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The Doors

The Doors

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This is it ???
Review: When I first time heard about this movie, I wanted to see it. 30.12.98 my wish came true, and I saw it. And I have to say I was really disappointed. I don't think Jim was anything like that ( but Val did look like him ), too much naked women, "John" didn't look like John, "Robby" didn't look like Robby, "Patricia" didn't look like Patricia, everything happened too fast, and Jim DIDN'T drink his blood ( read NO ONE HERE GETS OUT ALIVE ).'This one lonely star is from the music.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Jim Morrison lives...
Review: ...in the form of Val Kilmer! This pseudo-biography of Mr. Mojo Risin and The Doors is mezmorizing. I thought Kilmer should have AT LEAST gotten an Oscar nomination for his performance. There were moments in this film that I swear I was looking at Morrison! I was entranced by Val and the movie. I recall when it was first announced that Val would be portraying Morrison, a lot of people were bummed. The didn't think Val could hack it. I knew he could. From the first time I saw him, in Real Genius, I knew he had star quality! I figured, if he can be that hysterically funny, he can do anything. And I was right! The thing I find most amazing, next to Val's uncanny resembelance to Morrison visually and physically, is the fact that Kilmer sang some of the songs himself! Talk about eerie. It bothered me that the film wasn't particularly acurate. But Kilmer's impressive performance is worth watching. It's almost as if Jim's spirit possessed Val during the filming. The shining moments in this movie are many...a few fall flat. I highly reccommend The Doors if you were or are a Doors fan. If you are not...this movie will make you one!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pretty good!
Review: I love the Doors especcially Jim Morrison, and if you are a fan like me, watch it. But, just to warn you, don't let these exagerations about Jim take you over. Mr. Morrison was not like Oliver Stone had written about him, and it makes me sick that they make him look like such a bad guy, when in reality, most of that didn't happen. But, Val Kilmer was the best choice the play Jim Morrison, and all together, the movie was GREAT!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "....excellent, great insight of how Jim really saw the worl
Review: Great movie! A MUST for any Doors fan. Not only historically accurate, but very dramatic.

--Boddah

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Script Bad, Actor Good
Review: The script to Oliver Stone's The Doors may not have been great, but V. Kilmer did a good job as Jim Morrison. I am a fan of Jim Morrison's writing and the Doors' music, and I think VK took Morrison on, body and spirit. A few moments in the film, in particular, are extraordinary, where his resemblance to/embodiment of Jim Morrison is uncanny... (*If you saw the movie and you're a Doors' fan, you can't have missed that.)

I agree that the soundtrack was fantastic, however maintain that Val Kilmer was the right one to play Morrison. In fact, I read that Val Kilmer was recorded singing along with Jim Morrison's voice on the last song in the film. For those who feel he was the wrong choice, go back and listen to how well he did that. I am a singer and I know what kind of work it takes to do something like that. It's hard enough to match your own voice, let alone someone else's. Credit where it's due. END

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: good music....
Review: Val Kilmer has the moves down, and does a good impression singing like Morrison...BUT...he does not have Jim Morrison's looks or charisma. John Travolta was slated to play Morrison, and HE has looks and charisma and acting talent...BUT the Doors said, "Travolta is a nice guy. Jim Morrison was not a nice guy." So they vetoed Travolta. (Didn't they see Travolta play a jerk in SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, for which he received an Oscar nomination?) I can't stand that Travolta is a Scientologist, but he would have been better than Kilmer. The other problem with this movie is that Oliver Stone is a lousy writer...and the script stinks. Norman Mailer said in "Vanity Fair": "THE DOORS is one of the all time bad movies." And he was right. The only reason I didn't give this movie one star is that the sound track is BRILLIANT. That goes without saying, since it's all Doors music. So, while you are watching a bad movie, you DO get to listen to great music. (Read Ray Manzarek's book LIGHT MY FIRE, and you'll see that he hated the movie.) END

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Doors: The best movie ever
Review: The Doors is one of my favorite movies. Val Kilmer is a great actor. E-Mail me and tell me your thoughts on this movie END

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: An Interesting but Inaccurate Portrayal
Review: As in Oliver Stone's "Nixon" and "JFK", the director lards his rockumentary with large chunks of fiction. It's not surprising that Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek found this film so objectionable. How would you feel if thousands of people were seeing a movie about you that was mostly untrue, and cast you in a bad light?

