Visually Stunning Forerunner to Natural Born Killers

Rating: 10/10 (1 April 2000)

First off, let me say that I couldn't care less how realic or unrealistic this movie is. 'The Doors' has received plenty of criticism over its historical accuracy, and from what I've read the criticism is probably due, but I regard the movie as simply that, a movie. Oliver Stone's historical track record (JFK, Platoon, Salvador) makes it clear that his movies are heavily steeped in history, but diverge, aiming for message and visuals rather than accuracy.
That said, I thought 'The Doors' was a brilliant movie. I am a child of the 1990's, I was born long after Jim died, so I guess I look more for impressions and statements in movies, rather than linear narrative. And 'The Doors' gave me much cause for excitement. I saw the movies several months after seeing Stone's 'Natural Born Killers' (which I found even more brilliant), and the stylistic parallels between the two were uncanny. I believe the real strength in 'The Doors' lies in its visual style: the strong red visuals running the movies length, effective and stunning use of timelapse photography, surreal editing, not to mention the Indian theme (which also appears in 'NBK').
I agree that Jim was portrayed in a bad light. The first forty minutes of the movie were narratively wonderful, the remaining ninety minutes portrayed Jim going off the 'deep end'. However, Stone did redeem his character in the closing two scenes, though perhaps a little too neatly.
The four or five concerts in the movie were mindblowingly staged, shot and edited (particularly the last two), with the strong hallucenagenic theme running through them and the everpresent Indian. Jim's character (played to perfection by Kilmar) for me represeted someone who, as was stated in the movie, pushed the limits: a true electric poet in the fashion of romantics like Keats. If seen in the right light, 'The Doors' can be an inspirational movie. It does have its faults, like the bland and cringeworthy Thanksgiving scene, but on the whole it is one incredible visual trip, in a way the more convoluted younger brother of 'Natural Born Killers'. 5/5.