The best Jim Morrison’s documentary movies
We present our ranking of the best Jim Morrison’s movies. Do you love cinema? Or are you looking for a movie of your favorite actor to watch tonight? Surely you have some to see or that you did not know yet about Jim Morrison.
Val
7.6/10
For over 40 years Val Kilmer, one of Hollywood’s most mercurial and/or misunderstood actors has been documenting his own life and craft through film and video. He has amassed thousands of hours of footage, from 16mm home movies made with his brothers, to time spent in iconic roles for blockbuster movies like Top Gun, The Doors, Tombstone, and Batman Forever. This raw, wildly original and unflinching documentary reveals a life lived to extremes and a heart-filled, sometimes hilarious look at what it means to be an artist and a complex man.
When You're Strange
7.6/10
The creative chemistry of four brilliant artists —drummer John Densmore, guitarist Robby Kreiger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and singer Jim Morrison— made The Doors one of America's most iconic and influential rock bands. Using footage shot between their formation in 1965 and Morrison's death in 1971, it follows the band from the corridors of UCLA's film school, where Manzarek and Morrison met, to the stages of sold-out arenas.
27: Gone Too Soon
4.9/10
Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison all died at the age of 27 between 1969 and 1971. At the time, the coincidence gave rise to some comment, but it was not until the death of Kurt Cobain, about two and a half decades later, that the idea of a "27 Club" began to catch on in public perception, reignited with the death of Amy Winehouse in 2011. Through interviews with people who knew them, such as music stars, critics, medical experts and unseen footage, the lives, music, and artistry of those who died at 27 are investigated with a bid to find answers.
Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold
7.5/10
Griffin Dunne’s years-in-the-making documentary portrait of his aunt Joan Didion moves with the spirit of her uncannily lucid writing: the film simultaneously expands and zeroes in, covering a vast stretch of turbulent cultural history with elegance and candor.
The Doors: Live at the Bowl '68
8.5/10
A concert video that captures legendary rock 'n' roll band The Doors at the height of the group's powers. 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.
The Doors: Feast Of Friends
7.1/10
Feast Of Friends, filmed in 1968, was the first and only film produced about The Doors by The Doors. It offers a cinematic look at The Doors on the road during their summer '68 tour. Concert performances are intercut with fly-on-the-wall footage of the group in their natural habitat; At times playful, sensitive, chaotic and heady, the cinéma vérité style brings the film to life. Other than a few film festivals appearances in 1968, fans would not see an official release of the film for over 35 years.
The Doors: Mr. Mojo Risin' - The Story of LA Woman
7.6/10
“Mr Mojo Risin’” is the story of the making of the Doors’ last album with Jim Morrison “L.A. Woman”. 2011 is the 40th anniversary both of the album’s release and of the death of Jim Morrison and this programme goes into detail of how the album came about, its recording and what was happening to the band at the time. The story is told through new interviews with the three surviving Doors: Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger and John Densmore plus contributions from Jac Holzman, founder of their label Elektra Records, Bill Siddons, who was their manager, Bruce Botnick, engineer and co-producer of the album and others associated with the Doors at this time. The show includes archive footage of the Doors performing both live and in the studio, classic photographs and new musical demonstrations from the Doors.
Jim Morrison: The End
Paris, Rue Beautreillis, July 3, 1971. The corpse of rock star Jim Morrison is found in a bathtub, in the apartment of his girlfriend Pamela Courson. The chronicle of the last months of the life of the poet, singer and charismatic leader of the American band The Doors, one of the most influential in the history of rock.
The World of Jacques Demy
7.3/10
Agnès Varda's documentary portrait of her late husband, Jacques Demy. A companion piece to her Jacquot de Nantes.
Classic Albums - The Doors
8.3/10
A future classic was unleashed in January 1967 as the Doors released their eponymously titled debut album. This documentary in the Classic Albums series takes an in-depth look at the album, with commentary from Bruce Botnick, who worked on the album, and the three remaining Doors--guitarist Robbie Krieger, keyboard player Ray Manzarek, and drummer John Densmore. The three band members also play some of their instrumental parts from the album, offering invaluable insight into how the songs were constructed.
No One Here Gets Out Alive: A Tribute To Jim Morrison
7.7/10
No One Here Gets Out Alive, The Doors' tribute to Jim Morrison is a full exploration of the controversial and quixotic singer, delving into his fascination with cinema and psychology, mysticism and sexuality, poetry and power. In addition to clips of the band in action, it features interviews with the surviving members of The Doors and many others who were instrumental in creating and maintaining the legend.
Rock My Religion
7.2/10
Rock My Religion is a provocative thesis on the relation between religion and rock music in contemporary culture. Graham formulates a history that begins with the Shakers, an early religious community who practiced self-denial and ecstatic trance dances. With the "reeling and rocking" of religious revivals as his point of departure, Graham analyzes the emergence of rock music as religion with the teenage consumer in the isolated suburban milieu of the 1950s, locating rock's sexual and ideological context in post-World War II America. The music and philosophies of Patti Smith, who made explicit the trope that rock is religion, are his focus. This complex collage of text, film footage and performance forms a compelling theoretical essay on the ideological codes and historical contexts that inform the cultural phenomenon of rock 'n' roll music.
Les derniers jours de Jim Morrison
The Doors: Collection
8.4/10
A collection of short films, interviews and concert footage of the '60s rock band The Doors. Includes three basic video segments: Dance on Fire, Live at the Hollywood Bowl and The Soft Parade. Each of the videos is directed by Ray Manzarek. The "extras" include Ray's two UCLA student films.
The Doors: The Soft Parade
7.9/10
This historical music video features as its centrepiece The Doors' last televised appearance, aired on PBS in 1969.
