Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (1997)

Terry Gilliam's vividly imaginative adaptation of Hunter S Thompson's 1971 gonzo-style roman à clef gets the UHD treatment from Arrow Films.

Raoul Duke / Hunter S Thompson (a committed performance from Johnny Depp) and his attorney Dr Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro who in Terry Gilliam's own words on the commentary track 'had no shame') travel to Las Vegas where Duke has been assigned to cover the Mint 400 motorcycle race.

Fully dosed with psychoactive substances before they even arrive, once they get to the city they ingest even more before embarking on a lunatic tour of various Las Vegas night spots getting into plenty of trouble along the way, including running up an exorbitant hotel bill that necessitates Duke's rapid exit from the city. But Las Vegas isn't quite finished with him yet.

Following on from the more sober and carefully realised productions of The Fisher King (1991)  and Twelve Monkeys (1995), FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS sees him returning to the world of the bizarre, the weird and the grotesque in which he seems most at home. Claiming he was surprised he got the job as he had never taken a drug in his life, Gilliam's imagination is almost as much the star of the show as Depp and Del Toro are, offering a rich concoction of brightly coloured nightmare scenarios as viewed through a mescaline haze. The movie is peppered with Thompson quotes, the voice-overs adding to rather than detracting from the atmosphere, and the result is one of Gilliam's best films.

I'd also agree with Ian Christie who suggests it's one of the best films about Las Vegas in Savage: Finding the American Nightmare, a short 12 minute piece from the author of Gilliam on Gilliam. Other extras for this edition include The Gonzo Papers, a 20 minute interview with producer Laila Nabulsi; Grim Memories and Bad Flashbacks in which Benicio Del Toro reminisces about the making of the film; and Ignore this Terrible Day - a 30 minute making of featuring interviews with crew members including the director of photography, production designer, costume designer and editor. 

There's a commentary track by Terry Gilliam (moderated by Phil Stubbs) who has excellent recall about the making of the picture. There are 12 minutes of deleted scenes and these are also worth watching with Gilliam's optional commentary. Archival material consists of an electronic press kit from 1998 (location report, behind the scenes, interviews with Gilliam, Depp and Del Toro) plus trailers, TV spots and an image gallery. The disc also comes with a booklet featuring writing on the film from Andrew Keen

Terry Gilliam's FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS is out in a 4K restoration on UHD from Arrow Films on Monday 22nd May 2023