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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Criterion Collection Customer Reviews (16 - 18 of 80 Reviews)

One Long Drug Binge...
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas began, for me, as a much recomended flick by my friends. So, like any other person would do, I decided to go to my local Blockbuster and rent this much talked about movie. It did not disappoint. It begins as the main characters are taking a wild ride from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in their rented convertible, the "Great Red Shark" and the comedy does not end until the ending credits begin to roll.

It has everything that anyone interested in the drug culture could ask for, since this movie is mainly about one long drug-binge of the two main characters as they search for the American Dream. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the drug culture, or anything else that is funny.

Galvanizing adaptation of the seminal gonzo classic
That "Fear & Loathing..." the film is more frequently panned than praised says more for it's galvanizing attitudes than for the quality of the work. A collection of two articles written about the death of the American Dream (NOT the assignments he was given, natch), the book "Fear and Loathing..." imploded the myth of middle class grandeur while, on the surface, offering no alternative other than constant drug addled frenzy; it was and still is easy for the puritanical mindset to see this more as a rationalizing of the drug culture than a dissection of American bourgeois mentality. But that's their loss really... What Hunter S Thompson is really trying to say goes beyond even the oft-repeated mantra that taking drugs is a REACTION to the BS state of 60s politics and society rather than an end in and of itself; he treats the omnivorous consumption of narcotics as a perfectly valid base on which to found his mordant observations on the American Way, unapologetically choosing to toke first and ask questions later. And based on the scathing accuracy of his observations, who's to say he was wrong?

"Fear and Loathing..." wasn't the first of Thompson's works to treat the underpinnings of middle-class schizophrenia as the psychic equivalent to a bad acid trip, but it was certainly his most lucid, the cornerstone of his ethos even if he would write more insightfully and coherently both before and afterwards. Yet it's that point of view which either draws you in or revolts you immediately depending on one's temperament, a truly galvanizing role reversal whose essence dictates that, in order to really understand the American mindset, one must either be OF the conformists - in which case one would be blind to his own hypocrisies - or AGAINST the conformists, by which the only real understanding of the conformist's world could be ascertained by looking at his own non-conformist world through the prism of a fun house mirror. That analogy may be somewhat obtuse if you approach Thompson's work without a large dollop of surrealist thinking, but Hunter was never one for layman's terminology, and neither was Terry Gilliam one to oversimplify his source material.

There are those who are great fans of the novel who nonetheless look harshly on this film adaptation. In my opinion this is unfortunate, but I believe I can see why these fans may feel the way they do. In many ways, Gilliam's theatrical version usurps even the outlandishness of the book itself in it's carnivalesque portrait, there rarely being a calm moment to get one's bearings. My contention is not that Gilliam failed in his adaptation, but quite the opposite: I believe it's the literary nature of the book itself that makes it easier to absorb, in it's case the kaleidoscopic imagery being left more to the reader's imagination, which makes for the capability of either enhancing or "normalizing" the scenery of the text at the reader's whim. With the film, no such luxuries are afforded; the utmost imaginative capabilities are presumed as a pre-requisite, and Gilliam proves capable of keeping up with even the most abstract fantasist in this regard.

Taken in this context there is nothing to be held against the film at all. The performances are all flawless. The cinematography is appropriately earthy and washed out, nearly all the indoor scenes exhibiting the type of dim lighting favored by drunks and acid casualties, and even the outdoor shots appearing as if filmed behind the filter of tinted sunglasses. There are only a few scenes included in the book which are not adapted into the movie, and three of those are included as deleted scenes on both the Criterion edition and the Universal disc, the former being far preferred over the latter for it's encyclopedic wealth of bonus materials.

The Criterion release adds to the Universal debut with three commentary tracks, including a snarling, incoherent one with Hunter himself, his assistant along for the ride mainly to keep him on the subject, although - true to his character - he spares no expense taking potshots at the end results of the film, although one eventually gets the impression that nothing would have left him satisfied short of a production he himself shot, edited, and starred in (despite his friendship with Johnny Depp he can't help but take a few exceptions to Depp's portrayal of himself, particularly his cruelty toward the dwarf during the early Flamingo Hotel sequence).

