The Doors (1991)
7/10
I love it and hate it , but love it a bit more than I hate it
26 July 2007
Warning: Spoilers
The Doors is itself a pretty good film providing entertainment, music, drama, etc. I have read three Doors books or bios and have all their albums. Yes, all of their albums(at least all their regular studio albums that I know of) with and without Jim. The movie is one of my favorites and the band is in my top 3. If you like the Doors then you will or should probably like this movie.

Oliver Stone sometimes uses neat special effects and camera angles that enhance the film's quality and enjoyment. I have few complaints about the casting. Val Kilmer does a wonderful job though Jason Patric( The Lost Boys) would have probably done it justice also. The time line is also incorrect through most the movie. For example, Jim was 22 or 23 in the London Fog in 1966, not 21 as he states.

One of my biggest complaints is Jim Morrison(Kilmer) has too much of a role and he is portrayed as mostly an inconsiderate, careless, asshole. Despite being the most interesting, idolized, and untouchable person in the band, Morrison is not the Doors. If Ray and Jim didn't meet on the beach that day there may have not been a Doors. According to the Doors books I have read, Jim was a college dropout(Maybe, this is still not clear to me)jobless bum sleeping on a rooftop eating mostly canned baked beans before Ray pieced together the band. Who knows Morrison may have died earlier as a poor bum. The same goes for Robbie and John. The Doors' sound was produced by all 4 guys.

I think Jim was a bit crazy at times but the movie seems to exaggerate this. Ray, Robbie, and John are depicted as more mature, boring adults babysitting and not communicating much with Jim, almost hating him. This was not the case in reality.

Anyways, I wish the movie would have focused more on the early years of band formation while evening out the character roles as much as possible. My favorite scenes are on the beach, at the Fog and Whiskey, in the desert, and at Ray's beach house for pratice and such.

If you haven't seen the movie and are at least a music fan, please watch it a few times.
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