goddesswave After seeing Oliver Stone's version several times over the years, I was, at first, not sure this would interest me. It did very much interest me. I was born in 1960 and I grew up in this era. I had the doors albums, but did not ever see them live. I felt this doc had fresh information; especially rare footage and the bands musical background and how they improvised and contributed to the songs and concerts. If you do not know things about Jim, you do not understand his drives to the dessert and his witnessing things die, and what that death meant to him and how fascinated he was and he wrote about it. For those who say there was not music, you are all out of your minds. There was non-stop music. Really? Would be nice to hear an interview? Frankly, as a psychologist and documentarian, none of the interviews would be very valuable, as the press are morons and ask the most inane questions that infuriate me and the musicians. So instead maybe more of his poetry. But I believe they did the best they could with the footage they had, real footage; which I greatly appreciated. I think if you are curious or a fan, this is a must see.

matt-mccabebrown When describing Jim Morrison, Denis Leary famously said 'Do we need a two hour movie about The Doors? I don't think so. I can sum it up for you in five seconds. I'm drunk I'm nobody, I'm drunk I'm famous, I'm drunk I'm ###### dead' Now, I like Denis Leary and have always found him entertaining in both his acting roles and especially his stand up, but on his opinion on the late Jim Morrison I have to strongly disagree. Morrison was a fascinating man and this remarkable little documentary goes some way of capturing the essence of the man. Interlacing sequences for the film HWY: An American Pastoral, which itself is half dream half film, the documentary portrays The Doors in their rightful place as the zeitgeist for revolution. If there is one downside, it is that it concentrates too much time on Morrison, leaving little time for the remaining members of the band. It does however go without saying that without Morrison, The Doors wouldn't have been half the band they were, so maybe that's fair

brando647 I love the Doors. Considering that you're reading my comments here, you're probably considering watching the film and, therefore, must be a fan as well. I have been a major fan of the band since I was first exposed to them in Oliver Stone's 1991 film. I understand that Stone had taken some creative liberties in his portrayal of the band's life (particularly Jim Morrison, himself). Knowing that Stone's film was merely his own interpretation, I sought out to learn more through other sources. Since then, I have read Jim's poetry and a handful of biographies about Jim and the band, including John Densmore's autobiography. Morrison was a mysterious individual (probably why myself and so many others are so intrigued by him) and I believe the only person to know the absolute story behind him was Pam Courson. With Pam having died shortly after him, I'm all right with the fact that the utmost truth behind Jim's existence and experiences may never be revealed (including that of his death). My intent has always been to read as much as possible and draw my own conclusions, so movies such as Stone's THE DOORS would be seen more as entertainment than information.In 2009, filmmaker Tom DiCillo completed his biographical film on Jim and the band, WHEN YOU'RE STRANGE. Based on the information I've gathered from reading about the band over recent years, I'd say his documentary is probably one of the best representations we're ever bound to get. My only regret is that, seeing as how the film must fit into a reasonable run-time, many moments are glossed over and some instances in which I wish it'd go into richer detail are breezed through. The film covers the band's life from it's origins in the mid-60s to Jim's unfortunate death in 1971. The events are depicted impartially and depicted Jim as a struggling artist as opposed to the crazed drunk Oliver Stone would have us believe. The film remembers that Jim was going through tough times over his years with the band and compensated through his drug/alcohol use, rather than stumbled around as a belligerent idiot, and gives us some insight when possible behind his troubles.Johnny Depp narrates the film and his mellow delivery is perfect for the material. My primary complaint with the film is the lack of interviews. Despite the surviving members of the band supporting the film, we are never once treated to interviews with Densmore, Krieger, or Manzarek. In fact, the only interview included with the film is with Jim's father George and it comes in the form of a special feature on the DVD. Jim's relationship with his father (a Navy admiral) was always strained and his interview would've added some excellent insight to the film. Regardless, the film is loaded with information for the casual Doors fans and contains some fantastic footage of their concerts, TV appearances, and even behind-the-scenes footage of the band at home or in the studio recording.DiCillo's film is an absolute must for the fans and provides some great information to those who might be interested in learning more. It's a reasonable 90 minutes and never once did it bore me. If anything, it's made me want to revisit the books and dive once again into the chaos and mystery that was Jim Morrison.

gerard-sparaco Despite the brevity of their career, The Doors have a firm place in American culture with streams of books, documentaries, biopics and even a Hollywood film. When You're Strange is the latest documentary to be produced on the band. Written and directed by Tom DiCillo and narrated by Johnny Depp, it is one of the slickest and best constructed documentary of the band produced.There are two pitfalls directors encounter when tackling the subject of The Doors, neither of which DiCillo is able to avoid. The first, and is quite unavoidable, is the blurring of the story of the band with the story of Jim Morrison. Granted Morrison was the focal point of the band, but all too often the other three musicians, and the music itself, are treated as sidebars to the story of Morrison.To DiCillo's credit he does include interviews and snippets about the other members of the band. But insight into their music is very brief. John Densmore speaking about the Doors in terms of the evolution of jazz is the most interesting, and made me wish there were more such insights.The other pitfall is entirely avoidable, which is to make vague generalizations and connections between Jim Morrison and the political climate and events of the sixties. While it is true that all bands, musicians and works of music are informed by their socio-political setting, there is also a quality in great music (and The Doors produced GREAT music) which transcends time and culture and address universal concerns.A blatant example of this is footage of The Doors playing "The End" at the 1970 Isle Of Wight festival. The footage is stunning and the sound is great, but too often the screen shifts from the band to stock footage of Martin Luther King Jr., the assassination of Robert Kennedy, and news reel video of US troops dropping napalm on a village in Viet Nam.This editing begs the question of the relevance between the two. What does a performance of "The End" in England in 1970 have to do with assassinations in the summer of 1968? "The End" began as a song about the ending of a personal relationship and was expanded to become a psycho-sexual drama bordering on myth, and it's relation to American politics and foreign policy isn't clear.Despite those concerns, When You're Strange is one of the best documentaries of The Doors. It opens with footage from what looks like a pristine print of Morrison's 1969 film HWY: An American Pastoral. Clips from the film are used throughout the documentary to lend continuity to the narrative, and often used to comment upon the events discussed.All of the facts seem correct, even mentioning commonly known details about the band such as Morrison wanting Robby Krieger to play bottle neck on every song.DiCillo also continues the trend of contemporary documentary film-making in being more intentional in the footage used and images shown to make a point. For example, when the narrative reaches the Miami 1969 incident, Depp's voice-over states that the band were "surprised." While saying this, the footage shows Ray Manzarek looking surprised. The scene has nothing to do with the Miami indictment, but such editing is effective in making his point.Overall this is a very strong documentary of the Doors. It was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Sundance Festival, and it deserves such accolades.The bonus material contains a fascinating interview with Jim Morrison's father, the late Admiral George S. Morrison. This is supposedly the only time he's been interviewed about his son before his death in 2008. Not much is mentioned of him in the older sources such as No One Here Gets Out Alive. The only pieces of information in that book were his displeasure at hearing "The End," the letter he wrote to his son telling him that he has no talent to be a singer, and that he contested his son's estate after the death of Pamela Courson.The impression one gains from watching the interview is much different. He comes off as a proud and loving father who misses his son, whom he lost both to the demands of fame and his death in 1971. He reiterates his assessment that his son shouldn't have been a rock singer because he felt his talent lay more in film-making.If for nothing else, watching the interview with the Admiral is the most interesting part of the disc. It is unique since no other documentary has ever interviewed him, and makes it worth the asking price.