Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride DVD Review

 

The Film

Hunter S. Thompson is a literary icon, and the father of Gonzo Journalism.  He lived his life to the fullest and never seemed to stop asking the important questions.  Thats something that this doc never does.  It doesn’t ask the hard questions, it doesn’t take any chances, and only really gives fans a tiny glimpse into Hunter’s life.  

The film opens with an aggravating interview segment that shows Gary Busey being an unknowing ass, which is so distracting that I found it hard to focus on anything that was being said about Hunter during this opening.  Thankfully it doesn’t take long for the filmmakers to take the camera off of Busey and point it at people that are ready to talk about the legend that is Hunter S. Thompson.  And that’s exactly what they do, they talk about him, but they don’t really say anything that I haven’t read or seen previously in some form or another.  Everyone knows he drinks, smokes, writes, and likes to shoot large guns.  So while I understand that these elements are impossible to leave out, I think they should be an afterthought compared to the life the man really lived. 

The film spends a lot of time focusing on his famous friends, and a few members of his family as well.  People like; John Cusack, Benicio Del Toro, Johnny Depp, Gary Hart, Leonard Maltin, Bill Murray, Sean Penn, Tom wolfe, Anita Thompson, and Nick Nolte who served as the films narrator are interviewed, and of course Gary Busey is also in this mix, but I’m doing my best to forget about him.  While the film never really finds its rhythm, what it does do is talk a lot about two films made about Hunter’s life; Where the Buffalo Roam, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.  In fact if focuses so much on these two films and the actors that populated them that it comes off as nothing more than a well done DVD extra that should be included as a second disc with both of the above mentioned films.  Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride was not a killer film.  

 

The Disc

Audio: Came in loud and clear.

Video: Looked clean, but had that processed made for television look that has become popular on stations like The History Channel, A&E, and of course Starz.

Special Features

Besides a few TV spots for other Starz shows this disc is bare bones.