The Doors (the movie) (1 Viewer)

mjp

Founding member
I had consumed a dozen grilled hot dogs and 40 or 50 beers yesterday, so I had to rest momentarily on the couch before really starting to celebrate. I turned on the TV and there on one of those movie channels was The Doors. I had only seen one or two minute pieces of this in passing, I'd never sat (or laid prone and motionless) through the whole thing.

What a piece of shit! It should be a midnight movie, like an unintentional comedy where the audience chants the lines as the ac-tors are saying them. Most "rock movies" are bad, but this one deserves some kind of "most awful" award. Val Kilmer should be the first inductee into the "Most Awful Rock Movie" Hall of Shame.

Who wrote the script for that train wreck? Every word out of "Morrison's" mouth is terrible, meaningless hippie "poetry." I'm pretty sure the guy spoke like a normal human being most of the time. But there is not one straight, conversational line in the movie from his character. And that shit with the Indians? I threw up in my mouth. The only good part of the movie is when that journalist busted him on his lies in the shower, and he had a hissy fit. I was hoping that cop in that scene would shoot him, not just mace him.

Every Doors show was magical, maaaan! Every word out of Morrison's mouth was poetry, maaaan! Everyone in 1967-70 dressed like costumed characters from an Austin Powers movie, maaaaaaan! What simplistic, idealistic crap.

I just wanted bad things to happen to every broad caricature character that came on screen. I wanted the whole cast to die in a big bathtub. When Morrison finally does die at the end, I was like, FINALLY! Good ridance to a talentless asswipe!

I'm not saying Morrison in real life was talentless. Though I think he got the Michael Jackson treatment because he died young, and his talent, such as it was, was blown way, way out of proportion. But the movie made him look like he lacked any discernable scrap of talent. He was just an irritating fucker throughout the whole thing. If Stone meant this as a tribute to Morrison, he sure fucked it up. He created an utterly unlikable character.

Oliver Stone is a douchebag anyway. He reminds me of Spike Lee - I want to like his work, but too much of it is too awful to like. Natural Born Killers was good. Looking at a list of his other movies, I just see a lot of preachy, pretentious crap. The Doors really stands out of his grand body of work as a special, crowning accomplishment of awfulness.

You know, in my opinion. ;)
 
I wanted so much to like it, but it wasn't very good at all.

I blame Oliver Stone 100%. I think there could be a good movie made about Morrison; he was an interesting character, even if a bit of a prick. but no one with any skill will touch it now because it has the Oliver Stone stink all over it.
 
Ray Manzarek did'nt like Oliver Stones movie either. In his book, "Light My Fire", he writes that the movie gives a distorted view of Jim Morrison.
Here's what he writes about Stones'version of Morrison's student film (the one Morrison did at university):

"In the Oliver Stone movie "The Doors", Oliver tried to re-create Jim's film based on what I told him and what I'm now telling you. Of course, he went completely over the top. A grotesque exaggeration. And how he turned Jim into a disciple of Adolph Hitler, well...perhaps someone ought to look into Mr. Stone's psyche; into what I perceive to be his latent anti-Semitism, and not so latent fascist tendencies. I like to think that little student movie is as revealing of Oliver's real problems as anything he's ever done. It's all there in capsule form. A wonderful reduction of psychotic leanings...Somehow or other, Oliver Stone perverted this (the student film) into the bizarre, strangely anti-Semitic tract that he put into HIS version of Jim's film. And then it goes up on the big screen as the truth, as reality. And people see the movie and think, That Jim Morrison was one sick dude. But it ain't Jim, you dig? It was the Stone. My friend's student movie was a much lighter, much friendlier, much funnier kind of thing."

Later on in the book, Manzarek points out some other situations which were wrongly portrayed in Stone's movie and ends by saying:

"So get your facts straight, Mr. Two Face. Grow up and see it like it really is, you fascist. Anything for a plot point, ehh, Oliver?
There, I feel better now. I had something stuck in my spleen."
 
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A few years ago this young girl showed up at his house and wanted to show off her new tatoo. He knew her but I'd never seen her before. Anyway she shows us this tatoo and says "look I got a tatoo of Jim morrison on my calf." she showed us her tat and the first thing my friend says is where did you get that picture from? From the movie box, she says all proud. Ya well you got yourself a tatoo of Val Kilmer trying to be Jim Morrison. Hahaha!!! Nice try.
 
I have trouble watching Oliver Stone flicks in general but yeah, the Doors was PAINFUL. Why the hell did they pepper all the dialogue with lyrics from Doors songs? So fucking hokey!
 
Stone's "Alexander the Great" was very bad also. Morrison was supposed to have made himself up with hairdo to look like Alex they say.
 
I actually think Kilmer does a decent job but the movie is hokey. Stone would say a movie is to tell a story not necessarily a true story, artistic license you see and he has a point. I'm a big Doors fan, big Morrison fan but he was basically a failure as a person so I can respect Stone's verson as I know Manzarek's would have him healing sick animals or something.

