followed for the briefest of moments. This warning was from Tyler Durden himself and states;

“Warning: If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this 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 gender. Stop the excessive shopping and [redacted]. 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”

Although this doesn't affect your viewing of the film it's a nifty easter egg that only adds to the mythology of the film.

19 Helena Bonham Carter Got Ill After Shooting

via: pintrest.com

As the sultry and complex Marla, Helena Bonham Carter did a fantastic job as the romantic interest in Fight Club. In what could have been a standard female role, she gave Marla personality and impact on the film's direction. Throughout the film, Marla was often seen smoking. As we all know smoking isn't good for you and it turned out to have a negative impact on Carter's health after she finished filming. Speaking with Total Film, she explained how all the smoking during shooting made her very ill.

“At the end of the shoot I gave Fincher an x-ray of my lungs,” the actress told Total Film. “I had to have an x-ray because I got bronchitis — surprise, surprise — during the six months of filming. And Fincher does so many takes and lots of smoke shots. He got obsessed with the smoke. It had to float in a particular way. So I was just always sitting there in a cemetery of cigarette ends.”

Thankfully Carter recovered and the illness wasn't life-threatening but it showed her dedication to the craft along with Fincher's obsessive quest for detail when filming.

18 Thirty Seconds To Mars

via: pintrest.com

At the time of the film's release, Jared Leto was still a reasonably small actor. He had featured in a number films with small parts in horror Urban Legend and war epic The Thin Red Line his most noticeable achievements. A year before the release of Fight Club, Leto had formed a rock band with his brother called Thirty Seconds To Mars. Determined to make it without using his position as an actor Leto and the band began writing songs and playing around California to hone their skills. It wasn't until four years later in 2002 when the band released their self-titled debut album that people began to take them seriously, with 2005 follow-up A Beautiful Lie spawning the hit single "The Kill (Bury Me)."

There's a nod to Leto's rockstar dreams in one scene of the film when Pitt's Durden is talking to the Fight Club members.

“We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires and rock stars. But we won’t,” Durden says to the motley crew assembled. As he says the words, “rock stars,” Tyler stares directly at a character called Angel Face, who, you guessed it, is played by Jared Leto, also an actual rock star. While nobody knew how successful Leto would be as a musician, that was a pretty funny in-joke from known prankster Fincher.

How A Camping Trip Influenced The Novel

[caption id="attachment_192319" align="alignnone" width="1480"] via: thedailybeast.com[/caption]

As insane as it sounds, author Chuck Palahniuk's inspiration for Fight Club came after he was beaten up on a camping trip. Speaking with The Guardian, Palahniuk explained how one unfortunate event led him to his greatest success as a novelist. "The other people who were camping near us wanted to drink and party all night long, and I tried to get them to shut up one night, and they literally beat the crud out of me. I went back to work just so bashed, and horrible looking. People didn't ask me what had happened. I think they were afraid of the answer. I realized that if you looked bad enough, people would not want to know what you did in your spare time. They don't want to know the bad things about you. And the key was to look so bad that no one would ever, ever ask. And that was the idea behind Fight Club."

In the interview, Palahniuk goes on to say that while writing the book he would often go out and look for fights as he'd never experienced that side of life before. While admitting he enjoyed it, Palahniuk did let on that his friends never wanted to go out with him during this period for fear of getting attacked.

17 Who Had The Bigger Pay Check?

via: designmynight.com

Fight Club had a fairly moderate budget of just over $60 million and $20 million of that was split between the film's two stars Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. At the time the film was being cast, both actors were in different stages of their careers. Pitt had become a household name thanks to star turns in Anne Rice's vampire tale Interview With A Vampire, serial criminal thriller Seven, the bizarre science fiction flick 12 Monkeys, and acclaimed drama Sleepers. Unfortunately, he had hit a rough patch after Seven Years In Tibet and Meet Joe Black failing at the box office. Norton, on the other hand, was only five films deep and coming off the well-received double of gambling flick Rounders and heavy drama American History X. Despite Pitt struggling he was offered $17.5 million for the role of Tyler Durden as 20th Century Fox thought a big name like Pitt could help sell the film. Norton, on the other hand, was offered only $2.5 million to play The Narrator, and although he was in high demand as an actor, happily took the pay cheque as he believed the script was fantastic.

It proved a good piece of business for everyone involved as Fight Club went on to make over $100 million at the box office and millions more through DVD sales. Pitt was then cast in Guy Ritchie's English gangster classic Snatch and revitalized his career while Norton secured roles in The Score alongside Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro.

