Product Description: Studio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 02/18/2003 Run time: 119 minutes
Amazon.com: 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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas Review
It's good. I enjoy it. A lot. That is, I enjoy it more than a little. It's good. Funny. Rather humorous. I recommend it.
Rating: - An exposé for Rolling Stone magazine about the killing of Ruben Salazar
The reviewer is right who stated the mainstream doesn't get Gilliam. Bottom line is people will still be talking about this movie 100 years from now when most of the Academy pop favs will be forgotten. ... Read More
Rating: - Clever and Hilarious
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, a Terry Gilliam film, is an adaptation of Hunter Thompson's classic autobiographical account about his experience covering a motorcycle race in Nevada in the early 1970's. ... Read More
Rating: - own this!
This is the most hilarious and scary drug movie that you will ever see! Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro are fantastic in this as a writer and his agent! Christina Ricci and Tobey MacGuire make appearances ... Read More
Rating: - Breathtakingly Honest
To the typical viewer, this movie is just a wacky comedy with drugs, foul language, and Johnny Depp.
However, to the serious movie connoisseur, this is an amazing exploration of an era almost forgotten ... Read More
- Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas Review