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Doors: Special Edition (The)
Blu-ray ALL - America - Lions Gate Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (15th September 2008). |
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The Film
 In the world of film there are few directors that can actually open a movie on their own names, a "Steven Spielberg Film" a "George Lucas Film" a "Martin Scorsese Film" a "Clint Eastwood Film" a "Quentin Tarantino Film" are such examples, Oliver Stone is another whose name can be added to that list. These are directors who are as well known as the actors that populate their works. Stone made a name for himself in the 1980's with the most impressive vietnam opus "Platoon" (1986) which won the up-and-coming filmmaker an Oscar for directing (the film also won for 'Best Picture' as well as two other awards for Editing and Sound). The film was an exploration of Stone's own experiences as a grunt in that war, during this time Stone was exposed to many things (drugs, yes) including music, The Doors was one such band that not only defined an era but shaped lives and influenced many...Stone was one of those influenced by their music. His passion is clearly seen in this 1991 film about the band but most notably its frontman, the enigmatic Jim Morrison. The film based on the band had been making its way around Hollywood for some 20 years before Stone got the opportunity to make it and many leading men were considered for the Morrison role including the likes of Tom Cruise, Jason Patric and even John Travolta. But these actors could never have done the singer/songwriter any justice. In Stone's vision (which style and tone is as drug-induced as the 60's) Val Kilmer who does an incredible job of mimicry to deliver a performance so accurate it even fooled members of the band who found it difficult to tell the difference between Jim's real voice and Kilmer's. In fact Kilmer's method acting mantra saw the actor live, breath, eat, sleep Morrison for almost an entire year. He dressed like the man, hung out at places Morrison spent time. Kilmer's voice is trained and performed many of the songs himself and the result is about as accurate as they come (although the film's depiction of events has been the subject of some controversy, the performances are spot on). This is the major standing point of this film, everything else is almost forgotten including the flaws and every other cast member's performance as well because you'll spend your time fixated on Kilmer's turn. I've seen this film at least 5 times and still found myself saying..."oh yeah Meg Ryan's also in this film..." or "oh yeah so is Kevin Dillon and Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Madsen", etc. etc. etc. I don't claim to be a Doors historian, so I'm not going into the accuracy of the film's events even though there's been some talk over the years about it, namely from Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek who stated the film was a "horrible account of the history of the band", creative license will almost always be taken and I'm sure plenty was here. The film's structure is for the most part linear (something I was not expecting), for a movie that's based in a era soaked in free love and drugs I expected a much more surreal head f**k of a movie, something leaning more towards the art film type of sensibilities. There are elements of that thrown in (like the desert scene where the band trip on peyote and Morrison's vision of the Indian, which is lampooned in "Wayne's World 2" (1993)) but the film's narrative timeline follows a rather straight path for what is essentially a film chronicaling a man and a band that was as far from a straight path as you can get. Stone's visual flair as a filmmaker comes out here along with cinematographer Robert Richardson (who has collaborated with Stone on 11 films), with use of inventive photography that captures the raw essence of the era and the energy of the concerts in which the band put on. You can literally feel the heat and smell the sweat of Morrison's on-stage passion. Like most biopics go the film is a bit over long running at around 138 minutes, granted there's a lot to cover and focus is shifted from the band to Morrison on occasion but it's mostly about Morrison. The film could have easily been titled "Jim Morrison" and a more concentrated vision could have made for a more focused film. Despite this "The Doors" is a decent film, I'm unsure how longtime fans feel about this film, but as a film fan myself I do enjoy watching it even though it verges on the pretentious at times.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 this transfer delivered to us in high-definition 1080p 24/fps and has been created using AVC MPEG-4 compression. The overall image is pretty good for a 17-year-old movie, detail holds up well especially in wide-shots, while some close-ups look a bit soft at times. This is where the transfer lets us down, the occasional softness is a bit distracting. Colors are vibrant and well rendered, while some skin tones verge on the orange at times and don't look entirely natural. Blacks are bold and solid without too much noise amid them. Overall this is a much better presentation of the film that what was previously available on DVD but it's still not entirely perfect.
Audio
Two audio options are available, in English DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 7.1 as well as a French Dolby Digital 2.0 surround track. I chose to view the film with its original DTS-HD track for this review, while its a solid presentation I felt that it lacked punch, the surrounds weren't as active or aggressive as I'd have liked. The music is where the track shines and manages to immerse viewers, dialogue is clean and distortion free but overall the track wasn't as impressive as it could have been, instead it was just OK. Optional subtitles are included in English, English for the hearing impaired and Spanish.
