Review of The Doors (1991) by Adrian C — 01 Apr 2009

What a turd. I say this 20 years after-the-fact regarding the movie's release. I've read up on Morrison, I've read up on Densmore, I've read up on Manzerek and on the band entirely. This film jumps the shark with the mythical mystique of Jim Morrison and tries to paint him as bigger than he was... No, let me rephrase that -- it tries to paint him as more of a airy-and-godly type figure than he was. Not the drunken, chain-smoking, southerner and military-brat that Morrison was.

I think Val Kilmer was and is a dead ringer for Morrison in looks. He reprized the role in an SNL skit in 2000 and still looked the part. But after that, everyone under Val in the movie was simply a piece of backdrop. Frank Whaley -- playing Robbie Kreiger, who wrote "Light My Fire" -- was not even a showpiece. Kevin Dillion, playing drummer John Densmore, invoked the persona of Johnny "Drama" Chase in the role: forgettable sideshow and over the top.

In the end (no pun intended), you're better off reading books like "No One Here Gets Out Alive", "Light My Fire", "Riders of the Storm", or perhaps "Wonderland Avenue - Tales of Glamor and Excess" by people who were there and saw all sides of what happened with the band... This film is about hero worship and sullies the reputation of the four member group as a whole...