Number of Discs
4
Certificate
18
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States of America
Additional Information
Oliver Stone might have considered his film a tribute to the enduring power of the Doors' music, but he seems to have also intended it as a cautionary tale on the perils of both celebrity and substance abuse. Starring Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison, the film focuses on the Lizard King from his days as a UCLA film student in the early 1960s to his death in a Paris hotel 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 as the Doors' fame begins to spread--with Morrison as the focus of attention--his 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. Kilmer gives an excellent performance, including a frighteningly accurate imitation of Morrison's singing. Stone's intimate familiarity with SoCal in the 1960s also provides the film with a high degree of surface verisimilitude.
Reviews
Empire - Oliver Stones hallucinatory psychodrama biopic of rock god/poet Jim Morrison goes further than most cinematic memoirs of artists in confronting its subject's destructive impulses while glorifying his creative energy, Los Angeles Times - ...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..., Rolling Stone - ...THE DOORS is a thrilling spectacle - the KING KONG of rock movies..., New York Times - ...Clamorous, reverential, much-larger-than-life....Kilmer captures all of Morrisons's reckless, insinuating appeal...
Sound source
Dolby Digital
Editor
David Brenner
Movie/TV Title
The Doors
Consumer Advice
Contains drug misuse
