"Oh and I didn't know who Hunter S. Thompson was, but after looking him up it seems like the main character (Raoul) was largely inspired by him. As in... he looks exactly like him."
Haha, I didn't know who he was at first either, but I read somewhere he had a cameo in the movie. In one of the flashbacks where Raul is in a Disco he says something like: "Good lord, there I AM!" and there's an old man sitting at a table. That's Thompson.
Also after the desert race the hotel manager comes to Raul and has a telegram for a Hunter S. Thompson. So yeah, Raul Duke and Hunter S. Thompson are the same person. I haven't figured out why he uses a pseudonym though. :D
Haggard
"Wait! We can't stop here. This is bat country!"
Too bad you didn't liked the movie that much, it's one of my favorite movies. First time I watched it, I felt as if I had taken all those drugs they take in the movie, heh.
But then I watched it again, and I liked it better. Then I watched it a third time... a fourth time... until today, I think I watched the movie 30 times or more. ^^
You can always discover something new when you watch the movie again. For example in the beginning when they pick up the hitchhiker (Toby Maguire, lol) and Raul "explains a few things" to him and the narration goes like:
"He said he understood, but I could see in his eyes that he didn't."
Then Raul in the car (not Raul the narrator) says: "He was lying to me." picking up from where the narrator stopped, still talking in past tense... ^^
Or when they check in in the hotel, somebody on the telephone talks about someone who got killed (presumably) and those who did it tried to get to the pineal gland. Later in the movie, Dr. Gonzo mentiones some stuff he got from a satanist and Raul says, there's only one source for this stuff, the human pineal gland.
I could go on about this, there are many many examples in this movie, but I don't want to spam your userpage with this kind of nonsene. ^^
Just one last thing, did you spot Hunter S. Thompson in this movie? ;)
So, I advise you to watch the movie a second time. :)
Auz
Like I said, I was spacing a little myself while watching this movie.
I got that "He was lying to me" you were talking about. And the dialogue in the car with Toby Maguire and the 'reptile house'-scene were my favourite scenes in the movie. I didn't notice the pineal gland things though. I probably missed a ton of other stuff in the movie as well. I guess due to the lack of concentration I had. Anyway, I think this is indeed one of those movies you simply gotta watch more than once. I'll definitely check it out again if I get the opportunity =)
Oh and I didn't know who Hunter S. Thompson was, but after looking him up it seems like the main character (Raoul) was largely inspired by him. As in... he looks exactly like him.