Rating: Summary: Sex + Drugs + Alcohol + Rock N' Roll = Legend Review: First off, get inebriated in some way before watching this movie. It'll make more sense? If your a fan, then you know the story of the legendary Doors and Jim Morrison. This movie does not really do them justice. Whether or not some of the film is not accurate, it does demonstrate the trials and tribulations that any rock band can go through. Kind of cliche isn't it? The movie is funny, sad and downright friggin off the wall. I remember seeing the movie as a teen and loving it, now some ten plus years later I saw it again. Not exactly a lasting impression. It was disappointing, but yet an interesting perspective. I would recommend it simply for the music on it. Val Kilmer does do a fantastic job as Morrisson.
Rating: Summary: Outstanding Visuals, Vocal Mojo Almost Rising Review: This is a visual spectacular and the music is very good as well. Although the movie concentrates on Jim's bad habits, it comes across as mainly positive -- Jim is the good antihero. The psyche- delic stream-of-consciousness imagery is outstanding and the soundtrack is excellent, except, well... Oliver Stone is wonderful with capturing the optical qualities of the mind-expanding experience. He auditioned Val Kilmer for the vocal parts and, according to legend, couldn't tell the difference between Jim's and Val's vocal styles. Well, most other people can, I think. Yes, Val is a graduate of Juilliard and has an outstanding IQ according to the standard psychological testing methods (by the way, Timothy Leary was a professor at Harvard who helped to develop those methods). Anyway, he sings noticeably off-key in several songs. Come on, Val! You're a genius Juilliard grad with juice. Next time insist on more vocal "takes" -- your audience is not all tone deaf. With that said, this movie is worth your time and money. Just ignore those flat notes.
Rating: Summary: *Groovy Movie* Review: I'll keep my review short and simple. This is one of my top 5 all time favorite movies. Val Kilmer should have won an Oscar for his performance, or at least received more praise. Oliver Stone knows that his story isn't 100% true and he never claimed it to be. This was his vision of The Doors, and with the help of Robbie Kreiger, Patricia Kennealy, Pamela Courson-Morrison's parents and John Densmore, he did an incredible job. However, Meg Ryan wasn't all that. She's a decent actress, but not worthy/cool enough to play Pamela Morrison. When the movie came out, Meg talked about how over-rated she thinks The Doors(the band) are and that Jim Mrrison was just a drunk. Well, Meg, why associate yourself with the movie then? Anyway, the movie is an amazing experience.
Rating: Summary: He should've done more research.. Review: As a huge fan of The Doors, I was disappointed by some parts of this film. If you like the band or Jim's poetry and you're debating whether to watch this or not, I'd say go ahead and do it. However, I think you'd get a lot more out of reading a book about them instead. The most annoying part of the movie was how Stone kept putting in Doors song quotes in places where it just didn't work. For anyone who isn't familiar with their lyrics, it'd seem like a regular script, but it bothered me to no end when Jim jumps on the car and says, "I am the lizard king.." and the, "Blood is the rose of mysterious union" part. Val Kilmer is amazing as Jim, though. Fantastic. So the main reason I only gave it three stars was because of the hokey lyric add-ins and the fact that it wasn't a terribly accurate movie.
Rating: Summary: I'M NOT ALLOWED TO WRITE WHAT I REALLY THINK OF THIS MOVIE Review: It's been 22 years since I first read NO ONE HERE GETS OUT ALIVE. I was only 15 and a freshman in high school, but even then I remember thinking only one thing after I finished reading: "EPIC!" Yes, that's how I remember seeing the life of Jim Morrison and the story of The Doors, as a rock 'n' roll epic. For a long while after that I wanted to be just like Jim, but I was never white enough like my fellow Morrison wanna-be's in school. Whatever, though. Nine years later, when this movie came out, I was so excited to see everything I had read about finally put on film. What a bummer! Regardless of whether or not it was based on the same book (I confess that I don't really know, nor do I care anymore), it left me so disappointed because I felt that there was so much potential here. It had an amazing performance by Val Kilmer as J. M., the direction of Oliver Stone with his keen eye for '60s detail, and......well, that's about it, I guess. I know this film has a special place in a lotta people's hearts and it's never my intention to tick anyone off with a negative review (my reviews for GLADIATOR and THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST were never posted), but what I can't understand is how anyone can actually LIKE this movie. I'm sorry, but I just don't get it. I can't understand how anyone who's ever read a biography about Morrison could like a film that either condenses so much of his life or makes up a lot of bull. I'll never forget when I first saw this [expletive] how I anxiously hoped in vain to see a re-enactment of The Doors' well-received concert in my former hometown of Mexico City, but NOOOO! And what's really baffling is how people who never read anything about Jim and this whole thing with him and the Indians actually understood and enjoyed something that felt like an acid trip put on film. I don't know, maybe I was the dumb one. I'm a simple man, so I didn't know then what hidden truths Stone was trying to tell me with this film, and 13 years later I'm still not sure. But this much I do know: they got the wrong guy to make a movie on Jim Morrison. Peace, bro.
