Michael Jackson - History on Film, Vol. 2 (1997) Part 1

Happy Birthday to the late great Michael Jackson. Arguably the greatest entertainer of my generation, if not of all time. I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing about Michael Jackson, but I figured this day would be a good opportunity to throw in my two cents on the life of Michael Jackson as well as provide you with a review of one of his collections of music videos and live performances. Since this is a dual sided DVD collection I figured I'd split this review into two parts allowing me to say a little bit more regarding Michael Jackson and still be able to throw out some opinions on this set. So lets begin.

Whatever you may think of Michael Jackson as a person, I don't believe anyone could deny the affect that his music and career has had on the world of entertainment. People tend to lump Michael Jackson in the same group as great artists such as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and The Beatles, all stars in their own right, but in my opinon Michael Jackson is in a group of his own, high above everyone else. Many people, especially those in my generation, tend to forget Michael Jackson had a very successful music career before Off The Wall and Thriller. Granted his unbelievable celebrity, and the persona of what most of us recognize as Michael Jackson really didn't blossom until he became an adult solo artist. But Michael was still extremely successful and popular as a child artist, something Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, The Beatles and any other major artist could not be attributed with. Jackson's successfully continuous career spanned nearly his entire life from the late 1960's to early 2000's, 40 years of music, it could easily be said that Michael's entire life was devoted to entertaining the world, a job that ultimately and sadly was responsible for his death.

Also Michael Jackson had it all talent wise. He not only revolutionized the Pop genre but revolutionized music in general with his voice, his moves, his videos and his eccentric lifestyle. A combination that no other artist can come close to comparing to. He had an ability to blend genres so effortlessly allowing everyone to find something in his catalog of classics to enjoy. Churning out unforgettable upbeat songs such as Billie Jean, Beat It, Smooth Criminal and many, many more, as well as create some of the most beautiful love songs that could easily bring a tear to your eye. Along with the music Michael Jackson also revolutionized the art of the music video, turning three minute videos into short films which people would wait with bated breath to see, something that was truly unique to only Michael Jackson. When Jackson's career began to slow down, music videos also began lose their appeal to the public.

The Videos (Part 1): (ratings are based on the videos not the songs)

Billie Jean: Motown 25 Performance - 10/10
The Motown 25 performance has been voted among many as one of the greatest television performances of all-time, right up there with Elvis and The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. This performance marked the premiere of the iconic sparkling white glove and the dance move that will forever go down in history as the one move everyone wishes they could perfect... The Moonwalk.

Beat It - 7/10
Beat It will forever rank as one of my top favorite Michael Jackson songs. It's a song I can continuously listen to and never get tired of. It's also one of Michael's countless songs which really has the ability to lift your spirits and get you energized and pumped up. As for the video it's one of Michael's more average videos, in fact most of the videos off the Bad album were pretty average in my opinon except for of course Smooth Criminal, which we'll get to. The red jacket in this video is probably another iconic Michael memorabilia, and the dance sequence near the end of the video is pretty sweet.

Liberian Girl - 2/10
Another example of how bad some of the video off the Bad album were, Liberian Girl is a great song but the video is horrible. All the video does is showcase Michael's countless celebrity friends who are all sitting around in a sound stage waiting for him to arrive. He makes an appearance at the end of the video supposedly as some sort of joke, filming them all while they wait for him. By far the worst Jackson video. It's only interesting to watch if you'd like to reminisce about who was seemly popular in the late 80's.

Smooth Criminal - 10/10
Smooth Criminal was actually apart of a 30-45 minute movie entitled Moonwalker, which is worth finding if you're a big Jackson fan. I have the VHS version somewhere, unfortunately I no longer have a VCR so it's a little useless. But Smooth Criminal is probably my favorite Michael Jackson videos, because it's just awesome. The white suit, the fedora, the ridiculously sweet dance moves (including the moonwalk) and the iconic and impossible lean move make this video among the best.

1995 MTV Music Video Awards Performance - 9/10
It's no secret Michael Jackson made MTV, he was the first black artist to be shown on the station and the premiere of Thriller changed MTV and music videos forever. I never remember seeing this performance, but it's a great mix of numerous tracks off Thriller, Bad, Dangerous and History. Michael Jackson was by far one of the greatest, if not the greatest live entertainers so any live performances he did he went all out, this is by far the longest performance I have ever seen at an awards show, almost like a mini concert.

Thriller - 10/10
Thriller's not my one of my favorite songs, but the video is responsible for redefining the music video industry and actually turning a song into a visual story. It's groundbreaking even today, I doubt any other artist will ever match it.

Stay tuned for Part II