The Doors (1991)

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writers (WGA):

Randall Jahnson (written by) and
Oliver Stone (written by)

Release Date:

1 March 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Tagline:

The Ultimate Story of Sex, Drugs & Rock 'N' Roll

Plot:

The story of the famous and influential 1960's rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Rock Band | 1960s | Television Broadcasting | Arrest

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Val Kilmer	...	Jim Morrison
Meg Ryan	...	Pamela Courson
Kyle MacLachlan	...	Ray Manzarek
Frank Whaley	...	Robby Krieger
Kevin Dillon	...	John Densmore
Michael Wincott	...	Paul Rothchild
Michael Madsen	...	Tom Baker
Josh Evans	...	Bill Siddons
Dennis Burkley	...	Dog
Billy Idol	...	Cat
Kathleen Quinlan	...	Patricia Kennealy
John Densmore	...	Engineer - Last Session
Gretchen Becker	...	Mom
Jerry Sturm	...	Dad
Sean Stone	...	Young Jim

MPAA:

Rated R for heavy drug content, and for strong sexuality and language.

Runtime:

140 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (analog 70 mm prints) | CDS (digital 35 mm and 70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (analog 35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Iceland:14 | Portugal:M/18 | Australia:MA (DVD re-rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:PG (TV rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Canada:18A (video rating) | Canada:R | Chile:18 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:16 | Norway:15 | South Korea:(Banned) (original rating) | South Korea:18 (re-rating) (cut) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Bill Graham Films

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Oliver Stone]Morrison's film professor.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When the band is playing "The End" at the Whiskey a Go Go, the drums are not in time.

Quotes:

Jim Morrison: [stands up] I'm lying, I *am* afraid.
[Jim turns around and walks away]
Pamela: [calling after him] Jim! Don't go away! Come dance with me!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bondi Tsunami (2004)

Soundtrack:

L.A. Woman

Absorbing movie - i didn't want it to end. (my only friend...)

Utterly absorbing bio-pic of Jim Morrison. The name Val Kilmer is, or should be, synonymous with incredible acting that is not merely natural or convincing, but immensely fun and commanding. You may have noticed while watching his recent Wonderland - Val has the ability to make a picture. Here, he IS The Doors: The Movie. There, he WAS Wonderland. I am exaggerating, i suppose. For Oliver Stone has crafted a marvellous film which makes you feel like you've experienced what the sixties were like. Through using The Doors actual music (what was missing from the recent Sylvia, the art of the subject itself - her poetry) to help tell its story and colour its scenes, and filmic techniques to create the drug-induced world vision of Jim Morrison, Stone really takes you into the world of his movie, and the world of the sixties.

This movie made me appreciate what an exciting experience The Doors were, and has actually cultivated love in me for their music. I didn't realise they had more than one classic: Light my Fire, The End, People are Strange, Love her Madly, Break on Through to the Other Side, Riders on the Storm, Touch Me, Roadhouse Blues (Let it roll, baby roll) and probably more i'm yet to discover.

For a better recreation of what Andy Warhol's factory actually felt like, see I Shot Andy Warhol. Crispin Glover actually looks more like Andy than the guy who plays him in "I Shot," but the guy in I Shot much better captured Andy's vagueness and almost unconsciousness while in conversation. This, however, is but three minutes in the movie and has no effect on it as a whole.

Oliver Stone has an amusing cameo: a young film student, Jim Morrison, shows his short film to his class, who are uncouth and disparaging about it, after which camera pans to reveal Oliver Stone standing at the lecturn, (obviously, playing the film professor), who says: "Why don't we ask the author what he thinks?"