Rating: Summary: Absorbing movie - i didn't want it to end. (my only friend.. Review: Utterly absorbing bio-pic of Jim Morrison. The name Val Kilmer is, or should be, synonymous with incredible acting that is not merely natural or convincing, but immensely fun and commanding. You may have noticed while watching his recent Wonderland - Val has the ability to make a picture. Here, he IS The Doors: The Movie. There, he WAS Wonderland. I am exaggerating, i suppose. For Oliver Stone has crafted a marvellous film which makes you feel like you've experienced what the sixties were like. Through using The Doors actual music (what was missing from the recent Sylvia, the art of the subject itself - her poetry) to help tell its story and colour its scenes, and filmic techniques to create the drug-induced world vision of Jim Morrison, Stone really takes you into the world of his movie, and the world of the sixties.This movie made me appreciate what an exciting experience The Doors were, and has actually cultivated love in me for their music. I didn't realise they had more than one classic: Light my Fire, The End, People are Strange, Love her Madly, Break on Through to the Other Side, Riders on the Storm, Touch Me, Roadhouse Blues (Let it roll, baby roll) and probably more i'm yet to discover. For a better recreation of what Andy Warhol's factory actually felt like, see I Shot Andy Warhol. Crispin Glover actually looks more like Andy than the guy who plays him in "I Shot," but the guy in I Shot much better captured Andy's vagueness and almost unconsciousness while in conversation. This, however, is but three minutes in the movie and has no effect on it as a whole. Oliver Stone has an amusing cameo: a young film student, Jim Morrison, shows his short film to his class, who are uncouth and disparaging about it, after which camera pans to reveal Oliver Stone standing at the lecturn, (obviously, playing the film professor), who says: "Why don't we ask the author what he thinks?"
Rating: Summary: First half hour is ok Review: This movie was ok in the beginning. It was somewhat interesting watching him get messed up and stuff but after two hours of the same thing it was just too much. I doubt much of this movie is true. So if you want to see a movie glorifying jim morrisons' drug abuse and "super deep" lyrics this is right up your alley.
Rating: Summary: one of the Best Acting jobs of the decade...oscar snub Review: Val Kilmer embodies Jim Morrison in this film. If you are a fan of The Doors this fil is worth at least one viewing to see an extraordinary acting performance by a great and highly underrated actor of our times , Val Kilmer. The film had a vast history to work from considering all the film and print material available about Jim Morrison and The Doors and sadly does not penetrate the man as well as it could have in the way the script was written , but the music and the look of the film are beautiful. It is not a bad film in any way and it is captivating in many scenes but it could have delved more into Morrison's creativity and muses and made him look less like a hopeless drunk at times. I understand Jim Morrison's story is not a pretty one overall but there could have been a few more moments spotlighting his genius as well as his excesses. The high points in the film are the concert scenes and scenes between Jim and Pamela. You do get a feel for their volatile yet romantic relationship. Val Kilmer was mesmerizing. It is hard enough for an actor to play a real life depiction of anybody but even more of a challenge when the man was so recently in the public spotlight and we have so many films and recordings of him. It was a risk and a challenge and he pulled it off with such artistic flair. I flet at times while watching the movie that I was watching a documentary and not a portrayal. His visual look and mannerisms were on the money. There is a recreated documentary scene that Oliver Stone directed that was just eerie it looked so much like the original. Val Kilmer does much of his own singing throughout the film. While auditioning for the fiulm he actually made a tape of himself singing Doors tunes. He played it for Oliver Stone and asked him to pick out which songs were him and which were Jim. he thought the majority were Jim and Val Kilmer revelaed that all the songs he performed himself. As a film it is good and deserves a viewing. val Kilmer at least deserved an Oscar nomination for this portrayal. If we can nominate Johnny Depp for Pirates of The Carribean than Val Kilmer deserves the Oscar for this one. I would also recommend his portrayal of Doc Holliday in the film "Tombstone"....these 2 performances were 2 of the greatest by any actor in the 90's.
Rating: Summary: Great Movie But......................................... Review: THE DOORS is a great movie but I would have giving it 5 stars but if movie was based on real accounts. For one instant Jim didn't quit film school he actually graduated and made a couple of films but thats all I will say about that aspect. The movie was excellent, the acting was great espically the actors who played The Doors were excellent. This is one of those "semi-Biographical" flicks done right, I mean the doors in the movie actually look like the real doors. I thought Val Kilmer did a excellent job playing Morrison, he looked and sounded like him. Of course the soundtrack is excellent cause most of it is Doors music. If your aren't a Doors fan or just becoming one then I highly recommend it. THE DVD: The DVD is alright, The only thing I didn't like about the DVD was it was a reprint of the laserdisc version of it. Besides for the deleted scenes and orignal featurette I was kinda of hoping for a new documentary on the movie. Other than that the picture and sound is great. If you enjoyed this movie then its a must to own on DVD.
Rating: Summary: The greatest rock and roll film ever made! Review: The Doors is with out a shadow of a doubt the greatest rock and roll film ever made! It tells perfectly what the late-great Jim Morrison went through and how he lived. This goes into the music and the L.A. scene in the late 1960's. Everything you ever heard about The Doors or Jim Morrison comes across in this movie. The Plot is very east to understand. You find yourself felling bad for Jim because of all the stuff he put himself through, but you also feel bad for the Band because Jim made it to wear Robby, John, and Ray couldnt play their music live because of Jims on stage anticks. I found my self hating Jims wife because if he wouldnt have met her he woulndt have done half of the stuff he did, so was really a bad influence. This is a whats gonna happen next film, and Val Kilmer pulls of the roll flawlessly
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