Sweet Jesus, what a gorgeous surprise this was! It's always good news when I see that a film I love is getting the Criterion treatment, but there's something magical that happens when the folks at Criterion hook up with director Terry Gilliam, which fans of his film Brazil can attest to. The Criterion Edition of that film features 4 discs with literally days worth of extras, commentaries, interviews, documentaries, and an exhausting supply of other ephemera, not to mention the most sumptuous transfer one can imagine! Well, now the same treatment has been applied to Gilliam's lovingly crafted homage to the legendary Hunter S. Thompson and his classic book, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. For an in-depth review of the film, click here and read Big McLargehuge's thoughts, for they pretty much mirror mine, and I'm going to be too busy writing about all the good stuff that's included in this set!

First up, this is a two-disc set, with a gorgeous "naked" cover by artist Ralph Steadman, with a clear slipcase that has the title and DVD contents printed on it. It's a very nice touch and one of those packages that makes you say "woah". I also like shiny nickles, so forgive me for my enthusiasm! Once you dig past the outer shell, however, you'll be reduced to a blubbering fanboy like me when you see the absolute embarassment of riches that lay within!

DISC ONE:

* A brand new digital transfer supervised by Gilliam. 
* A brand new Dolby 5.1 DTS sound mix!
* Three (THREE!!) separate commentaries!! 
  -Depp and Del Toro and producer Laila Nabulsi
  -Terry Gilliam
  -and, the icing on the cake, Hunter S. Thompson!!!!
* Deleted scenes, with commentary by Gilliam

DISC TWO: (This is where it get's TRULY nuts!)
*Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood: A 1978 BBC 
Documentary
*Hunter Goes to Hollywood: A short film by Wayne Ewing
*Excerpts from the Fear and Loathing audio book.
*Actual letters from Thompson read on camera by Depp
*Stills Gallery
*Storyboards and production designs
*Trailers
*Ralph Steadman art gallery
 and tons of other essays, photos, as well as a 38 page full color
booklet!!!!

Like I said, this thing is absolutely loaded to the gills with extras and these are some high quality ones at that!! The second disc's documentaries and shorts are worth the purchase alone! When you factor in the commentaries, deleted scenes, and loads of other stuff, there is absolutely no reason in the world why this disc should not be a part of any serious film fans collection!