Disc two houses most of the extras, the best of which is the 1978 documentary "Hunter Goes to Hollywood". This lengthy doc can be slow going at times but hits it's peak when Hunter actually gets to meet and talk with one of the Watergate conspirators (I won't ruin the surprise by disclosing which one but suffice to say it's not Nixon -- that would've warranted it's own full blown docu in and of itself). There is also a movingly pithy elegy to the vanished (presumed deceased) Oscar Zeta Acosta, that "high powered mutant" who was "God's own prototype" and Hunter's erstwhile companion for years before his disappearance. Speaking of Acosta, there is a lengthy reading by Oscar himself from his own "Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo" which is interesting but can get cloying after while; Acosta, for whatever his other merits, is not much of an engaging reader.

Finally, but not conclusively, there is an interesting excerpt from the audio CD version of the book featuring Harry Dean Stanton (who played the judge in the film). This is a scene at a taco stand in Vegas with Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo inquiring on the whereabouts of the American Dream, which the teenage taco vendor takes to be the name of a defunct dance club. It's an interesting thematic riff which never really takes off, and it was almost certainly an easy cut for the screen adaptation. There are wealth of other extras, divided up into matters relating to the book itself and those of the screen adaptation, and the packaging is some of the best you'll ever find on a DVD, so the extra cash for this Criterion release over the bare bones Universal one is a no-brainer. Even if you've never seen the film and aren't sure you'll like it, you'll be more likely to appreciate what all parties were trying to do here with the benefit of the supplemental material.



If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right
Having read the semi-autobiographical book before seeing this movie, I really had no idea what to expect. I still don't think one is better than the other, they both have different feels; the book is darker, like reading a seedy, nightmarish lsd trip. The movie is different, slightly lighter (only slightly) and is an absolute assault on the senses.

I have heard that the original director was fired, before the subsequent director, Terry Gilliam was hired. What a piece of luck for this adaptation. Gilliams brilliant vision makes this an amazing film to watch. Every time I see this, there are scenes that blow my mind in terms of camera work. Gilliam combines the most stunning scenery with crazy angles and cuts to make this a surreal adventure through and through.

Aside from this is the pure attention to detail that gets me every time; there is more in this movie than you could pay attention to with three or four people watching the movie for days. Every time I watch it I see some new character, hear new background dialogue, or notice an effect that had previously gone unnoticed.My favourite is the archangel holding a burning sword outside the restaurant in L.A when Duke first recieves his orders to go to vegas.

In terms of the story, the movie is everything i hoped for. Las vegas is portrayed perfectly as the seedy, tacky, heart of the american dream that is the entire point behind this satirical monologue. The characters within vegas are desperate hopeless people in search of happiness they will never find in a freak circus town such as Gilliam displays. The main characters were picked for perfection.Johnny Depp, being a personal friend of Thompson's, plays a role he must know well. However, the real star of the film is Benicio Del Toro: this man can play a character to a T. Dr. Gonzo transforms from a semi-professional "attorney" to a drug-crazed fiend within the space of the lobby of a hotel and the soundproof room the pair occupy. There are scenes featuring Del Toro that make me laugh out loud, and there are scenes that disgust me in how sincerely Del Toro looks like he's just eaten a whole sheet of acid and wants himself to be electrocuted. The multitude of star cameos in the film do their job well; everyone from Penn of Penn & Teller to Thompson himself are in the film, and the high quality cameos keep on coming - a personal favourite of mine is Flea from the chilli peppers licking lsd off Duke's arm in a public toilet - it really is hilarious.

There is not a minute of this movie i didn't enjoy. It is admittedly a very in your face film, but thats what was intended. This is the clash of two great american dreams, the hippies vs. the norm, so what do you expect? The extended title says it all; a savage journey to the heart of the american dream. It is savage, but it is also hilarious, mind bending, depraved, and amazing, all in the same movie. What more could you want from a great adaptation?

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