Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned)   CLICK HERE to buy from   CLICK HERE to buy from   CLICK HERE to buy from Blu-ray   CLICK HERE to buy from Blu-ray   CLICK HERE to buy from V.O.D.   CLICK HERE to buy from   CLICK HERE to buy from Blu-ray   CLICK HERE to buy from V.O.D.   CLICK HERE to buy from German and English language   CLICK HERE to buy from Blu-ray German and English language   CLICK HERE to buy from V.O.D. German language only Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!

LA, 1971: Journalist Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) is hired to cover a motorbike race in Las Vegas, and he decides to take his legal advisor Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) with him, who advises him to get a convertible and fill it up with all kinds of drugs known to men (and some unknown to men) and plenty of booze to wash the drugs down. So even the journey to Vegas is utter chaos - as witnessed by a hitchhiker (Tobey Maguire), they pick up who decides to get out of the car in the middle of the desert rather than go another mile with them. Once at the hotel, it gets really bad when, totally tripping out, Raoul believes all the guests at the hotel bar to be lizard people. At the race track, they soon enough get confused over the location of the track, lose themselves in the desert, and when they want to give the race more coverage the next day, they learn it's already over. Dr. Gonzo heads home, leaving Raoul with the hotel bill, which he never intended to pay, so he wants to escape back home when he receives a note he's to cover a cop congress. At another hotel, he meets up with Dr. Gonzo again as well as underaged Lucy (Christina Ricci), who has dedicated her life to painting Barbara Streisand portraits. The girl might compromise their drug habit, so Raoul gets rid of her, setting her up on a different hotel on a check that's sure to bounce - and then things really spin out of control ...

Among the film's guest stars are Cameron Diaz as a prim and proper TV journalist, Ellen Barkin as a desert diner waitress, and Gary Busey as a highway patrolman.

Hunter S. Thompson's novel this film is based on has long been deemed unfilmable, and seeing this movie, one can easily see why: The story of Fear and Loathing of Las Vegas, the novel, fun read as it may be, simply doesn't follow a clear narrative thread and is full of exaggerations and trippy sequences that don't necessarily lead to anywhere. And yet, what director Terry Gilliam has made out of it while staying fairly faithful to the source material is wonderful, a fast paced, wacky trip of a movie that combines disturbing images with weird humour, shows utter contempt for realism and goes for associative imagery instead, and lets its actors really go off the hook. In that respect, it's particular fun to watch Johnny Depp's later trademark mannerisms in their early stages. Now sure, the film might not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're up for something wild and unusual that has actually stood the test of time, then this is totally recommended.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned)

The links below will take you just there!!!

Find Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas at the amazons ...   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.de Looking for imports? Find Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas here ...   eThaiCD.com Your shop for all things Thai Something naughty? (Must be over 18 to go there!)   find Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas at adultvideouniverse.com

Thanks for watching !!!