Morrison's talent is overated but given the time and the medium he worked in he did very well. Would he have become a great writer or poet-probably not. Did he write some of the most literate lyrics in rock and have an intelligent, perceptive mind and a great voice and a great band to back him up-I beleive so.

A "true" movie about Morrison would have all the aspects of Stone's movie along with his quieter moments, great sense of humour(which he was supposed to have) and maybe something that would resemble a normal human being. Morrison wrecked his life with alcohol, something Buk did to an extent also.
 
True, whether the script was good or bad (I think it was somewhat bad), Val Kilmer did a good job of portraying Morrison, under the circumstances...
 
I actually think Kilmer does a decent job...
Hmm, have to take issue with that. One note, one note. High, low, angry, happy, suicidal -- he wiggles around with the same stupid, glazed over face. Nothing there.

And all the wigs and fake beards were really distracting. It looked like a high school play. Like Abraham Lincoln might walk out at any minute and talk about the war between the states.
 
I totally agree about the movie being terrible, and Jim Morrison being very over rated. If anyone wants to see how big of an ass Stone is, watch the "making of" or whatever it was on the DVD. That guy sucks.
 
So what do you really think of the movie mjp?, stop beating around the bush
ha
Funny, I loved it and just lent it to a friend.
Admiteddly, I wasn't in my prime back when the Doors were all that
but I do dig Morrison's 'story' and his music/lyrics.
Funny too, I just met a guy a couple of weeks ago who was there in the hey day and I had Jim playing and he said
"Man, that guy was a dick. He was drunk ALL the time, and I mean ALL the time."
Yeah, the guy claimed to know him
(I like him a lot and believe him, he does have some cred),
and his wife knew Janis Joplin
(same drunk-all-the-time but not a bitch, a sensitive _____).

Not a big movie watcher here but I had to see this movie
(and I know enough about Val Kilmer's 'acting' to know I think the guy is in the wrong craft,
but man, I thought he nailed this role.

And Oliver Stone, well, he's a whole 'nother thread (JFK anyone?)
 
Like Abraham Lincoln might walk out at any minute and talk about the war between the states.

You must have been taking a piss or something... that was the best part of the movie.

I watched W. a couple of weeks ago. In comparison The Doors was a great film. Really really bad.

For some reason, Oliver Stone's films don't seem to hold up very well, though Platoon wasn't too bad and JFK had some really good bits of dialogue. Other than those two, every Stone movie I've seen has been a let-down.
 
Alexander the Great is unbelievable bad. The Doors is not too good either, but better than Alexander.

Val Kilmer must have been the right choice, because later on he followed Morrison in starting to eat and growing a beard.
 
For some reason, Oliver Stone's films don't seem to hold up very well, though Platoon wasn't too bad and JFK had some really good bits of dialogue. Other than those two, every Stone movie I've seen has been a let-down.
Yeah, I still haven't been able to sit through N.B.Killers yet. It is a good film - great acting/story but I just found the tacky visuals just distracted me too much. 'Platoon' was alright but not a great film like 'Apocalypse Now' or 'The Deer Hunter'.

My fave Stone film is probably 'Talk Radio'. It started off pretty dull, but by the end I was gripped. It's an intense & claustrophobic film but Eric Bogasian puts so much into his performance. Brilliant acting!

I'm not a huge bio-pic fan....so I've always avoided The Doors film, plus I've heard it sucked. Hmmm I may actually watch it for that reason now.
 
I was gonna post this in the What are you Listening to Now thread but that would give the impression that I actively sought it out rather than stumbled upon it. Then I thought about the doors thread. I seem to recall a long and winding doors thread but I can't remember where it is, so ... I'll post here instead.

Val ain't got shit on this guy.


(careful, it grows on you!)
 
The Doors was one of the baddest Biopic i ever seen . What a shit and shame. Has nothing to do in real with Jim . The Indianshit.....aaaaah , horrible !!!
 
And the guy who played Andy Warhol! He did'nt look one bit like Andy Warhol... :eek:
 
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Most of you guy's know that I'm a huge Doors fan. The movie is unwatchable. Meg Ryan is horrible. Kilmer could have been great if the script had been worth a damn. If you've read any of the Bio's, even without Ray's opinions of Stone; it is blatently obvious that much of it is just bullshit, and Stone took liberty upon liberty with his own interpretations. Which is his right I suppose, I just don't get why you'd choose to do a bio-pic and not want to be somewhat true/ accurate. I really don't think Stone wanted a tribute I think he portrayed Morrison exactly how he wanted to.
In the first Wayne's World movie, they sorta' make fun of the 'indian in the desert' thing, only it's Morrison in the desert 'counseling' Wayne.
But in all fairness mjp, shouldn't Walhberg(sp?) get that award 1st for his role in "ROCKSTAR"?
 

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