The Doors (Special Edition)
by Oliver Stone
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dennis Burkley, Gretchen Becker, John Densmore, Kendal Deichen, Kevin DillonDirector: Oliver Stone
Brand: Lions Gate
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 138 minutes
Published: 2001-08-01
DVD Release Date: 2001-08-14
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Lions Gate
Movie Reviews of The Doors (Special Edition)
Movie Review: Although I live in the subconscious, our pale reason hides the infinite from us
Summary: 5 Stars
The Doors, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison is an epic and visually stunning film that attempts to tell not only about the rise and fall of a band, and in particular its singer, a complex and enigmatic figure, but also about the "Strange Days" of a unique period in history known as The 60's. People who complain about the facts being distorted are missing the point. Due to the subjectivity of truth and the uncertainty of factual accuracy, this film isn't aiming for objective truth. It is Stone's vision, and besides, a lot of the events didn't occur in the physical realm at all:
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Jim Morrison: I believe in a long prolonged derangement of the senses to attain the unknown... Although I live in the subconscious, our pale reason hides the infinite from us.
What we have with Morrison is a rock star who wanted to be a poet--who was a poet. He wanted to be Dionysus, the god of wine, the inspirer of ritual madness and ecstasy, and he became Dionysus. In becoming the physical embodiment of Dionysus on Earth he may have fudged his facts. He may have neglected to mention that his father was an Admiral, rather than deceased as he claimed. In creating his own myth, he may have played fast and loose with the truth, but once again, you are missing the point.
"Mr Mojo Risin" is an anagram for "Jim Morrison"
Val Kilmer really wanted to play this role, and he tried very hard to be cast, even going as far as recording a demo of himself singing Doors songs. According to Stone and some band members, when given the blindfold test with Kilmer's tape, they couldn't tell the difference. From the first frame of The Doors he IS Jim Morrison. He starts out as a young and relatively innocent Jim Morrison and carries the character through to his final days as a bloated and bearded beast. Jim Morrison was the self proclaimed Lizard King. Morrison WAS the Lizard King, but he could also be an obnoxious drunk, and both things are true. Val Kilmer gave an awesome performance as Jim Morrison, both the poet and the obnoxious drunk, both the man and the myth.
Aiding and abetting Val Kilmer's performance, just as The Doors ably supported Morrison, was an excellent cast with a few standouts that I would like to mention:
Kyle MacLachlan as Doors Keyboardist Ray Manzarek, Kevin Dillon as drummer John Densmore, and Frank Whaley as guitarist Robby Krieger were very supportive. They kind of stayed in the background, but as sidemen that is their gig. When you have a charismatic actor like Val Kilmer playing an even more charismatic singer like Jim Morrison, you know you're not going to steal the show. They all learned how to play their instruments, which took a lot of time and practice, though MacLachlan may have had it in his blood already, as he claims he's a descendent of Johan Sebastion Bach.
Michael Madsen was Tom Baker, an actor best known for a Warhol film, "I, a Man" but he was friends with Morrison long before that. In the film, I got the impression that they met through Warhol, but the reverse is true. Morrison was supposed to play opposite Nico, but management talked him out of it, and he suggested his drinkin' buddy Tom Baker for the role. Anyway, Madsen is menacing as Baker, even though Morrison has already descended to a pretty depraved level, you are concerned when Madsen shows up. Uh oh, this guy is a really bad influence! Actually, Madsen provides one of the best scenes, when Baker berates Morrison for becoming a bloated beast and belittles his accomplishments:
Tom Baker: [to Jim] Whatcha gonna do for act three, man? Puke on Heaven's door?
Billy Idol as Cat has a good comeback, though. He tells Baker that IF he ever does anything, please tell him so he can whiz on it. Billy Idol was supposed to have a much bigger role but due to a motorcycle accident, it was severely curtailed. A pity.
Meg Ryan gave a great performance as Pamela Courson, Jim's girlfriend. She was somewhere between Sally Albright in "When Harry Met Sally" and Bonnie in "Hurlyburly." Kind of a girl-next-door, all bright and bubbly, who with prolonged exposure to Jim's decadence becomes a bonnie bit of guttersnipe. Ryan wavered between and balanced the two extremes well.
