Customer Reviews

No One Here Gets Out Alive: Tribute Jim Morrison [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

To anyone who has purchased the books, videos, and other DVD releases: There is nothing new to add, outside of interviews with the remainding memebers, the producer of the records, and a couple of authors who have written books on Jim.

ALL of the footage that is shown has already been released from "The Doors Are Open", "Live In Europe", "Dance On Fire", and "Live At The Hollywood Bowl". Thats a shame, because there has GOT TO be MORE out there in the vaults !

Also, if the interview sessions would have stuck with John, Robbie, Ray, and the producer - it would have been MUCH better...But to hear from the 2 (so called) experts in journalism leaves MUCH to be desired. They should have just stuck with the people who worked CLOSELY with Jim.

Although I can never rate a Doors DVD poorly, this one is just passible at best. A HUGE disappointment.

As some of the previous reviewers have already stated, there isn't a lot of new material here particularily if you've already read the book `No One Here Gets Out Alive' written by Daniel Sugarman and Jerry Hopkins both of whom appear prominently in this 60 minute documentary/tribute to the Lizard King, Jim Morrison. Be that as it may I still found this DVD an enjoyable watch, especially the performances from the Ed Sullivan Show. I'm certain the hardcore Morrison fans will be disappointed but for those new to the Morrison legend, or the casual fan looking for a companion piece to the book by the same name this is a worthy enough item to add to your DVD collection.

My Rating: Nothing definitive here but certainly a good place to start: -3 ½ Stars-.

the remaining members of the doors (i think this was filmed in the 80's) and dubious hanger on danny sugerman are as enthusiastic as ever talking about the mysterious former frontman of the most important band of the 60's. however, one gets the sense that they were coached in some of their dialogue (the expression "jim, who was always on the edge of reality" becomes annoying and even suspicious as each doors member utters it about three times every interview) and we learn absolutely nothing new, as usual, about morrison. his approach to life was frenetic, insane: we knew that already. he was a man with a commitment to authenticity in his art and life: we knew that already. he took a lot of acid and drank too much: we knew that already. miami was the culmination of many difficulties in morrison's personal life and his frustration with the sharp divorce between the effect he intended his music to have and the effect it actually had: we knew that already. he was extremely photogenic: we knew that already. in accordance with nietzsche's idea of the dionysian, he constantly changed his personal appearance and approach to his audience: we knew that already. he was moody, erratic and prone to aberrant behavior:we knew that already. he was very intellectual: WE KNEW THAT ALREADY. and yeah, "the end" was used at the beginning of apocalypse now. a lot of people have seen that movie. perhaps the redeeming quality of the documentary are the clips from the roundhouse show, which blend perfectly with the intense portrait of morrison as 'shaman, not showman' in manzarek's overdone terms. well, it's worth watching just because it's about him i guess.

I was looking forward to this DVD but after viewing it was let down. There is some really good early footage of the band but it keeps being interupted by the pointless commentary by Sugerman & Co. Great performances are cut down to mere minutes and the commentary itself isn't insightful. The only highlights are the virtually uncut performances of Moonlight Drive, Light My Fire and Touch Me. Yet the viewer cannot mannually skip to the performances, but rather must sit through the two minute commentary that preludes each one. Not a documentary nor a tribute nor concert performance DVD this just a commerical for Danny Sugerman's and Jerry Hopkin's poorly researched book by the same title.

The book is full of unfounded facts and exggarated tales of Morrisons exploits which many people close to Morrison have come out and condemned for being more fiction than fact. A good book to read is 'Break on Through' by James Riordan and Jerry Prochnicky. A really good well documented read.

Even though this DVD has some rare footage of The Doors members in a TV special interview in the 80s (I guess because of the terrible haircuts) buy it only if you are a hardcore fan collector like me. If not, pass on to the The Doors Collection DVD, which contains all of the clips included here uncut.

Despite being an avid Doors fan, I have to confess this DVD has it's interesting moments, but there's nothing here I feel compelled to watch over and over again.
Given the subject matter this is a bit of a disappointment. I'd put this in the category of a DVD to maybe see once, but certainly nothing here compelling enough to own for multiple viewings.

