A bizarre masterpiece that invents a brilliantly skewed perspective and sustains it for a nearly impossible 117 minutes.
Comment
03/01/04
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
48
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:44
Fresh:21
Rotten:23
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: Visually creative, but also aimless, repetitve, and devoid of character development.
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS is a whirlwind of a movie, a wacky, drug-laden story backed by a fist-pumping rock & roll soundtrack featuring everything from Wayne Newton and Tom Jones to... [More]
Starring: Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Christina Ricci, Tobey Maguire
Director: Terry Gilliam
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Reviews for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
This is the best acid-inspired movie since Roger Corman's The Trip - and it is a darn sight more accurate in its depiction [of] the highs and the lows, the terrible confusion alternating with lucidity, the excitement that gives way to paranoia.
12/22/08
...has an incongruous, stream-of-consciousness tang that requires just the right mood to enjoy.
04/12/03
It is Gilliam fastening his lance to a Chevrolet convertible and charging at the windmills with his foot to the floor
01/01/00
More headache than head trip.
04/02/09
Unlike Trainspotting, Fear and Loathing doesn't shock or fascinate. It simply disgusts and repels.
06/22/04
Years from now, it will be reappraised as a misunderstood masterpiece. Well, this is one American critic who's not waiting until years from now.
02/03/08
Although the picture’s final moments establish it as a morality play, it’s been so previously vacuous that the effort is futile.
02/21/03
Fellini's movies work on this level, reveling in their carnival atmosphere while at the same time critiquing them.
03/27/03
...he first hour of the film is as successful as anything I've ever seen or read at conveying how the world looks to the drugged.
05/28/08
Gilliam shows that there is something appealing about drug highs. It wouldn't be honest to say otherwise. And, yes, they'll destroy you. It's honest about that too.
12/06/04
The real stars of this film, however, are its dazzling cinematography and production design.
01/01/00
This big-screen adaptation of the 1971 cult classic is a sure candidate for many worst ten film lists.
01/01/00
About as enjoyable as a bad trip.
01/17/04
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is impeded by both familiarity with its source and esteem for its director. However, the Criterion DVD has a tremendous asset in the collaboration of Hunter Thompson, who appears repeatedly in the disc's supplements.
02/11/03
They set out to do a straight adaptation of the book, and they did--and go figure, it worked.
01/01/00
If Gilliam was intending to create a film that would disgust, disorient and eventually irritate, then this one’s a bona-fide masterpiece – but don’t expect me to sit through it ever again.
04/28/03
I was terrified by the constant peril Dr. Gonzo and Thompson put themselves in, and yet drawn to it, like an accident scene.
12/30/01
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07/16/04
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01/01/00
Latest News for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
January 14, 2009:
More Fear and/or Loathing for Johnny Depp? 
Johnny Depp has been a very busy man lately, and according to the folks at The Bad and Ugly, he's lined up another project -- one that would have him reprising a past role that... More...
January 04, 2009:
Video Exclusive: Benicio del Toro talks Che and Wolf Man
Benicio Del Toro faced his greatest acting challenge when he took on the role of Ernesto "Che" Guevara for what would become a four-hour epic tale of the iconic revolutionary's... More...
December 19, 2008:
RT Interview: Director Alex Gibney on Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
Documentarian Alex Gibney was tasked with the challenge of bringing structure to the extreme life of controversial journalist Hunter S. Thompson. RT talks to him to find out more. More...
April 23, 2008:
Top Ten Vegas Films
Prepare for the upcoming release of the Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher romantic comedy, What Happens in Vegas, with the RT Top Ten Vegas Films. More...
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