Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

1998
R
1h 58m

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

307K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

2,029

Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Three Reasons Criterion Collection Trailer for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Play trailer1:26

1 Video

99+ Photos

Dark Comedy Desert Adventure Psychological Drama Road Trip Stoner Comedy Urban Adventure Adventure Comedy Drama

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

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

307K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

2,029

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 3 nominations total

Trivia
In the book, Hunter S. Thompson listens to "Sympathy For The Devil" by The Rolling Stones. The rights to play it in the film were too expensive for the production's budget.

Goofs
Dr. Gonzo spoofs the "Richard Nixon salute" when he gets on the plane at the end of the movie. Nixon didn't resign or do the classic "salute" until 1974.

Quotes
[watching Dr. Gonzo leave]
Raoul Duke: There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.

Crazy credits
The Ralph Steadman drawings from the book are put in with the credits, along with the Gonzo & Duke in the Red Shark picture that takes up the whole screen at the end.

Alternate versions
The US-label Criterion ordered director Terry Gilliam and author Hunter S. Thompson to create a special Director's Cut. This cut contains a scene that otherwise was only to be seen in part and only in the cinematic trailer. It shows events in retrospect that the main character Raoul Duke remembers fragmentarily when listening to the recorded conversations on his cassette recorder. Furthermore there is a slightly longer version of another scene shortly before that. There is a bit more conversation going on between Raoul and Dr. Gonzo when they want to leave because of the trouble the kidnapped Lucy (Christina Ricci) is causing. Director's Cut's Pal running time is 144.1 seconds (2:24 minutes) longer because of two extended scenes.--Quoted from movie-censorship.com

Connections
Edited from Vega$ (1978)

Soundtracks
My Favorite Things
Written by Richard Rodgers (as Richard Rogers) and Oscar Hammerstein II
Published by Williamson Music
Performed by The Lennon Sisters
Courtesy of Ranwood Records/ A Walk Music Group Co.
By arrangement with Warner Special Products

User reviews787

Review

Featured review

10/10

The art of character acting...

I think the people who reviewed this film are a bit warped for thinking of it as anything less than a masterpiece. This film comes from the glorious days of Johnny Depp taking obscure roles in films and totally immersing himself in the character. Benecio Del Toro's performance was second to none, and I cannot for the life of me comprehend why someone would think this to be the "worst movie ever". God save us that we actually have to think a little when we sit in those awful theatre seats. Heaven forbid we're required to use our imagination a little bit and not have it handed to us in the form of Hollywood mindless pap. The film, del toro, Depp, and of course, Gilliam are all brilliant. I pity the fools who gave this movie a negative review and fail miserably in articulating their reasoning.