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A few words about...™ Fight Club -- in Blu-ray

post #1 of 17
11/13/09 at 3:54pm
Thread Starter 
David Fincher's now decade old Fight Club is a film that leaves an impact.  Original reviews ran the gamut between love and hate.  Critic Roger Ebert called it "macho porn - the sex movie Hollywood has been moving toward for years, in which eroticism between the sexes is replaced by all-guy locker-room fights."

No matter how it was (and is) viewed, the film makes it impossible to walk away without being affected.

I attempted to take a quick preview peek at Fox's new Blu-ray on my office set up this afternoon on a Pioneer BD-51.  But even after downloading new firmware, was unable to get it to play -- the Pioneer still seeking even newer firmware, which of course was not yet available.

Of my various Blu-ray players, this is the only one that has been problematic, so while new owners should not anticipate problems, they may wish to be prepared and make certain that their firmware is up to date, as Fox has loaded this disc with the latest in Blu-ray goodies.

Anyone purchasing the Blu-ray of Fight Club will know the basics, so I'll go directly to quality, which is a pleasure.  After the past few days, I really needed to see a new Blu-ray release that used original film elements to advantage and presented them in a natural and untainted fashion.

Fight Club is that release.  

Fox has made it absolutely sing on Blu-ray.

Filled with natural grain, superb blacks, shadow detail and highlights, Fox's Blu-ray of Fight Club appears to be a clean, new 35mm print that is projected proudly.  The uncompressed audio is 5.1 DTS HD-Master, and levels are full and loud.

Fight Club is a modern classic brought to Blu-ray with absolute perfection.

If you like the presentation as much as I, and I'm certain you will, drop a thank you note to Schawn Belston and his staff at Fox, and possibly he'll give you more.

Very Highly Recommended.

RAH
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Fight Club [Blu-ray]
post #2 of 17
11/13/09 at 6:03pm
Definitely been looking forward to this one since before it was announced. Thanks for the info, RAH. Being a PS3 owner I'm hoping that firmware won't be an issue...
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post #3 of 17
11/13/09 at 7:08pm
Many of the people who lambasted it, including some intelligent people, simply didn't get it.  It's a comedy--a very dark one, to be sure, but a comedy.  If a comedy about guys who maul each other in basements doesn't sound like your cup of tea, then you might try watching something else instead.
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post #4 of 17
11/13/09 at 8:23pm
 superb effort from Fox 

http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleiche/index.php?art=full&image=12&vergleich=fight_club&action=1#vergleich
Edited by willyTass - 11/13/09 at 8:43pm
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post #5 of 17
11/14/09 at 9:20am
Great news, I 'm a huge fan of fincher, and saw this advertised for a low $20 cdn, so my sure buy just became a more sure buy I guess.

Thanks for the review Mr. Harris.
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post #6 of 17
11/15/09 at 3:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by compson View Post

Many of the people who lambasted it, including some intelligent people, simply didn't get it.  It's a comedy--a very dark one, to be sure, but a comedy.  If a comedy about guys who maul each other in basements doesn't sound like your cup of tea, then you might try watching something else instead.

And then there are the people who thought it was a fighting movie. I knew one of those, and needless to say he didn't like it. Or the people who don't realize it's a satire, and think the Fight Clubs would be an ideal way to express their anger or something like that. De Palma's Scarface suffers the same fate.
I preordered this blindly, hoping that Fox would do the right thing. I'm glad it payed off. Sure, they dropped the ball on some early titles but they've improved the quality of their output enormously since then.
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post #7 of 17
11/16/09 at 1:09pm
Thanks for the review!!!

With all the attention Star Trek has been getting (rightfully so), I was looking for some feedback on this title. This will be a definite purchase tomorrow.

It's amazing that we're talking about this now considering how much a groundbreaking release the original DVD was.

