Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Director:

Terry Gilliam

Writers (WGA):

Hunter S. Thompson (book)
Terry Gilliam (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

22 May 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

Tagline:

Give us your brain for two hours and you will never be the same again.....(Icelandic)

Plot:

An oddball journalist and his psychopathic lawyer travel to Las Vegas for a series of psychadelic escapades.

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | American Dream | Lawyer | Convertible | Journalist

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

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

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive extreme drug use and related bizarre behavior, strong language, and brief nudity.

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PG (re-rating) (DVD) | Canada:18A (original rating) (VHS) | Denmark:15 | Australia:MA (Cable TV rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hungary:14 | Norway:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | UK:18 | USA:R | South Korea:18

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Fear and Loathing LLC

Trivia:

The coconut-smashing scene towards the end of the film was not originally in the book. Hunter S. Thompson wrote the scene when he wrote Fear and Loathing and then omitted it. Terry Gilliam inserted it back into the story for this movie.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Duke is leaving the first hotel carrying his typewriter, there is a bumper sticker on the side reading "We Got the Dick," a reference to Richard Nixon. However, Nixon wouldn't resign the presidency for 3 more years.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Raoul Duke: [narrating] We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like:
Raoul Duke: I feel a bit lightheaded. Maybe you should drive.
Raoul Duke: [narrating] Suddenly, there was a terrible roar all around us, and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, and a voice was screaming:
Raoul Duke: Holy Jesus. What are these goddamn animals?
[swatting the air]
Raoul Duke: Huh! Huh! Huh! Fucking pigs.
Dr. Gonzo: Did you say something?
Raoul Duke: Hm? Never mind. It's your turn to drive.
Raoul Duke: [narrating] No point in mentioning these bats, I thought. Poor bastard will see them soon enough.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Breakfast with Hunter (2003)

Soundtrack:

My Love, Forgive Me (Amore Scusami)

An excellent literary adaptation - and sooo much more...

This movie polarizes the audience like few before: while of course, there's people who like it and people who don't like it for any movie, 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' either excites or almost repulses it's critics, and I dare to say that most of the negative responses are based on ignorance, or even fear, of introducing psychedelic experiences into mainstream culture.

Personally, i regard 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' as one of my absolute favorites, definitely in my top 10, and possibly even top 3. One of the many outstanding characteristics, besides a flawless performance from its main actors, excellent direction, and maybe the greatest achievement, one of the few literary adaptations that don't have you leave the cinema with disappointment, is the visual interpretation of the influence of LSD and other psychedelica. Though it has been tried many times, in 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' it has been done in a way that in my opinion deserves an Academy Award like 'Best Visual Interpretation', were there one like that (btw, number 2 in my psychedelic charts is, interestingly, a scene from 'The Simpsons', episode 809, 'El Viaje de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)', where Homer eats super-spicy chili made from Guatemalan chili peppers grown by mental patients- that causing him an incredibly accuratel realized 'trip').

Well, I guess up until now you, the reader, can guess that I am one of those that loved the movie, and think it to be a mile stone in cinematographic history, along with 'Apocalypse Now', 'Pulp Fiction' or 'The Matrix'.