Kathleen Quinlan portrayed Patricia Keneally well. Patricia was a rock journalist who questions some of the facts in Morrison's self made myth, but also falls for the devil may care singer. In fact, she's a practicing Wiccan and the two are wed in a Handfast ceremony. Quinlan was also in Apollo 13, giving her a Bacon Number of 1. The real Keneally complained that she was falsely depicted, but Stone admits she was a composite character culled from perhaps 10 different women, compressed into her character in the name of dramatic economy.
Michael Wincott also made quite an impression as record producer Paul Rothchild. Though he no doubt looked nothing like the man who had produced the first six of The Doors albums, besides lots of other credits to his name, Wincott gave another of his trade marked intense performances. Catch him in "Basquiat" if you want to see more of his work.
Like Mr Mojo Risin', Oliver Stone is likewise in the myth creation business. He bent the facts to dramatize the story and make it more cinematic. I wasn't buying so much Oliver Stone's use of the Indian Shaman as metaphor, but I will allow him such conceits. Director Oliver Stone felt a deep connection to the singer that began when Stone was a soldier in Viet Nam. He wasn't a popular music person before that, but hearing The Doors music really struck a chord. His first screenplay, which formed the basis for his film "Platoon" was originally envisioned with the main character played by Jim Morrison, and Stone actually contacted Morrison about playing the role. Stone sees The Doors as filling the void in all that Flower Power during the 60's. They were the darkness amidst all that sunshine. He sees a parallel with himself in that he's an artist who goes to that dark place, who pushes into that deep, dark abyss.
There are a lot of people who didn't like his depiction of Jim Morrison and The Doors, but I take a different view. Ray Manzarek has since said that the movie is a horrible account of the history of the band. Ray did not participate or contribute in the making of the film, though he was asked. Maybe his dissatisfaction prompted him to write his own book in 1998: *Light My Fire: My Life with The Doors*. The other two band members, Krieger and Densmore, participated in the film. In fact, Krieger wanted Stone to do the project because he was a fan of the film "Salvador" and he convinced the other Doors to sign on. Densmore's book, *Riders on the Storm: My Life with Jim Morrison and the Doors*, an account of the band's rise and fall from his own perspective, was a primary source of material for the film. It took 20 years for the film to be made, mostly due to getting permission from the band and family members.
So, bottom line: It was Oliver Stone's tribute to Jim Morrison, and if other people saw him differently, they should write their own book or make their own movie. If you want to learn more about Jim, read those other books, or better yet read his poetry and listen to his music.
It's fitting that Jim Morrison is buried in Cimetière du Père Lachaise, alongside such poets and artists as Honoré de Balzac, Guillaume Apollinaire, Sarah Bernhardt, Georges Bizet, Frédéric Chopin, Eugène Delacroix, Isadora Duncan, Stéphane Grappelli, Amedeo Modigliani, Moliere, Yves Montand, Édith Piaf, Marcel Proust, Gioacchino Rossini, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, and Oscar Wilde.
THE TOP TEN MOST PERTAINENT FILM ROLES BY THE CAST OF THE DOORS
Masked and Anonymous (2003) .... Val Kilmer was Animal Wrangler
Hurlyburly (New Line Platinum Series) (1998) .... Meg Ryan was Bonnie
Basquiat (1996) .... Michael Wincott was Rene Ricard
Apollo 13 (Widescreen Collector's Edition) (1995) .... Kathleen Quinlan was Marilyn Lovell (Kevin Bacon was also in the cast)
Showgirls (1995) .... Kyle MacLachlan was Zack Carey
Reservoir Dogs (1992) .... Michael Madsen was Mr. Blonde - Vic Vega
JFK - Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1991) .... Frank Whaley was Oswald Imposter (credited on Director's Cut (Kevin Bacon also in JFK (Oliver Stone directed JFK)))
When Harry Met Sally... (1989) .... Meg Ryan was Sally Albright
Blue Velvet (1986) .... Kyle MacLachlan was Jeffrey Beaumont
Platoon (1986) .... Kevin Dillon was Bunny, Platoon was directed by Oliver Stone
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Jim Morrison: Come on, let's get some tacos.
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Summary of The Doors (Special Edition)
Thanks in large part to its meticulous re-creation of the late 1960s and early 1970s rock scene and the uncannily authentic performance by Val Kilmer as legendary Doors front man 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"Thanks in large part to its meticulous re-creation of the late 1960s and early 1970s rock scene and the uncannily authentic performance by Val Kilmer as legendary Doors front man 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
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