sgtpowers Before I watched this documentary, I knew almost nothing about The Doors. I listened sometimes to a few songs like 'Break on Through' or 'Light My Fire'. After listening to some more songs I became interested about the background story of this band. That's how I found about this documentary.I'm sure that this documentary is probably the best way to start for any new fans of The Doors. It tells the whole story from the beginning till the end (with the end I mean the death of band member Jim Morrison). Although you might think this docu is all about The Doors, the real focus is on the singer Jim Morrison. Understandable, but I think the other band members were sometimes totally out the story.The greatest thing about this documentary is that like 95% is real footage, taken between 1966-1971. No reenact things, which I don't like.The only thing I didn't like was sometimes the editing. A few things didn't make any sense, or were weird edited, totally unnecessary.In short, if you are "new" to the The Doors you probably will enjoy this trip back to the 1960s.

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

Lechuguilla "When You're Strange" recounts quite well the history of the 1960s rock band "The Doors" and its famous, charismatic vocalist Jim Morrison. Using archival and backstage footage, some early home pictures of Morrison, and integrating a history of the band's roots and rocky ride with then-current social upheavals, the film conveys all the chaos, change, and creativity that marked that turbulent era.Some of the narrative retells information that the band's devotees have known for decades, like the origin of the name "The Doors", a reference to Aldous Huxley's 1954 book "The Doors Of Perception". And the very first song Robby Krieger wrote was "Light My Fire". But old details can be informative to new fans.The film's choppy structure probably had some symbolic significance. But the first five minutes seemed unnecessary. And I could have done without the scenes of Morrison driving a car through the desert, which seemed irrelevant and out of context.As someone who has been mesmerized by The Doors for a long time, I don't think I learned anything new. Yet, the never-before-seen visuals, Morrison's on-stage performances and backstage personality, combined with all that strange music, at times carnivalesque and at other times bluesy, were enormously interesting. About midway through, Morrison comes across best, as he sings "Touch Me", accompanied by an orchestra.What's disconcerting is the change in Morrison. He starts out innocent and shy, then quickly morphs into an outrageous showman. His indulgence in drugs and hard drinking did him no favors. However, that over-the-edge artistic style was common in the 1960s. And death arrived at the early age of 27 not only for Morrison, but also for Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, and Morrison's girlfriend, Pamela Courson.Forty years after his death, Jim Morrison still fascinates people. Part of that derives from his untimely death. But I think he and The Doors resonate today because they were musical poets, social revolutionaries who saw the inhumanity and evil in the world, and tried to change it, through music. With maybe a couple of exceptions, we do not now have comparably influential poets. Jim Morrison and The Doors call to us from the past.

TTUCHY I was expecting a doc on a band that had seen it's share of success and torment. What I got was America. This film, while showing archival footage that would rival a reality show of today, chronologically documents the highs and lows and highs of a band that TRULY defined a generation. They were there at the blooming of the hippie revolution and died with it in the End.In it's humble beginnings, the Doors were a voice of freed minds. A chance to finally let your inner soul speak through poetry. The song writing spoke to many in it's delicate balance of fluent mainstream melodies and complex, poetic lyrics. Morrison seemed to be Pied Piper- ing a pack of non-political politicians into a drug induced state of ultimate awareness, until finally crashing into a world of drunken vulgarity. Ultimately, the veil is lifted and the man "with very little to say" shows that he is indeed vulnerable to destruction. By the conclusion, you realize you've been taken on a historical journey through America during the time period where growing pains were most prominent... the 1960's. And you've done all this watching through the eyes of a rock and roll band that, for better or worse, showed us who we really are.