Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

[domino harvey]

Considered unfilmable for decades, Hunter S. Thompson’s literary landmark of psychedelic excess finally met its cinematic match in anarchic visionary director Terry Gilliam (Twelve Monkeys) and two no-holds-barred star performances by Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro.

Raoul Duke (Depp) and his volatile Samoan attorney Dr. Gonzo (del Toro) are en route to Las Vegas, ostensibly on a banal journalistic assignment, but the suitcase full of psychoactive narcotics in their possession tells another story. Beset by bats, horny lizards and runaway hotel carpet upon their arrival, the pair plunge deeper into the pharmaceutically enhanced neon underbelly of the City of Sin on a chemically charged savage journey to the heart of the American Dream.

Flashback to Gilliam and Thompson’s trip of a lifetime in an exclusive 4K restoration, accompanied by an outstanding selection of bonus material delving into the history of the film and the original book.

2-DISC LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY CONTENTS

• Two-disc edition featuring Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas in a new 4K restoration, and the documentary For No Good Reason about illustrator Ralph Steadman, featuring Terry Gilliam and Johnny Depp
• Limited edition packaging featuring iconic original art by Ralph Steadman
• Limited edition hardbound book featuring new writing by Roger Keen, an essay on “Thompson on Film” by Dr William Stephenson, a 1999 interview with Terry Gilliam by Ian Christie and original production notes
• Six collectors’ postcards
• Double-sided fold-out poster of the original theatrical one-sheet and a sketch by Terry Gilliam

DISC ONE – FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS

• Brand new 4K restoration by Arrow Films from the original negative supervised by Terry Gilliam
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Optional subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• New commentary by Terry Gilliam, moderated by Phil Stubbs
• New interview with producer Laila Nabulsi
• New interview with cinematographer Nicola Pecorini
• Newly filmed appreciation by Ian Christie, author of Gilliam on Gilliam
• More new extras in production and TBC at a later date!
• Four deleted scenes with new optional commentary by Gilliam, including the excised prologue A Dress Pattern
• Spotlight on Location, an original promotional featurette featuring interviews with Gilliam, Depp and del Toro
• Behind the scenes ‘B-roll’ footage and additional EPK interviews with Gilliam, Depp and del Toro
• Theatrical trailers and TV spots
• Extensive image galleries, including original production designs, storyboards and production stills

DISC TWO – FOR NO GOOD REASON (LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE)

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Optional subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Extended interviews with Terry Gilliam, Bruce Robinson and Richard E. Grant
• Deleted Scenes
• Ralph Steadman Art Gallery
• Digital Teasers

[JamesF]

Delayed a couple of weeks to December 9th, and the final list of extras is now available on the Arrow website, including a new interview with Benicio del Toro:

2-DISC LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY CONTENTS

- Two-disc edition featuring Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas in a new 4K restoration, and the documentary For No Good Reason about illustrator Ralph Steadman, featuring Terry Gilliam and Johnny Depp
- Limited edition packaging featuring iconic original art by Ralph Steadman
- Limited edition hardbound book featuring new writing by Roger Keen, an essay on “Thompson on Film” by Dr. William Stephenson, a 1999 interview with Terry Gilliam by Ian Christie and original production notes
- Six collectors’ postcards
- Double-sided fold-out poster of the original theatrical one-sheet and a sketch by Terry Gilliam

DISC ONE – FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS

- Brand new 4K restoration by Arrow Films from the original negative supervised by Terry Gilliam
- High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
- Original 5.1 & 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Optional subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- New commentary by Terry Gilliam, moderated by Phil Stubbs
- Savage: Finding The American Nightmare, a newly filmed appreciation by film historian Ian Christie
- The Gonzo Papers, a newly filmed interview with producer Laila Nabulsi
- Grim Memories and Bad Flashbacks, an all-new interview with star Benicio del Toro
- Ignore This Terrible Drug: The Art and Style of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, an all-new featurette including interviews with cinematographer Nicola Pecorini, production designer Alex McDowall, costume designer Julie Weiss and editor Lesley Walker
- Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film, a 2006 documentary on the author featuring Depp, del Toro, Gary Busey, Harry Dean Stanton, Bill Murray, Sean Penn, John Cusack and others
- Hunter Goes To Hollywood, archive footage of the author filming his cameo in the film
- Four deleted scenes with new optional commentary by Gilliam, including the excised prologue A Dress Pattern
- Spotlight on Location, an original promotional featurette featuring interviews with Gilliam, Depp and del Toro
- Behind the scenes ‘B-roll’ footage and additional EPK interviews with Gilliam, Depp and del Toro
- Theatrical trailers and TV spots
- Extensive image galleries, including original production designs, storyboards and production stills