Ahh, the memories. . .
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post #8 of 17
11/16/09 at 2:59pm
 Arrives next week!
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post #9 of 17
11/16/09 at 5:39pm
Fight Club is one of my favorite 1990s movies. I really liked the original 2-disc special edition DVD (and its packaging was very innovative at the time). It's pretty surprising not many advance reviews of the Blu-ray disc have been posted at this point -the BD hits store shelves tomorrow as of this writing. Nice to finally hear the video quality on this release is well done.
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post #10 of 17
11/16/09 at 7:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobby Henderson View Post

Fight Club is one of my favorite 1990s movies. I really liked the original 2-disc special edition DVD (and its packaging was very innovative at the time). It's pretty surprising not many advance reviews of the Blu-ray disc have been posted at this point -the BD hits store shelves tomorrow as of this writing. Nice to finally hear the video quality on this release is well done.
 
I was informed by Fox on Friday that my review copy was in the mail. It did not arrive today.
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post #11 of 17
11/16/09 at 9:48pm
thanks RAH. i was wondering if you ever met David Fincher? from interviews and such, it just seems like a he is a stickler of audiovisual quality! The Game on HD DVD notwithstanding (it was horrible), his films on Blu-Rays have been incredible!
-Benjamin Button
-Zodiac: DC

let's hope that se7en, panic room, the game, the social network (or whatever his new film name is) will all look pristine on blu-ray =). heck even alien3 was good ;)
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post #12 of 17
11/17/09 at 5:27am
RAH, great review, but you forgot the first rule of Fight Club.....
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post #13 of 17
11/17/09 at 12:31pm
Thread Starter 
The official press release re: the gag opening...

As you have probably noticed, there is a Never Been Kissed gag on the Fight Club 10th Anniversary BD, evident immediately upon insertion. As promised, below you'll find the background on this prank, which was devised by David Fincher himself. 

Fincher was heavily involved in the 10th Anniversary BD and as you may know, is a bit of a prankster. As a fun gag for the Fight Club fans, Fincher wanted the Fight Club Blu-ray Disc to begin with "a fake menu" of a romantic comedy from the same year as Fight Club, as a trick on the audience. Never Been Kissed was his top choice and he eventually went to Drew Barrymore for her approval. When users insert the disc into their BD player, the menu for Never Been Kissed will pop up for a few seconds prior to the real Fight Club menu.  

As you are writing your reviews of the Fight Club 10th Anniversary BD, please feel free to let your readers know about this prank and Fincher's intentions.  
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post #14 of 17
11/17/09 at 2:01pm
I went through the disc and nearly everything is carried over from the two disc DVD. The only things dropped are the very outdated Cast And Crew bios and the Tyler Durden FBI-esque text warning at the beginning of the disc one menu are dropped (presumably because it's a different menu used for the Blu-ray). All the multi-angle and multi-audio behind the scenes stuff, deleted scenes, trailers, TV and internet spots, PSAs, music video, the Edward Norton text interview, storyboards, stills, paintings and even the disc two easter egg are carried over to the Blu-ray.

Big thumbs up to Fox for nailing this one!
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post #15 of 17
11/17/09 at 4:31pm
Behind the Wizard of Oz, the best catalog title this year, bar none.  The audio and video on this disc is glorious.  I mean simply magnificent.
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post #16 of 17
6/15/10 at 2:58pm

The "Never Been Kissed" fake title screen had me fooled for a second.  I was really angry at Fox for such a colossal screw up, then the real title screen appeared and I laughed at myself for getting got

 

Mr. Harris is so right.  Looks, and sounds stellar. 

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post #17 of 17
6/15/10 at 3:28pm

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bryan^H View Post

The "Never Been Kissed" fake title screen had me fooled for a second.  I was really angry at Fox for such a colossal screw up, then the real title screen appeared and I laughed at myself for getting got

 

Mr. Harris is so right.  Looks, and sounds stellar. 


Haha...  When we finally got around to watching it, I thought my wife messed up and somehow put the wrong disc in.  I actually previously preloaded the disc at some other time and missed that gotcha, but ended up not watching it that first time, so it didn't occur to me to blame it on Fox (as you did).

 

_Man_

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