Why So Blu?

DOORS Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story of L.A. Woman (Blu-ray Review)

It’s a bit of a Blu-ray music weekend here at Why So Blu and we’re gonna keep it going with our next review. DOORS Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story of L.A. Woman is our next musical review on the high definition format. This isn’t your average DOORS documentary. This Blu-ray focuses entirely on their legendary final album. The Blu-ray contains many interviews with surviving members and former collaborators. Get your mojo risin’ and keep reading to see if DOORS Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story of L.A. Woman makes the grade. 

 

Film

DOORS Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story of L.A. Woman chronicles The Doors last album – recorded in 1970. It would be their final collaboration as a band before Jim Morrison went off to France where he would be dead in a few months after arriving. Mojo Risin’ does a great job in staying on topic with regards to the album as opposed to being an actual Doors documentary covering all aspects of the band and its individual members. Let me make it abundantly clear: THIS IS NOT A COMPREHENSIVE DOCUMENTARY.

In fact, Mojo Risin’ reminded me a bit of the Queen: Days of Our Lives Blu-ray that we reviewed a couple of weeks back, but it’s sole focus is on L.A. Woman. It’s a sharp presentation that doesn’t pull punches and gets to the nitty gritty of the topic at hand. I should also mention that this particular documentary clocks in at just one hour. Considering they talk about just the one album, it makes more than perfect sense.

Sitting down with my craft brew in hand I went in not knowing as much as I should about this part of the band’s history, because I’m not a diehard Doors fan to begin with, so I let the Blu-ray open up my mind a bit and it did just that. It was also pretty trippy to see Jim Morrison, considering he died at the age of 27, but looked and sounded way older. I guess that’s what the alcohol and drugs do a person.

The anecdotes shared by the band members are cool and don’t come off as self serving or tarnish Jim’s memory. Mojo Risin’ keeps it classy all the way through. If you want to make it a complete experience then I highly suggest checking out the extra hour of extras that were edited out of the main program. Lots of cool stuff to be had there.

DOORS Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story of L.A. Woman is an awesome documentary and a kick ass Blu-ray. Enjoy.

 

Documentary

Intro

Early Doors

The Changeling

Been Down So Long/The Miami Effect

The Doors Workshop

Crawling King Snake

Love Her Madly

L.A. Woman

The Wasp (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)

Riders on the Storm

Cars Hiss By My Window/Jim In Paris

Hyacinth House

Closing Doors

Video

DOORS Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story of L.A. Woman is presented in 1080p, 16X9, 1.78:1 widescreen. Again, like our last music Blu-ray review, this music presentation is presented in 1080p NOT 1080i. Ignore the back of the case. 75% of the Mojo Risin’ is a standard documentary with archive footage that looks okay considering how old it is. The new footage with the rest of the band looks terrific. Everyone looks healthy and the skin tones are captured nicely. Colors are bold and I did not spot any instances of banding or aliasing. This would obviously be a reference disc if the archived scenes had been restored, but that’s asking a lot. Mojo Risin’ is a damn good looking Blu-ray as it is.

 

Audio

DOORS Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story of L.A. Woman is presented in DTS-HD MA 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1., and LPCM Stereo. You should already know how  I do it with the Eagle Rock releases – DTS lossless all the way. Here’s another music documentary that gets all the love from its creators. Dialogue is crystal clear and comes through the center channel as if you had The Doors right there in your living room talking to you. Since the program shifts back and forth with the band interviews and archived footage the quality stays consistent, for the most part. Instruments sound balanced and the LFE does a great job in bringing out the lows during the highs, if you get my drift. It’s a great sounding Blu-ray.

Extras

Wow! such a high score for the extras, but why? Well, Eagle Rock saw fit to include an extra hour footage not included in the main feature that let’s the members of the band go into further detail that not always may have stayed on topic with regards to the L.A. Woman album. In fact, Ray Manzarek gets down on the keyboards and plays Riders On The Storm by himself on the keyboard. It was pretty spectacular! This bonus hour ends with a collage of photographs to the tune of She Smells So Nice. Epic.

• John Densmore On L.A. Woman
• Ray Manzarek Discuses Riders On The Storm
• The Doors Guide To L.A.
• Thoughts On Performing Live
• Crawling King Snake
• She Smells So Nice

Summary

DOORS Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story of L.A. Woman is a great documentary that highlights the last days of the band and focuses exclusively on their last record. The remaining members all seem happy to be there telling their story without any reservations along with their collaborators from way back. Mojo Risin’ is an very cool and informative piece, but most importantly, it rocks hard.

 

 

 

Order DOORS Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story of L.A. Woman on Blu-ray!