Overview: 'R-Evolution' brings together a wealth of previously unreleased footage of The Doors. Combining early TV appearances with their own music films, it illustrates how The Doors evolved from the constraints of late sixties television to a point where they had the creative input and power to shape how they were portrayed on screen.

Blu ray Verdict: In truth, I'm not what you would call a huge Doors fan. Indeed, I couldn't name three of their songs if you paid me. But, I have admiration for them, their overall sound and the mark them made on the 70's, for sure.

So, having been sent this wonderful new Doors Blu ray for review, 'R-Evolution' and with everyone else out of the office due to 10" of snow, well, I found myself knuckling down to some warm and cozy viewing. And I have to say that as much as I really enjoyed this screening, and actually learnt a lot about the band in the process from their performances and such, more rabid fans who collected everything the Doors have ever released are going to wet themselves over this! I'm told that this is still not a complete history of their TV performances, so I should make it clear that this is a history of the Doors evolution on film appearances, as the title states. Not a complete history therein, sorry.

Aside from all the classic black and white show performances, such as 'The Crystal Ship' (July 22, 1967 - American Bandstand), 'Light My Fire' (July 22, 1967 - American Bandstand), 'Touch Me' (December 15, 1968 - The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour) and 'People Are Strange' (September 22, 1967 - Murray The K in New York), we get a plethora of films such as: People Are Strange Music Film (1980), Strange Days Music Film (1984), L.A.Woman Music Film (1985) and Ghost Song Music Film (1995).

But it's also the bonus features where some true gold nuggets can be found, of course. These include a 1966 Ford Training Film, which features the Doors song 'Love Thy Customer,' some 1967 Malibu U outtakes, and even a Commentary that (without giving anything away) might even surprise you with its info contained!

In closing, know that all of the the audio you hear, save for the Ford Motor Company film, has been lovingly restored by Bruce Botnick. Bruce was the Doors' long time engineer and co-producer of the last L.A. Woman album. I couldn't find the info to support my theory, but one can only assume Bruce restored the video portions also. I'd like to think so as this is one incredible Blu ray, trust me! This is a Full Screen Presentation (1.77:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

1966- Ford Training Film, Love Thy Customer (music by The Doors)
1967- Malibu U Doors Outtakes
August 1970- Break On Through To The Other Side- Isle Of Wight
Break On Through The Lens Documentary
Commentary