the cutting room mirror

Fight Club

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This page details pre-release information and/or media for Fight Club.

At one point in development, Fight Club sported an actual plot, better cutscenes, better models, better textures, better sound effects, was very faithful to the film, and overall had more content.

The downgrade between the early footage and final game is staggering.

E3 2004 Trailer#

Everything that can be seen here was completely reworked and cut before release, although it would be reused for the commercial. Watch on YouTube

  • There are two versions of Jack and Tyler. Tyler has yellow jeans for his second model and Jack has brown khakis for his second model.
  • Irvin has a different taunt animation at 0:45.
  • Mechanic has a completely different model.
  • The Hero's design and clothing are totally different.
  • Bob has his tuxedo from the film.
  • Angel Face has his Project Mayhem outfit from the film. He has a different taunt as well at 0:49.
  • Jack and Tyler have different taunts.
  • Ricky has his mall clerk outfit from the film.
  • Lou has his suit from the film.
  • You could bodyslam your opponent into the Subway lift at 0:59.
  • You could do a monkey flip transition into the Paper Street Basement at 1:03.
  • Mechanic has a completely different 2nd model at 1:04. Raymond seems to be wearing shoes too. Mechanic can be seen more clearly at 1:18.
  • A reverse shoulder breaker bonebreaker is present at 1:08.
  • Tyler does a leg kick transition on Jack into the Bathroom at 1:10.
  • A groin stomp bonebreaker is present at 1:20.

Early Build/E3 2004 Footage#

Watch on YouTube

Footage of a very early and unfinished version, dated May 12, 2004.

  • Fighter name text is in the Fight Club font.
  • Health bars are different.
  • Jack actually looks like Edward Norton.
  • The X-Ray skeleton effect when performing a bonebreaker move on the other fighter is different.
  • Jack's win taunt is completely different. This can be seen in the demo in Official Xbox Magazine Demo Disc 37.
  • Tyler and Jack have different pre-fight taunts.
  • The game in general is way darker and grimmer.
  • Angel Face's hair is glitched.
  • Mechanic has a completely different model.
  • There are punches, kicks, and grapples for Jack and Mechanic that are nowhere to be seen in the final game.
  • The backbreaker is more brutal looking.
  • The chokeslam bonebreaker was not a match ending move but a normal grapple move.
  • The camera for Mechanic's win taunt and Angel Face's lose animation is in a different position.
  • There are barely any sound effects apart from some hit sounds and a dog barking, all of which are different than in the final game.

All in all, this version is much more unsettling without the silly Limp Bizkit songs to lighten the mood.

E3 2004 Gamespot Footage#

This is footage of the game from a E3 2004 GameSpot DVD that was uploaded onto YouTube. This has two new noticeable differences whilst it has some of the other differences of the previous E3 footage. Watch on YouTube

  • The headbutt grapple move does less damage than what it does in the final game.
  • You could originally mount the opponent when they are knocked down and perform an arm break finisher.

E3 2004 Booth Interview#

This is an interview that was done on the Game One tv show back in 2004 with someone from Vivendi Universal. This has some new differences compared to previous E3 footage. Watch on YouTube

  • The bar transition and getting up animations are different.
  • Jack had a different kick counter animation at 1:01.

July 2004 Footage#

This is footage of the game from July 2004 and matches the Official Xbox Magazine Demo. It has some glaring differences. Watch on YouTube

  • Raymond and Ricky have different pre fight animations.
  • The FIGHT text is present and flashes yellow.
  • The rib smash finisher doesn't end the match.

Later Build/September 2004 Footage#

Watch on YouTubeWatch on YouTube

Pieces of footage from a version dated September 2004 and more closely resembles the final game (yay).

  • The health bar and "FIGHT" text are different, being pink like the iconic Fight Club soap.
  • The fighter name text is different.
  • The X-Ray skeleton effect is different.
  • There is barely any sound.
  • There are crowd reactions in the first video. These are present in the August 2004 prototype.

Commercial#

Watch on YouTube

Uses a combination of footage from the E3 2004 trailer and a near-final build, with the latter having some differences visible:

  • The camera is zoomed in on the rib smash bonebreaker.
  • There is a red flash when the backbreaker bonebreaker is performed.

Intro and Concept Art#

Watch on YouTube

The final game's intro demo (starts at 1:30), followed by the concept art that can be seen in the final game's credits (starts at 2:08). Notably, the Xbox version's intro demo uses footage from the September 2004 prototype whereas the PlayStation 2 version uses footage from the final build.

  • The health bar is different.
  • The fighter name text is different.
  • All characters look exactly like they do in the film.
  • Marla is present. She is known to have been playable at one point in development.