Taxi Driver ≈ Fight Club

As I watched Taxi Driver, directed by Martin Scorsese, I couldn’t help but think about the many similarities it has with Fight Club, directed by David Fincher. These films are not only similar overall like in mood and theme but are also similar in very specific details. Both films follow a main character who is a vigilante. While Tyler Durden fights consumerism, materialism, and big business corporations, Travis fights against street crime and prostitution. Both are unhappy with the status quo and successfully make a difference, although not peacefully. Both films have a love interest who leaves the main character. In Taxi Driver, Betsy leaves Travis because he watches an adult film with her as a date, and in Fight Club, Marla leaves The Narrator for reasons which would spoil the film but are also because of a fault in him. Both films have a main character who is very isolated. Both Travis and The Narrator have few good friends and are disconnected from the rest of the world. Both films have a main character who suffers from insomnia as a huge part of the story and leading to a nocturnal life. Both films have multiple montages of mindless traveling. In Taxi Driver, half the film is Travis driving around in his taxi, and Fight Club often show The Narrator flying from place to place for his job as an automobile product recall specialist. Both films have a constant voice over narration by the main character. Both Travis and The Narrator describe their thoughts and actions throughout each film. Both films have heavy film grain. Fight Club’s film grain is so great because it was filmed on a spherical rather than anamorphic lens, so the image had to be blown up, thus increasing grain. Finally, both films have a main character nearly shooting himself at the end of the film. All these similarities add up. As I was watching Taxi Driver, I almost felt as if I was rewatching Fight Club.