Rating: 
Summary: Acid and bitter recollections from an old time
Review: Terry Gilliam wants to get us into total delirium, an absolutely limitless trip into acid, ether and other drugs, in Las Vegas, the city of all extremes and unreasonable excesses. He succeeds in that direction perfectly by accumulating junk and all other types of objects you may think of in luxurious and maybe luxuriant hotel suites. He also uses a lot of car chasing, car reckless driving, car violence, brutality and speed to get us into an ever-rolling and whirling and tumbling vision of the world. He does not hesitate in running after violence, unjustified most of the time, delirious the rest of the time, that attacks people, objects, buildings, and anything he may comme across. He wants to give us a vision of what he calls acid culture, that extreme psychedelic culture that developped from the mid 60s to the mid 70s last century, with the Vietnam War in the background, with Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew superimposed onto the main pictures, thanks to TV news programs. We are in an ever erupting adventure that really leads nowhere except into the depth of two minds that are no longer themselves but are entirely manipulated by the drugs and other substances they take as their basic food. It is a recent (1998) revival of films of the period itself that had probably more force, i.e. Fritz the Cat, Zabriskie Point, among a few others. But this recent film is also a sign that we are going back to that old period because our own times are out of joint and need some hallucinatary view to cope with a reality that is unthinkably thick and dense.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Perpignan
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Summary: It's OK, I know these guys.
Review: Raoul Duke and Doctor Gonzo are the Laurel and Hardy of hallucinogen abuse. It is perhaps necessary to have delved into hallucinogen abuse on one's own part to appreciate their behavior. For the abuser, hallucinogen abuse is pure verve existentialism - an alternate human condition that is self-imposed and completely private, rather than the human condition that is universal and imposed from without. Hemming and hawing about the Human Condition in the latter sense is pure dreary tedium and the very fount of unoriginality. Existentialism as an intellectual trend was hackneyed from the word GO. Especially as the operant word of Existentialism is not GO, it is AGONIZE or INTELLECTUALIZE or basically come on like a tough guy in someone elses loincloth. Albert Camus wrote The Stranger and it is hailed as an existential masterpiece. What is not mentioned is that he stole the whole idea from reading James Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice and that book wasn't any good in the first place. Camus takes it and makes it into something that is pretentious AND no good.
In Fear and Loathing Raoul Duke and Doctor Gonzo create their own Human Condition and it is pure paranoid insanity, detached from anyone else's reality matrix. SEE Fear and Loathing. Thrill to scenes like the one where Doctor Gonzo sits in sullen, sunglassed, criminal silence while LaCerda tries to tell a cowering Raoul Duke that he is his photographer, finally becomes disconcerted and decides to decamp, being told by Gonzo as he is leaving the darkened hotel suite, "We know what you're up to, man"
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Summary: THE WAIT IS OVER !!!
Review: I'm waiting a great DVD version of Fear And Loathing since ... the first version. And the dream is coming true : the CRITERION collection !
The extra stuff seems very interesting and finally 5.1 audio encoding.
Thanks for the audio commentary. "Once you get locked into a serious DVD collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can ..."
Rating: 
Summary: A drug-induced train wreck of a movie
Review: Alex Cox is one of filmdom's great directors of anarchy. His two brilliant films, "Sid & Nancy" and "Repo Man", are high marks in film chaos. The fact that Cox bailed on the film "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" should have killed the project dead. Terry Gilliam is one of filmdom's great directors of anarchy. Unlike his predecessor, though, Gilliam lacked the insight to know that writer Hunter S. Thompson's drug-induced tale of the convergence of a cross-desert road race, a law enforcement convention, and the death of the Sixties was possibly the one truly unfilmable story ever committed to print. Johnny Depp is one of filmdom's greatest connoisseurs of anarchy. After presiding over the overdose of River Phoenix in his notorious Viper Room, Depp didn't have enough smarts to know that playing a role like Thompson's that personified the drug mania of that day was probably not a great career move. Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson is one of life's greatest connoisseurs of anarchy. His outlandish personna forever captured in Garry Trudeau's Uncle Duke of Doonesbury fame, Thompson must not have been coherent enough to give a thumbs down to the making of this picture. Possibly too many muscle relaxants. In short, my dear reader, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" will go down in history with such films as "Heaven's Gate", "Howard the Duck", and "Ishtar" as one of the most poorly thought out exercises in filmmaking ever foisted upon an unsuspecting roll of film. And this is not to point fingers at the makers for their work. Gilliam probably did capture much of the feel of what it is like to hallucinate one's way through the mirage that is Vegas. Depp may seem eerily like Thompson. The effects, the sense of style, and the ability to project what Thompson endured in those days in which he and his drug pusher lawyer friend, Dr. Gonzo (Benecio del Toro), painted the town puce are faithfully rendered. In all its dexedrine glory, the debauchery is splattered up there on the screen for the masses to eyeball - whether we wish to or not. Folks:
There is no plot.
There is no sense.
There is no restraint.
There is no reason for seeing someone else's self-induced nightmare. Stay far away. Very far away. Preferably, the South Pole.
Rating:
Summary: "Let's get one thing straight...CAN YOU HEAR ME?!?"
