The 10 Best Uses Of The Doors Songs In Movies

Throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s, the Doors emerged as one of the cornerstones of the counterculture movement, and arguably the pinnacle of the acid rock subgenre. They’re one of the bestselling musical artists of all time, with more than 100 million record sales across the globe, and they became the first American band to amass eight consecutive gold-certified LPs.

The Doors initially released six albums in five years, some of which are now ranked among the greatest rock albums ever produced, and the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the ‘90s. Naturally, a number of filmmakers have used the Doors’ music in their movies.

10 “People Are Strange” In The Watch

Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, and Richard Ayoade all shared terrific on-screen chemistry in The Watch as a neighborhood watch organization that stumbles across an alien invasion.

The Doors’ “People Are Strange” plays when the guys begin to suspect that everyone in town is an alien in disguise. There’s a great montage of the characters observing weird behavior.

9 “Break On Through (To The Other Side)” In Jarhead

Before making back-to-back Bond movies with Daniel Craig, Sam Mendes directed Jarhead, set during the Gulf War and starring Jake Gyllenhaal as real-life soldier Anthony Swofford, whose memoir formed the basis for the movie.

In one scene, a military helicopter is seen flying overhead, blasting the Doors song “Break On Through (To the Other Side)” from its speaker system.

8 “Moonlight Drive” In Less Than Zero

Bret Easton Ellis’ debut novel Less Than Zero, about a bunch of students enjoying their holiday break, was turned into a great little hangout movie in 1987.

In addition to featuring tracks by such beloved artists as Aerosmith, Joan Jett, Public Enemy, and Roy Orbison, the soundtrack includes “Moonlight Drive” by the Doors.

7 “Roadhouse Blues” In Girl, Interrupted

Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie star in Girl, Interrupted, the harrowing story of a young woman who spends 18 months in a psychiatric hospital following a suicide attempt.

The soundtrack contains such hits as “Right Time” by Aretha Franklin, “Comin’ Back to Me” by Jefferson Airplane, and “Roadhouse Blues” by the Doors.

6 “Light My Fire” In Cast Away

The quintessential island survival movie, Cast Away stars Tom Hanks as a FedEx employee who’s flung into the ocean from a plane crash and then washes up on a remote island, where his only companion is a volleyball with a face painted on it.

When he finally manages to build a fire, he starts singing the Doors’ classic “Light My Fire” as he dances around the flames.

5 “Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)” In The World’s End

Six years after the release of Hot Fuzz, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright finally completed the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy with The World’s End, a sci-fi comedy about five friends contending with the apocalypse in the middle of a pub crawl.

“Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)” by the Doors plays as the five musketeers walk to the Good Companions after deciding to finish “the Golden Mile” so they won’t arouse suspicion from the robots that have invaded their hometown.

4 The Soundtrack Of Oliver Stone’s The Doors

In 1991, Oliver Stone made a biopic about the Doors, aptly titled The Doors, that chronicled their groundbreaking musical career through the life of lead singer Jim Morrison. Although only a handful of them actually appear on the film’s official soundtrack album, there are more than 20 Doors songs in Stone’s movie.

The movie stars Val Kilmer as Morrison, Frank Whaley as guitarist Robby Krieger, Kyle MacLachlan as keyboardist Ray Manzarek, and Kevin Dillon as drummer John Densmore.

3 “Hello, I Love You” In Forrest Gump

There are no less than five Doors songs featured on the soundtrack of Forrest Gump. “Love Her Madly” plays when Jenny leaves her abusive boyfriend.

Perhaps the best use of a Doors track in Robert Zemeckis’ revisionist journey through 20th-century history is “Hello, I Love You,” which plays while Forrest learns ping pong and becomes one of the world champions of the sport.

2 “Touch Me” In School Of Rock

When fraudulent substitute teacher Dewey Finn realizes his students are all musically gifted in School of Rock, he decides to invite them into his new rock band. He shows pianist Lawrence how to play the keyboard by giving him the opening bars of the Doors’ “Touch Me” to play.

Dewey starts to sing along with the first few lines, then changes the lyrics to suit his current situation: “Lawrence is good at piano / He shall be rocking in my show.”

1 “The End” In Apocalypse Now

The psychedelic sounds of the Doors’ “The End” are paired perfectly with the breathtaking opening shots of napalm being lashed over a jungle landscape in Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now. The song plays at the end of the movie, too.

Coppola originally played the song in the cutting room as a joke (playing “This is the end” over the beginning of the movie), but it fit perfectly.

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Ben Sherlock
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Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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