One would think that a band like The Doors, who have proven to be really good experts at how to package and market a product would have delivered a bit more on this DVD release of "No One Here Gets Out Alive." The documentary as a documentary is well-assembled with some great concert footage (mostly from the European tour and Hollywood Bowl show) and informative interviews. But one forgets this was made in the early 80s, producer Paul Rothchild (who gives interesting insights into how The Doors influenced Punk and New Wave groups) has long passed away and Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Robby Krieger are much older and probably have different opinions today than then about some things. Even the book this film is based on has been re-released with new additions. That is a major disappointment here, this DVD has no extra features, it is known there is a lot of Doors footage out there that hasn't been released in complete form as well as recordings (which the band is indeed releasing through their Bright Midnight record label), any true Doors fan already knows this DVD is a waste of cash when you can just go out and get "The Doors Collection" DVD, which is three hours of great footage, music videos and even audio commentary by the band members and extra features including Robby Krieger doing a new version of "The End." This "new" release pales in comparison even to the "The Doors: Live In Europe" DVD. There is nothing here we haven't seen or heard before. It simply serves as a neat piece of footage from the decade when the Doors resurgance that has not died down really began. Ray Manzarek has spent the better part of a decade trashing Oliver Stone's feature film "The Doors," but he can't even offer a better piece of merchandise. "The Doors" movie DVD has a SECOND disc packed with great bonus stuff. I suggest that if anything else will be released soon (whatever happened to "Feast Of Friends" or the famous underground movie Jim Morrison made called "HWY?") it should have extra juicy stuff or it should be something we haven't seen before.

"A Tribute to Jim Morrison" is an aggregation of video clips and photos of Morrison and commentary from the three living Doors, two authors, and Doors producer Paul Rothchild. It is a helpful introduction for someone who knows little about Morrison and wants to learn more. However, because it dates back to the early 1980s, stalwart fans will find everything is old hat (e.g., The Doors landing in Europe and identifying themselves to the questioner; the performances in Europe and on the Ed Sullivan Show).

In "No One Here Gets Out Alive," Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman (Editorial Review above, get that spelling right) wrote many things about Morrison, but their biography was most memorable for its focus on Morrison's wild antics, including many dangerous and gross things and acts of cruelty. Most of the stories about wild antics were attributed to Sugerman, as Hopkins was the narrative and fact guy. The difference on this DVD is that they stick to the more basic and general. Although Morrison's excesses are acknowledged, the emphasis is on Jim Morrison the performer. Indeed, a video clip is worth a thousand words.

Nothing that Hopkins and Sugerman say is very profound or insightful. Rothchild and the living Doors are more intelligent and interesting to listen to, but they do not dig deep enough into Morrison either.

How could this have been more interesting? The literary side of Jim Morrison could have been explored. Jim was very well read, and some of his lyrics were inspired by his eclectic readings, including some French literature, for example. Louis-Ferdinand Celine wrote "Journey to the End of the Night" (see The Doors' debut album track 9). Arthur Rimbaud, French writer of the 19th century, had Morrison as one of his most prodigious readers, and Wallace Fowlie took the trouble to write "Rimbaud and Jim Morrison: The Rebel as Poet." As a performer, Jim Morrison was inspired by theatrical innovator Antonin Artaud, who wrote "Theater of Cruelty." Also, Morrison had enough running around in his own head, helped by mind-altering substances, to inspire himself to great lyrics. The creative stuff is perhaps beyond Hopkins and Sugerman, but not the three living Doors and some of Morrison's associates.

Jim Morrison was not always a pleasant guy to know when drunk or stoned. When he was not, I would have found him interesting to talk to, and I think many others would have as well.

GREAT dvd! A must in your collection if you're a Doors fan. Long live Mr Mojo Risin!

This documentary was out of print for many years! I think it's a superb Idea that it has been re-released again!

Subtitled No One Here Gets Out Alive, this 1983 documentary is not without moments of nostalgic, credible insight; but for the most part it peddles out the checklist of every other bland paean to the Lizard King.

Comprising a montage of interviews with the remaining band members (mullets, beachfronts, cane furniture and way too many "man" 's), the documentary is put together by celebrated biographers Jerry Hopkins, Danny Sugerman and former US Rolling Stone editor Ben Fong-Torres. This in mind, the disc should have been much more that a diluted and considerably less interesting abridged version of the Hopkins/Sugerman biography.

The usual anecdotes and footage are here: the naughtiness of Ed Sullivan; the even more naughtiness of Miami. Yet the same times-they-were-a-changin' sentiments are conveyed ad nauseum: "He was the real thing, man", "He wanted to be a poet, man", "He had a fire burning inside of him, man". Bad Morrison poetry floats across the screen, broody photo stills cut into each other... yawn.

Like too many posthumous rock tributes, this is also prone to obscene exaggerations of the subject's cultural worth. In this example, Morrison's bloated and bearded downward spiral is rationalised as a mystical and powerful subversive statement. Dionysus is invoked, and everything about rock music is changed forever. Punk and new wave? A homage to Morrison, apparently. All the while archival footage plays of a stoned and barely coherent Jim.

But still, it's pretty good! I recommend it!