Rolling Stone - 03/21/1991
"...THE DOORS is a thrilling spectacle - the KING KONG of rock movies..."
New York Times - 03/01/1991
"...Clamorous, reverential, much-larger-than-life....Kilmer captures all of Morrisons's reckless, insinuating appeal..."
Los Angeles Times - 03/01/1991
"...The whole movie is white hot, lapped in honeyed golds, evilly blue and black or drenched in those swoony, fiery reds. THE DOORS blasts your ears and scorches your eyes..."
Total Film - 05/01/2000
"...Val Kilmer is an authentic lead and Meg Ryan supplies credible support as his tortured soulmate..."
Product Description:
Covers the period from 1965-1971; Produced and released in 1991.
Val Kilmer stars as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's electrifying profile of the Doors, which takes the group from its inception to its demise with the death of the "Lizard King" in a Paris hotel room 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 soon the Doors' fame begins to spread--with Morrison as the focus of attention. Capable of an eerily correct vocal imitation of Morrison, Kilmer makes manifest the talent and charisma, as well as the confusion and despair, of the complex man who was the focal point of the group. As Morrisson's 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, bringing the music to an untimely close.
Stone's intimate familiarity with SoCal in the 1960s provides the film with a high degree of surface verisimilitude, though the film is as much a tribute to the enduring power of the Doors' music as it is a cautionary tale about the perils of both celebrity and substance abuse.
Plot Keywords:
1960s |
Concert |
Concert Footage |
Drugs |
Essential Cinema |
Los Angeles, California |
Music (General) |
Musicians |
Parties |
Pop / Rock |
Rock |
Rock And Roll |
Rock Bands |
Substance Abuse |
Theatrical Release |
True Story
Production Notes:
Theatrical release date: March 1, 1991.
Oliver Stone makes a cameo appearance as a UCLA film professor.
Doors drummer John Densmore appears as a recording engineer.
The rock group took their name from British author Aldous Huxley's book THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION.
In 2000 the surviving band members teamed with a variety of singers to rerecord some of the Doors' biggest hits.
In one scene of the film, Jim Morrison goes to a party at Andy Warhol's factory. Warhol is standing in front of a Roy Lichtenstein painting, and "Heroin" by Nico plays in the background.
In the film, Morrison is depicted acting out at a Miami concert, where he shouts obscenities and makes lude gestures at the audience. Also in the film, when the band performs "Light My Fire" on the Ed Sullivan show, Morrison makes a point of singing the controversial lyric "...girl we couldn't get much higher..."
THE DOORS
Movie Lover: JERRELL LEWIS from
GARY, IN US -- July, 12, 2008
INTERESTING MOVIE WITH EMOTIONAL IMPACT. VAL KILMER'S ROLE IS PLAYED WITH GENUINE AUTHENTICITY. THE OVERALL IMPRESSION LEFT ON MY MIND: HOW FINE TALENT MIXED WITH UNINHIBITED IMPULSES, DRUGS AND ALCOHOL CAN LEAD TO UNSEEMLY TWISTS IN LIFE AND UNTIMELY TURNS OF FORTUNE. IN THE CASE OF JIM MORRISON AND THE DOORS, SOMETHING LIKE A SHOOTING STAR SUDDENLY FELL FROM GOLDEN ORBIT. A BIG MISFORTUNE FOR POP MUSIC HISTORY. BUT ALMOST ALL THE SCENES ARE EXCITINGLY PRESENTED, AND THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES ALONG WITH SOME OF THE GROUPS' ESSENTIAL GENIUS ARE CAPTURED. THE MOVIE IS OUTSTANDING ENTERTAINMENT AS A SEQUENTIAL ARRANGEMENT OF MEMORABLE MUSIC AND EVENTS, EVEN THOUGH IT IS SAID THAT SOME OF THE DIRECTOR'S WORK TAKES UNDUE LICENSE WITH ACTUAL FACTS FROM MORRISON'S LIFE. FAV SCENE--MORRISON AND PATRICIA TOGETHER AS RAIN PUMMELS THE BLUE WINDOW PANES. THE SONG 'END OF THE NIGHT ' OPENS THE SCENE. LEAST FAV SCENES--THE LAST OR NEAR LAST DOORS CONCERT SHOWN; THE DRUNKEN/DOPED -OUT VOCALS AND STAGE PACING ARE LESS THAN ENJOYABLE EVEN WHEN WATCHED AT NO COST IN THE COMFORTS OF HOME. NOT MORRISON AT HIS BEST. BUT SOME OF MORRISON'S ONSTAGE ANTICS DO ENTERTAIN. THE MOVIE SHOWS MORRISON TO HAVE BEEN A GENUINE POET AS WELL AS A PERFORMER. PERSONALLY, I THINK THAT WAS THE BEST PORTION OF HIS UNIQUE CONTRIBUTION-ALONG WITH HIS VOCAL TONE- AND ELEVATES THE DOORS' WORK BEYOND THE ORDINARY LIMITS OF ROCK GROUPS. HIS POETIC SENSIBILITIES AND RESTLESS EXPRESSIVE URGES WERE A MAJOR CATALYST FOR THE MUSICAL DIVERSITY OF THE DOORS. ALL THE ACTING IS GOOD AND THE MOVIE HAS DEFINITE IMPACT. THAT SIGNIFICANT IMPACT IS DUE IN PART TO AN EXCELLENT AND WELL-PLOTTED SOUNDTRACK COMPOSED OF DOORS MUSIC. A MEMORABLE MOVIE.
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