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I feel that these 3 psychological thrillers share the same concept but have their differences. Although all 3 movies are staggeringly awesome, some are better than the others. In your opinion, how would you order these from greatest to least? I'd very much like to hear MDF's view on this.

Personally, I can't answer my own question.

I may be cheating, But this is what I would say.

1.Machinist- I chose the Machinist first because, Christian Bale's devotion to this role completely made the movie go above and beyond cinema's comprehension. Look at the guy, That is honestly the single most amazing thing I have ever seen any actor do for a film. Not to mention the film was amazing in every sense.

2.Fight club & Memento- I tied the both because they both have their very strong points. Fightclub and Memento have great cinematography, but memento goes that extra mile when it comes right down to the cinematography. But entertainment wise Fight Club had me a little more than Memento did. I'm in no way saying Memento was boring, but Fight Club had that edge, it wouldn't let you take your eyes off for a second.

1. Fight Club
2. Memento
3. The Machinist

I was hoping that Bale ended up NOT being crazy, and bring some originality into the story. It was alright, to say the least, just wasn't the triumph I was hoping it would be.

is the machinist new? i gotta see it if your ranking it above memento and fight club.

Originally posted by Phat J
is the machinist new? i gotta see it if your ranking it above memento and fight club.

It's not necessarily better than Fight club/memento. But Bale astonishes me to no end. But then again don't get me wrong, The machinist is excellent IMO. 2004 flick. I may get some discouragement on my opinion, but I'm not budging.

I haven't seen 'The Machinist' yet, but I'd rate 'Memento' above the popcorn fun of 'Fight Club' any day of the week.

Bale is great but he's no Ed Norton.

1. Fight Club
2. Memento
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.
.
.
.
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3. The Machinist

I liked The Machinist but it is not even close to the other 2. Hell, if you want a psychological Bale movie with a twist, I suggest American Psycho. That one can compete with the other two films. I can't think of anything to improve Fight Club or Memento. The Machinist? Easy, get rid of the guy that reminds me of white Morpheous.

I agree with you a lot mando, but I side with Solo a bit as well. I suspected (I basically knew) what was more or less going to happen in The Machinist. The movie was great don't get me wrong, but when the tag line said it was 'Fight club meets Memento', it ruined it for me a bit.

Originally posted by Nevermind
, but when the tag line said it was 'Fight club meets Memento', it ruined it for me a bit.

Where did it say that?

IMDB says the Taglines are:

'How do you wake up from a nightmare if you're not asleep?'

'Trevor Reznick is four letters away from the truth.'

'A little guilt goes a long way...'

But even IMDB isn't reliable.

Originally posted by Myth
The Machinist? Easy, get rid of the guy that reminds me of white Morpheous.

Allen was a great character. He did what the Director intended him to do. You hated him, you loathed him, you wanted him out of the picture. Hince the big toe on his index finger, who wouldn't hate that? And that excuse for a smile bothered me. I hated the character with a passion. But he was a colorful character. None the less

For me,

Memento
Fight Club
The Machinist

I adore all three films, but adore Memento immensely, fabulous film.

Yeah, that Fight Club meets Memento thing on the posters really ruined The Machinist. And really that's all it felt like. It didn't feel original at all... It's still a good watch though.

Memento > Fight Club >>>> The Machinist

Ya Krunk'd Floo, I am opposite of you, I felt somehow violated by Memento, and really enjoyed Fight Club after reading the book first.
Maybe I need to watch Memento again!

I just put the Machinist on my netflix list. I look forward to it.

Originally posted by Mando
Where did it say that?

IMDB says the Taglines are:

'How do you wake up from a nightmare if you're not asleep?'

'Trevor Reznick is four letters away from the truth.'

'A little guilt goes a long way...'

But even IMDB isn't reliable.



Sorry, it wasn't really a tag line, it was a viewer comment from some magazine. I was going to correct it before, but I couldn't be stuffed. It was some quote from some one they used on their poster down here. It really ruined the movie.

"Fight Club", "The Machinist", then "Memento" for me, having seen all 3 very recently.

Reason I put "Fight Club" first is namely the style. The narration, the cinematography, which isn't limited to actual camera work, but the overall applied works, i.e. Jack's apartment furnishings appearing in his condo with the prices out of the Ikea catalog, etc.

"The Machinist" is new to the game, but the fact of the matter is, as much as I love Christian Bale, and as effective as the movie was, the twist had been done before so many times, and the film itself was marketed all wrong.

"Memento" takes third place just because I thought it was a good movie, but at times the gimmick got frustrating to try and follow, with the end being almost totally incomprehensible. Confusion is bound to dock points. While there was nothing wrong with Christopher Nolan's directing, he himself seemed a little confused. Those who liked this one would find a lot of the same elements in his first movie called "Following".

I agree 100%. I always saw the editing and style of Memento as a gimmick as well. Glad I'm not alone there. Thought it was pretty overrated, in all honesty.

