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| Johnny Depp, Benicio del Toro, Christina
Ricci, Ellen Barkin, Cameron Diaz, Tobey Maguire, Harry Dean Stanton,
Katherine Helmond |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Narrator (Johnny Depp): The
only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing
in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a
man in the depths of an ether binge, and I knew we'd get into that
rotten stuff pretty soon.
An
oddball journalist and his psychopathic lawyer travel to Las Vegas for
a series of psychedelic escapades.
 Hunter
S. Thompson's seminal 'gonzo journalism' book of hallucinations,
bad trips and general excess in and around Las Vegas is an uproariously
funny, marvelously written cultural artifact that for decades was
considered by most to be unfilmable, yet several attempts were made
to get a movie project up and running. Cult director Alex Cox (of
Repo Man) was finally set to go, but dropped out near production
following clashes with the author, and former Python Terry Gilliam
finally came on board, firmly set to make the movie in the spirit
of the book, as half-improvised 'gonzo' filmmaking.
The result is a film that is brutal, excessive, grating, gorgeous and
hugely funny to anyone who approaches it with a truly open mind. It's
a movie that abandons all classic narrative convention and takes the
audience on a ride through the hellish underbelly of America as envisioned
by the Thompson/Gilliam collaboration. The book's surreal imagery and
gleeful cynicism fit Gilliam's sensibilities, both visual and thematic,
like a glove, and although this is certainly not a film to everyone's
taste, it can be a truly revelatory experience for those with a hunger
for cinema that intentionally deviates from the norm, and is willing
to bring forth an experience rather than a familiar story. |
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The initial Region 1 release from Universal
carried the promotional featurette, several deleted scenes and the
theatrical trailer with a two-track Dolby Surround audio mix. Since
then, a two-disc Special Edition has been produced by the Criterion
Collection, improving greatly on both audio and video and adding
an enormous load of supplements to the package. The Criterion two-disc
release served as the basis for thsi review.
A Region 2 release is available from RCV in The Netherlands, carrying
no extras and a badly mastered Dolby
Digital 5.1 audio mix.
The anamorphic widescreen
image is framed at an aspect ratio of approx. 2.35:1. The
new transfer
was supervised by Terry Gilliam himself. The masterful cinematography,
with all its lurid colors and wonderfully detailed set designs,
is flawlessly presented, without any source print defects or other
distractions throughout.
The serviceable but hardly impressive Dolby Surround track from
the original DVD release is supplemented by two new six-track
discrete
sound mixes: a Dolby
Digital 5.1 track that already impresses with its strongly
defined soundscape, but also a DTS mix with even more richly detailed
directional
effects and ambient sound. This outstanding track ranges from
the roaring convertible and bats
in the opening scene to more elaborate sequences with richly filled
immersive soundscapes, such as the Circus Circus part.
Criterion's three-disc DVD-release
of Brazil and Universal's own Special Edition of 12
Monkeys
demonstrated how much added value is to be had from the backgrounds
behind this colorful director's productions. Fear and Loathing
not only combines the talents, quirks and idiosyncracies of this
legendarily idiosyncratic filmmaker with the work and personality
of journalistic enfant terrible Hunter S. Thompson; it's
also a film with a difficult production history full of feuds,
battles
and disagreements that make for the best kind of juicy anecdotes.
The ever outspoken, uninhibited Terry Gilliam provides the first
of three audio commentary tracks, with the expected number
of snide comments about the film industry, politics, Las Vegas
and
America in general, but also full of heartfelt appreciation for
the craft and talent of his cast and crew. He gains the listener's
sympathy and respect yet again by his complete lack of pretention
or egotism, leaving the impression of an impulsive, outspoken and
highly conscientious artist working within an industry that would
use his prodigious talent to produce unpalatable drivel.
He has many outbursts of infectious laughter, often at the sheer
unadulterated craziness he got away with in a picture financed
by a major studio, and his incredulous recounting of the
reason why
the windows
in
upper-floor Las Vegas hotel rooms are screwed shut is reason enough
on its own to purchase this DVD set.
The second commentary features producer Laila Nabulsi and actors
Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro, all recorded separately. This
seamlessly edited track is easily as informative and as entertaining
as Gilliam's solo effort. Nabulsi, who had been trying to get
this
project off the ground for over ten years before finally succeeding
with this team, is just as candid and outspoken in her opinions
and remarks as Gilliam, and understandably has plenty to tell about
the production's long history and what went on behind the scenes
once it was finally under way. She is both critical and appreciative
of Gilliam's directorial efforts in more or less equal measures,
making some excellent points along the way. Depp and Del Toro take
a little longer to get started, with Depp especially (and understandably)
bemused at first upon seeing his no-holds-barred performance again.
