Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) USA
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Image Cover
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Director:Terry Gilliam
Studio:Universal Studios
Producer:Elliot Lewis Rosenblatt, Harold Bronson
Writer:Hunter S. Thompson, Terry Gilliam
Rating:4
Rated:R
Date Added:2007-03-06
Purchased On:2007-06-03
ASIN:0783229526
UPC:0025192033926
Price:$19.98
Awards:1 win & 1 nomination
Genre:Cons & Scams
Release:2003-02-17
IMDb:0120669
Duration:128
Picture Format:Widescreen
Aspect Ratio:2.35:1
Sound:AC-3
Languages:English, Dolby Digital 5.1, English, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, English, DTS
Subtitles:English
Features:Anamorphic
Terry Gilliam  ...  (Director)
Hunter S. Thompson, Terry Gilliam  ...  (Writer)
 
Johnny Depp  ...  Raoul Duke
Benicio Del Toro  ...  Dr. Gonzo
Tobey Maguire  ...  Hitchhiker
Ellen Barkin  ...  Waitress at North Star Cafe
Gary Busey  ...  Highway Patrolman
Christina Ricci  ...  Lucy
Mark Harmon  ...  Magazine Reporter at Mint 400
Cameron Diaz  ...  Blonde TV Reporter
Katherine Helmond  ...  Desk Clerk at Mint Hotel
Michael Jeter  ...  L. Ron Bumquist
Penn Jillette  ...  Carnie Talker
Craig Bierko  ...  Lacerda
Lyle Lovett  ...  Road Person
Flea  ...  Musician
Laraine Newman  ...  Frog-Eyed Woman
Harry Dean Stanton  ...  Judge
Tim Thomerson  ...  Hoodlum
Michael Lee Gogin  ...  
Larry Cedar  ...  
Brian Le Baron  ...  
Comments: Give us your brain for two hours and you will never be the same again.....(Icelandic)

Summary: The original cowriter and director of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was Alex Cox, whose earlier film Sid and Nancy suggests that Cox could have been a perfect match in filming Hunter S. Thompson's psychotropic masterpiece of "gonzo" journalism. Unfortunately Cox departed due to the usual "creative differences," and this ill-fated adaptation was thrust upon Terry Gilliam, whose formidable gifts as a visionary filmmaker were squandered on the seemingly unfilmable elements of Thompson's ether-fogged narrative. The result is a one-joke movie without the joke--an endless series of repetitive scenes involving rampant substance abuse and the hallucinogenic fallout of a road trip that's run crazily out of control. Johnny Depp plays Thompson's alter ego, "gonzo" journalist Raoul Duke, and Benicio Del Toro is his sidekick and so-called lawyer Dr. Gonzo. During the course of a trip to Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle race, they ingest a veritable chemistry set of drugs, and Gilliam does his best to show us the hallucinatory state of their zonked-out minds. This allows for some dazzling imagery and the rampant humor of stumbling buffoons, and the mumbling performances of Depp and Del Toro wholeheartedly embrace the tripped-out, paranoid lunacy of Thompson's celebrated book. But over two hours of this insanity tends to grate on the nerves--like being the only sober guest at a party full of drunken idiots. So while Gilliam's film may achieve some modest cult status over the years, it's only because Fear and Loathing is best enjoyed by those who are just as stoned as the characters in the movie. --Jeff Shannon