As for the other two - Fight Club I also think is a tad overrated. It's a good movie, no doubt, but it's pacing and tone seem very sparatic and confused. It went from serious, to silly, to having a silly twist, back to serious, ect. But, like CA said, the cinematography was ace so it gets major props for that.

I really liked the Machinist. It was a nice, no gimmick, old fassioned mystery and was refreshing to see a film not dependant on wierd gimmicks or silly twists.

Originally posted by BackFire
As for the other two - Fight Club I also think is a tad overrated. It's a good movie, no doubt, but it's pacing and tone seem very sparatic and confused. It went from serious, to silly, to having a silly twist, back to serious, ect. But, like CA said, the cinematography was ace so it gets major props for that.

I noticed that. It tried so hard to stay in one mood. But they really couldn't have done it. Not with the type of characters in the story anyhow.

--

My Favorite scene in 'Memento' is in the very beginning of the film. Whenever Guy pierce is shaking the camera, and it shows him shooting the John G. in the head in reverse. That was pure Gold, and was done excellently.

It's hard to say:

Fight Club was probably the best overall film
The Machinist was delivered by an always great performance by Christian Bale
Memento was just beautiful and the cinematography was amazing.

But Fight Club was the best in overall.

Fight Club
Memento
The Machinist

same for me fight club,memento and then the machinist

Originally posted by BackFire
I agree 100%. I always saw the editing and style of Memento as a gimmick as well.

I understand if you didn't like it because you found it confusing. However, as for gimmick, I don't think of it as a gimmick because I don't think the movie would have worked if it wasn't edited to be viewed in reverse. The whole movie you feel sorry for Guy Pearce and you are suspiscious of Joe Pantoliano. If it was in the right order, you would already know the twist that Guy is now after Joe and not the actual rapist.

Originally posted by Myth
I understand if you didn't like it because you found it confusing. However, as for gimmick, I don't think of it as a gimmick because I don't think the movie would have worked if it wasn't edited to be viewed in reverse. The whole movie you feel sorry for Guy Pearce and you are suspiscious of Joe Pantoliano. If it was in the right order, you would already know the twist that Guy is now after Joe and not the actual rapist.

Good point.

The Film would have been extremley boring in chronological order. The fact that it was in reverse comletley caught, and demanded my attention for the remainder of the movie.

Originally posted by Myth
I understand if you didn't like it because you found it confusing. However, as for gimmick, I don't think of it as a gimmick because I don't think the movie would have worked if it wasn't edited to be viewed in reverse. The whole movie you feel sorry for Guy Pearce and you are suspiscious of Joe Pantoliano. If it was in the right order, you would already know the twist that Guy is now after Joe and not the actual rapist.

On the special edition DVD you can view the film in chronological order and many people find it supperior, and it still has the same message, outcome and tone, in short, it worked just as well.

For me it would have to go 1. Fight Club
2. Machinist
3. Memento

Originally posted by BackFire
On the special edition DVD you can view the film in chronological order and many people find it supperior, and it still has the same message, outcome and tone, in short, it worked just as well.

I know of people who did it like that and still loved it. However, all the people that did that whom I know already loved it from watching it the first time and their opinion was already made up about the movie. Remember, the first time is the most important watching.

But "Memento" wasn't even reverse chronology. It was present, past, future..then present again, and then "what if". The movie lost itself a couple of times. I think it was too ambitious to begin with, throwing out a guy who had short term memory loss, on top of putting the beginning at the end, then offering the same beginning in the actual end, with a different twist.

It's just a really busy movie overall.

Well, being a massive Memento fan, I hugely disagree with some of the ideas presented here. The backwards chronology is essential for understanding the main character's reasons and is also essential for the dramatic presentation of the characters within.

Forward, it's just another story. I do actually find it extraordinary that anyone could say it works just as well forwards.

Gimmick it is not.

I agree. Watching it in chronological order certainly works, but you lose the sense of disorientation which is essential to understanding the character's motivation. It's feels 'busy' and confusing because that's what it feels like for the character.

Originally posted by Ushgarak
Well, being a massive Memento fan, I hugely disagree with some of the ideas presented here. The backwards chronology is essential for understanding the main character's reasons and is also essential for the dramatic presentation of the charatcers within.

Forward, it's just another story. I do actually find it extraordinary that anyone could say it works just as well forwards.

Gimmick it is not.

I'd also like to add. That If shown in Chronological order, I would have almost immediately lost interest. Some scenes require reverse order, because the fun of the film is seeing what happens for what reason. For example: When Natalie gets out of the car, and says she was beat, we want to know why. But afterwords, we see that that wasn't true and she didn't give Leonard the chance to write it down. But as far as leanord knows, She did get beat. It shows the resolution and then the problem being fixed because that's all that Leonard's character knows. Christopher Nolan's goal was to see things the way Leonard did, and as far as I can see he succeeded

Meanwhile, the film is also a mystery as to why he shot his friend at the 'start'- because it very soon becomes apparent that this was probably a mistake. The twist is that it is not a mistake, he did it on purpose; this revelation of course must be at the end of the film.

