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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: HD DVD Brand: Universal EAN: 0025193128720 Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen Label: Universal Studios Home Entertainment Manufacturer: Universal Studios Home Entertainment Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Universal Studios Home Entertainment Release Date: September 26, 2006 Running Time: 119 minutes Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment Theatrical Release Date: May 22, 1998 Sales Rank: 9841 MPN: 28720
Product Description: Universal Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas - HD-DVD Terry Gilliam ("Brazil," "Twelve Monkeys") directed this colorful, stylized, pseudo-psychedelic $21-million adaptation of the 1971 Hunter S. Thompson classic, "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas": A Savage Journeyinto the Heart of the American Dream, about stoned sportswriter Raoul Duke, Thompson's alter ego, on a wild drug-crazed road trip, a paranoid plummetinto the belly of the beast, with his pal, lawyerOscar Zeta Acosta. Originally serialized in Rolling Stone (November 1971), the book catapulted Thompson headfirst toward the Kerouac-Mailer-Capote pantheon and jump-started the entire movement of "gonzo journalism." Carrying a suitcase of drugs, Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp with shaved pate) and his attorney Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) drive a red convertible across the Mojave from L.A. to Vegas, where Duke has an assignment to cover the Mint 400 desert motorcycle race. As the drugs kick in, Duke ventures into voiceover, filling in the blank spotsand narrative gaps. "This is not a good town for psychedelic drugs," says Duke, but even so, they consume vast quantities, eventually escalating to ether. Duke notes that with ether "you can actuallywatch yourself behaving this terrible way, but you can't control it." The two trash their hotel room, and Gonzo goes back to L.A. Thinking the hotel room holocaust will lead to an arrest, Duke beginsa drive back to L.A., but after an odd encounter with a highway patrolman (Gary Busey) and a telephone conversation with Gonzo, he returns to Vegas to cover the District Attorney Convention on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in the glitzy Flamingo Hotel. This time the drugged-out duo trash their Flamingo room. The crazed carnival atmosphere segues into a carney casino, Bazooko's Circus, where a barker (Penn Jillette) spiels amid aerialists, clowns, and a rotating carousel bar. Gonzo worries over runaway teen Lucy (Christina Ricci), who paints por
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: - DVD DID NOT WORK, at all!
I ordered this DVD for a christmas gift and went to watch it with the person I gave it to and the DVD player could not even read the disc. We tried it in 2 other dvd players and got the same response. ... Read More
Rating: - Terrible!
When I received the video, it did not play. We returned the item and received a new one promptly. The second video was also no good. It did not play. We returned the item again. Eventually we received ... Read More
Rating: - Response to Jeff Shannon's "professional" review
Jeff Shannon is clearly misinformed. The "usual creative differences" mentioned resulted from Cox's refusal to abide by Hunter S. Thompson's specific instructions NOT to use an animated sequence during the ... Read More
Rating: - Great movie
It is a mix of great acting and a comedic look at drug use. Don't stop here this is bat country.
Rating: - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
A Review of the DVD: "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"
![: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas [HD DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51WVPHA35XL._SL160_.jpg)
- DVD DID NOT WORK, at all!
- Response to Jeff Shannon's "professional" review