DISC TWO – FOR NO GOOD REASON (LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE)

- High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
- 5.1 & 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Optional subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Short film Cherrywood Cannon
- Ralph’s Art
- Extended interviews with Terry Gilliam, Bruce Robinson and Richard E. Grant
- Deleted Scenes
- Trailer & Teasers
- Image Galleries

[flyonthewall2983]

R2 only?

[JamesF]

Yep, Criterion have US rights sown up for the foreseeable future.

[rapta]

Wow, wasn't expecting a del Toro interview! Very nice inclusion. I wonder if you could do one for Soderbergh's Traffic too whilst you're at it...

[Drucker]

Still missing the 1978 Steadman BBC documentary, so you need to hold on to the Criterion.

[yoloswegmaster]

4K upgrade coming in May

[Roscoe]

I'm hoping the UHD FEAR AND LOATHING will mean a Criterion upgrade in the near future.

[yoloswegmaster]

Available to preorder for £14.99 on Amazon UK.

[swo17]

I'm just noticing that the 4K upgrade appears to lose a couple of features from the standard edition Blu-ray (not counting the ones that were included on a bonus disc in the limited edition):

- Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film, a 2006 documentary on the author featuring Depp, del Toro, Gary Busey, Harry Dean Stanton, Bill Murray, Sean Penn, John Cusack and others
- Hunter Goes to Hollywood, archive footage of the author filming his cameo in the film

The latter is an extra on the Criterion Blu-ray

[AxeYou]

Two pieces of printed content are also missing from the 4K LE's booklet, compared to the LE BD's booklet:
- an essay on Thompson on Film by Dr William Stephenson
- a 1999 interview with Terry Gilliam by Ian Christie

Arrow sadly hasn't made the original booklet available as a PDF on their website.

[tenia]

What is the new booklet length then ? 40 pages ?

[AxeYou]

39 pages.

TOC:
- Cast & Crew ... 5
- Broken Dreams and Vegas Flashbacks by Roger Keen (2019) ... 7
- Original Production Notes (1998) ... 13
- About the Restoration ... 38

I guess the omission of the various pieces about Thompson both on disc and on booklet probably indicates some sort of licensing hurdle.

[Randall Maysin Again]

Such a dreadful film. I read the book too long ago to remember whether there is anything there worth filming, but Terry Gilliam's cheesily and hideously lavish, if that's the right word for it, overproduction brings to mind nothing so much as George Stevens with the Bible, complete with a galaxy of celebrity cameos adding not a fucking thing, aside from a furthered sense of senses-dulling bloat and bombast, except that Ellen Barkin somehow manages to impress anyways (what a great actress!). I'm no Thompson head, but surely the right approach to filming this work of his at least is to keep things relatively small and grubby and funny, and to partly- (or whatever) satirize him and his persona, semi-(or whatever)affectionately, and surely Terry Gilliam is the last director on earth who could be counted on to do any of that? The film is like a gigantic, hectic, ugly, tacky, bling-y, filthy three-ring circus that does nothing but dull the viewer's senses, and never connects on any level, dancing like an irrelevant idiot around the book's little corpse, belittling it, and drowning it in shit. Add this, with Barfly, to the roster of semi-autobiographical films based on a popular hipster favorite writer's work, that does little or nothing to communicate anything of whatever achievements they have, and makes them look like schmucks. Though Barfly is merely a lousy little film that does have a few funny lines and some wonderful actors, while Fear and Loathing is a completely unmitigated disaster. Also, I think casting Johnny Depp as Thompson is a big mistake--he has a built-in tendency towards cuteness, coyness, precocious hipsterishness, self-consciousness, and why the heck would you want that in this role? I'd much rather watch Bill Murray play Thompson, he had if i recall correctly something more like the right approach. Depp and Gilliam make everything in this movie seem like embarrassing, precious, self-conscious child's play, and certainly never make me feel even the slightest glimmer of amusement. As for Benicio, I in my limited experience with him find him kind of overrated--his deadpan acting usually makes me think he's actually died . Not recommended!

