The Doors

"The Doors" Light Up the Screen.......
This review refers to the Artisan Special Edition(2disc)DVD of "The Doors".....

Become immersed in the wild ride that Oliver Stone takes you on in this legendary film of a legendary rocker.The extrordinary life story of Jim Morrison, played eeriley by Val Kilmer, will keep you mesmerized and stay with you long after the movie has ended.

The film explores "The Doors", from their beginnings in Venice Beach, California, where they exploded onto the rock scene,breaking the mold of music in the 60's, to their rise as superstars. Morrison's life is the main focus as a senstive poet type dropping out of film school, to becoming the Peyote addicted,culture shocking, philosphical rock idol.The LSD trips, the visions of this genius, his personal life and of course the famous controversial concerts are all told through Stone's unique cinematic magic.

You'll get lost not only in the time setting of the story but of course in the music as well. "The Doors"...

mostly reviewing the new features
"Pam joined him three years later . . ." is on my copy of the 15 Year Anniversary Edition; the movie is the same as the Special Edition.

The packaging and menus are updated and look great. Substantially better than the special edition.

On to the 2 new features.

The Doors in L.A. - 20 minute feature; Robbie Krieger, John Densmore, (yaaay!), Jimmy Greenspoon, and Pamela Des Barres are the prominent interviews on camera here. Nothing earth shattering, but it's nice to see/hear John Densmore's abridged opinions.

The Jim Morrison Phenomena in Paris - it's interesting. You've got a handful of people who met JDM in Paris and hung out; they describe his mood and what he was (arguably) saying at the time. There's a French librarian who breaks down a lot of the parallels in the subtleties of the lyrics w/Greek literature. There's a somewhat annoying 20 something saying Jim was done with music and The Doors and blah, blah, blah that isn't substantiated...

Similar contradictions and problems I have with most of Stone's movies...
The Doors suffers the same problems that Stone's other films about real people and events (JFK and Nixon) do; Stone uses the docu-drama format as a license to condense times and events, while simultaneously inventing composite characters and situations that never existed. All too often, these films, while containing exciting filmic and visual elements, ring a bit hollow.

The upside of The Doors is the performance of Val Kilmer, who threw himself into the role with ferocity and conviction; that he comes up short in the end isn't due to his acting abilities as much as the choice of episodes and Morrison's characteristics (both real and invented) that Stone chose to film. Simply put, Stone's Morrison comes across as little more than a sporatically gifted poet who sublimates his poetic callings to all the cliched rock star trappings. Perhaps this does describe some of Morrison's personality to a degree, but after seeing Morrison get stoned, drunk and act like a spoiled child...

Click to Editorial Reviews