DVD/Blu-Ray Review: The Doors “R-Evolution”, Eagle Rock Entertainment
The corporate entity of one of my favorite, notoriously “non-corporate” bands, “The Doors Property LLC” has been involved in many DVD and home video releases over the years, dating back to 1999’s “Doors Collection” DVD. Recently Eagle Rock Entertainment was a part of two other Doors-related releases; the Grammy winning “People Are Strange” documentary (narrated by Johnny Depp) and the excellent “Live At The Bowl 68” DVD.
As a pretty serious Doors fan it would seem to me that there’s little surprising material left to discover despite the numerous releases. Still, that never stops me from checking out any new Doors release just to see for myself and with the recent release of “R-Evolution” I am seeing a few things I haven’t seen and seeing them clearer than ever. The more rarely seen footage on this DVD/BluRay includes Dick Clark American Bandstand performance footage and interview and even a 1966 Ford Motor Company promotional video that the Doors scored music for before achieving household name status. It’s pretty friggin hilarious and super cheesy to be honest, but then so are a lot of the actual early Doors appearances on this DVD so showing that contrast is sort of the point of this release.
“R-Evolution” shows you the real-time evolution of the Doors visual presentations from the complete full-color version of their very early (and very goofy) local TV appearance on the Shebang show to their highly evolved, self-produced and controlled later promotional videos. Film-school graduates Morrison and Manzarek never really shook their attraction to the visual medium and later concept clips like “Unknown Soldier” and “Strange Days” (which I actually am seeing for the first time) truly set the precedent for everything MTV would later lay claim to. Watch the Doors studio process unfold in the “Wild Child” clip and the later 80s MTV era clips like the ones for 1983’s “Gloria” and the director’s cut of 85’s “L.A. Woman” (and definitely check out the commentary tracks on all of the clips as well).
The true highlight of the very affordable disc is the bonus feature documentary called “Breaking Through The Lens” which I would recommend watching before even starting the clips themselves. In it, surviving Doors John Densmore and Robby Krieger as well as many Doors principal V.I.P.s like producer Bruce Botnick and Elektra’s Jac Holzman look back on the clips and the band’s overall approach and relationship to the visual artform from billboards to art to film.
I would recommend “R-Evolution” if you enjoyed “People Are Strange” or the “Live At The Bowl” release as Eagle Rock is doing a fine job being entrusted to the Doors legacy on film. It’s also worth noting that this release would serve as an excellent primer gift to anyone who’s new to The Doors experience since it includes and examines everything from the deeper cuts like “Changeling” and “Ghost Song” to classic rock staples like “Break On Through” and “Touch Me”.
Pick up The Doors “R-Evolution” here
The Doors R-Evolution DVD Track Listing: (Full Details Below)
1) Break On Through (To The Other Side) 2) Break On Through (To The Other Side) 3) The Crystal Ship 4) Light My Fire 5) Light My Fire 6) People Are Strange 7) Moonlight Drive 8) Unknown Soldier 9) Hello, I Love You 10) Touch Me 11) Wild Child 12) Roadhouse Blues 13) Crawling King Snake 14) The Changeling 15) Gloria 16) People Are Strange 17) Strange Days 18) L.A. Woman 19) Ghost Song
DETAILED TRACK LISTING:
1) Break On Through (To The Other Side)
Music Film January 1967
2) Break On Through (To The Other Side)
From Shebang aired early 1967
3) The Crystal Ship
From American Bandstand aired July 1967
4) Light My Fire
From American Bandstand aired July 1967
5) Light My Fire
From Malibu U aired August 1967
6) People Are Strange
From Murray The K In New York aired September 1967
7) Moonlight Drive
From The Jonathan Winters Show aired December 1967
8) Unknown Soldier
Music Film February 1968
9) Hello, I Love You
From Musik Für Junge Leute: 4-3-2-1 Hot And Sweet aired September 1968
10) Touch Me
From The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour aired December 1968
11) Wild Child
Music Film July 1969
12) Roadhouse Blues
Music Film February 1970
13) Crawling King Snake
From GTK (Get To Know) aired March 1971
14) The Changeling
Music Film April 1971
15) Gloria
Music Film October 1983
16) People Are Strange
Music Film 1984
17) Strange Days
Music Film 1980s
18) L.A. Woman
Music Film 1985
19) Ghost Song
Music Film 1995
Special Note: For both the North American and European markets, this release is
available in four different formats/versions. But only the Deluxe Set contains the
outstanding 40 page book which features a fabulous “scrap book” style presenting
of every single track, including the song lyrics, the background info, stunning photos
and more! This Deluxe Set is now available in both the DVD and Blu-ray formats.
Category: Reviews
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