Very Different Visions of Jim Morrison

Which is the real Jim Morrison?

At your video store, you’re offered two very different perspectives of the late lead singer/songwriter of the ‘60s psychedelic group the Doors.

In LIVE’s “The Doors,” director Oliver Stone’s feature film about Morrison’s rise and fall, the rock star is portrayed by Val Kilmer as arrogant, selfish, self-destructive and thoroughly unlikable.

The documentary “The Doors: Soft Parade--a Retrospective,” on MCA/Universal at $19.95, presents an opposite view. It was assembled by Ray Manzarek, who played keyboards for the band.

“Most of the time he was witty, charming and very intelligent--an artist, a poet,” Manzarek said. “That’s what I tried to bring out in this documentary. You see he’s not a jerk or a drugged-out monster who was always living on the edge. He’s laughing, smiling and articulate.”

Manzarek isn’t contending that Stone made a devil out of an angel. “Jim had a drinking problem that--sad to say--ultimately probably killed him,” he said. “But when he wasn’t on the bottle, which was most of the time, he was very normal--a side of him you don’t see in the movie. Near the end, he started to get drunk too much of the time--which did him in.”

One of the main reasons for putting out the video, he said, was “to present an alternative view of Jim to people who are finding out about him for the first time. That person you see in Oliver Stone’s film just isn’t Jim.”

The highlight of the 50-minute tape is the Doors’ final TV appearance, on a 1969 PBS show after the Miami concert in which he was arrested for indecent exposure. The group sings palatable versions of three songs from “The Soft Parade” album--without the orchestral excesses that spoil the recorded versions. Another absorbing moment: footage of the “Wild Child” recording session.

Manzarek disputed the notion that MCA/Universal released its video about the same time as the movie to cash in on LIVE’s expensive promotion campaign.

“Though it may be hard to believe, we didn’t plan ours to hit the video market the same time as the movie,” he insisted. “We planned on a fall release a long time ago. But things turned out lucky for us. The video of the movie could have just as easily come out next year.”

This is Manzarek’s third Doors documentary for MCA/Universal based on footage from the Doors’ archives. The first two are “Dance on Fire” (mainly clips and promo films) and “Live at the Hollywood Bowl” (a concert film). MCA/Universal is selling all three in a collector’s edition priced at $59.95.

Is there enough fresh footage left for another video?

“There’s interesting stuff left in the archives,” Manzarek replied. “We might be able to put together another documentary at some point--if the demand is there.”

Extended ‘Wolves’: Some video industry insiders are saying that the eagerly anticipated extended version of “Dances With Wolves” will be out early next year, following a possible theatrical release near the end of this year.

Although Orion wouldn’t comment, speculation is that it will be about 50 minutes longer than the original version, which runs three hours and is now the No. 1 video rental. The extra footage supposedly enhances various subplots rather than adding new storylines.

You can be sure that this nearly four-hour version will be released on two cassettes. Orion is still reeling from the problems caused by the defective tapes that resulted from squeezing the three-hour “Wolves” onto one cassette.

What really has “Wolves” aficionados salivating is the prospect of a laser-disc version that reportedly would include director-star Kevin Costner’s commentary on the making of the movie.