I'll start this review by saying that the Doors were a pretty good band, and that Jim Morrison wrote some pretty good lyrics when he wasn't totally overcome by fits of shitty Rimbaudesque pretension.  So, I like the Doors, up until the point when the still sea conspires in armor and I want to punch someone.

That said, The Doors could only be taken seriously by the stupid "Jim Morrison was a poet and a shaman and the greatest front man in rock history" variety of Doors fan.  For everyone else, it's a typical piece of Oliver Stone sixties nonsense, complete with gratuitous sixties violence montage.  Establishing that there were things happening in the 1960s (Vietnam, hippies, etc.) is not really a bad move, but perhaps it could have been achieved in a less ham-fisted fashion.  You know, by establishing a literal connection to the content of the film instead of just tossing out your random Vietnam montage.  Why didn't Oliver Stone just walk out carrying a Wile E. Coyote sign that said Vietnam!!!  That would have been much cooler.  And slightly more subtle.

Otherwise, the movie is pretty well done.  Val Kilmer's portrayal of Morrison is really good, especially in the concert sequences where he baits the crowds and the cops.  Although the scene in New Haven now reminds me of the South Park episode where Stan's dad keeps getting in fights and protesting "I thought this was America.  Isn't this America?"  when he gets arrested.

Another highlight is the unintentionally hilarious "ride the snake" trip sequence early in the movie.  As movie freak-outs go, it's not very inspired:  nothing but hawks and lizards, and the dead Indian shaman that keeps popping up throughout.  The hilarity comes from having the characters stare straight into the camera and say "I'm afraid of my father!"  The are plenty of scenes of wild debauchery, including a great moment where Morrison's girlfriend catches him getting a blow job in an elevator and he just laughs at her.

The major flaw with this movie is that despite its worshipful tone, it can't really disguise the fact that Jim Morrison was a drunken, pretentious death-obsessed asshole whose importance in rock history has been vastly inflated because he was good-looking, died young, and death-obsession holds a certain fascination for dumb teenagers.  The Doors is full of lines like "They don't want me, they want my death!"  Which is something only a self-absorbed rock star asshole could say.  The Doors would have been a better movie if Oliver Stone obviously didn't expect us to take the thesis that Jim Morrison was a great poet/slash reincarnated Indian shaman seriously.

This is confused mess of a film with a good Val Kilmer performance, some good music, and some unintentional comedy.  Recommended as a cautionary tale about the dangers of reading too much symbolist poetry.