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The Doors (2-Disc Special Edition)

The Doors (2-Disc Special Edition)

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Rock Spectacle.
Review: Oliver Stone's "The Doors" is a blistering, visually hypnotic, visceral and memorable film about Jim Morrison, that leather-wearing idol of the rock world. "The Doors" perfectly captures an era during which an enduring artist emerged. Like "Platoon," "Born On The Fourth Of July" and "JFK," "The Doors," which is less-serious than those other movies, is still an important dramatic film document of an era America, indeed, the whole world lived through. Val Kilmer gives his greatest performance as the rock star Morrison. Nothing Kilmer has done surpasses this. He seems possessed, incredibly making us forget who he is and making us believe that he IS Jim Morrison. He even sang most of the material live, especially the live concerts and went hoarse from doing the 1969 Miami concert sequence. He captures the energy and madness we see in Morrison's most wild performances. Stone's film is not an inside job into Morrison, but an outside view of the man and his times. And of course, there's some great music here. There are truly hypnotic scenes, like the one where the band performs "The End" at the Whisky A Go-Go. And on DVD the visuals look great. Of course there is a lot of unpleasantness when we see Morrison falling deeper into the trap of decadence brought by fame. But I think Stone was giving a warning of how excess can kill a great artist. The concert sequences are spectacular and have the authenticity of a documentary. I do agree that it is one of Stone's lesser movies, but still a good one. It is the best rock movie made so far. Of course it shouldn't be declared THE definitive account of Jim Morrison, but it should be seen by anyone who's either a fan of The Doors, intrigued by the 60s, or is just looking for a true rock movie. Vibrant and alive, "The Doors" is a blast.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: There Are Things Known, And Unknown
Review: What can I say about "The Doors" that hasn't been said already. First of all Val Kilmer was so good in this movie that when I hear a Door's song I picture him instead of Jim Morrison. I wished I was born in the 50's so I could have seen The Doors. Oliver Stone dipicts Morrison as a poet trapped in a rock star's body. The epic rise and fall of the Doors is great but sad at the same time. They had so much more to offer us. Remember people the Doors were only around for 5 years. Until Morrison's untimely death. The rest of the Doors are protrayed as innocent bystanders. John Densmore was pissing me off with his constent whining and crying. Robby Krieger was a cool guy, and Ray Manzarek was supercool. All these guys look like people that could have gone to high school with. The film has a nostaglic feeling to it, almost as if is a dockumentary rather than a film. Every time I see "The Doors" it feels as if its the first time.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A FLOPPER
Review: This is the movie of a misguided idiot and his little band of wannabe musicians. Morrison was a jerk when he was alive, with his adolescent behaviour and lyrics that never made sense and were ridiculous to listen to.
Avoid this one. I like Oliver Stone, but unfortunately not even he can make a failure such as Morrison look good.
Unlike others (hey, lennonfan4), I respect others reviews and acknowledge the fact that we live in a democratic country, where everybody's opinion matters, so let's all act like adults and stop attacking others reviews when they don't agree with yours.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Entertaining as a movie but hardly factual.
Review: Oliver Stone has a creative imagination and uses it well in this biography of the legendary '60's rock band "The Doors". Unfortunately, Stone forgets that most of the people portrayed in this movie are still very much alive and have a much better memory than he does! The music is fantastic, Val Kilmer is pretty good as the legendary Jim Morrison (a little too pretty maybe as Morrison always looked a little rough around the edges!) but I hope nobody leaves this movie thinking this is how it was. Buy "The Doors: VH1 Storytellers" to get a hint of what this band was about!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "The Doors" Light Up the Screen.......
Review: This review refers to the Artisan Special Edition(2disc)DVD of "The Doors".....

Become immersed in the wild ride that Oliver Stone takes you on in this legendary film of a legendary rocker.The extrordinary life story of Jim Morrison, played eeriley by Val Kilmer, will keep you mesmerized and stay with you long after the movie has ended.

The film explores "The Doors", from their beginnings in Venice Beach, California, where they exploded onto the rock scene,breaking the mold of music in the 60's, to their rise as superstars. Morrison's life is the main focus as a senstive poet type dropping out of film school, to becoming the Peyote addicted,culture shocking, philosphical rock idol.The LSD trips, the visions of this genius, his personal life and of course the famous controversial concerts are all told through Stone's unique cinematic magic.

