This is a movie that younger people can enjoy, but only if they understand that it is satirical. If your kid is the dumb, monkey-see, monkey-do type, then they are the targets of this film, and probably wouldn't enjoy it anyway.
Fight Club
-
Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings -
Is it any good?
-
Common Sense says
Lurid, twisted, and violent. Not for kids.
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 16–18
What to watch out for
-
Violence:
-
Sex:
-
Language:
-
Consumerism:
-
Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
This review of Fight Club was written by Charles Cassady Jr.
Parents need to know that this movie is wayyyy cool in terms of style and flip cynicism, and it's also wayyyy lurid, twisted, and violent. Older teens can hopefully take the over-the-top, R-rated cult hit as a dark-humored novelty act. It derives from a novel by trendy author Chuck Palahniuk. You wouldn't want kids to use either as a blueprint for behavior, which includes hazing-style beatings, vandalism, and bombings.
Families Can Talk About
Talk to your kids about the media in their life. We have more tools and tips that can help
- Families can talk about the cynicism and anarchy shown here. What pushes the main characters to behave that way? Why do the narrator and Marla have a fascination with self-help groups? How are the extremely flawed characters here somehow likeable?
Have you seen it? Review It!
More on Fight Club
What’s the Story?
Ed Norton's central character is nameless (Closed-Captioning and DVD menus call him either Jack or Rupert), a bored office worker suffering from alienation-induced insomnia. He can only sleep after attending anonymous support groups for alcoholics and cancer victims, although he is neither. That option disappears when he finds a hostile woman, Marla (Helena Bonham-Carter) doing the same thing, for kicks and free food. He meets a charismatic soap salesman and part-time movie projectionist named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), with more extreme coping solutions for modern life. The duo form a "fight club," beating each other for the primal thrill. The notion attracts other bored young men, and soon a number of secret Fight Clubs pummel themselves throughout the city. For Tyler, though, it's only the beginning of something he calls "Project Mayhem," orchestrated sabotage to overthrow the consumerist society. He's already been conducting his campaign on a small scale by splicing subliminal frames of pornography into family movies. Now, using Fight Club as an underground army, he spearheads bombings and monkey-wrenchings against The System. Rupert (or Jack, or whoever) watches Tyler's progress with alarm, as his own condo explodes and police link him to the attacks. Worse, Marla resurfaces, and a dangerous love triangle forms between her, the Ed Norton character, and Tyler. We already know from the film's dynamic opening that Tyler will end up holding a gun on his former friend, and the storyline is a flashback. Not necessarily a reliable flashback, though, and FIGHT CLUB has a celebrated SIXTH SENSE-style plot surprise that demands the viewer rethink all that's come before.
Is It Any Good?
Even without that whiplash revelation, the film is still a wild ride; among its many inside jokes and eccentricities, the filmmakers, in imitation of Tyler, stuck single-frame subliminal nude photos into the feature. Not-so-subliminal are incidents of extreme violence, as Fight Club members hold nothing back (and wear no boxing gloves), and a sex scene with Marla that's no less intense for being mostly CGI.
FIGHT CLUB derives from a novel by trendy author Chuck Palahniuk, whose book actually has a stranger, more downbeat ending than the movie. You wouldn't want kids to use either as a blueprint for behavior (at least the filmmakers made certain that the bomb-making recipes in the script are ineffective). Unlike BRAZIL, another striking cult picture that advocates terrorism against dehumanizing forces, FIGHT CLUB at least claims to take place in the real world. We can only recommend it for older teenagers who recognize it as more of a punk satire than a real call to arms.
Movie Details
Studio: Fox Searchlight, Director: David Fincher
Run time: 139 minutes
Theatrical release: 10/15/1999, DVD release: 3/7/2000
MPAA Rating: R for disturbing and graphic depiction of violent anti-social behavior, sexuality and language.
Run time: 139 minutes
Theatrical release: 10/15/1999, DVD release: 3/7/2000
MPAA Rating: R for disturbing and graphic depiction of violent anti-social behavior, sexuality and language.
Our Members Say
See 42 member reviews
Most Recent Reviews
-
I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
- Negative role models
- My highlights are:
A movie most loved by (mature) teens and young adults.
-
I rate this title on for age 2 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
great film everybody should see it
-
Kids ages: 10, 12
I rate this title on for age 16 and give it- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate language
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
-
I rate this title on for age 7 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
Amazing
One of the best movies ever! Sorta violent but nothing a 7 year old couldn't handle if he/she was mature enough. The sex scene might set a few parents back from letting there child/children watching though.