Extras
Lionsgate has released this film with a collection of extras that include an audio commentary, two documentaries, a series of deleted scenes, two featurettes, the film's theatrical trailer, TV spots as well as a collection of bonus trailers. First up is a feature-length audio commentary by director Oliver Stone. I must admit I enjoy hearing Stone talk about films, he's a passionate filmmaker but this track felt like a dead fish. It was dull and rather slow moving. He comments on the film's production, casting the roles as well as using some creative license in respect to changing some events among other things. He delves into some detail and skims over others. It would have been great to have other participants involved as well like other cast members or even other crew, it would have helped as I found myself holding down the fast-forward button often skipping to scene after scene. Following that is "The Doors in L.A." a featurette that runs for 19 minutes 37 seconds, director Stone interviews members of the band as they reflect in their time in Los Angeles, it's a rather interesting conversation that glosses over anything controversial though... Next up is the documentary "Jim Morrison: An American Poet in Paris" which runs for 52 minutes 8 seconds. This feature is produced in France (and is in French with English subtitles) and takes a look at the tortured artist's life in France where he died. It's a great feature that delves into the life of the man, his career as it features interviews about the influence he had and the mistakes he made that led to his untimely death. It's an open and interesting feature that will please fans and also provides an insight into the man for those that are new to him. "The Road to Excess" is the next documentary on the disc which runs for 38 minutes 42 seconds. This takes a look at Morrison's career as well and also delves into the making the film, chronicling the challenges faced in making the film, Stone expresses his passion for the project and getting it made, as the clip features more interviews especially with Morrison's wife which is rather interesting. Also featured is the "Original Making-of" featurette from 1991 that runs for 6 minutes 18 seconds and is a basic EPK clip that covers the very basics of the film, the cast and the band portrayed in the film. It's a promo piece that glosses over things and doesn't delve into any detail. There are 14 deleted scenes which include an Introduction by director Oliver Stone which runs for 2 minutes 15 seconds and he comments on these scenes and why they didn't make it into the film. The scenes included are: - Sc.11 Ext. Turkey Joint West-Night, which runs for 3 minutes 5 seconds, the band go to the Turkey Joint and perform 'Gloria' and Jim chats up girls". - Sc.29 Ext. Sunset Strip-Night, which runs for 2 minutes 7 seconds, Jim tries to convince the band to take peyote as they walk along the Sunset Strip and they chat up girls in a line in this extended version of the scene. - Sc.12x Int. Airplane, runs for 1 minute 24 seconds, Jim tells Pam he wouldn't mind dying in a plane crash. - Sc.52 Int. Press Conference-NY Hotel Suite Day, runs for 2 minutes 33 seconds, this is an extended version of the scene as Jim fields more questions. - Sc.65 Int. New Haven Stage-That Night, which runs for 1 minute 55 seconds, Jim performs another song. - Sc.68 Int. Holding Room-Police Station-That Night, runs for 3 minutes 8 seconds, Jim is taken through the police station after his arrest for exposing his penis on stage. - Sc.71 Int. Recording Studio (Last Session) - 1970, runs for 2 minutes 7 seconds, more footage of Jim recording his memoirs. - Sc.76 Ext. Pacific Palisades - Same Morning, runs for 2 minutes 30 seconds, here Jim attends Ray's wedding. - Sc.92 Int. Alta Cienega Motel - Day, runs for 3 minutes 6 seconds, Jim cries after a threesome in the hotel. - Sc.96 Int. Recording Studio- Last Session (1970) - Night, runs for 1 minute 22 seconds, more recording studio footage as Jim records some poetry. - Sc.101 Int Airplane - That Night, runs for 7 minutes 8 seconds, Jim gets drunk and becomes difficult before boarding the plane, while on the plane the group get rowdy. - Sc.107 Int. Miami Courtroom-Day (1970), runs for 3 minutes 43 seconds, the charges get read out, a trial date is set and then the lawyers argue. - Sc.121 Ext. Ray's House-Venice-Twilight, runs for 3 minutes 21 seconds, Jim tells Ray that he and Pam are going to start over again in Paris. - Sc.126 Ext. Pere Lachaise Cemetery-Paris-Day, runs for 4 minutes 2 seconds, a cemetery montage, which ends with Jim being introduced at a gig. The disc features the film's original theatrical trailer which runs for 1 minute 17 seconds, there's also a TV Spots reel which includes 5 spots that run a total of 2 minutes 58 seconds. Rounding out the extras are some bonus trailers for: - "Rambo" which runs for 59 seconds. - "Step Into Liquid" which runs for 1 minute 57 seconds. - "Belly" which runs for 1 minute 16 seconds. - "Crank" which runs for 1 minute 59 seconds. - "3:10 to Yuma" which runs for 2 minutes 31 seconds.
Overall
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