Review: Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas is without a doubt the greatest dark comedy of all time. This is no joke, this film is absolutely flawless. I found myself at times laughing so hard it was all I could do to catch my breath. The picture was directed brilliantly by Terry Gillam and the casting was perfect. Johnny Depp play Thompson's alter-ego Raoul Duke. A reporter whom must go to Las Vegas for the weekend to write a column on a race being held. Along side him is his "Samoan" attorney Dr. Gonzo. And off the pair goes to Las Vegas with a suitcase full of drugs. As Raoul describes "two bags of grass, four hits of sunshine acid, a quart of rum, a quart of tequilla, a mass collection of multi-colored uppers, downers, laughers, twenty-five pellets of mescaline and a pint of raw ether". This begins the wildest trip in cinematic history. Before they even arrive to Vegas, Raoul has snorted ether, smoked some weed and done two hits of sunshine acid. His lawyer the "samoan" has snorted ether, snorted cocaine and eat some mescaline. Thus ensues the two into a nightmarish "trip" that leads them to the wildest weekend in Vegas...EVER! A must have for fans of the late 60's and early 70's...if you know what I mean. Don't forget to purchase the 2-disc criterion collection 1/8! The DVD will contain both the theatrical version and an unrated version of the film!
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Summary: Let's get down to brass tacks. How much for the ape?
Review: One of the wildest rides I have ever been on. Gilliam perfectly recreates some of the insane scenes in the book. Depp and Del Toro are brilliant in portraying Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo. May not be for everyone, but a must see for fans of the strange and unusual.
Rating: 
Summary: One long bad trip
Review: A journalist and his friend go to Las Vegas to cover a race. They also go there on a ton of drugs. This film shows them in colorful Las Vegas freaking out at everything, while on the drugs. During the film we get to hear the protagonists comments on life in America. It is very bizarre. Now bizarre can be good, but in this case its boring and not very interesting. The characters and story aren't good. You are just thrown in the drugged up world of these two guys, and it all appears very silly. I give this 2 stars, because I can see how some counter culture type people might like this. I hear the book is much better. Some parts are funny, but the rest of the film is nearly unwatchable. If you like psychedelic trips, this film is for you. As the 60s ended, so did the idea that drugs would bring freedom and enlightenment. All it brought were a lot of headaches. ATTENTION: If you plan to buy this, I suggest you wait until January 28, 2003 when a Special Edition will be released with a ton of extra material, by Criterion Collection.
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Summary: great but wait for the criterion disc
Review: this film is a misunderstood classic, but it will be available on the criterion collection label so wait for that.
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Summary: Re-Release Info!!!
Review: Hold on there, cowboy! Criterion is re-releasing this in a super souped-up special edition package! And its got a really hot cover! Wait and pick that version up instead!
Rating:
Summary: There's No Escape from Bat Country
Review: "We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold." When you hear those words at the very beginning of the movie, you know you're in for a wild life. So my advice is that you buy the ticket and take the ride! You're just about ready then, aren't you? Get in! In this wickedly funny and entertaining dark film, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," Terry Gilliam captures the humor and chaos in Hunter S. Thompson's literary masterpiece. Not an easy task if you ask me. If this film were done wrong, it would've been a terrible tragedy. Fortunately, it was done right. Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro star as Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo. When a writing assignment is given to Duke, the two go to Vegas for the ultimate trip. (Trust me, "trip" is the appropriate word.) With a trunk full of every single kind of drug you can imagine, the two are off to Vegas. But soon everything spins out of control and the writing assignment is no longer the only things on their minds. Johnny Depp is hilarious as Raoul Duke. Why he didn't win an Academy Award for his performance is beyond me. He even lived with Hunter for a couple of months to get his character down right. Now, that is some serious research. And Del Toro is awesome as the Samoan attorney Dr. Gonzo. (You wouldn't even recognize him if it weren't for his voice.) Terry Gilliam did an outstanding job at directing this risk-taking film. We actually feel like we're on drugs while watching. Forget D.A.R.E.! Have the kids watch this movie and they'll never want to do drugs! Gilliam does a remarkable job of capturing Thompson's genius and placing it onto film. The images we are given are dark and surreal, and are out of this world. The DVD is not too bad as well. There's a few extras that you'll find very entertaining. Not a lot, but there are a few. Including a behind the scenes feature, the theatrical trailer, deleted scenes, and more. (Watch the trailer, it's one of the funniest ones I have ever seen. It'll give you an idea of what you're in for.) The picture and sound quality are very high quality, although I wish the movie were presented to us in Dolby Digital 5.1 instead of 2.0. Oh well. I read the book after the seeing the movie, and it actually helped. Just picturing Depp and Del Toro enriched the story that much more. Depp with the cigarette always in his mouth as he narrates always stands out in your mind, and that's why it was that much funnier. Yes, I thought the book was a little better than the film, but let me say this, the film did a remarkable job of staying true to the book. The two are very similar. Here's two things I would like to make clear: 1) No, you do not have to be a stoner to enjoy this movie. I have never done drugs, and seeing this movie makes me NEVER want to do drugs. Ever. But guess what? I still enjoyed the film and found it funny as hell. 2) The reason why there's not much of a plot is because this is all based on a TRUE STORY. Real life doesn't have plot, I'm sorry to say. Life can't always have a distinct and notable climax or resolution, now can it? All in all, I really enjoyed this film, and thought it was very misunderstood by a lot of people. Yes, this is one of those films you're either going to love it or hate it. There are no guarantees that you will like it, but then again, isn't that always the case? I say take the ride. Take the chance. Dare to be different. If you want something that doesn't fall into the category of "ordinary," then this is the film for you. Extremely hilarious and terribly freaky at times, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is a different kind of film experience you do not want to miss. I also recommend reading the book as well. It is quite the experience...
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