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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Criterion Collection

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Criterion Collection

List Price: $39.95
Your Price: $29.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: yummy
Review: Did they really do the drugs portrayed in this movie cause that would be cool and hilariously funny. its a good movie Its a must SEE.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: THE SOUND OF DEPPS MUMBLIN IN SURROUND
Review: IF YOU LIVED IN TRENDYVILLA IN LA LA LAND THIS MIGHT DO YOU JUST FINE AND IF YOU HAD A LOAD OF DISCREATIONARY WADS OF MONEY , THIS COULD BE LIKE YOUR MTV A MOVIE FOR THE SMALL MIND CROWD,WITH BIG SCREENS AND THEY COULD PLAY THIS LIKE ENDLESS LOOPING AD NAUSEUM LIKE BACKGROUND SLENDOURS IN THEIR VACUMS OF TOMORROW THIS IS THEIR PICTURE PERFECT FUTURE ON THE WAY TO REHAB,A GOGO GONZO GOTCHA! FLASH PAST LOOK IN THE MIRROR

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: fear and loathing from the uncultured
Review: this film has been scorned undeservingly for too long. what is it with people and their unbridled hate towards the master that is Terry Gilliam. In no other hands would i have left a visual interpretation of the great Hunter S. Thompsons great novel. When I close my eyes after absorbing a sentence of this literary masterpiece and clearly see a vision that is not far removed from Terry's own. this film hit the mark just as much as any other of Terry's visual feasts. Only the uncultured could possibly misplace their scorn upon Gilliam.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: thums up!
Review: I just whant to say that this must be one of the funniest films I have ener seen. Me and my friends laught our self through this strange but fun film. Something you have too see!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very good film for unconventional folks
Review: This movie not about drugs, violence, sex, or the love generation, it is about something much more basic... something that in the United States we call "The American Dream". . That is some kind of sense of righteous destiny in a place where good always triumphs over evil and nice guys finish first. The book is about that, or rather the realizations that it's not true: the death of The American Dream.

Basically, most folks believe that it is their right -- as long as they aren't hurting anybody else... they pretty much should be allowed to do what ever the heck they want to do, even if, and maybe especially if... the things they want to do harm themselves.

This movie is based on the book of the same name -- which it follows closely -- written by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, whose alter ego basically is Raoul Duke. Thompson liked this movie adaptation of his book. The book was what Uncle Duke saw as a failed attempt at Gonzo Journalism... that had at its heart that sometimes the best truth is encased in fiction.

Some other more recent movies have, in their own ways, also been about the same subject matter: "American Psycho", "Gladiator" and even, in a rather weird kind of way... the Lord of the Rings movies.

The American dream either died somewhere along the way or did it simply never really existed at all, and we are somehow just mourning its passing like a bunch of drug crazed wacko's in the same way lots of other folks on a long strange religious trip mourned the death of a flat earth? Many of us believed in The American Dream once, we were raised to believe in it. But then something happened... something bad? Nixon took office and started defecating on the Constitution? Maybe we just woke up -- grew up? Who the heck knows really, because I doubt we really ever understood just what we believed in at the time.

To quote a line from the book (from the wave speech): "History is hard to know, because of all the hired bulls*, but even without being sure of "history" it seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash, for reasons that nobody really understands at the time-and which never explain, in retrospect, what actually happened."

The book and movie are, in some kind of way, an examination of ourselves... in the way you sometimes hear that an unexamined life is not worth living... the problem is that, when we look deep into the inner core being of ourselves...sometimes we find nothing. Which leads to the "paradoxically benevolent BS" -- "the desperate assumption that somebody-or at least some force-is tending that Light at the end of the tunnel".

Which is why, in my opinion, a lot of people don't like this movie. They are uncomfortable thinking about themselves in ways where the conclusion isn't clear and succinct. They want to believe they are holding on to life firmly by the handle. They want to live in a world where everything makes sense. Of course, they are wrong. Or maybe, in the unkindest cut of all, they are perfectly correct. The world does make sense - and airplanes are supposed to crash into tall building and thousands must die in order to feed the egos of the small groups of evil men who run the world. These are scary places and times, ones where you don't need drugs or alcohol to be scared. But then maybe only the truly sane are getting whacked out on acid and heroin.

