Siskel & Ebert (TV Series)

The Doors/My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys/Iron & Silk/Superstar (1991)

Gene Siskel: Self - Host

Quotes 

• Roger Ebert - Host : "The Doors" is a very well-made movie, with some terrific music, but the misery of its hero makes it truly painful to watch.

  Gene Siskel - Host : You know, I didn't suffer that much, except in his relationship with the Pamela Courson character, played by Meg Ryan, which I thought was, I guess, so unhappy, that, uh, it wasn't really worth watching. Uh, but, um, the rest of the picture is a musical experience, which is really what I think I took out of it. It was a pleasure to revisit the times; I felt like I was given a ticket back to the sixties, and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed being there, watching the music, seeing it created, seeing the spirit of the sixties recreated, the positive spirit of people taking chances, I really thought it was a terrific film.

  Roger Ebert - Host : You've just reviewed- you've given a wonderful review of the first twenty minutes of the film.

  Gene Siskel - Host : Uh...

  Roger Ebert - Host : What about what Jim Morrison GOES through in this movie? His obsession with death. His, his completely sadistic and uncaring treatment of everyone around him, the way that they start reacting to him with passive-aggressive hatefulness, so that the, passive-aggressive hate, so that the people in the band, in the background, playing while he's singing, look at him as if they would like to kill him. What about the audience, as he kept waiting for hours? What about the painful spectacle of him embarrassing himself in public while drunk and exposing him? Is THAT the spirit of the sixties?

  Gene Siskel - Host : Uh, I don't think, well, you know what, people did awful things, sure. They were drug-influenced and drunk.

  Roger Ebert - Host : What about this guy? He was MORE than drug-influenced, he was on a complete death trip.

  Gene Siskel - Host : ...Well, okay, I saw that, but I enjoyed the music that was created during that period.

  Roger Ebert - Host : Well then you should get the soundtrack album.

  Gene Siskel - Host : I DID actually, buy two records from the film. I enjoyed the film thoroughly. I'm not exactly sure what we're arguing about here; we both liked the movie...

  Roger Ebert - Host : I didn't, I'm not gonna give it thumbs up, no.

  Gene Siskel - Host : You call- you call his performance brilliant?

  Roger Ebert - Host : Yes. Yeah.

  Gene Siskel - Host : ...The recreation of the rock music, brilliant, and you're not gonna recommend people see this?

  Roger Ebert - Host : I think it's a pretty unpleasant experience.

  Gene Siskel - Host : But you wouldn't want them to see the brilliant things in the film?

  Roger Ebert - Host : Listen to the music. I admired a lot of the things in this movie, but the problem is, by the end of the film, it's really a downer, I mean, in a bad way.

  Gene Siskel - Host : But wait a second, there are people, it's documented the guy died at the age of 27, all right? Okay, so, obviously he told the story straight. The story's unhappy straight- we've been arguing for years that we want pictures to be...

  Roger Ebert - Host : It goes ON AND ON AND ON, Gene. It goes ON AND ON AND ON, after a while, you just want to cover your eyes. You just don't want to see this guy destroy himself and those around him any longer. It's too painful. If you have any empathy at all, you want to draw a cloak of mercy over this scene.

  Gene Siskel - Host : Well actually, it sounds like you got deeply, deeply involved in the picture. As did I.

  Roger Ebert - Host : Well, more deeply than YOU, apparently. You liked the music.

  Gene Siskel - Host : No, I liked the music, and I cared about the performance. Val Kilmer is great.