Stars: The Doors

Summary: Recorded live during the 1968 Independence Day celebrations. The only full-length performance film of The Doors, featuring among the many numbers 'Light My Fire', 'The Unknown Soldier' and 'The End', later used by Francis Coppola as the theme for 'Apocalypse Now'.

The legendary rock group, The Doors, were at their musical peak when this concert footage was taken. Filmed live at the Hollywood Bowl in the summer of 1968, Jim Morrison and the band perform an extended version of "Light My Fire," plus ten of their other most love songs, taking a standing room only audience on an aural journey of mystical worlds and psychedelic experiences.

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Watching The Doors Live at the Hollywood Bowlis a sobering experience, for the viewer must confront the painful truth that popular music, to judge by its increasingly infantile and banal state, will never see their like again. Either that, or admit The Doors were an irrelevant footnote in the history of pop--an idle thought that a few minutes of this extraordinary concert will dispel. Fortunately for posterity, this July 5, 1968 performance was captured by four cameras and recorded in 16-track audio, and has now been digitally remixed for DVD. The result is a crisp picture and generally excellent stereo sound that is far better than most archive footage of this band.

On stage Jim Morrison has the aura of an intense performance artist, whose dark, smoky voice forms only a part of his complex persona; guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboard player Ray Manzarek and drummer John Densmore complement Morrison's free-associative outpourings with improvisational jazz-inspired interjections. They make music like no other band before or since: who else could segue effortlessly from Kurt Weill's "Alabama Song" to Willie Dixon's "Back Door Man"? And just when they're in danger of becoming too pretentious, Morrison bursts any lurking self-importance with a wry smile, a jokey aside or even a belch. But the seriousness remains, at least implicitly, throughout as Morrison's edgy lyrics--from "When the Music's Over" to "The Unknown Soldier" and "The End"--constantly hint at disturbing social undercurrents outside the concert arena. Is it fanciful to imagine that in the minds of his audience the ghosts of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement are hovering just out of view? Such thoughtsare what make The Doors so unique: their music invites questions, positively dares the audience to ask them; that's why they remain so endlessly fascinating well over three decades later. And that's why this concert performance will find a home with any and every fan of the band. "The time to hesitate is through". --Mark Walker

Aspect Ratio:	4:3
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Scene Access, Interactive Menus
Subtitles:	English
Year:	1968
Release Date:	September 4, 2000
Runtime:	65 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	078 031 2
Keywords:	Music, Live, Rock, Pop, Doors, Hollywood, Bowl, Performing, Arts, Popular
Genre:	Music/Performing Arts