Probably the best rock film of all time

Production Year: 1990 - Drama - Director: Oliver Stone - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over more

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Oliver Stone might have considered his film a tribute to the enduring power of the Doors' music, but he seems to have also intended it as a cautionary tale on the perils of both...
more...celebrity and substance abuse. Starring Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison, the film focuses on the Lizard King from his days as a UCLA film student in the early 1960s to his death in a Paris hotel in 1971. In the early days of the group's formation, Morrison is at his most benign; he's just a guy hanging out at the beach writing poetry. But as the Doors' fame begins to spread--with Morrison as the focus of attention--his drug consumption and erratic behavior increase exponentially. The rest of the band--Ray Manzarek (Kyle McLachalan), John Densmore (Kevin Dillon), and Robby Krieger (Frank Whaley)--begins to grow tired of his late arrivals, the increasing number of cancellations, and the drunken recording sessions requiring infinite retakes. But no one can help Morrison as he spirals downward into an inferno of drugs, alcohol, public obscenity, and depression. Kilmer gives an excellent performance, including a frighteningly accurate imitation of Morrison's singing. Stone's intimate familiarity with SoCal in the 1960s also provides the film with a high degree of surface verisimilitude.

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Probably the best rock film of all time

A review by dave27 on The Doors DVD
April 24th, 2001

Author's product rating: The Doors DVD - rated by dave27

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Kilmer, a wonderful story
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Oliver Stone has established a well deserved reputation for making films which expose the sleazy underbelly of history and debunk the myths that surround the received wisdom. He's also a right pain in the a*** for the US establishment and has done such stuff as JFK and Malcolm X.

The Doors was one of his earlier films and paints a striking picture of rock music in the late Sixties. It focuses on The Doors and their brilliant, but controversial lead singer, Jim Morrison, played by Val Kilmer, whose face is eerily reminiscent of the Lizard King at his most beautiful. The subject matter was pretty much made for Stone's romantic, outlaw take on 60's Americana and he certainly does it full justice.

The Doors were a massive rock and roll band for a while, making such wonderful hit records as Break On Through, Light My Fire, Riders On The Storm, People Are Strange and Hello I Love You. They were made up of Morrison, the pin up of the band's sizable female following and an aspiring poet and mystic, gothic organist Ray Manzarek, the inspiration for the Stranglers' Dave Greenfield, guitarist Robbie Krieger and ace jazzy drummer John Densmore.

Stone's epic film is supposedly fairly true to life, trailing the band through the strange trip from the day Morrison signed up, to his untimely death in a bath following a heart attack.

The character of Morrison takes up most of Stone's attention and great play is made of his insane and provocative lifestyle. Particularly wonderful is the scene from the Ed Sullivan Show, when the faceless men of the media tried to persuade Jimbo to change the lyrics to the drug anthem Light My Fire. They didn't want him to talk about getting higher, but after seemingly agreeing to the compromise, Morrison took great satisfaction in bawling out the unchanged lyrics straight to camera - Jeez, that was funny, and it was well played here.

Kilmer gives a great performance but the other players are not up to the test and make the rest of the band come over as wet behind the ears kids. If only, if only Stone had got better performances, this would have been truly epic. As it is, it is just extremely good and totally absorbing.

If you like The Doors, this is a brilliant film. If you don't like The Doors, it's still a very enthralling peek into a time when music was going through some amazing times and I have no hesitation in giving this film a massive vote of confidence. If you only ever watch one film about rock music, make sure it is this one.

Of course, things are helped rather more than somewhat by the extraordinary story of the Doors and Morrison and the amazing things they did during a period in which the entirety of rock culture was going through a fundamental and radical period of progression. Morrison was ultimately destroyed by his hedonistic pursuit of pleasure, but he left behind him an amazing catalogue of some of the most striking rock and roll statements of all time.

Watch this film and wonder…