Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas (HD-DVD)
Picture:
B Sound: B* Extras: C Film: C
I give
Terry Gilliam credit. He goes for every
project he makes with strong conviction and enthusiasm. Even when a film of his does not work because
he could not get it done (his Don Quixote project), does not get final edit in
the least (his battle with the Weinstein Brothers over The Brothers Grimm) or trying to recreate something that may be
unfilmable. In what might be the only
time he goes into that portion of the Spielberg zone, his 1998 adaptation of
Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear & Loathing
In Las Vegas is just that. It wants
to be the drug trip non-stop, but the means of recreating it never clicks,
though the film has a huge cult following.
There are
those who love the book and even give the tired excuse that you need to read it
before seeing the film. That’s a crock and these same fans often have
never seen or even bothered to try and see Art Linson’s Where The Buffalo Roam, the 1980 Bill Murray turn as Thompson that is
one of his better performances. Besides
the sloppy state of form throughout (made much worse by lame digital visual
effects that would look just as bad if Pixar did them because they are so
redundant) is the attempt to have the film be manic throughout.
Johnny
Depp is Thompson and Benicio Del Toro downplays his role as Dr. Gonzo (a split
side of Thompson?) on their trip that seems to have no end. After about five minutes of the “trip” part,
you get it, but fans just love that and prefer nearly two hours of it
here. What makes the film more
interesting now are the supporting actors who surface, including Katherine
Helmond, Tobey Maguire, Ellen Barkin, Christina Ricci, Gary Busey, Cameron
Diaz, Mark Harmon, Michael Jeter, Craig Bierko, Laraine Newman and the great
Harry Dean Stanton. Alex Cox (Repo Man, reviewed elsewhere on this
site) even co-wrote the adaptation, but ultimately, it is a film that is an
acquired taste at best.
Maybe one
should just read the book and not see the film, but if you have not done
either, watch this first, then see if the book makes it clearer. If it does too much, ask how much the film
actually achieved. For those used to
Depp only in his Pirates franchise,
they are in for the surprise of their life if they grab this one off the shelf.
The 2.35
X 1 1080p digital High Definition image was shot by Gilliam collaborator and
cinematographer Nicola Pecorini (William Friedkin’s Rules Of Engagement), which was then processed by Rank. However, the extensive and badly developed
digital visuals make this look formless and though trying to recreate the trip,
terrible. An earlier attempt to do the
same thing digitally was done by Oliver Stone for Natural Born Killers, which does not hold up as well either. This was shot in Super 35mm film format and
it shows in its overall weakness. This
is better than the Criterion regular DVD transfer, but the better definition
shows more flaws as well.
Surprisingly,
the theatrical digital sound film is presented here in Dolby TrueHD, which is
better than the Dolby Digital Plus also offered. The Criterion Collection edition had DTS and
this version proves the film had more sonics to offer. However, though the sound mix is really good,
it is not an all-time classic. *We will
revisit it again, however, when we can really hear the Dolby TrueHD on what we
consider top rate equipment not yet available.
The one
place this HD-DVD obviously cannot compete with the Criterion version is is in
extras. That double disc set was loaded
beyond belief and Criterion is not supporting either HD format right now. That leaves this disc offering only deleted
scenes, the original theatrical trailer and a “spotlight on location”
piece. That will be adequate for fans
who want the higher performance, but the Criterion set will remain a “holy
grail” for them.
- Nicholas Sheffo
