Customer Reviews

The Doors - The Soft Parade, a Retrospective [VHS]

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If you are planning to get really interested in the Greatest and one of the most popular bands in the 60's The Doors well this video will make you a even bigger fan of The Doors after you watch it has classic television performances, a very large amount of Doors live at the Hollywood Bowl. It even shows the boys playing poker and them in the studio practicing before they record " Wild Child". This video has interviews with Jim Morrison and The Doors. Also shows a photo take for a new album they was making "Morrison Hotel" in 1970. Songs include Strange Days,Break on Through,Spanish Caravan,Unknown Soldier,Moonlight Drive with Horse Latitudes,The Changeling,Wild Child,Gloria,Touch Me,Backdoor Man Melody,L.A. Woman,Wisful Sinful, Light My Fire, The Ghost Song, and Hello I love You. The video is 1 hour and 13min. long. Great video

I love listening to the albums of the greatest rock band of all time. But I had no idea what I was missing before I saw them perform their songs. The Best of the Doors really brings to life all of the songs. The video features performances of such songs as "Moonlight Drive", "Light My Fire", and a medley of "Alabama Song", "Back Door Man", and "Five to One". It also features promotional music videos made by the band including "Break on Through", "The Unknown Soldier", and "Hello, I Love You". Along with all of these, the Best of the Doors features films made by surviving Doors members to songs such as "The Changeling", "L.A. Woman", and "Wishful Sinful". Along with the music, the video features interviews with Jim Morrison and with the entire band, a scene of Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and Jim Morrison playing cards, and a presentation of various photos of the band. Any Doors fan must own this incredible video.

this is one of the doors calmer and more laid back performances, and yet it is stronger than the hollywood bowl and is much more potent because morrison's heart, although it is obviously filled with sadness and devastation, is completely in it. his emotional connection to the music is so intense that "wishful sinful", which is basically your average pop song, sounds like a shakespearean ballad when he is singing it. unfortunately you also sense that he is suffering intensely on the inside, and it is pretty obvious that on some level of his awareness he had realized that a good deal of his immense potential had gone down the drain as a result of alcoholism and fame-provoked decadence. the 60's dream of liberation and freedom had failed miserably and resulted in a despairing sense of failure, and i would venture to say that morrison felt this more acutely than hendrix or joplin. morrison was basically an idealistic, philosophical poet who wanted to change the fundamentals of society and make people more aware, and tragically he had been commodified just like everyone is in popular culture, and im sure he knew it. a must

For those who don't want to go through the trouble of sitting through "Dance On Fire," "Live At The Hollywood Bowl," or "The Soft Parade," here's "The Best Of The Doors." It is basically a collage of videos featured in all three programs with a few new additions and editing changes. Of course, there's the double-edge fact that both sets have videos you can only find in one or the other. The first video here, "Strange Days," is not in any of the other three, it is a surreal, Fellinisque sideshow to one of the band's darkest, most evocative songs. Doors fans will have a blast with the video's opening, which is the illusion that the cover to the "Strange Days" album has sprung to life. Ray Manzarek, the band's organist, makes a few appearances, most notably as a priest. This is followed by the video for "Break On Through," a publicity clip done for the band's debut album. It's still fun and exhilarating, a few months ago I saw it air on MTV. It is Jim Morrison's first appearance in the video and he makes his presence known. Next comes an interview clip from 1969 where an older-looking, beard-sporting Morrison is talking about poetry and how it is woven into the band's music. The video borrows clips also from "Live At The Hollywood Bowl" and we get footage of Morrison reciting "The Celebration Of The Lizard" and following it with a part of "Spanish Caravan," this is said to be one of The Doors' calmest, least-visceral concerts and aside from the great music, it shows. There is a well-assembled music video for "The Unknown Soldier" which skillfully mixes war footage with Doors concert sequences showing Morrison faking an execution and vomitting blood. "The Changeling" follows, showing the band in super-star mode as they walk through air-ports, perform concerts and talk to fans. One of the more interesting pieces is footage of the band recording "Wild Child" in the studio, it's interesting to watch them put together the song and sometimes disagree on certain parts (drummer John Densmore calls the song's ending "the stupidest thing I've ever heard"). It's also fun to watch Robby Krieger play his trademark slide guitar for this song. Doors fans will especially want this video for the "Gloria" piece which was banned by MTV when first released but not anymore considering on the 30th anniversary of Morrison's death VH1 aired it. It's a fun, dirty video showing Morrison acting erotic on stage and clips of him with whom I suspect is Pamlera Courson getting intimate in a room. The video is never "pornographic" and it's a fun song. The medley of "Whiskey Bar," "Backdoor Man" and "Five To One" is one of the interesting concert moments, showing the band's ability for some good hard rock. I have never been a big fan of the "L.A. Woman" video Ray Manzarek directed, I love the song, but the video doesn't go much with it and it never amounts to anything as interesting as the other videos assembled. "Wishful Sinful" could have been left out, it's not exactly timeless, visceral Doors. However, the Ed Sullivan performance of "Light My Fire" is featured and truly evokes the Doors spirit, showing Morrison all in black leather defying the Sullivan people and saying "higher" on network TV. Morrison's last known interview is featured which was done when he was getting ready to go to trial for supposedly exposing himself at a 1969 Miami concert. This is followed by an atmospheric, stylish and very recent music video done for a cut from "An American Prayer" titled "The Ghost Song." The band members, in their present aged form, perform the song to images of Morrison and dancing Indians. The ending is a fun rendition of "Hello I Love You" showing the band performing in London and a hot babe dancing to the tune (the chick in black was obviously not filmed in 1968 mind you). Over-all, it's a good fix for Doors fans. I recommend "The Doors Collection" DVD of course, but for those who want a simple cut of the good stuff, here it is.

