EmeraldSkies said:

I haven't seen it yet, but that's what I would expect. As rehearsals go, I think he would have been more focused on hitting his marks than on sticking his moves. You know he would have laid some extra fierce attitude on top for the actual show (once everyone was comfortable with what they were doing).

I experienced 'This Is It' last night with family and a funky audience on IMAX. Now that I've seen it I can say that it showcases an artist in full command of his craft and taking an hands-on approach to even the most minute detail of the massive production. And though one can't help but lament what might have been, the rehearsal footage bears witness to Jackson's creative genius and the indelible mark he's made on history.

As for the DVD, bring it on!

Just saw it last night. What an experience that movie was. It wasn't a packed house, but it was still a good amount of people there. I was glad to see a lot of other parents had the same idea as me...bring the kids. I was moved at how when the credits started to roll signaling the end of the film, almost everyone seemed paralyzed to get up and leave. Everyone sat there with tears in their eyes, others with serious faces full of deep thought. Just a feeling of wow, we lost such a great talent, a great person. And how amazing it was that he did his thang til the very end, doing what he loves. That's a beautiful thing.

purplesweat said:

Thanks for the warning. I think I can live without reading that. I´ve read anough BS recently. Don´t need to read more.

I saw it early today and was overwhelmed. I cried on 3-4 separate occasions. Just really well done and so good to see him doing his thing. Was taken aback at how much I loved the Billie Jean part toward the end. I felt like an addict... just wanting more and more of him but then MJ always made me feel that way.

And I left the theater, I loved seeing the line up of folks waiting to get in... all different ages and races... all waiting to get in and see this movie. I can't wait to see it again.

JackieBlue said:

Glad you loved it as much as we all did.

dag said:

For sure!
[Edited 10/31/09 13:05pm]

You can pre-order the DVD at michaeljackson.com and get a free poster.
I'm waiting to buy it in stores to see if the content is really that different.
Something tells me the blue-ray will offer just as much content as the DVD.
Too many people would bitch if the DVD was the lacking. (Or at-least I'd hope so.)

JackieBlue said:

BTW guys, you can find almost whole TII on youtube. Not in the best quality though, it´s usually people recording thing on their cellphones in the theatres probably. But, better than nothing before the DVD comes.

MTV Review: 'Jackson Is A Stubborn Visionary'
October 2009
"Michael Jackson's This Is It" premiered simultaneously in 17 cities around the world, and MTV News writer Eric Ditzian was on hand at the New York premiere to get a first look at the film.

From over 100 hours of footage, director Kenny Ortega brought together a 105-minute feature that traced all of the steps on the road to Jackson's planned "This Is It" shows, from initial conception to auditions to rehearsals. You can read Ditzian's entire recap of "Michael Jackson's This Is It" here, but one thing that especially stands out is this passage: "The picture that emerges of Michael Jackson is of a stubborn visionary who never loses his sense of humor. He's a perfectionist who knows what he wants and is loath to compromise. He also seems reluctant to admit when he's in the wrong, as with a humorous incident when he seems to forget the lyrics to a Jackson 5 song and instead blames a faulty earpiece."

If there's one thing that collaborators and friends always said about Michael Jackson, it's that he had an unbelievable work ethic and was a staunch perfectionist. The film seems to focus on establishing that as his legacy, and that like many geniuses he was sometimes undone by his demand for constant excellence. And yet despite his workhorse tendencies, he was clearly a joy to work with, as the film offers a look at his infectious energy. As Ditzian puts it, the film creates "a glowing portrait," leaving out any of the unpleasantness that has followed Jackson's death.

But it seems less like a trick of editing and more like a tribute to the thing that clearly dominated the end of the King of Pop's life: The need to deliver one final, stunning performance that would be a lasting memory. "Michael Jackson's This Is It" is not what he intended, but it seems like it comes awfully close.
[Edited 10/31/09 13:50pm]

Just got back from watching the movie, It made me miss Michael. The movie was awesome, and he wasn't walking around high or out of it! That would have been one hell of a concert if he had lived! Michael was sooo humble and nice to all of the people he worked with.