[Randall Maysin Again]

What's wrong with my post? Is it the "drowning it in shit" line?

[therewillbeblus]

While Barfly awkwardly romanticizes addict life in a kind of repulsing detached tone, this is a movie that manages to romanticize the very few romantic (read: euphoric, with oneself) moments and also de-romanticize the rest - through horror, humor, and the just plain pathetic banality of it all. I like it, or at least I did when I last watched it maybe a decade ago

[Randall Maysin Again]

Well, to each his own, but its just impossible for me to see value in this film. And I really like all the other Gilliam films I've seen--all of the major ones he made before this, everything except Jabberwocky--but he's sort of a childish, precocious enfant-terrible artist, which I think is a bad fit for pretty much anything to do with Thompson. HST, if a recall correctly, is a foolish, blowhard kind of personality--I assume that is part of what his fans like about him, part of his charm--so I think its a mistake to give a sort of deluxe, earnest treatment to his every whim and conceit when making a film centred around his personality, and in general for another childish yet self-serious personality to team up with his material. Like you said, there may be more intelligent intentions behind at least some aspects of this film, but they either don't come off or just don't register on me at all.

[therewillbeblus]

Hmm I don't see the film as "earnest" - it's an opportunity to get weird. I don't think Gilliam is as interested in what Thompson was trying to say with his life, or what he had to say during it. I think he's interested in a fellow artist who is so attracted to a chaos, without identifying with him. Seems like the perfect filmmaker to adapt it - most others would probably turn it into either total camp or sincere identification, but Gilliam keeps swaying side to side in the uncomfortable middle, like an ether trip

[therewillbeblus]

I haven't gone through Criterion's extras, but are there enough strong supplements on each respective release to double-dip? I don't even love the film so much as I have a strong interest in drug culture and radical journalism and the supplements all sound interesting. I'd probably want to grab Arrow's 4K and hold onto my Criterion blu simply because of a FiM encode, but it also seems to make more sense to do the reverse and pick up the Arrow blu if that one doc swo singled out upthread is that good..

[swo17]

There's discussion of that earlier on this page. I'd say the 1978 doc exclusive to the Criterion is worth it, as is the 2006 doc exclusive to Arrow's BD release (but missing from the 4K upgrade)

[beamish14]

I would’ve loved an Alex Cox/Tod Davies commentary, but I’m sure Gilliam would’ve put the kibosh on that (and Cox probably wouldn’t want to do it, either. I got him to sign my Criterion booklet at a screening of Searchers 2.0 and he didn’t look pleased)

[therewillbeblus]

There's discussion of that earlier on this page. I'd say the 1978 doc exclusive to the Criterion is worth it, as is the 2006 doc exclusive to Arrow's BD release (but missing from the 4K upgrade)

Thanks, and yes I read the page but was asking more in-depth info on opinions to determine what's the most worthy upgrade - I appreciate your positive impressions of multiple extras, even if they make it harder to pick!

[dwk]

I mentioned this in the Criterion thread for this title, but Criterion confirmed to MufineFan over at the Blu-ray.com forum that their upcoming UHD is not the same master as Arrow's.

[therewillbeblus]

Sorry, moving my post over here to keep things concentrated (and sorry for all the Qs):

MifuneFan over at the Blu-ray.com forum emailed Criterion about the transfer (as the caps on Criterion's site look different than caps of Arrow's master) and confirmed that they are not using Arrow's master.

Hmm didn't Arrow use Turbine's and apply their own grading? Could Criterion be using the same source and just be responding that they're not borrowing from Arrow's additional work, since they're the main competition? And which one seems to look better (from caps vs motion)?

I also have yet to hear raves for any of Arrow's extras included in this 4K set, while the Criterion's extras get a heap of praise.. is the Arrow stuff on the 4K disc worthwhile on its own, or retreads of Criterion's supplements?

[dwk]

I'd say it is very likely the same base scan, but we won't have confirmation until the Criterion is released.

Cant speak to Arrow's extras, sorry.