History Literature / FearAndLoathingInLasVegas

* AnachronicOrder: Neither the book nor the film hews slavishly to the actual chronology of events -- whole chapters are taken up with massive {{flashback}}s or {{Flash Forward}}s.

* CircusOfFear: The Circus-Circus Casino (and its movie version, Bazooko's), at least when you are already hallucinating.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Thompson called the book a ''failed'' attempt at gonzo journalism because of the liberties he had to take to make it even slightly readable. There's some time compression and a lot of background stuff missing. For instance, the main reason that Thompson and Oscar Zeta Acosta went to Las Vegas in the first place was to discuss the incidents that eventually formed the substance of Thompson's essay "Strange Rumblings in Aztlan;" they needed to get out of Los Angeles because Acosta was a big-time civil rights attorney and his bodyguards were very zealous and very suspicious of ''gringos'', even ones like Thompson who were sympathetic to the Chicano cause. The biggest change to the plot is that in real life the Mint 400 race and the drug conference took place on two separate trips, about a month apart; in the book and movie, they happen on two consecutive weekends.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Duke and Gonzo are inseparable yet spend much of the movie hurling abuse at each other. And that's when one of them ''isn't'' trying to kill the other one in a drug-induced frenzy.

* VomitIndiscretionShot: Dr. Gonzo gets one in both TheMovie and some of the book's illustrations.

* WhatTheHellHero: The scene with the waitress in the diner; Duke calls Gonzo out on it and realizes their time in Vegas is up.

It starts at the line above and goes downhill from there. The story involves a mad journalist (Raoul Duke, [[AuthorAvatar based on Thompson]]) and his Samoan attorney (Dr. Gonzo, based on Chicano attorney/activist Oscar Zeta Acosta, with nationality changed to protect the [[strike:innocent]] guilty) traveling from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to chronicle the Mint 400 desert bike race for ''Magazine/SportsIllustrated'', consuming many, many illegal drugs in the process. [[RealLifeWritesThePlot In actuality]], Thompson was writing a piece on Acosta and the then-fledgling Chicano-rights movement, and both were glad to have an excuse to get out of L.A. because Acosta's radical friends thought that he was spending too much time with Thompson, a ''gringo'' [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASP]] whom they suspected of being a police agent ([[ProperlyParanoid not at all an unrealistic suspicion]] in 1970, but also one that happened to be wildly incorrect about Thompson himself).[[note]]The piece about Acosta was, in 1971, published in ''Rolling Stone'' as "Strange Rumblings in Aztlan"; many current editions of ''Fear and Loathing'' contain this article as an appendix, often alongside another Thompson piece, "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved".[[/note]] When this falls through, in part due to their severe drug saturation, Raoul attempts to return to Los Angeles, but gets called back into Vegas by ''Magazine/RollingStone'' for the National District Attorneys Association's Conference on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He accepts largely out of irony.

It starts at the line above and goes downhill from there. The story involves a mad journalist (Raoul Duke, [[AuthorAvatar based on Thompson]]) and his Samoan attorney (Dr. Gonzo, based on Chicano attorney/activist Oscar Zeta Acosta, with nationality changed to protect the [[strike:innocent]] guilty) traveling from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to chronicle the Mint 400 desert bike race for ''Magazine/SportsIllustrated'', consuming many, many illegal drugs in the process. [[RealLifeWritesThePlot In actuality]], Thompson was writing a piece on Acosta and the then-fledgling Chicano-rights movement, and both were glad to have an excuse to get out of L.A. because Acosta's radical friends thought that he was spending too much time with Thompson, a ''gringo'' WASP whom they suspected of being a police agent ([[ProperlyParanoid not at all an unrealistic suspicion]] in 1970, but also one that happened to be wildly incorrect about Thompson himself).[[note]]The piece about Acosta was, in 1971, published in ''Rolling Stone'' as "Strange Rumblings in Aztlan"; many current editions of ''Fear and Loathing'' contain this article as an appendix, often alongside another Thompson piece, "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved".[[/note]] When this falls through, in part due to their severe drug saturation, Raoul attempts to return to Los Angeles, but gets called back into Vegas by ''Magazine/RollingStone'' for the National District Attorneys Association's Conference on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He accepts largely out of irony.

