The Doors (1991)

Thanks in large part to its meticulous re-creation of the late-1960s and early-'70s rock scene and the uncannily authentic performance by Val Kilmer as legendary Doors frontman Jim Morrison, Oliver Stone's hypnotic film biography is standing the test of time. Capturing the carefree mood of the Age of Aquarius, the film charts the meteoric rise of the Doors on the California club circuit (including a memorable scene showing the creation of the hit "Light My Fire"), and chronicles the band's exploits with hallucinogenics and Morrison's battles against charges of public indecency on stage. Kilmer's performance is hauntingly perfect, and performances by Meg Ryan, Kathleen Quinlan, and Kyle MacLachlan are similarly impressive. The movie doesn't fully probe the depths of Morrison's character, but as a portrait of excess it is vividly true to the spirit of the self-destructive poet known to his fans as "The Lizard King." --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com essential video

Strange Days

I think The Doors are one of the greatest bands in rock history. For me, it's The Doors, The Who, and then The Beatles. (Just my preference, so please don't give me crap for that, haha. ) I also think that no one else will ever possess the presence or talent that Jim Morrison did,especially with the way rock "music" is going these days (I mean, Limp Bizkit was popular a few years ago, if that says anything about where rock is headed.)
I'm not an Oliver Stone fan particularly. I've never seen JFK, and Natural Born Killers seems to have a sort of following behind it, but I honestly didn't see any redeeming qualities about that movie. So when I saw that Oliver Stone was the director of the movie about my favorite band, although I was excited to watch it, I truthfully wasn't expecting very much.
I bought it before watching it and still own it. Although I've seen it many times, I'm still conflicted as to how I feel about it. It seems that the movie, although true to The Doors and how they got together and their rise to fame, did not do Jim justice at all. It had nothing to do with Val Kilmer, he was perfect as Jim, especially the live performance scenes; I've watched many Doors live performances and how Val embodied Jim in that respect was really amazing. I do think he over-did it sometimes-the pouty thing he did drove me nuts and the photo shoot scene made me laugh it was so cheesy. All in all though, I loved Val as Jim. Yet the movie seemed to show only one aspect of who Morrison was-on the road to excess, out of control, drunken, womanizing. Sure he's a rock star, but I would have loved to know more about who he REALLY was, because I feel the movie didn't delve into that. I'm positive there was much more to him than the drunken rock star (even if it was the truth, that's not all of who he was). Ray Manzarek said it best "It was not about Jim Morrison. It was about Jimbo Morrison, the drunk. God, where was the sensitive poet and the funny guy? The guy I knew was not on that screen."
I give the movie three stars because aside from my criticisms of it, it's essentially a good movie by an okay director about an amazing band. Damn you Oliver Stone, why couldn't a better director with a better screenplay have done this movie, who knows what could have been. July 13, 2008

I'm giving it 3 stars... and that's being generous

I am not a "diehard fan" of The Doors, though I do appreciate their work. I do believe that all the actors who play the band-members do a superb job... But my positive comments stop there.

The director, Oliver Stone, fills this movie with so many drug-induced hallucinations, you cannot tell if a scene is something that actually happened or if it's the work of Morrison's drugged-up imagination. Now, I don't like your run-of-the-mill biopic, but this unconventional biopic wallows in self-indulgence to the point of absurdity. Stone and the producers seem so determined to make this more of an "art film" than an actual biopic, and, boy, does it back-fire. Granted, every biopic is "Hollywood-ized", but this movie makes you wonder way too many times where the artistic license ends and the actual facts begin or vice-versa.

In short, this production showcases the leader of a rock-band - Jim Morrison - who is bent on self-destruction. The same could be said about this movie. June 1, 2008

The Doors (special edition)

Although I have never agreed with drug use at all, I have always enjoyed the music of Jim Morrison and the Doors. (and many other groups of the 60's and 70's)...
I also love the acting ability of Val Kilmer, and he is awesome in this role. The movie is very well made, the music is fantastic, the storyline is wonderful, yet so sad...
I highly recommend this DVD to anyone who likes the Doors... April 28, 2008

excellent evocation of 60s aspiration and excess

For those of us who grew up in the 1960s, this is a wonderful film. It genuinely evokes the sense of newness and possibility of that time, that all old forms could be swept away, that we could live love and rock and not worry about the future. Of course we were wrong, and those who embodied all the hope and excess, like Morrison, paid the price with their lives - they were drunk, drugged out, and many eventually died of it.

Looking back on it, I feel amazed at how naive we were, how arrogant, but then, we were children and youths, affluent and feeling that the possibilities literally were limitless. This film accurately portrays that feeling, both in its pathetic over-reaching, but also a lot of the beauty of it.

This is the best Stone film by far, and I wasn't even into the Doors.

Warmly recommended. March 25, 2008

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 throwing a tantrum for 2 hours plus, one wonders if Oliver thought of Morrison as basically an obnoxious drunk (possessed by the soul of a bald, silly-looking, half-naked dead indian that continually wanders around the movie) and, if so, what it was that turned Stone onto making the film in the first place...

The downside, in addition to the lack of scope regarding Morrison, comes in the numerous episodes that never happened (The Doors tripping on acid in the desert, Patricia Kennealy being present at the New Haven show Morrison got arrested at, Particia Kennealy and Pam Courson having a catfight, Buick actually making a commercial using the song Light My Fire and Jim finding out about it by watching tv, Jim setting fire to his and Pam's house while Pam was smacked up in the closet...and on and on). Also, the years of 1967 to early 1969 take up about an hour and a half of the movie, while the remainder of 1969 through to mid 1971 take about twenty minutes.

It's a shame that Stone went to such trouble to set up and film some great concert sequences, and Kilmer really made a terrific attempt at playing Morrison, but in the end both were content to rest the character on both the various myths about the singer and the confirmed instances of Morrison at his drunken worst. A well-shot film that, in the end, has little to do with reality. March 23, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...