Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Special Edition): 4K UHD Review
Terry Gilliam has always delivered trippy films. Time Bandits was a childhood favorite. While I may not be a fan of all of his work, some titles connected with me. Two of them were released in the 90’s. The first being 12 Monkeys and the next being Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which recently arrived on 4K UHD courtesy of Criterion. I would like to think that if a film could literally take drugs, it would turn out something like Gilliam’s film which is bizarre ride to be sure, but also a visual masterpiece.
I have never read the late Hunter S. Thompson’s source material but to my understanding from those who have. Much of what the book is about, gets lost in Gilliam’s adaptation. While I can’t compare the book to the film, I can say that Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is like nothing I had seen before. I originally saw it upon its’ theatrical release and Criterion’s new 4K disk is my first time revisiting the film since 1998.
Set in 1971 journalist, Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp and his deranged attorney Dr. Gonzo (Benicio del Toro) drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, high on mescaline, picking up a hitchhiker (a young Toby Maquire) along the way. It doesn’t take long for the hitchhiker to remove himself from the vehicle due to being completely freaked out by the pair that picked him up. From that point on, the movie becomes a drug-fueled trip that goes way beyond excess, but in a good way. Gilliam doesn’t give the chraracters or the audience a chance to breathe. Depp and del Toro look like they are being put through the wringer and it feels like their exhaustion isn’t acting. The leads both give incredible performances, especially with having a madman behind the camera. Quite a few familiar faces turn up, like Tim Thomerson, Christina Ricci, Gary Busey, Cameron Diaz, Christopher Maloni and Flea.
While I have never watched the Blu-ray, the new 4K restoration looks incredible. Fear and Loathing is a colorful film, especially during the Vegas shots and during the many, many hallucinations that characters are having. The opening shots while they are driving through the desert look fantastic. Terry Gilliam supervised this restoration, which is presented with Dolby Vision and HDR. We get a 2.0 Surround DTS-HD master, along with an alternate 5.1 soundtrack. I believe any fan of the film will be over-the-moon with the 4K presentation.
Bonus Features:
- New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Terry Gilliam, presented in the aspect ratio of 2.39:1, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Three audio commentaries: one with Gilliam, one with actors Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro and producer Laila Nabulsi, and one with author Hunter S. Thompson
- Deleted scenes, with optional commentary by Gilliam
- Selection of Thompson correspondence, read on camera by Depp
- Hunter Goes to Hollywood, a short documentary
- Program about the controversy over the screenwriting credit
- Profile of Oscar Zeta Acosta, the inspiration for Dr. Gonzo
- Collection of artwork by illustrator Ralph Steadman
- Excerpt from a 1996 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas audio recording featuring filmmaker Jim Jarmusch and actor Maury Chaykin
- Documentary from 1978 featuring Thompson and Steadman
- Storyboards, production designs, stills, and trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic J. Hoberman and two pieces by Thompson
Cover illustration by Ralph Steadman
By: Marc Ferman