Product Details

• Actors: John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison
• Directors: Ray Manzarek
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: July 1, 1991
• Run Time: 62 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6300186008
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,259 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Watching The Doors Live at the Hollywood Bowl is 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, resulting in 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 thoughts are 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, Amazon.co.uk

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jim Morrison at his best, February 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Doors - Live at the Hollywood Bowl [VHS] (VHS Tape)

If you buy just one video featuring The Doors, this is a "must have." Jim Morrison and the band are at their best, even though it was alleged that Morrision may have ingested LSD before giving the performance of his short, but intense life.

For those of us from that generation, the music still haunts, the lyrics still reveals and the emotions still remain unchanged by time and memory. Morrison sings, dances, and screams like no one before or since. However, for all the frenzied activity, the simple, direct lines of his poetry echo softly through the years.

Watching "Live at the Hollywood Bowl" is like being alive, then and now.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Cool Concert., April 14, 2001

By 

Mr. Fellini "Fellini" (Orange County, California United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Doors - Live at the Hollywood Bowl [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is one of the best Doors performances ever caught on film. It is the only COMPLETE filmed concert of theirs and shows Jim Morrison at his poetic, comic and visceral best. It also shows how The Doors were great in the intricate compositions of their sound and how they were also a great band because Morrison apparently had an idea of how to make a performance visually interesting in his movements, acting and singing. The performances of "When The Music's Over," "Light My Fire" and especially "The End," show the talent these guys really had. Morrison sings the lyrics with intensity and the sense of their poetic worth. "Moonlight Drive" and "Five To One" (which is connected in medley with "Backdoor Man") are especially well-performed. There is also a curious entertained feeling when Morrison begins reciting weird, but effective pieces of poetry. This is evident in the original execution of "The End," where Morrison begins improvising (I think), adding new words instead of the typical lyrics you hear in the album version. The band is also plays incredibly well. Ray Manzarek's organ is haunting at times and the drumming of John Densmore and guitar playing of Robby Krieger are sub-par. This is an entertaining, well-done performance by a great band.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete Doors Concert On Film - May Be The Only One, February 24, 2005

By 

G. Reid (Roseland, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Doors - Live at the Hollywood Bowl [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is the legendary Doors at their peak in this, the only complete concert ever filmed of the controversial superband. The concert was filmed live at the Hollywood Bowl during the July 4th weekend in 1968. The concert includes my favorite Doors' song "light My Fire" (extended version.)