16 That's Too Much for The Big Screen

via poskus.cus

Producers were happy with the script for Fight Club apart from one line. After Marla and Tyler get down and dirty for the first time, Marla was meant to say the line, "I want to have your [redacted]." This didn't go down well with 20th Century Fox president of production, Laura Ziskin, who was disgusted at the words. "I’m begging you, please. It’s too offensive. You have to take it out,” she said to the director.

Fincher wasn't happy about the change but agreed on one condition.

“I will shoot something else to replace that line, but you have to promise me that I have the final say on whatever that is. I get to come up with the replacement,” Fincher said to Ziskin. Thankful to have the original line removed Ziskin agreed wholeheartedly. Unfortunately for Ziskin, Fincher had something even more terrible lined up for Helena Bonham Carter's Marla to say. The new line was, “Oh my God, I haven’t been [romanced] like that since grade school." When Ziskin heard this she nearly had a heart attack, finding it much worse than the original line Fincher had intended. She begged him to change it back to the intended line but Fincher told her a deal was a deal and the new line remained.

Nobody Safe From Injury

[caption id="attachment_192790" align="alignnone" width="1920"] via: collider.com[/caption] It's obvious a film with the title Fight Club is going to involve some kind of physical confrontations but nobody imagined the number of injuries the two stars would receive during filming. As director David Fincher is a perfectionist and known for filming multiple takes, Brad Pitt and Edward Norton took the brunt of injuries during production. Norton broke his thumb from punching Pitt's rock hard abs while both suffered concussions, broken ribs, and getting the wind knocked out of them. Norton also picked up a nasty head injury he told Total Film about in an interview.

"There’s a shot in the movie where Brad throws me through the toll booth of a parking lot and I crawl under a car," Norton recalled. "It’s an elaborate shot and Fincher wanted to do it all in one. So we did it a lot of times. Like a lot. Like 20 or 25 times. I remember going into a headstate of like, '[Forget] it. I can do as many as he wants me to, because there’s no going back now.' Eventually, Brad started getting uncomfortable, around 33 or 34, and he said, 'Look, seriously, no more. He’s really getting beat up!' Fincher just goes, 'Last one, I swear! Last one!' So I went crawling under the car as hard as I could and I was too tired and I didn’t duck enough and I really rang my head hard against the transmission and sort of screamed and he jumps up and goes, 'That was the one!'"

15 Russell Crowe Could Have Been Tyler Durden

via: journal.hautehorlogerie.org

As crazy as it sounds Russell Crowe could have played Tyler Durden in Fight Club. During the initial stages of casting, producer Ross Bell met with Crowe to discuss the role, knowing a big name would help in marketing the film. At the time, Crowe was coming off the success of L.A. Confidential and romantic comedy Breaking Up. At the same time Bell was courting Crowe, fellow producer Art Linson was in discussions with Brad Pitt for the role. Linson was the senior producer of the two so the studio went with his pick and Pitt ended up with the role.

As for The Narrator, the producers were keen on Matt Damon and Sean Penn but Fincher wanted Edward Norton after seeing him in 1996s The People vs. Larry Flynt. Norton was keen but couldn't sign on straight away as he had a contractual obligation to be in one more film by Paramount Pictures. He ended up agreeing to take a small role in the heist remake The Italian Job (released in 2013) and was given the green light to star in Fight Club. With both the major male roles cast, all that was left was to find someone to portray Marla Singer, something that proved a little harder than the casting of the two leads.

14 Helen Bonham Carter Not The First Choice

via: biography.com & startribune.com

Choosing the right female to play Marla Singer was an exhausting process that took producers and director David Fincher much longer than any of them wanted. Fincher's first choice for Marla was comedian and actress Janeane Garofalo, but after reading the script she objected to the films intimate content and passed. The studio wanted to cast Reece Witherspoon but Fincher thought she was too young for the role. Seinfeld's Julia Louis-Dreyfus was also considered but after meeting with her Fincher knew she wasn't right for the part. Speaking with Total Film he said, "She had no idea who I was. I'm sitting there thinking of myself, 'My God, you are such a [redacted] loser.' I think she’s amazingly talented, I just thought she was too young. When you realize Tyler doesn’t exist and The Narrator’s been abusing Marla himself, it needed to be somebody who, for lack of a better explanation, was there out of choice; not somebody who didn’t know any better."

Author Chuck Palahniuk thought Courtney Love was up for the role due to her relationship with Edward Norton. "At the time Courtney Love was going out with Edward Norton and she was really campaigning for that part, so I had assumed that she would play Marla," Palahniuk told Men’s Health. "But David [Fincher] did not want to cast her. He wanted to cast against type and that’s why he was advocating Helena." Having seen her in the 1997 film The Wings Of The Dove Fincher was convinced he had found his Marla Singer and Carter soon signed on the dotted line.

