Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
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A journalist and his companion embark on a drug-fueled odyssey through the desert and into the neon chaos of Las Vegas.
The story
In 1971, Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo travel across the Mojave Desert toward Las Vegas. Duke, tasked with covering a motorcycle race for a magazine, and his companion Gonzo are heavily supplied with drugs. Their journey begins with a frantic dash to reach the city before their substances take hold. Upon arriving at the strip, Duke finds himself in the throes of a hallucinatory trip, struggling to navigate the reality of the hotel and the surrounding environment as their original journalistic mission begins to dissolve into a surreal, drug-induced exploration of the desert and the city's neon landscape.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1971, Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo travel across the Mojave Desert toward Las Vegas. Duke is tasked with covering the Mint 400 motorcycle race, but the pair is heavily supplied with drugs. After a tense journey where they pick up a hitchhiker who flees from their erratic behavior, they reach the Las Vegas strip. Duke experiences intense hallucinations, including seeing a hotel clerk as a moray eel. The following day, Duke becomes paranoid at the race and retreats to the hotel, where he and Gonzo consume more substances, leading to a chaotic environment. After a period of separation, Duke finds Gonzo in a trashed room. Later, Duke encounters a young girl named Lucy and eventually finds himself in a state of incoherent delirium after a drug reaction. He eventually awakens to a ruined suite and a series of fragmented memories of the mayhem, including Gonzo's antics at a diner and a quest for an orangutan. Finally, Duke drops Gonzo at the airport and returns to the hotel to finish his article before fleeing back to Los Angeles.
- First release year
- 1998
- Runtime (minutes)
- 118
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Terry Gilliam
- Writers
- Terry Gilliam · screenplay; Tony Grisoni · screenplay; Tod Davies · screenplay; Alex Cox · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Johnny Depp · Raoul Duke; Benicio del Toro · Dr. Gonzo
- Genres
- black comedy; independent; road comedy-drama; psychedelic
- Themes
- drug culture; American decay
- Tone and mood
- hallucinatory; surreal; chaotic
- Premise and plot tags
- road movie; drug trip; journalism
- Source material / true-story basis
- Hunter S. Thompson's novel of the same name
- Reception
- The film received polarized reviews from critics and was a financial failure, but over the years it has since been regarded as a cult classic.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 50% · scale: percentage · review count: 72; Metacritic · score: 41 · scale: 100 · review count: 19
- Awards and nominations
- Best Foreign Actor · Russian Guild of Film Critics · 1998 · win; Worst On-Screen Couple · Stinkers Bad Movie Awards · 1998 · nomination; Worst Supporting Actor · Stinkers Bad Movie Awards · 1998 · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film's production used rear-projection footage from the television show Vega$ to achieve a 1970s look.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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