A plot summary cannot cover the radically unique feel of the book. Largely written in a stream of consciousness, the book covers the tail end and self-destruction of the '60s freedom and drug culture and the beginning of the increasing tightness of the 1970s. As one summary said, it can be said to be an increasingly desperate search for the American Dream in a time where it seems impossible.

* EndOfAnAge: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Loathing_in_Las_Vegas#The_.22wave_speech.22 The "Wave Speech" at the end of Chapter 8]] ponders the optimism of the hippie era at its peak, and how it eventually receded.

Also contains a famous line about GoddamnedBats, though they are not used in the book or film themselves.

''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream'' is a legendarily insane book written in 1971 by Creator/HunterSThompson and illustrated by Creator/RalphSteadman, loosely based on two trips to UsefulNotes/LasVegas that Thompson took "in search of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream". The book was adapted into a [[TheFilmOfTheBook 1998 film]] directed by Creator/TerryGilliam and starring Creator/JohnnyDepp and Creator/BenicioDelToro. An audio drama version was released on CD in 1996, with Creator/HarryDeanStanton (who also had a cameo in the movie) as the narrator, Creator/JimJarmusch as Duke, and Maury Chaykin as Gonzo.

The film version follows the book absurdly closely, with the vast majority of content unabridged from the book, dialogue and all. Depp, a close personal friend of Thompson, also gives a spot-on (and very informed) performance.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:In the book]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:In the movie]]
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Lucy, the girl Dr. Gonzo seduces, is described as having "the face and form of a Pit Bull"-- not words most people would apply to Creator/ChristinaRicci.
* AdaptationalModesty: Quite a few scenes in the book where Gonzo (and sometimes Duke) is walking around butt naked have him partially dressed instead, probably due to the MPAA's discomfort with MaleFrontalNudity.
* AdaptationalNameChange: Self-styled "drug expert" E.R. Blumquist becomes L. Ron Bumquist (Creator/MichaelJeter's character) in the film.
* AsideGlance: Duke gives one [[FourthWallBreaking to the audience]] to acknowledge the InUniverseFactoidFailure that is the District Attorney's narcotics convention.
* BingeMontage: Showing the main characters going into a drug-fueled mania.
* BittersweetEnding: The film ends on a high note with the dash to the airport, but before that we get several scenes of Gonzo becoming threatening and violent, most notably with the waitress in the diner and the maid who tried to clean their room. The drug-fueled craziness starts losing its entertainment value when it starts hurting other people instead of just Duke and Gonzo.
* BlatantLies: Even in the middle of a performance to convince a maid Dr. Gonzo assaulted that they're actually law enforcement, Duke fires off an egregious example within the context of the film as a whole:
-->'''Maid:''' I hate dope!
-->'''Duke:''' So do we.
* BookEnds: The movie begins with Duke and Gonzo speeding through the desert to the song, ''Combination Of The Two'' as they try to get to their hotel on time. Near the end of the film, they are speeding through the desert to get to Gonzo's flight on time with the same song playing.
* CastingGag: The real Creator/HunterSThompson shows up in a hallucination/flashback sequence to his youth.
* {{Catchphrase}}: Dr. Gonzo prefacing advice to Duke with [[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope "As your attorney, I advise you to..."]]
* CelebrityParadox: The CreatorCameo below, with Duke (the fictional character) recognizing his own author.
* CreatorCameo: The real Creator/HunterSThompson shows up in a hallucination/flashback sequence to his youth.
-->'''Duke:''' There I was... ''(sees Thompson sitting at a table)'' Mother of god, ''there I am!'' Holy fuck–?! Clearly I was a victim of the drug explosion...a natural street freak just eating whatever came by.
* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud: Inverted with Duke's musings about what to do with the hitchhiker should he discover the truth about him and Dr. Gonzo. Most of it is mumbled to himself, roughly in sync with the narration; the line "Jesus, did I say that?" is the only thing he actually says out loud.
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Raoul Duke.
** His one year old Ford Maverick is battered, has a replacement hood and hubcaps, and smokes like a chimney.
** He drives the red Impala over a two foot wide concrete curb at 45 mph, backward, while in the rental agency parking lot.
** The white Cadillac convertible is in much the same condition as the Ford after ''48 hours'' with him.
* DutchAngle: Used frequently to convey the disorienting effects of the drugs.
* EveryoneHasStandards: Duke is quietly disturbed by Gonzo's behavior towards the waitress in the North Star Cafe. Afterwards he is too uncomfortable to stay and finish his food, so he tries to steal the plate it's on. He makes it as far as the door, but another glance at the traumatized waitress makes him reconsider and return the plate.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Pay attention to Raoul's behaviour when Gonzo's talking to other people, because you're going to laugh. In particular, when the both of them go to see a Debbie Reynolds show, Gonzo just busts out the locked entrance and takes out the security belt, starting to talk with the doorman. Raoul's just acting out, high on a bunch of drugs, while playing with the security belt, even struggling with a lady that wanted to take the belt out.