13 Pitt And Norton Both Learned How To Make Soap

via: wallpapers4u.org

Soap plays a rather large role in Fight Club. Tyler Durden manufactures soap and sells it for a pretty penny, with the soap itself being a symbol of the brutality seen in the "real world." It illustrates the themes of human oppression and the sacrificing of the poor to benefit the wealthy.

The soap Durden makes comes from the fat of the rich that he then sells back to them, subverting the rich's hold on the poor.

In the film, both Pitt and Norton's characters are involved in making the soap and to make sure they knew what they were doing both were taught the process by Cheryle-Anne Townsend, the owner of Auntie Godmother's in California. Unfortunately, a quick Google search reveals Auntie Godmother's hasn't been active for a number of years, but if you really want to get your hands on some Fight Club soap you can purchase it online via eBay. The hardest part is finding authentic Fight Club soap sold during the films promotional tour, as most of the soaps found online are replicas. That said, they look pretty cool and are a swell keepsake to have for movie buffs.

12 Doing Your Own Makeup

via: pintrest.com

Marla Singer is as troubled as the Narrator in Fight Club. Also visiting support groups pretending to have something wrong with her, Marla sees a kindred spirit in The Narrator while he sees someone interrupting the one place he finds peace. While the two go their separate ways and agree not to go to the same groups, they eventually cross paths again when Tyler Durden rescues Marla from having too much and the two become an item. She becomes an ever-present in the film and Carter wanted people to understand she wasn't someone who cared much about what other people thought of her. For that reason, Carter got the makeup people to apply makeup to her face with their left hands. She believed that Marla wouldn't be overly concerned with how her makeup looked, believing if it looked a little messy or smudged she wouldn't bat an eyelid. When watching Fight Club you can see at times her makeup looks a little haphazardly applied, only adding to the unstable nature of the character.

11 Pitt And Norton Involved In Hectic Training Schedule

via: 11points.com

Although this piece has already mentioned how both Brad Pitt and Edward Norton went for different body shapes during filming, I haven't touched on the grueling fight training they participated in. Despite looking physically different, Pitt went for a muscular and tanned appearance while Norton appeared pale and malnourished,  both of the actors underwent intense training to learn how to fight. They undertook basic training in Taekwondo, boxing, and grappling, so the fight scenes in the film would be as realistic as possible. Although both actors suffered injuries during filming, they remained relatively unscathed during the training, with both taking quickly to the martial arts and fighting styles they were taught. Both men also took an interest in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) during this time, watching hours of television to learn how fighters moved about the ring and the different fighting styles people employed. It worked wonders as watching Fight Club you can feel the intensity of the fight scenes and believe both Pitt and Norton are kicking each other's behinds.

10 Leonardo DiCaprio Unknown Cameo

via: pintrest.com

Ok, the title is a little misleading as Leo doesn't actually show up on screen but his breath does make an appearance during the cave scene with The Narrator and Marla. During this part of the film, as Marla lies on her back, you can see breath coming out of her mouth, which just so happens to be the same breath that came out of Leo's mouth during Titanic.

Blue Sky Studios were the company who did the CGI for Fight Club and were also involved with another company called VIFX, who were responsible for the special effects seen in Titanic. Blu Sky Studios had access to a number of different breath effects from their work on Titanic and it's believed one of these effects was used for the scene in Fight Club. It's believed the breathing effect they used was taken from the end of Titanic before Leo disappears underwater. While there is no way of proving if it was, in fact, Leo's breath, I like to think it was, meaning Leo had an uncredited cameo in Fight Club, even if it sounds a little absurd.

9 Meatloaf And Birdseed

via thelistlove.com

Meatloaf has had an up and down musical career. His 1977 album Bat Out Of Hell is widely considered his most accomplished release to date, while his performance at the Australian Rules Grand Final was in shambles. In between his musical career, the man born Marvin Lee Aday has also featured in a number of film and television projects, with his role in Fight Club being one of his best. Meatloaf was cast as Robert "Bob" Paulson, a man The Narrator meets in a testicular cancer support group who joins Fight Club. Meatloaf had a tough time in the role as he had to wear a fat suit filled with birdseed weighing over 100 pounds.

He struggled so much during fight scenes with Norton he required an oxygen mask to pump him with air between takes because he was so worn out.

Two fat suits were created, with one featuring an anatomically correct chest and one without, just in case the studio didn't approve of the realism, but in the end, Meatloaf wore a tshirt during fight scenes. This went against Fight Club's sixth rule, "No shirts, no shoes," but nobody seemed to mind too much.