There are lots of good extras on the DVD's, the best are:
- A few scenes cut out of the film
- Three excellent commentary tracks from the Director, Actors and Hunter Thompson.
- A BBC documentary
- Johnny Depp reading from selected letters by Thompson

It is a very good movie if you are open to uncomfortable thoughts.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The City of Sin meets it's match.
Review: I remember checking this movie out quite a long while ago and thinking very little of it. Very recently I saw it on cable and decided to give it a second chance. I have come to my definite conclusion about this movie. It's a visual masterpiece, I haven't seen images this horrific and intriguing since David Lynch's Lost Highway. Terry Gilliam is an amazing visionary and he truly brings to life the eyes of the binge drug addict. It's sleek look and feel is a great contrast to the disturbing images and the bright colors of Las Vegas.

The script must have been amazingly difficult to write. Most of what Depp and Del Toro say must be improvised I can't imagine anyone making any sense of what their saying or even what is going on in certain scenes. Depp and Del Toro give stellar performances that are almost too convincing, again proving that Depp is the most underated character actor of our generation. Del Toro is almost unrecognizable as Depp's lawyer who always "legal advises him" on important decisions such as when he thinks they should go see Debbie Reynolds in concert. Only to be kicked out a few minutes after entering.

Every aspect of this movie is done so professionaly from the editing to the film score/soundtrack you couldn't have a tighter film put together. So why the two stars you ask? Well it's simple, while I understand this film documents the culture of the times and where American was at (Check out how many times you see the American Flag) during this time in our history. This film is a very true depiction of the lives of many sad people and how their day to day minute to minute lives is to do anything that comes their way, to remain high for as long as possible. But ultimately what does the viewer get for watching this movie? What do you come away with? What is this production communicating to you for two hours of your time? History data aside it says very little about anything. I'm not looking for a Moral but I'm looking for something, anything to take away from the movie. That feeling that the directors and actors have made any kind of statement is very fulfililng when watching such a well made movie. This movie is ultimately shallow and lifeless. The performances are brilliant but the only poor souls you feel bad for is the waitress at the end and Christina ricci who get caught in the war path of these two individuals.

Depps character is constantly questioning why he's in vegas, what is his mission, what is he there to do. Unfortunately so are we. I can't love, even such a well made/directed/ and acted film when it leaves me feeling so numb and empty.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Much better than anticipated
Review: I had a feeling the movie version of this classic book would be a disaster... but I was quite surprised to find it truer to the book than I expected. The "absurdity" of the laughs came across very well on screen... though I believe I appreciated the movie much more because I had read the book first. I thought Johnny Depp was excellent (an acotr I appreciate more and more as he gets older and continues taking the interesting roles); and Benicio Del Toro's physical transformation for his role was remarkable. However - and I may be alone in this - I actually thought the best performance was by Tobey Maguire, who appeared briefly as the geeky hitchhiker.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fear and Loathing: just a drug comedy?
Review: Lots of reviews of this film treat it only as a movie about two guys who go to Las Vegas to get stoned out of their heads. Actually, the movie does have something to say about the end of the hippie movement in the early seventies. And, if you don't buy into that, it's still hilarious and dark. There are amazing performances by every actor on screen; I loved Dr. Hunter Thompson's cameo. The special features alone were worth the price of the DVD.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pure Gonzo journalism.........
Review: "We where somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold"

Fear & Lothing in Las Vegas is the movie that pop's up in my mind when asked "what's your favourite movie", i have seen it about eight times now and it keeps getting better.
Yes, it is f***** up, but that's what makes it so intersting and fun.
Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro portray their roles brilliantly as Raoul Duke & DR. Gonso, two drug abusing friends looking for the american dream.
Well if you liked the book (wich is brilliant) then i can't imagine you not likeing this.
And the criterion collection speaks for itself....
so buy this movie and love it.

"Just another freak, in the freak kingdom"

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "We're resopnsible people"
Review: A classic drug comedy that puts anything else in the catagory to shame. The performances by Depp and the rest of the cast are excellent and make sure to look for an early Toby Maguire, a strung out flea (red hot chilli peppers), and Gary Busey as the police officer during the chase sequence. This movie is one of the best book adaptations I've ever seen and ranks up there with Fight Club and Lord of the Rings. The plot to this movie is simple: Two men go to Las Vegas to cover a race but get strung out on an insane amount of drugs and run wild through Las Vegas. Under direction of Terry gilliam (Monty Python, 12 Monkeys, Brazil) this movie is amazing and dosent get old from consecutive viewings. In short watch this movie, if your a fan of drug humor or just odd humor in general give this movie a try you wont regret it.


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