His is a very chucklesome presence throughout, nicely counterbalanced
by Del Toro's dryly intelligent comments.
The third commentary track comes from author Hunter S. Thompson
himself, recorded in the middle of the night at his farm in Colorado
and prodded along by producer and friend Laila Nabulsi. Calling
this commentary a unique experience is something of an understatement,
as the willfully eccentric Thompson skillfully evades questions,
completely ignores them, or simply resorts to extreme profanity
and/or deranged, high-pitched screaming. Nabulsi does her very
best to coax him into articulate responses to specific scenes
or
to the movie in general, and though there are plenty of minor details
for Hunter to complain about, he does hand out some grudging compliments
to Gilliam, Depp and Del Toro. Thompson is prone to mumble, making
this track at times almost impossible to understand. But it's
ultimately
fascinating and hilarious to listen to this unique, extraordinaily
vivacious character rant and rave at the sight of this movie adaptation.
Also included on this first disc are the three deleted scenes
that previously appeared on the single-disc release, which are optionally
accompanied by illuminating director's commentary here. The long
rough cut of the 'DA from GA' scene is especially enjoyable.
 Moving
on to the second disc, we find two major areas of supplements: 'The
Film' and 'The Source'. Every last item in the long list in both
sections is tremendously worthwhile, down to the very last one.
Startin gwith the film-related section, we find a comprehensive
collection of storyboard designs and production designs
for several key sequences.
Hunter Goes to Hollywood is a ten-minute excerpt from Wayne
Ewing's work-in-progress documentary that is being put together
about the life of Thompson. It shows the author arriving by jet
in Hollywood and visiting the set on the day of his cameo. Much
of what he says is nearly unintelligible, but it offers a fascinating
behind-the-scenes glimpse at the production and a closer look at
Thompson today.
Not The Screenplay is an absolutely fascinating audio discussion
with screenwriter Tony Grisoni, director Terry Gilliam and producer
Laila Nabulsi about the struggle that Gilliam and Grisoni had to
deal with when the Writers' Guild awarded first-name screenwriting
credit to former director Alex Cox. Nablusi explains in some detail
how Cox and the rest of the team had creative differences. Gilliam's
discussion of some of the absurd rules of the WGA and the struggle
to get credit is really quite fascinating. Also included in this
section is the hilarious short 'Dress Pattern' that would have preceded
the film in theaters if Gilliam had lost his battle with the WGA.
Also included in the Film section is footage of Johnny Depp reading
aloud correspondence from Hunter S. Thompson. These writings
are clearly best appreciated when read aloud, and Depp does an excellent
job with these letters, which are witty, entertaining and occasionally
brilliant.
The final item in the Film section is titled "A Study in Marketing",
in which Gilliam offers an enthralling optional commentary over
the theatrical trailer. It's a pity he only has a little
under two minutes to talk about his thoughts on how this film was
marketed to a mass audience. Also included are seven TV spots
that are amusing in their desperation to make the film seem like
anything besides the niche film it actually is.
The main item included in the 'Source' section of the supplements
is the 50-minute documentary Fear and Loathing on the Road to
Hollywood/ This 1978 BBC film follows Thompson and illustrator
Ralph Steadman from the author's Colorado home all the way to Hollywood.
There's hints of ideas and concepts about the film, but this is
mostly a collection of interviews and off-the-wall moments with
the unpredictable writer. Its exposition and development can be
a little confusing - one gets the impression that the crew were
forbidden to film on many key occasions during the trip. Steadman's
well-known illustrations for the book are collected here in an image
gallery in the form in which they originally appeared in Rolling
Stone magazine, as well as the original, rarely seen covers and
a few preliminary sketches.
Breakdown on Paradise Boulevard is an audio-only section
with a long clip from the 1996 CD recording of the book, read by
Jim Jarmusch, Maury Chaykin, Glenne Headly, Laurie Metcalf and Harry
Dean Stanton. The final section on this DVD offers background information
on Oscar Zeta Acosta, the Mexican hispanic-rights activist
who was the real-life Dr. Gonzo, including photos, thoughts from
Acosta's son, footage of Acosta reading from his second book and
a discussion of him from Thompson himself.  Menu
designs as stylishly designed as they are user-friendly are the
long-time
staple of the Criterion Collection's DVD releases, and Fear
and Loathing in Las Vegas is certainly no exception. The animated
main menu on the first disc fascinatingly shows the hands of illustrator
Ralph Steadman inking the title in his unmistakable style. The
main menu on the second disc takes us on a trip through the animated
desolation of the cactus-ridden landscape from the DVD cover.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: March
2, 2003
Click
here for IMDB info on Fear
and Loathing in Las Vegas.
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