Still, as long as you accept that this is a dramatization of how one person perceives the Doors and their music, this is an enjoyable film, made worthwhile especially by Val Kilmer's uncanny impersonation of Jim Morrison. Stone's quasi-surrealistic approach evokes the time and place and seems particularly well suited to the inner world of Doors music.

A major objection is the emphasis on Morrison as a drunken, obnoxious lout. This side of Morrison is an easy target for a film maker, but it's hardly an accurate portrayal. I strongly recommend The Doors Collection DVD, which will give you a glimpse of Morrison's sensitive side. Also Manzarek's memoir "Light My Fire" will balance the picture for you.

Although the listing here says that this is an anamorphic transfer, according to information on other web sites this is NOT ANAMORPHIC, but is the same transfer used in the previous DVD release (and the laserdisc). It's nice to have the extras, but early reviews indicate that this is a particularly low quality transfer, and I'd prefer to hold out for a new anamorphic release. (The first Doors audio CDs were of very poor quality and were quietly remastered and reissued about four years later; hopefully this film will get the DVD treatment it deserves.)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Some tinkering with the facts, but worth watching...
Review: In his song, "Morrison," David Crosby sings (and I'm paraphrasing here, folks), "I've seen that movie (referring to The Doors), and it wasn't like that." Crosby, who undoubtedly crossed paths numerous times with Jim Morrison and company may have his own insight into the Doors. But even before his death, Morrison took on the legacy of the debauched, misunderstood poet, so it's inevitable that any film about him is going to reflect what collective wisdom considers the legacy of Jim Morrison. Oliver Stone, no stranger to controversy, does an admirable job here capturing the period, and Kilmer deserved an best actor Oscar for his uncanny ability to disappear as an actor and make us believe we are watching Morrison. Some of the movie is silly, and Meg Ryan was really miscast for the part of Pamela Morrison. The surrealistic beginning of the movie was outright silly, with a pre-teen Morrison supposedly watching a Native American shaman unseen by others at the scene of a car wreck. Rock musicians in the late '60s and early '70s didn't have the clout that musicians do today and record companies ground them down by forcing album after album and tour after tour. That sheer exhaustion led many to reliance on drugs, and with that the death of so many talents: Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin, Keith Moon, and so on. This movie would have been better had it focused as an "insiders'" view of the Doors and conveyed the day to day, unrelenting stress that the musicians were under. There's no explanation why Morrison became a drunkard -- but it would have been more understandable if we'd been presented with a view of his life in a fishbowl, a fate the other three Doors weren't subjected to with the vehemence that Morrison was. For many, Morrison WAS the Doors, and the band's failure to produce anything of note after his death in Paris in '71 is gives credence to that. Morrison was a talented, emotional, sensitive soul -- and the music industry ate him alive. Stone does a good job of capturing the times and the essence of Morrison, but this movie doesn't deserve five stars because leaving out a critical portion of the "big picture" doesn't quite tell the full story. So, maybe David Crosby is right...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Flawed but Fascinating Film.
Review: When a young man by the name of Jim Morrison (Val Kilmer), who writes Poetry and Studying Film in the University of Los Angeles. When Jim falls in love with a beautiful young woman (Meg Ryan). But then, his life slowly changes, when he decide to quit film school to be a songwriter and singer with the help of his close friend (Klye MacLachlan). Jim and his friend, together, they form a band called "The Doors" with two another members (Frank Whaley and Kevin Dillon). Which "The Doors" becomes One of the Most Sensual and Exciting Figures in the History of Rock and Roll, especially the lead singer-Morrison from the Sixties. Which the legendary outlaw, who rocked America's Consciousness-forever.

Directed by Oliver Stone (Any Given Sunday, Born on the 4th of July, The Hand) made a fascinating drama that make Stone's One of his Best Films. Kilmer is Perfectly Cast as Jim Morrison. The Supporting Cast are Terrific, including:Kathleen Quinlan and Micheal Madson. Also Rock Singer:Billy Idol, Cult Star:Crispin Glover and Film Director:Stone appears in Cameos. DVD has an sharp non-anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer and an digitally remastered-Dolby Digital 5.0 Surround Sound. This DVD is the Director appoved transfer for HD Televisions. DVD Feautres are only:Production Notes, Cast & Crew Bios and Theatrical Trailer. There's also a Special Edition DVD of this film also. This was a Box Office Disapointment and the only flaw in the film is Second Half, where the film slows down. The film is nicely photographed by Robert Richardson (JFK, Kill Bill Vol.1 & Vol.2, Natural Born Killers). Written by the Director:Stone and J.Randall Johnson. Panavision. Grade:A-.


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