-
I rate this title on for age 15 and give it
Awesome
This is one of my favorite movies. It made me want to live my life to the fullest.
-
I rate this title on for age 14 and give it
Awesome movie. Very violent with plenty of blood, but humor to go along with it.
-
I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- My highlights are:
it's up to you to decide.
whether you let your kid see this or not has to do with how mature you think they are & if they can handle the violence & sexual content. i saw this at 13. I do think the message against consumerism is good because teenagers should know that you are not what you have or what you wear. Also, you find that the narrator has multiple personalities, which is an interesting discussion topic.
-
I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- My highlights are:
it's up to you to decide.
whether you let your kid see this or not has to do with how mature you think they are & if they can handle the violence & sexual content. i saw this at 13. I do think the message against consumerism is good because teenagers should know that you are not what you have or what you wear. Also, you find that the narrator has multiple personalities, which is an interesting discussion topic.
-
I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- My highlights are:
it's up to you to decide.
whether you let your kid see this or not has to do with how mature you think they are & if they can handle the violence & sexual content. i saw this at 13. I do think the message against consumerism is good because teenagers should know that you are not what you have or what you wear. Also, you find that the narrator has multiple personalities, which is an interesting discussion topic.
-
I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- My highlights are:
whether you let your chil
-
I rate this title on for age 17 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
This Is A Man's Movie..
Once in a while you come across a film that can change the way you see your own place in life. Fight Club is that kind of movie. Ed Norton portrays a “nameless” character that almost every person watching can relate to. Brad Pitt makes the most of his character to its maximum potential with the guy that every male watching wishes he could be. The supporting cast is incredible, the film’s dark humor and grainy atmosphere sets the viewer in their world which strong resembles the one we live in. Every line that Brad Pitt’s character “Tyler Durden” voices makes worthy of an instant quote for years to come. Words cannot explain the power the movie hold and only all of your senses can take in this terrific masterpiece.
-
I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
- Negative role models
Great movie, amazing plot, and excellent execution. The Violence is actually not as bad as one would think, there is constant use of strong language, many sexual innuendos and references, some pretty bad nudity. Mostly it was just a brief flash, but there are a few sex scenes. I would recommend this for kids over 14.
-
I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Inappropriate sexual content
I liked it.
I saw this when I was 14, and honestly I think it's one of the best movies out there. Only thing that bothered me when I first saw it was the unconventional sex.
-
I rate this title on for age 16 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
funny bloody violence 16 over
the movie is okay cool fighting some parts and alot of funny parts truth is 16 and over because it has some scenes of nudity and bloody violence worth watching not worth buying
-
I rate this title on for age 11 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive consumerism
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
Good Book, Fantastic Movie
Great Movie....If Your a Fan Of The Movie Go Read It haha! brief sex scenes, violence is over the top and not too bad...but what grabs you in is the Great Story telling, and Tyler's behavior will make you wonder for hours...
-
Kids ages: 11, 14
I rate this title on for age 10 and give it- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
- Negative role models
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
THIS MOVIE RULES!!!! HIS NAME IS ROBERT PAULSON!
Good beat em up film! with a suprising twist! it is quite violent and has few brief sex scenes and one really long one
-
I rate this title iffy for age 16 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- Negative role models
Spectacular Film with a Novel Twist, but Way Too Graphic and Disturbing for Under 16.
This is a fantastic film; one of my favorites. The performances were astoundingly good. The story was amazingly thourough. And the twist... oh man! Mind-blowing! Up there with spectacular twists like the ones in The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Identity, etc. I enormously reccommend this film to any movie fan!
-
I rate this title iffy for age 12 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
ok
-
I rate this title off for age 13 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- Negative role models
One o
-
I rate this title on for age 12 and give it
Amazing movie, but difficult to understand at a young age.
I watched it first when I was 11, and loved the plot twist, and I watched it again when I was 13 and understood it much better. Performed the chemical burn scene with my best friend for my 8th grade graduation speech. The violence is symbolic for something much deeper than just being a "man" and as a girl, i enjoyed it more than most of my male friends. amazing movie. the sex isn't anything that 12 year olds haven't seen before (the internet, their friends even), and i'm kind of desensitized to violence in general. great movie... just, great movie.
Give Recommendations, Get Them, Too!
Become a member and get recommendations from other parents based on your child's age.Tell us your child's age:
Already a member? Log inOur Members Rate It
Ratings at a Glance
| 32% | of parents say it's too violent |
Have you seen it?
For Your Family
Get age-based recommendations for your kids:
Customize based on your child's age