"The Soft Parade" is the final of the MCA three-tape Doors trilogy. It is not as good as tape 1, "Dance On Fire" and a bit better than "Live At The Hollywood Bowl." This video is a well assembled finale, sometimes though, it feels like what we're getting are simply the left-overs of what was left out of the first two episodes. No matter, they are good left-overs. The opening sequence cut together to "The Changeling" is an entertaining and rich ensemble of Doors footage showing the wild side of Jim Morrison and how epic and crazy Doors concert footage can seem. As for the television appearance that is the highlight, it is very informative and interesting. It's interesting to see Jim Morrison give his thoughts on music and poetry but the best part is seeing The Doors perform. Morrison is especially captivating while singing "The Soft Parade" which is not a bad song at all. The most entertaining piece of footage for me though, was the scene showing The Doors recording "Wild Child" in the studio. "The Soft Parade" is indeed a great tape for Doors fans and rock enthusiasts, but I recommend you simply buy all three together. The best is still "Dance On Fire" which is an excellent assembling of the best Doors footage around, "Live At The Hollywood Bowl" is just a concert (and one of the weak ones in my opinion). "The Soft Parade" is a nice look at a band that 30 years after legendary frontman Jim Morrison's death, still endures.

JIM MORRISON WAS ONE OF THE BEST OF THE 60'S BEATNIK POETS AND HIS INTELLIGENCE HAS BEEN REMISSED BY THE PUBLIC FORGET THE HYPE AND SEE THE TALENTED, INTELLIGENT POET OF AND BEYOND HIS TIME THERE ARE NO WORDS TO DO HIM JUSTICE

THIS MOVIE SHOWS THE DOORS LIKE NO OTHER DOORS MOVIE HAS SHOWN THEM BEFORE. JIM SHARES HIS PREDICTIONS ON WHAT HE FEELS MUSIC WILL TURN INTO,BUY THIS VIDEO,YOU WON'T REGRET IT

This movie is great. It gives you an inside look of The Doors at work, and at play. It lets you see them in action (since I was unable to because of my age). It takes you through all their classics. It includes Light My Fire on Sullivan, Touch Me on a public broadcast station (imagine that!?), and the surviving members' tribute to the Lzard King in The Ghost Song. A must for any collect or fan!

long live jim

IT JUST SEEMS LIKE THE MOST TALENTED AND GIFTED SEEM TO HAVE THE MOST DIFFICULTY DEALING WITH THAT SUCCESS.SUCH IS THE CASE WITH JIM MORRISON.WHAT A TRAGEDY THAT HE HAD TO DIE AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE WHEN HE AND THE DOORS HAD SUCH A WONDERFUL CAREER AHEAD OF THEM.IT MAKES ONE WONDER JUST HOW FAR THEY COULD HAVE GONE AND IF MAYBE THEY WOULDN'T STILL BE PERFORMING TODAY IF NOT FOR HIS UNTIMELY DEATH.THIS IS A WONDERFUL VIDEO WITH ALL THEIR MAJOR HITS INCLUDED AND SOME PERSONAL INSIGHTS THROUGH VIDEO THAT HELPS YOU GET JUST A LITTLE CLOSER TO JIM MORRISON AND THE BAND THAT REVOLUTIONIZED ROCK AND ROCK FOR THAT ERA.HOWEVER,THERE IS ALSO A LOT OF DISTRUBING SHOTS OF JIM MORRISON ON CAMERA THAT SHOW HIM DEFINATELY STARTING TO SLIP DEEPER AND DEEPER INTO THE SELF DESTRUCTIVE NATURE THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY BE HIS UNDOING.SEVERAL OF THE OLDER BANDS THAT ARE STILL PLAYING TODAY HAVE SHOWN THAT IF YOU CAN MANAGE TO LEAVE THE DRUGS AND ALCOHOL ALONE YOU CAN KEEP ON PLAYING LONG INTO YOUR SENIOR YEARS.UNFORTUNATELY JIM JUST NEVER MADE THAT DECISION.BUYING THIS VIDEO IS STRANGELY WONDERFUL AND AT THE SAME TIME VERY SAD TO WATCH JIM ON HIS SUICIDE SLIDE.

Maybe I'm just biased, as The Doors are my favourite band of all time, and I worship the man that was (and in my heart, still is) Jim Morrison. I hang on every word ever spoken by him. This is definitely the video you should get if you want to get to know the Doors a bit better. If like me you weren't around to witness the phenomenon surrounding them, and the unique singing abilities of Jim, then this is definitely the video for you!