8 Why Does Tyler Durden Look Familiar?

via: taringa.net

The first time audiences see Tyler Durden in Fight Club was when he appeared on the moving airport walkway. As The Narrator hops on the moving travelator you can see Durden pass by, with the camera following him for a few seconds. But before this moment Durden appeared a further four times during the films opening scenes. He first showed up near the photocopier at The Narrators' job, then in the hallway outside the doctor's office, at the testicular cancer support group meeting, and behind The Narrator when he sees Marla leaving the meeting. These appearances are less than a second and you'll need to pause the film to see them. You can see a couple of them in gif form.

Fincher has never confirmed why you see these images of Durden but many believe it's a way of subliminally introducing the character and puts the viewer in The Narrators shoes. If you know what was happening it certainly gives away the ending of the film but thankfully the flashes of Durden are so quick nobody noticed when the film was first released. As a bonus, Durden also appeared as a waiter on the far right in the presentation video of the hotel The Narrator checks into.

7 You Hit Me In The Ear?!

via: myhdwallpapers.org

This article has already discussed how both Brad Pitt and Edward Norton received injures during filming but during one scene director David Fincher encouraged the violence between the two. During the scene where Pitt's Durden tries to help Norton's The Narrator learn to fight, he asks him to punch him. In the script, The Narrator is supposed to throw a meek punch at Pitt but Fincher took Norton aside before filming and told him to hit Pitt hard on the ear. As the cameras rolled Norton did as Fincher asked and whacked Pitt on the side of the head. Pitt's reaction to the hit is real as he utters an expletive before muttering the words, "You hit me in the ear?!" Pitt got his revenge straight after though, returning serve on Norton. Fincher thought the reaction from Pitt was priceless and kept it in the film.

It's moments like this that demonstrate Fincher's genius as a director and the willingness of his actors to trust his decisions. It's only a small thing but had an immediate impact when watching and added to the greatness of the film.

6 Hidden Parts

via: YouTube (Facu Verdun)

In Fight Club Tyler Durden holds down a part-time job in a movie theatre where he is responsible for changing over the reels of film. Of course, considering the type of man he is he doesn't just change over the reels but splices grown-up images into the films people are watching. While nobody watching knows what they are watching Durden believes the images play on the subconscious and is one way he fights back against the system. But it's just not Durden who does this, with David Fincher having the last laugh by splicing in an image of a male during the end scene. It as another easter egg from Fincher who thought it would be funny to do exactly what Durden does during the film. It's believed he made sure the hair around the male anatomy was black so people didn't think it was an actual photograph of Brad Pitt. In the Director's Commentary for the film, Edward Norton is heard saying the hidden picture is actually Fincher's, a rumor that continued for quite some time but Fincher said it's not true.

5 That's Real Stuff They're Drinking

via: almightypopcorn.wordpress.com

One of the funnier scenes in Fight Club was when Tyler Durden and The Narrator have too much and hit golf balls into stationary vehicles. From all reports, the two didn't have to do much acting for this scene as they were both already gone when they filmed the scene. Director David Fincher managed to convince the two to shoot the scene after they'd had a few, with the two continuing to knock back the drinks during filming while attempting to hit golf balls at the catering truck across the way. At one point you see Norton whack a golf ball and Pitt immediately move out the way. Apparently, the golf ball struck an object and rebounded back at the two, with Pitt lucky not to have been hit.

It's quite surprising that a director would let his actors in front of the camera after having that much, but when you consider it's Fincher it makes total sense. Never one to play by the stereotypical Hollywood rules this type of spur of the moment directing is what makes him such a talent.

4 Chipped Tooth For Shirtless Scenes

via: brightsidedental.com

Once Brad Pitt was cast as Tyler Durden, David Fincher had an image in mind of what he should wear and how he should look, and this included the character having a chipped tooth. Pitt was so committed to the role he underwent dental surgery to have his front teeth voluntary chipped by a dentist. Fincher believed that as the leader of an underground fighting ring, Durden would have suffered numerous injuries, particularly to his face. Although Pitt was happy to go the extra mile, the studio was a little worried. They wanted Pitt for the film because of his good looks and star power as much as his acting skills, so having the lead actor made to look ugly wasn't what they wanted.

The studio allowed Pitt to have the dental work if Fincher promised Pitt would appear shirtless in at least two different scenes in the film.

Fincher had no problem with this and got his lead man with chipped teeth and a couple of shirtless scenes. It was a win-win for everyone and certainly worked for the character.