* GenreBusting: This is a movie that must be seen at least twice, since the first time you watch it, you will not understand what kind of movie you just watched. Was it a comedy? Was it a political movie? Was it meant to be serious? Was it meant to just make you laugh? What the hell happened in the last third of the movie?
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Raoul Duke uses a cigarette holder and does quite a few ethically dodgy things throughout the film.
* HypocriticalHumor: A majority of the attendants and speakers during the anti-drug lecture can be clearly seen smoking cigarettes. While tobacco may not be a hallucinogen, it's certainly an addictive drug that has a history of causing premature death.
* IconicOutfit: Raoul's aviator shades, hat (the green visor or safari hat), Hawaiian shirt, khaki shorts and Chuck Taylor sneakers have become ingrained in popular culture.
* JerkAssRealization: a deleted scene shows Duke having one when he stops at a roadside bar run by an old man out of his barn. The old man introduces his teenage granddaughter and Duke makes a crack that implies that's a cover, and the old man is sleeping with her. The pair's disgusted reaction has Duke realize he crossed a line. The scene was cut because it wasn't in the original novel, and was also a less intense retread of the already shot diner scene.
* KickTheDog: Duke abuses a dwarf by making him crawl for change in a flashback at the beginning of the movie.
** In Hunter Thompson's commentary track, he angrily insists that Depp improvised throwing coins at the dwarf, and that in real life he would never have done something so demeaning. He felt it was a deeply inaccurate moment. Depp insists he merely threw the coins upward in the direction of the dwarf, which appears to be a more accurate description of the event if you watch the scene.
* LawyerFriendlyCameo: In the book, Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo repeatedly visit the Circus Circus casino; in the movie, it becomes Bazooko's Circus.
* TheLoad: The impulsive and short-tempered Dr. Gonzo is almost singlehandedly responsible for all the trouble they both get into (Not that Duke does much to rein him in, mind).
* LoonyFan: Lucy's art consists of many, many paintings of Barbra Streisand.
* MoodWhiplash: When Dr. Gonzo threatened the waitress with a knife, you knew the slapstick was over.
* NoodleIncident: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]. Flash Forward and back again to the aftermath of the second hotel-room trashing and vandalism spree, including a mini-riot that ensues when they're caught vandalizing their own car (a brand-new Cadillac), an ape assault, dried ketchup stains that look like blood, a burned out mattress, and an entirely flooded room filled with a pyramid of TV screens. And Duke wakes up wearing a strap-on alligator tail with a microphone taped to his face. (Some of these incidents are recounted first-hand in the book, however.)
--> '''Duke''': ''(Dimly remembered flashback)'' You people voted for Hubert Humphrey! And you killed Jesus!
* PragmaticAdaptation: The movie leaves out most of Duke's longer expositions on the 60's drug culture as well as his slow downward spiral towards [[HeroicBSOD BSOD]] after the diner incident.
* RapeAsDrama: Subverted. Near the end of the film, Duke wakes up in the hotel room to see Gonzo apparently raping a woman. He was only ''physically'' assaulting her, so Duke is able to bullshit his way out of it. (She was the maid who had come to clean the room).
* RecklessGunUsage: While driving to Vegas, Gonzo waves a revolver around and starts pulling the trigger. Luckily, it is not loaded. When trying to leave Vegas the first time, Duke blasts away in the desert — it's loaded now. After ''that'' we get the adrenochrome sequence, in which Duke snorts cocaine off the barrel of the gun, which is held by Gonzo.
* RoadTripPlot
* RunningGag: Any time Duke or Gonzo freaks out in public while the other is in a lucid state, the latter will explain to the people around him, "I'm sorry, he's drunk" or "This man has a heart condition." It's surprising how often that seems to do the trick.
* ShoutOut: The movie changes self-styled drug expert E.R. Blumquist's name to L. Ron Bumquist, an obvious reference to another charlatan, Creator/LRonHubbard.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The intro of the film shows war and protest footage to the tune of "My Favorite Things" from ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic'' (even if it is a somewhat creepy, minor-key version).
** Duke hallucinates giant lizards mating in the hotel lounge as "Amore Scusami" plays.
* StonerFlick
* TakeOurWordForIt: Both hotel rooms are progressively trashed offscreen.
* UndiscriminatingAddict: Raoul Duke (Hunter S. Thompson's AuthorAvatar) and his friend "Dr. Gonzo" bring a gigantic valise loaded to the gills with all kinds of drugs for their journey to Vegas, and at one point (while Duke is [[MushroomSamba tripping so hard]] that he hallucinates Dr. Gonzo slowly mutating into a devil) they argue the idea of testing fresh pineal gland... as in cut someone's brain to get the gland and chew on it.
* WhatDidIDoLastNight: The scene ''after'' the hotel room got trashed.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: Duke and Gonzo.
[[/folder]]

