Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – Blu-ray Disc Review
January 29, 2010 – 11:47 AM - Posted by: Brendan SurplessTags: BD-Live, Benicio Del Toro, Cameron Diaz, Christina Ricci, D-Box, Ellen Barkin, Gary Busey, Hunter S. Thompson, Johnny Depp, Mark Harmon, Terry Gilliam, Tobey Maguire, Universal
has an average rating of 7.6 on IMDb
1080p in VC-1 on a 50gb disc
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
include original DVD ports & D-BOX
– 
– 1998
– 119 Minutes
– Universal
– 
This uses 31.5GB for the movie out of 33.7GB total.
Street Date: February 2nd, 2010
Overall Verdict – Worth a “Trip”
Buy it for $18.99 @ Amazon.com
— Review written by: Brendan Surpless —
The Movie Itself was directed by Terry Gilliam (known for directing “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen“) and is based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson. When Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp and Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) receive a new writing assignment in Las Vegas, both decide to treat this as the ultimate business trip. However soon they run into a suitcase full of varying drugs all of which result in a hallucination and other changes. The rest of the film can’t really be explained per say what results is one mind-bending film that is quite the interesting “trip”.
While watching “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” for the second time, I couldn’t help but think that the hallucinations and what not that occurs is kind of a metaphor for what Las Vegas is. Sure the physical drugs do create the illusions and “trips”, but for any of you who have ever had the experience that one gets when they visit Las Vegas, I’m sure some of you out there will agree that Las Vegas is a “trip” in and of itself. And I believe that is what both Thompson, the writer, and Gilliam, the filmmaker, were trying to speak on. Vegas is overly dependent on the money that comes in and out, the shows, the over excess. Vegas, essentially, is every aspect of being over excessive by sheer definition. You don’t have to take the drugs that Duke and Gonzo take to experience the “trip” they do, but all you have to do is visit Vegas. No one I’m not saying that you’ll become “high” or “disillusioned” if you visit Vegas, but rather I’m speaking on the overall impact Vegas has on a both an international and domestic level. This aspect of Gilliam’s work is what makes it worthwhile to at least myself. The idea that it’s a kind of social commentary on our views of Vegas as a whole, what we’ve made it.
In closing, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” is quite the oddity. While the film wasn’t a critical or monetary success in the least sense, the film has become a cult classic in the last 12 years. This, I believe, lies in the message that the film tells. While not everyone may get the same exact result out of the movie that I did, I believe if you go into it with an open mind and don’t immediately dismiss it like many have, you may find something in this that oh so many haven’t been able to see.
Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the VC-1 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte, dual layered Blu-ray Disc) in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. “Las Vegas” has a very different kind of color palette. By this I’m not meaning that the film uses out of this world color schemes, but rather that the choice of colors perfectly compliment the film’s thematic elements. The golden hues of colors like blues and yellows that dominate the film all pop off the screen with exquisite detail. Speaking of detail, the film’s print is in immaculate condition with no evidence of damage or noise to the print. Darks are bold, blacks are inky and fleshtones are accurate. Contrast levels are fine as well with no instance or sequence really that might have one wonder if the contrast was ever pumped up. The only issue here is that some of the grain levels can be a bit cumbersome at times, but this isn’t a huge overall issue. I was thoroughly impressed by this image. All in all this earns a “4.5 Star Rating“.
Audio Quality on this release is presented in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. Having only seen this film once through (on the ill-fated HD DVD), I remember being quite impressed with the TrueHD track that was found there. Well the provided DTS-HD is equally as good. Even though this film may be dialogue heavy at times, the film’s soundstage does open at times. Atmosphere is great, especially in the dream moments where varying effects heighten the aural experience. LFE is deep at times adding in a nice, solid boom here and there. Dialogue, as briefly mentioned above, is clear and intelligible even though Depp’s speech can be slurred at times. Pans between rears are fine as well with no instance of drop out. All in all there isn’t any real upgrade over either visual or audio here, but what is presented is just fine earning a “4 Star Rating“.
Bonus Materials are presented in Standard Definition video with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound @192kbps.
- BD-Live: As per all Universal titles, BD-Live is included and gives fans access to current and upcoming trailers and bonus content.
- Deleted Scenes: Here we get about 11 minutes of deleted scenes, all of which are presented in very rough condition.
- Spotlight on Location: This runs close to 10 minutes in length and serves as your a-typical making of featurette with interviews and what not.
- D-Box: This is another disc that has D-Box enabled motion content included. Boy I wouldn’t mind having one of those chairs in my home theater (hint hint D-Box). Plus, I can only imagine would it would be like to be a bit drunk and watch this film with D-Box roaring on full-force. Definitely would be a “trip” — that much is for sure.
Blu-ray Disc packaging:
Screenshots:
NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.
