2h 21m
Director: Oliver Stone

First off, if you're a fan of The Doors, don't bother reading this review just go and watch it.

Val Kilmer plays / IS Jim Morrison. By that I mean he is perfectly cast and pulls off a very believable protagonist in all stages of his life. It's oscar worthy for sure. The real band members said they couldn't distinguish Jim Morrison's voice from Kilmer's, that's how good it is.

Meg Ryan before cosmetic surgery plays Pamela Courson who is Jim's main muse - I say 'main' because as you can imagine, being a rock star he likes to put it about a bit!

Film buffs remind you that cinematography is a visual art and this movie really accentuates that. Oliver Stone directs. No CGI, no digital workstation. No drones for aerial shots (helicopters only back then). Almost everything in-camera. Shot on film stock. I think some of the effects must have been done in post but I couldn't find anything specific online.

There are a few moments where you find yourself wondering how some of it was done, how did they capture that with this equipment?. There is a palpable texture to it. I noticed a bit of grain on my print (generally this is caused when filming in low light conditions to film stock) but it was during a couple of the concert establishing shots and really just adds character (for the time period). I wouldn't put it past Mr Stone to have deliberately included them, it's so deftly crafted.

Enough gushing...

If you watch a recently made film after this one your brain quickly realises just how jarring CGI is, it looks obviously fake, I think it's something to do with how the light is rendered. Whatever the reason is, that 'uncanny valley' effect becomes immediately felt.

The whole thing is punctuated by The Doors' music and you can tell the songs were carefully chosen to reflect the mood of each scene.

In conclusion, a quite beautiful work of art which appears to have been overlooked by most. Really, it's superbly shot and masterfully edited, treat yourself...



Trailer: