6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
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 of the albums release 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.
Starring: Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, The DoorsMusic | 100% |
Documentary | 44% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: LPCM 2.0
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, French, Spanish, German
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
When I was 15, my parents bought me a Eurrail pass, gave me a few hundred dollars, and shipped me over to the
Continent for a summer, leaving me pretty much to fend for myself, which they felt would be a “maturing” experience for
me. My eldest sister was then running a Service Club on an Army base in Heilbronn, Germany, and I was able to use
her digs as a kind of home base, but for all intents and purposes, I was on my own, free to plan my own agenda and go
and do what I wanted (within reason and available funds, of course). This was long before the days of cell phones, and
it had a bit of an added element in that my late father, who was still alive then, was a Major General in the Army with
Top Secret clearance, so I did have to “check in” with appropriate consular authorities from time to time, which I
guess gave my parents some fleeting sense of security that I hadn’t been kidnapped by the evil Communists or gotten
myself into trouble via my own nefarious means.
One of the oddest things that happened to me was during my sojourn
to Paris (and, no, it wasn’t a naďve young boy trying to figure out what the frell a bidet was for, but I digress). My
second morning there, I arose and went downstairs in the little pensione I had gotten a room in, and the sweet elderly
lady who owned the place looked at me and said in heavily accented English, “So, you want to see Jim Morrison’s
grave?” Now I hadn’t exactly grown up during The Doors’ heyday (though some would argue it was “close
enough for jazz”), and even more to the point, I simply was more into jazz in my teens and sixties rock, then several
years in the past, just
was not
(yet) on my radar for the most part. I frankly had to think for a moment that Parisian morning long ago to even figure
out who this “Jeem Morrison” (as it sounded) really was. I more or less graciously told the woman that, no, I wasn’t
really interested in that and would probably prefer to hit other tourist traps like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre,
but that moment has always stuck with me as a very potent symbol for what American culture means overseas and
how, frankly, Europeans may perceive Americans and their supposed interests. The fact that this older French woman
would look at a young
American and instantly think of Morrison's grave as being a likely destination spoke volumes, rightly or wrongly.
The Doors: Mr. Mojo Risin' – The Story of L.A. Woman is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. This documentary features a wide variety of archival footage interspersed with contemporary (and archival) interview footage, and as should be expected, quality varies greatly. The older concert footage which is sourced from 16mm (and perhaps even 8mm) is incredibly grainy and soft, but still looks really surprisingly good considering its age. A lot of that footage is in black and white, which only increases the appearance of grain. On the other hand, the contemporary interview sequences are quite sharp and well defined, with excellent color and acceptable levels of fine detail. There is at least one archival interview included with producer Paul Rothschild, and that, while not at the level of the older black and white footage, is noticeably softer and fuzzier than the newer footage, again as should be expected. Quite a bit of the archival footage is remarkably free of damage despite being in smaller millimeter formats, and should be enjoyed by The Doors' many fans.
The Doors: Mr. Mojo Risin' – The Story of L.A. Woman features three audio options, two lossless, an LPCM 2.0 mix and a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, as well as a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Both lossless mixes sound very good to excellent, though some of the source elements in terms of the archival recordings simply can't completely overcome the limitations of how they were recorded. Those wanting unedited concert footage of The Doors are going to be disappointed, as this is much more a talking heads piece than anything. That said, fidelity is strong throughout this presentation and for a documentary there's also a surprisingly wide dynamic range at work, offering everything from simple spoken word to Morrison's scream of pent up fury as he sings. The surround mix isn't especially impressive in terms of over the top immersion, especially since the music comes and goes in dribs and drabs, but both lossless tracks certainly get the job done without any problems whatsoever.
Is Jim Morrison's grave still the first thing elderly French women see when they set eyes on a young American tourist? Somehow I doubt it, and frankly it was even a bit strange back in the day. But that said, Morrison's impact, as well as The Doors' generally, can't be underestimated. No other American band of that timeframe quite had The Doors' counterculture cachet, and that proclivity comes through loud and clear on this really interesting and well done documentary. Filled with excellent interviews with the surviving band members and a number of well informed associates, and featuring a lot of great archival footage, The Doors: Mr. Mojo Risin' – The Story of L.A. Woman should appeal to The Doors' many fans. Recommended.
2009
2016
Special Edition | Warner Archive Collection
1970
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1973
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