The Movie Was DOPE
The sisters and i stayed til the screen went completly black

purplesweat said:

I hope they release a couple of dvd's worth. Make it a series or something, volume 1, 2 ,3 etc

Arnotts said:

Eh...I think they should give us about 2-3 hours of bonus features and leave it at that...

I have a feeling all of the 100 hours of footage isn't Michael performing.
You gotta consider most of it is probably Michael watching the show evolve,
or getting phone calls about it. It isn't like they did run throughs every
day April-June. Just chop together all the songs rehearsed, even the songs
that didn't make the film-cut, find a few hours worth of behind the scenes
goodies, any other interesting stuff about the vignettes and costumes, give
us a decent live companion album, and close the chapter on "This Is It"
and start digging through MJ's vault already.

mynameisnotsusan said:

I would have to disagree. It's not that he was not fond of "Off The Wall", because I think he was. He just became obsessed with "Thriller".

ViintageJunkiie said:

Yeah maybe not volumes and different releases, but maybe one of those boxset type things where theres two or three cds in the one packaging. I just really want lots of behind the scenes footage like with 'The Making Of Thriller', although I wanted to see more footage from that too.

Arnotts said:

I say 3 CD's. One CD full of "the hits", second cd behind the scenes footage (them creating the stage, vignettes, set lists etc) & the 3rd cd will be the full rehearsal. I think we ALL wanted to see more from the Thriller video. I really wanted to see the part when he confronts Ola about him being "not like the other guys" and more of the transformation to the "cat-like monster"

shorttrini said:

I think Michael has always had a warped sense of what his fans want. His Jackson 5 upbringing made him think he had to do the same thing over and over again, or what was most popular over and over again. I have images of him doing a really dark tour made up from the Blood on The Dance Floor album and all his other darks songs from other albums. Its absolutely fantastic in my mind but he would NEVER have done that as for some reason he didnt think its what we wanted.

It would have suited very well with the image he was beginning to create with his new fashion style and the amazing effects in the show, but instead he chose to do the same songs as usual. I got SOOO excited when Threatened started after Thriller, but it didnt go in the cool direction it could have. That could have been so amazing if he performed that song, and a new routine and everything. Its the exact vibe I was imagining.

Arnotts said:

I think he should have performed "Ghosts" "Is It Scary", then closed the grave-yard set with "Thriller"

ViintageJunkiie said:

Reading you guys debate this makes me sad, simply because these were probably the discussions fans would have had after coming back from London, enjoying the shows, and pondering them with the blurry clips on YouTube.

On a more positive note, I have 3 words to say about "This Is It" the movie:
FAVORITE MOVIE EVER.

Vanilli said:

can you imagine how many people would have been recording clips from his shows?! it just sucks we won't even be able to see it ..

ViintageJunkiie said:

Yeah thats sounds cool too, Threatened as well? I think Threatened sounded great live so I'd have that in there too. Damn Vanilli your right, it makes me sad too. Theres just so much more he could of given.

Arnotts said:

You just gave me another idea for a fantasy tracklisting

Copycat said:

Pretty sure MJ didn't forget the words to I Want You Back. It looked like he was agitated during the performance, and was probably letting the other people practice. How could he forget the words to that song, of all tracks?

Superstition said:

It shows how people see things differently. I thought it looked like the ear piece was annoying him and he was trying to show his fustration so people would stop and fix it

bboy87 said:

Whats that?

bboy87 - any idea what those tracks that were just registered bmi would be used for now? The companion CD already came out. Is there another companion CD for when the DVD drops in January being planned?

Arnotts said:

tracklistings for concepts I have sometimes. Like my ideal tracklistings for boxsets and stuff