Glenn Walters
Oliver Stone's homage to one James Douglas Morrison is one of the most brutally nostalgic, emotionally moving, and savagely honest films about a Rock stars fall from grace that I have ever seen.The film itself is two hours plus, and chronicles The Doors rise to fame and fortune on the back of Morrison's charisma, sexuality, darkness, and poetic lyrics. Fundamentally, the movie's seeds are in what happens to Morrison after the Doors become famous, and focuses primarily on Morrison's complex personality, fueled by fame and fortune, alcohol and drugs, and a young man embedded in the 60's social and political upheaval in the United States.I first viewed this Oliver Stone film after the movie's release circa 1991 - 1993. From the opening of the film, I was enchanted, the recording studio, where Morrison was recording his poetry on his birthday, to the mysterious and dark song, "Riders on the Storm" accompanying the first film sequences of the movie were just wonderful.The film is beautifully shot in CinemaScope with state of the art technology of the time (1990's), the color, textures, and cinematography are magnificent, The soundtrack is impeccable, acting superb, and the screenplay is a condensed masterpiece.Val Kilmer plays the role of Jim Morrison in what is his finest performance as an actor, and captures so beautifully, Morrison's complexity, his charm and charisma, his darkness and intelligence, and also Morrison's anxieties. Kilmer deserved the best actor gong for his portrayal of the troubled rock star. The sad pathos of the film and the introduction of "Death" as a character in the movie, as what Bergman did in "The Seventh Seal", was a stroke of master genius on Oliver Stones part. The whole film took on an almost premonition type of dark journey to his death, in which the protagonist already knew his fate, and was wallowing in this realm for only a short amount of time, brilliant.There are some inaccuracies in the film, although 90% of the movie is based on actual events and real people, and is pretty much in chronological order, Stone has taken license in one or two scenes in order to convey a concept, give context to, or to highlight a particular incident. Morrison was and will always be an enigma, and rightly or wrongly the doors will unfortunately always be subservient to the Jim Morrison myth, the film highlights this in utterly uncompromising terms, which may dismay some fans of the doors, however, this was the reality, as was evidenced in the last two albums without Morrison. They didn't sell, and the remaining doors had lost their appeal without their endearing front man.Morrison was a man in pain, he seemed to have an ongoing psycho- drama with his parents and could not reconcile his differences with them, and this could have led up to what triggered his substance abuse, however we can only speculate about this. I highly recommend seeing this film whether you are a doors fan or not, because it is a brilliant interpretation of a tragic poet, his quest for immortality, his reflection of a society, and the way he perceived it, his magnificent philosophical insight, and his ultimate sacrifice for his art.Glenn Cuthbertson
Laura Clay
This film is an absolute gem, for both Doors fans, and those looking for a great biopic to watch. Oliver Stone did a great job directing a stellar cast, and combined with a fantastic soundtrack, this film is not one to be overlooked.Val Kilmer was just superb and I felt he really captured the magical and mysterious personality that was Jim Morrison (apparently he sang the songs so well that the real Doors couldn't tell the difference between who was Morrison and who was Kilmer), accompanied with a beautiful, and memorable, performance from Meg Ryan as Morrison's girlfriend Pamela Courson.This film reignited my love for the Doors, and even if you aren't a die-hard fan, I challenge you to watch this fantastic film and come away liking (if not loving) at least one song!
