Reviews of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Displaying all 5 reviews
Gino
24Jun10
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is anything but a forgettable experience. Gilliam creates a disturbingly hectic atmosphere, where not even the viewers will know the difference between reality and fantasy, or hallucinations, I should say. Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro were perfectly cast in their roles- I don’t think another pair of Actors out there could have done their Characters such justice. I think Gilliam did a lot with what he had to work with, and probably did a much better job than any modern day technology combined with another any other Director could have done.
Toddity
24Oct09
This surreal masterwork of unorthodox imagery is an absolute wonder to behold. Gilliam’s film is a cautionary parable about the inescapable pull of the American Dream and the false promises and lengths its’ pursuers must endure to achieve it. Excellent production design and awe-inspiring special effects recreate the hallucinogenic drug-fuelled atmosphere experienced by the film’s protagonists Raoul Duke and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo. Those sceptical of Johnny Depp’s flexibility as an actor following his oddly similar portrayal of roles in recent films (Jack Sparrow/Sweeney Todd/Willy Wonka) need only view Fear & Loathing to see just how magnificently diverse his talent really is. One of Gilliam’s greatest explorations into the darkest depths of the human condition.
- Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
Lena
3May08
I’ll wade right into the argument: not better/worse but different.
For me this version was about the visual more than the acting although Depp and Del Toro proved much more than just adequate, they were great.
But here with Gilliam and Pecorini we get the whole glorious ‘trip’. The colours, wide angles, hyper realism and other effects used to portray the hallucinatory journey are what stand out here.
Bill Murray is my Hunter S Thompson, no effects needed. Last word.
Akira Kar-Wai
11Apr08
Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo take a wild, drug-infused trip through Las Vegas, and more importantly in search of the American Dream. Johnny Depp perfectly embodies Hunter S. Thompson and Benicio Del Toro’s drunken drawl lends itself perfectly to the persona of Gonzo. Look for a few celeb cameos, the most memorable being Tobey Maguire as the hitchhiker, and also flashbacks that capture the confusion and drug frenzy that was the 60s. Many called Thompson’s Fear and Loathing an unfilmable novel, this movie proves those doubters wrong, Gilliam is a truly gifted filmmaker.
Halim Cillov
31Mar08
‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’
How could one justly describe this bizarre and trippy masterpiece of Terry Gilliam?
Based on the shocking non-fiction book by Hunter S. Thompson, “Fear and Loathing in Vegas” chronicles the graphic, at times disturbing, at this hilarious, and mostly drug-induced road ‘trip’ of Thompson’s infamous protagonist Raoul Duke (played brilliantly by Johnny Depp). Raoul Duke is an eccentric and care-free child of the 60’s hippie generation who, in 1971, is trying to survive as a free-lance journalist in a cynical world that has long ago moved away from the Utopian ideals of the 60s. Along with his equally whacky attorney, Dr.Gonzo ( Benicio Del Toro), and a trunk packed with psychedelic drugs, Duke travels to Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle race. However, even before they start their journey the psychedelic drugs begin to take hold of them and their reality…
What “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” depicts is the surreal and the psychedelic journey of these two characters that sink so deep into their drug hallucinations that they can no longer separate reality from hallucination. Through blending animation with real-life footage, and with highly creative special-effects and inventive light-schemes director Terry Gilliam most stylishly reflect the drug-frenzy and hallucinated mindsets of these protagonists. However, despite of its stylish and intriguing visuals, the movie in no way romanticizes these drug addicts and their psychedelic drugs. Even though, both Dr. Gonzo’s and Duke’s hallucinations and ‘bad trips’ put them comical situations as they try to do their best impressions of ‘soberness’ while they try to tackle the ‘imaginary’ reptile like beasts and talking monkeys in a Don-Quixote like fashion, still the movie is trying to exhibit the desperate and broken psyche of two dreamers whose idealistic dreams gets completely destroyed by the harsh reality of the Capitalist world. In drugs, they do not find a safe haven but hell, that is full of fear and loathing. Thus, at the hearth of the movie lies their desperation that pushes them into the drugs in order to avoid being exposed to the fact that the world no longer remembers the sixties and the Utopian idealism that it tried to spread. As the quote that opens the movie indicates, it is the tale of two man who ‘made a beast of themselves in order to get rid of the pain of being a man.’
However, due to its drug content, graphic nature, and surrealist style storytelling, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” is a film, that might not speak to everyone; yet in no way this makes the movie less sophisticated or layered. Flashy and often dreary Las Vegas of the movie could easily be read as the metaphor of our world, where the only thing that matters is making-it-big with lots of money and glamor. In that sense, the wild protagonists of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” projects the delirium that comes with rejecting to be part of this game. In another level, it is a classic Peter Pan story of two man rejecting to grow-up and adapting to the world as it is, as oppose to as it should be. Or it is an surrealist look into the mind of two psychedelic drug addicts.
Or it is simply an unique and unforgettable film experience that has a psychedelic power of its own…
- Currently 5.0/5 Stars.