Well, I couldn't judge these films accurately, considering I haven't seen the Machinist. I can say this, however: I saw Memento once and that was enough for me. I didn't enjoy this movie or find it that intriguing, for mostly the reasons Cine mentioned above. I'm not necessarily saying it's a bad movie, but I just never understood why everyone liked it so much. I did enjoy Fight Club, however. It's a great movie.

Originally posted by SnakeEyes
Well, I couldn't judge these films accurately, considering I haven't seen the Machinist. I can say this, however: I saw Memento once and that was enough for me. I didn't enjoy this movie or find it that intriguing, for mostly the reasons Cine mentioned above. I'm not necessarily saying it's a bad movie, but I just never understood why everyone liked it so much. I did enjoy Fight Club, however. It's a great movie.

If you liked 'Fight Club' I will have no dobt you'll like 'The Machinist'.

Originally posted by Cinemaddiction
But "Memento" wasn't even reverse chronology. It was present, past, future..then present again

No, it just started and ended at the same location, not the same time. The beginning was the present where he shot Joe Pantoliano. The ending was the past where he got mad at Joe and made him his new John G.

I was actually unimpressed by the Machinist- of course the end brought it all together but for me, it was just too little too late-I had slightly lost interest somewhere in the middle of the movie

Originally posted by Dusty
If you liked 'Fight Club' I will have no dobt you'll like 'The Machinist'.

Well, it's been nearly 2 years and I've finally got around to seeing The Machinist.

Needless to say, I thought it was great. I'm a huge Bale fan, and seeing him lose that much weight for the role was just amazing. That's devotion, right there.

Wow this is an old thread. I haven't posted on it yet so here it goes....

1. Fight Club
2. Memento
3. The Machinist

Fight Club and Memento are very close but I think I have to go with Fight Club as the first rank for the fun factor of it.

I've watched the movie in chronological order and didn't find it nearly as effective. It made more sense, but that wasn't the point of the movie. We were supposed to be just as confused as Leonard was. He finds himself sitting on a toilet in a bathroom with a bottle in his hand. The audience, along with Leonard, are wondering why. Then we find out in the next scene.

Also, the twist is at the beginning (Teddy becoming Leonard's next John G.) so the beginning made for a better ending.

Anyway, I liked The Machinist too, but not as much as the above movies.

apparently, when bale had to lose all the weight, he just drank whiskey and smoked cigarettes for like two weeks. no solids. i believe he was hospitalized.

I haven't seen the Machinist, but Fight Club and Memento were highly enjoyable

i thought fight club was the most accessible of the 3 and as a piece of entertainment it is better...Bale's performance and what he did to achieve his appearance in the machinist is definitely up there with Deniro in raging bull but the film lacked punch although i thought the use of an obvious twist to disguise a less obvious one was well carried out.

memento is something i just have never thought was a great film...i think that both 21 grams and irreversible both worked the changed chronology to a more effective finish

I haven't seen The Machinist yet. Of Memento and Fight Club I'd have to say Fight Club is easily the better experience. Memento was a fun, intelligent movie. Fight Club was a socially and culturally twisted movie that has actually changed the perspectives and lives of lots of people.

Originally posted by Mando
If you liked 'Fight Club' I will have no dobt you'll like 'The Machinist'.
I disagree. I really enjoyed Fight Club but I couldn't bring myself to finish The Machinist.

Haven't seen Machinist.

Fight Club and Memento are very close.. I think Fight Club might just shade it.. but it is very close.. watched Memento today in uni come to mention it..

memento is undoubtedly a "better movie" than fight club, regardless of people's preferences. no slight on fight club (as a viewer, i think i prefer it), but memento is practically flawless.

frankly, machinist isn't even in the same league, though it's quite good.

Bale did actually eat stuff during his weight loss.

^^^Lettuce, chewing gum, and ciggerattes, that was his diet.

I think Fight Club was a bit overrated myself. I enjoyed both Memento, and The Machinist on the same level so its hard for me to pick one over the other. Everytime I think about it my answer changes, on one level I think Bale's perfomance puts The Machinist ontop, than on another level I think the storytelling in Memento puts that movie over the top.

1.Memento
2.The Machinist
3.Fight Club

I went with Memento because this thread is based off the movie, and not the acting.

Originally posted by Solo
1. Memento
2. Fight Club
3. The Machinist
Fixed.

Yeah, Memento and Fight Club are close, huh? I think I'll stick with my answer 'cause if I changed it, I'd probably change it everyday.

I havnt seen the machinest, and like an idiot read the some of the highlighted spoiler on the first page... so its kind of ruined for me..


Id rank Momento over Fight Club... Momento was great.

I really dont see the big deal about Fight Club... its okay at best.

I haven't seen Machinist or Memento. But Fight Club was extremely awesome.

i think fight club is way overrated...i haven't seen the machinist but i've always really wanted to...and memento is leaps and bounds above fight club for sure.

Fight Club
The Machinist
Memento

1. Momento
2. Fight Club
3. The Machinist