Still Fighting the Brutal ‘Fight’

Oscar-nominated actor Edward Norton doesn’t take criticism lightly. At least not criticism of “Fight Club,” the violent, brutal 1999 satire he stars in with Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter.

“Fight Club,” which recently came out on a two-disc special DVD edition (Fox, $35), didn’t exactly burn up the box office or win over the hearts of many critics. In commentary on the disc, Norton is quick to chastise The Times’ movie critic, Kenneth Turan, for not finding a certain scene funny. And he scolds Time magazine’s Richard Schickel for not recognizing that “Fight Club” is the modern-day equivalent of one of the critic’s favorite movies, 1954’s “The Wild One.”

“Fight Club” finds Norton playing a corporate numbers-cruncher who teams up with a sleazy soap salesman (Pitt) to form an underground fight club where men can punch out their aggressions on each other.

Granted, “Fight Club” is stylishly directed by David Fincher (“Seven”), has a hot score from the Dust Brothers and features three talented performers in the leads. But sorry, Edward: Despite all the glitzy trappings, in the final analysis, “Fight Club” is a load of hooey.

That being said, this digital edition is a lot more interesting than one would have imagined.

The second disc, for example, is packed with extras such as audio tracks, behind-the-scenes glimpses and alternate takes. Viewers get a chance to watch director Fincher block out scenes and then see how the scenes were executed.

Visual effects supervisor Kevin Huag, special effects coordinator Cliff Wenger, Digital Domain visual effects supervisor Kevin Mack and digital animation supervisor-producer Richard “Doc” Bailey provide commentaries for nine special-effects sequences, including an explanation of how they did the title sequence--which begins in the “fear center” of Norton’s brain.

There are also trailers, deleted scenes--including two versions of a particularly gory fight sequence--makeup tests, Fincher’s original storyboards, a still gallery and other publicity materials

The first disc includes the wide-screen edition of the film and four separate audio commentaries--one with Fincher alone; one with Fincher, Pitt, Norton and Carter; one with writer Chuck Palahniuk and screenwriter Jim Uhls; and the final with several technical artists.

If you only have time to listen to one of the commentaries, check out the group chat with Fincher and the stars, who are all pretty funny--at least when they aren’t slamming the critics.

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Another Pitt film, 1994’s “Interview With the Vampire” (Warner Bros., $25), goes digital with some nice results. Neil Jordan’s lush, lavish and erotic version of Anne Rice’s bestseller also stars Tom Cruise, Antonio Banderas and Kirsten Dunst. The DVD includes a new behind-the-scenes documentary, “In the Shadow of the Vampire,” featuring current interviews with Jordan, Rice, Banderas and Dunst, and older but never before seen chats with Pitt and Cruise.

Jordan talks about how the life of a Hollywood superstar is quite similar to that of a vampire, and about how the digital effects helped expand the landscape of the production.

Jordan supplies the audio commentary, and just as with his recent “End of the Affair,” he’s an intelligent and interesting guide. One wonderful bit in the commentary deals with the struggle Jordan went through figuring out what the vampires would look like. He wanted to stay away from the Bela Lugosi “Dracula” cape and fangs, so it was decided to give them pale faces with skin so thin one could see their veins. To get that look, the actors were hung upside down until the blood rushed to their heads and their veins popped out. Then the veins were traced by the makeup artists onto their skin.

Another side note: River Phoenix had been cast to play the interviewer of the vampire, but he died during production and that part was recast with Christian Slater.

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The 1993 action-adventure “Cliffhanger” (Columbia TriStar, $30) is making its DVD debut in a special edition that features a wide-screen transfer of the Sylvester Stallone flick, a “making of” documentary, an introduction from director Renny Harlin, three deleted scenes with Harlin’s commentary, a behind-the-scenes look at two special effects including the crashing of a helicopter, audio commentary from the technical crew, and audio commentary from Harlin and Stallone.

Harlin points out that although the film is set in the Colorado Rockies, he liked the look of the Italian Alps and decided to shoot the film there. However, it was the worst June in recent history, and production often came to a stop because of blinding snowstorms. Stallone admits that although he was playing a mountain climber, he’s always had a problem with heights.

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With the release Friday of the remake of the 1971 classic “Shaft,” Warner Home Video is offering wide-screen DVDs of the original ($25), which stars Richard Roundtree as the super-cool private investigator, and the less successful sequels, “Shaft’s Big Score” ($25) and “Shaft in Africa” ($25).

The original “Shaft” includes a documentary, “Soul in Cinema: Filming Shaft on Location.” All three feature the trailers.

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New on Paramount Home Video is a stylish but nasty film noir, “La Cucaracha,” starring Eric Roberts as a loser hiding out in a small Mexican town who gets more than he bargained for when he is hired by a rich local to murder a man.