[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fearandloathing.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:310:''[[Music/AvengedSevenfold ♫ Too many doses and I'm starting to get an attraction... ♫]]'']]

* ShoutOut: The movie changes self-styled drug expert E.R. Blumquist's name to L. Ron Bumquist, an obvious reference to another charlatan, Creator/LRonHubbard.

It starts at the line above and goes downhill from there. The story involves a mad journalist (Raoul Duke, [[AuthorAvatar based on Thompson]]) and his Samoan attorney (Dr. Gonzo, based on Chicano attorney/activist Oscar Zeta Acosta, with nationality changed to protect the [[strike:innocent]] guilty) traveling from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to chronicle the Mint 400 desert bike race for ''Magazine/SportsIllustrated'', consuming many, many illegal drugs in the process. [[RealLifeWritesThePlot In actuality]], Thompson was writing a piece on Acosta and the then-fledgling Chicano-rights movement, and both were glad to have an excuse to get out of L.A. because Acosta's radical friends thought that he was spending too much time with Thompson, a ''gringo'' WASP whom they suspected of being a police agent ([[ProperlyParanoid not at all an unrealistic suspicion]] in 1970, but also one that happened to be wildly incorrect about Thompson himself).[[note]]The piece about Acosta was, in 1971, published in ''Rolling Stone'' as "Strange Rumblings in Aztlan."[[/note]] When this falls through, in part due to their severe drug saturation, Raoul attempts to return to Los Angeles, but gets called back into Vegas by ''Magazine/RollingStone'' for the National District Attorneys Association's Conference on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He accepts largely out of irony.