Throughout my life I have been disappointed, saddened and let down. When movies based on books hit the big screen I hold my breath and make a leap of faith as to whether or not it could live up to what my imagination has produced while reading the original works. But of course it does not. What director can compete with the overactive imagination of its consumers? Then again, I may just be sore from The Indian in the cupboard (Frank Oz, 1995). There are many great writers in this world and once a book had been transformed in to one unified motion picture for the masses, it’s anyone’s guess whether it will become a hit or fall flat.

The best book to movie transformation I have experienced (which has made it one of my favorite films) is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by director Terry Gilliam in 1998. Which is based off the autobiographical novel by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson from 1972. Call me a traditionalist, but you can literally follow each line of this movie off the pages book like it is a script. I first discovered this spectacle of human lunacy while unfamiliar with the writer’s works, when I was in middle school. Three other attempts have been made to turn book to the big screen, including Art Lison’s 1980 version, Where the Buffalo roam, starring Bill Murray.

The film follows Thompson’s character, journalist Raoul Duke (played by Johnny Depp) throughout his many adventures in search of a story whilst he abandons deadlines, laws and public decency. Assisting him on this trip is his attorney and partner in crime, Oscar Zeta Ocasta’s character Dr. Gonzo (played by Binicio del Toro). The setting is primarily in Nevada, as the title indicates, in the 70’s. As you would expect from a film set in this time there is still a of heat coming from the 60’s with undertones political and human rights movements carrying favor throughout, as you watch. This is highlighted in the movies halfway mark in what Thompson called “The wave speech”. This isn’t a surprising theme considering the writers political affiliation in real life during that time period.

Equally important to the plot are the drug induced occurrences that spin Duke out in to places he hadn’t accounted for, but is always seemingly ready to react with. He is forever pushing it as far as he can go, in search of the American Dream. You also get a sense of his writing style though Duke’s language, narrative skills and work completed throughout the film. Aptly coined Gonzo journalism, Thompson considered this trip to be less than successful when it came to documentation purposes. This favors style over fact and can be reduced to this description by the writer “the best fiction is far more true than any kind of journalism — and the best journalists have always known this".

 Also in this movie is a seemingly unrecognizable Toby McGuire, who is wearing a shirt with Nazi mouse on it (the original cover of the book). A lit up Christina Ricci, and a cameo by Hunter S. Thompson himself, who worked closely in the production of this film.

Pictured below is work by the Novels  illustrator Ralph Steadman titled 'The Savage Journey'.

.