You'll get lost not only in the time setting of the story but of course in the music as well. "The Doors" electrifying music is heard throughout the film and follows them chronologically on their journey. It's a film for fans of the cinema and music alike.

As mentioned above Val Kilmer is uncanny in not only his performance as Morrison, but seems to take on the physical appearance as well. The band members played by Kevin Dillon, Kyle Maclachlan and Frank Whaley are extraordinary in their portrayals. Meg Ryan, in a very dramatic roll as Jim's girl Pam is brilliant.
This "Special Edition" DVD is the one to have(and it's not as expensive as the other) It's a 2 disc set, with a fabulous widescreen picture, and a 5.1 Dolby Dig(get to this through the special feature selections) audio track that will blow you away. Lots and lots of special features. On the disc with the movie you can listen to Stone's commentary where he fills you in on how the band met, the genesis of the songs, and where he has taken license with the story. The second disc is filled with featurettes and production notes. Looking at the Technical info for the other edition ("The Collectors") it seems to be longer by 30 minutes and may have some extras not included with this one, but it is not in the 5.1 which for me was the deciding factor in this film featuring this exciting soundtrack.

So get out those mood rings and leather fringe vests and get ready to rock with "The Doors".....
"This Is The End"...........Laurie

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not Completely Truthful
Review: Don't get me wrong. I enjoy watching most anything connected to the Doors. However, this movie plays very loose with the truth on many aspects of the Doors' Music Career. The story jumps so quickly from Ray and Jim's meeting on Venice Beach to the band recording Light My Fire. Nothing is mentioned on how Densmore and Kreiger joined the band. Val Kilmer was a good choice for the role of Jim Morrison. However too much of the film dwelled on Jim's demons. Oliver Stone portrays Morrison as an evil person whether he was drunk or not. In addition, he gives the viewers the impression that there was a great deal of tension between Morrison and Manzarek. Just note the tension at the party between Ray and Jim during the infamous "duck" incident. This is simply not true. Just read through Light My Fire and you will realize that Jim Morrison was a good person with alot of problems.

I enjoy hearing the Doors songs and they lead well into some of the scenes particularly when Val sings The Spy to Pamela. The concert footage is fabulous as Val really pushes the right buttons. The airport scene is pretty cool as well. The lighting and scenery is certainly well done.

Most fans of the band will probably enjoy this film as long as they take it in a light hearted way. However, those people who are looking for an accurate account of the Doors career may be somewhat dissappointed. Visually though this is quite enjoyable.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Fiction Not Fact
Review: For a director who tries to show Jim Morrison as a poet who turned to philosophy and music to discover the truth about himself I have to say I am dissappointed because Oliver Stone created a drunk egoistic poser. Jim Morrison was the lizard king not a sex machine.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not Good
Review: Sadly, not even the talented Oliver Stone can make Jim Morrison look good.
Jim was a wannabe poet and an even worse singer. This movie potrays his life from his childish hijinks to his laughable lyrics.
Avoid, and pick up any movies with Madonna acting. They are the real gems.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Entertaining as a movie but hardly factual.
Review: Oliver Stone has a creative imagination and uses it well in this biography of the legendary '60's rock band "The Doors". Unfortunately, Stone forgets that most of the people portrayed in this movie are still very much alive and have a much better memory than he does! The music is fantastic, Val Kilmer is pretty good as the legendary Jim Morrison (a little too pretty maybe as Morrison always looked a little rough around the edges!) but I hope nobody leaves this movie thinking this is how it was. Buy "The Doors: VH1 Storytellers" to get a hint of what this band was about!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Stone's Lone Stab at Comedy
Review: It seems like every great director attempts a comedy at some point in his career. Stone is no exception, and with THE DOORS, he makes an unfortunate foray into feature length hijinks.

Don't get me wrong...the film does have some funny moments. The scene where Kilmer follows Pamela Courson home and hangs out in the window is a classic. Pamela sees him and asks why he followed her, and with impeccable comic touch, Kilmer says "Because you're the one." Quite a sidesplitter!

Unfortunately, the jokes get old after a while, and by the end, you're almost wishing that Stone had taken a more serious approach to the material. Even Morrison's wacky Indian sidekick ends up looking forlorn.

My advice, if you want to see a great musical comedy, check out SPINAL TAP. As for Stone, he should leave the one-liners to Woody Allen and stick with heady dramas.


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