The Doors [Blu-ray]

There's a lot of disparity of opinion here about whether the film is great or terrible, and the truth is that it really is pretty good; not mind bendingly brilliant, but a really honest artistic attempt at recreating the life of the Doors and Jim Morrision at the time. I was afraid it would be a shameless rummage through Doors hits, and an excuse to plaster them on screen, exploiting the Morrison myth, but it's really not. It follows Morrison from the beginning of the 60's up until his death, and along the way gives a perspective on the wayward ride there. It is not a definitive account, but how could it be? It will not satisfy everyone's 'expectations', but then again the myth surrounding Morrison is so prolific and varying that no film ever will do this. Also, people looking to mindlessly venerate Jim Morrison might want to reconsider buying it, or change their perspective. It is not a hallowed hall of shining glory all the way through, and if it was, it wouldn't be a very accurate depiction of Jim's life, or the Doors' music.

What it is, is a really good attempt at rendering a subjective look at the Doors and Morrison; part myth, part fact, and at times as listless as Morrison's own mind must have been. It's helped on by Val Kilmer who, as the official review up there says, does a frighteningly good Morrison singing impression. He looks the part and acts it well, and is follwed by great supporting actors. There are some reviews here deriding Kilmer, but I think from looking at them, they mostly have to do with people projecting their desire to have the 'real' Jim Morrison, and that's not going to happen. Any actor trying to live up to the myth people may have painted in their heads won't happen, but I personally feel that Kilmer's attempt is bang on, and probably gets a lot closer to a depiction of a 'real' Morrison than any of the fantasies people have about him will do. Kilmer's not always great, but he's perfect for this. Some reviews here like the one calling for Kilmer to be replaced with Russel Brand need some serious thought put into them. He may not be perfect (and who is), but Kilmer does this role justice. People having done drugs does not make them like Jim Morrison.

If you're a Doors fan, it will almost certainly give you a real kick, especially if you look at it artistically, the way I believe it was meant to be viewed. It is, after all, an artistic, not a definitive or historical, depiction of a life that few people who were even involved in it must have understood. The music's good, the myth is there, the feel is right. It can't be a classic because of how difficult classic originality is to produce when in part you're trying to recreate something. However it is, despite a lot of misguided underrating, actually pretty good. If what you want is a perfect recreation of your hopes, definitive history, flawless homage or shameless plug, then don't bother watching this film, because you won't get them here. However if you are willing to go along with it and not use it for cheap wish fulfillment, then buy it; it's well made and it really is worth seeing, but more than that, it lets something special live on.

Oliver Stone has captured and era and tells the story of The Doors. Val Kilmer has the most convincing voice with actually singing, sounding like the voice of Jim Morrison - this is no lip snyc act, which makes this performance just believalble.

Love or hate the Doors, or Jim Morrison, those were the days and this film caputures the zeitgeist of the time.

Is everybody IN? Is EVERYBODY in? Because my review of The Doors is about to begin!

Nearly 20 years after he died, Oliver Stone sought to make a film about the rapid rise and heavy fall of Jim Morrison, the formation of The Doors, his relationship with Pamela Courson (Meg Ryan) and everything leading up to the man's death. Stone created a piece of work that is a triumph of both style and substance and brought out the performance of his life from its lead, Val Kilmer.

We see the moment when they were asked not to sing 'higher' on The Ed Sullivan Show and replace the word with 'better' - since 'higher' was perceived as a reference to drugs - and they chose to defy this. It wasn't all factually accurate, though. After having his student film criticised by most of the class at UCLA, the reason Jim Morrison didn't quit, and they also didn't smoke peyote in the desert.

One of the biggest tragedies, other than Morrison's death, can be summed up in just one question - Just what happened to Val Kilmer's career after his wonderful performance in this film? I know it's an overused phrase, but he "owns" the stage here, so to speak. He could've made the big-time and was on his way up after appearing in Top Gun, but duff choices included The Real McCoy, Batman Forever and The Saint and despite a good turn in Michael Mann's Heat in 1995, things just stalled from there for him.

The rest of the cast is wide and varied, but provide adequate support including Meg Ryan, plus Frank Whaley as guitarist Robby Krieger, Kevin Dillon as drummer John Densmore and, especially, Kyle MacLachlan as keyboardist Kyle MacLachlan.

I've always loved this film and I remember after seeing it in the cinema while I was at University, I phoned my Dad the next day and said "I went to see The Doors last night", and in all innocence, he replied, "Oh, were they good?" :)

Finally, as an aside, Jim Morrison died in July 1971... I was born in April 1972... 9 months after conception... Hmm? Think about it...

(I'm just kidding)

Presented in 2.35:1 and in 1080p high definition, the picture is crystal (ship) clear and has no faults whatsoever. Colours are deep and bold and it's as enjoyable to watch the film on this disc as it was in the cinema back in 1991 and evokes brilliantly the period of the late 1960s going into the early '70s. It's a visual feast with the camera swaying around a lot, getting across Morrison's drink- and drug-addled state of mind.

The sound is in 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, for which I got the DTS 5.1 version with my equipment. As well as split-surround effects used on frequent occasions along with the background music and ambience, pride of place certainly goes to the music of the band in question. And at one point, where Morrison has sex with editor-in-chief of Jazz and Pop magazine, Patricia Kennealy (Kathleen Quinlan) after drinking each other's blood, all to the tune of Carmina Burana, it led to one couple in the audience walking out!

There are two supplemental pieces. First up is: Jim Morrison: An American Poet in Paris (52:09), a documentary looking at the last four months of his life. It attempts to tell "Who was Jim Morrison"? as well as trying to work out the cause of his mysterious death, given that there was no autopsy at the time, and features interviews with experts and people who knew him in France at the time. Hence, all the dialogue is in French and Optimum have no option but to actually give us English subtitles here(!)

Back to the Roots (55:53) is a documentary from Studio Canal, featuring Oliver Stone, Kyle MacLachlan and others (no further cast members, however) including The Stranglers' Jean-Jacques Burnel, photographer and close friend of Morrison's Frank Lisciandro, journalist and Deviants founder Mick Farren and many more. Mixed in with clips from the film, they all talk about working and their experiences with Jim Morrison and the band.

The menu mixes the opening instrumental from "The End" and other eerie audio with black and white clips from the film. There are subtitles in 10 languages... BUT NONE OF THEM ARE IN ENGLISH!! What on earth is all that about? As such, I'm not labelling them here. That's just bloody moronic! Just what goes on in the heads of the people behind the scenes at Optimum who makes these made subtitles and/or chaptering decisions.

On that subject, the total number of chapters is an improved 20 (over the usual 12), but it's still not enough with the film running for 141 minutes.

Before the main menu appears, a static country/language selection screen came up. There wasn't an option for UK so I selected Australia. What an odd screen to have.

Film: 10/10
Picture: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Extras: 5/10