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The Doors

Play trailer Poster for The Doors R Released Mar 1, 1991 2h 15m Biography History Drama Music Play Trailer Watchlist
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56% Tomatometer 62 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
After a psychedelic experience in the California desert, Jim Morrison (Val Kilmer), lead singer of The Doors, and his bandmates begin performing in Los Angeles and quickly become a sensation. However, when Jim begins ditching his musical responsibilities and his girlfriend, Pamela (Meg Ryan), in favor of his dangerous addictions and the affections of the seductive, occult-obsessed Patricia (Kathleen Quinlan), the band starts to worry about their leader.
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The Doors

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Critics Consensus

Val Kilmer delivers a powerhouse performance as one of rock's most incendiary figures, but unfortunately, Oliver Stone is unable to shed much light on the circus surrounding the star.

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Critics Reviews

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Terrence Rafferty The New Yorker For a while, the obviousness and flat-out vulgarity are sort of entertaining, and it might be possible to enjoy the movie as a camp classic if you could ignore the mean-spiritedness that keeps breaking through. Jun 17, 2014 Full Review Dave Kehr Chicago Tribune Hysteria, however skillfully maintained, should never be mistaken for art -- a caution that applies equally to Stone and his subject. Rated: 2/4 Jun 17, 2014 Full Review Carrie Rickey Philadelphia Inquirer While it has its moments, taken by itself, The Doors amounts to little more than an impressionistic look at a boy and his death wish. Rated: 2.5/4 Jun 17, 2014 Full Review Casey Chong Casey's Movie Mania [Val] Kilmer was no doubt the heart and soul of The Doors that holding the biopic together. Rated: 3.5/5 Apr 2, 2025 Full Review Terry Francis Southern Voice (Atlanta) A bomb. Rated: 1/4 May 9, 2023 Full Review Allison Rose FlickDirect The Doors is entertaining for the most part but the gem is Kilmer's performance of the rock legend who passed away before his time. Rated: 3.5/5 Jul 24, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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thomas a Movie showed a lot of promise - lead actor was a believable Jim Morrison character, the underlying story of Jims life was mostly buried in the chaos that ensued in the movie which only got more chaotic and disjointed as the movie progressed, who ever brainstormed the movie clearly decided to slowly turn up the chaos to full volume then hold that volume for a prolonged time till the end of the movie, I believe that is laziness, bury true art under hype and volume - I guess so people leave with the false impression that something awesome happened - the only awesomeness was the massive missed opportunity to make a coherent meaningful movie with moments of chaos should it be relevant. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/04/25 Full Review Shane R While I thought Val Kilmer did a great job with the material with which he was working, that material, written by Oliver Stone, was high on sensationalism and low on facts. The rampant sex, drugs, and chaos did occur around Jim Morrison, but there was a lot more to him than what was portrayed in the film. I started wondering about this about halfway through the film and after researching it found that the story that was being told was pretty much bereft of the humanity that Morrison had. There were calm periods, more normal periods, low-key times, but none of this was shown in the film, or I should say, it was hardly shown. And they portrayed Pam as someone who felt jealousy and was enraged at Jim for his sexual encounters, but that was untrue as well. They were in an open relationship and she had other men, just like he had multiple women. Sadly she followed him in ODing a few years later. It's more of a sad story than a chaotic one, and should be depicted with a bit more humanity. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 04/17/25 Full Review David C Val Kilmer ofrece una actuación destacada, aportando profundidad y carisma a su personaje. La película resulta entretenida, manteniendo el interés del espectador a lo largo de la trama. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/05/25 Full Review mark g Terrible parody of a legendary band. Over the top and silly. Morrison is conveyed as a one dimensional cartoon character. Very bad representation that real Doors fans reject. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 04/05/25 Full Review George B Really good movie i’m a big doos fan you kind of forget the actor is just an actor playing Jim Morrison A lot of dedication and good ideas put into the movie not afraid to shy away from Jim Morrison’s ““ ugly side Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/02/25 Full Review Nic V One of the best films ever made. Since I first saw it 20 years ago I was instantly obsessed with Val, Jim, the Doors and the entire music era. No matter how many times I rewatch this it’s never enough Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/02/25 Full Review Read all reviews
The Doors

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Movie Info

Synopsis After a psychedelic experience in the California desert, Jim Morrison (Val Kilmer), lead singer of The Doors, and his bandmates begin performing in Los Angeles and quickly become a sensation. However, when Jim begins ditching his musical responsibilities and his girlfriend, Pamela (Meg Ryan), in favor of his dangerous addictions and the affections of the seductive, occult-obsessed Patricia (Kathleen Quinlan), the band starts to worry about their leader.
Director
Oliver Stone
Producer
Bill Graham, Sasha Harari, A. Kitman Ho
Screenwriter
Oliver Stone, Randall Jahnson
Distributor
TriStar Pictures, Artisan Entertainment
Production Co
Imagine Entertainment, Bill Graham Films, Carolco Pictures Inc., Ixtlan Corporation, Carolco International N.V.
Rating
R
Genre
Biography, History, Drama, Music
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 1, 1991, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$32.7M
Runtime
2h 15m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby SR, CDS, Magnetic Stereo 6 Track
Aspect Ratio
35mm
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