Ed Wood would be proud (or jealous). Fear and Loathing is completely hollow. It has absolutely no coherent statement on the drug culture other than said culture died in the 70s. Wow, great depth, dude. But ignoring this shortcoming I love this film. I like it for the very reasons I admire Citizen Kane. Both films are loaded with special effects, amazing sets, gorgeous costumes, beautiful cinematography and camera work. And Fear one-ups Kane with god-awful sound (for this film that is a good thing) and acid-rock music. About the only film that compares to Fear and Loathing stylistically is Natural Born Killers.
The thing that makes Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas endlessly watchable is its outrageous and subversive comedy, and I think many reviews of this film totally ignore the hilarious dialog. Physical comedy, such as the way Depp and Del Torro walk and gesticulate is also quite amusing. The deleted scenes on the Criterion DVD are VERY interesting, as is the hour long documentary.

While I love Fear and Loathing for what it is and wouldn’t change a thing, I sometimes wish that Tim Burton had done the screenplay and directed the movie with less show and more character depth.