Michael Jackson's This Is It

Excellent!!!! Loved it!!!

I view this movie-documentary as a tribute to Michael for thousands of his loving and adoring fans worldwide. It is a beautiful legacy, a splendid farewell 'eulogy' to a beautiful man who's heart was all about love/brotherhood, a man who truly tried to make a difference in his/our world. He danced his dream to make it a better place. I am glad TII was NOT a `tissue-for-tears' work. In my opinion, a true documentary would have been less perky. For me, it was uplifting (with funny moments sprinkled in). My heart felt light and chipper, filled with the light and spirit of MJ's love.Before TII, there was a new generation out there who had never heard of MJ before his passing. They were curious about this world-stopping icon. They wanted to know who and what he was all about, who was this man who almost crashed the almighty Internet, who all but brought the world to a standstill...fans pausing at their various activities/occupations to mourn, to bring honor and tribute to MJ's passing. People everywhere seemed to mourn him in some shape or form. This generation found themselves wanting to go with the flow, to climb aboard that seemingly 'universal' bandwagon... and they have. For many, many of us who had stepped away from his career path and forgotten him for the moment, we reset our sails in an effort to renew our interest in the talents of this Man and his phenomenal Music. Ortega's TII set out to do just that...to 'showcase', if you will, this country's masterpiece...our King of Pop. TII is showing us in this movie-work the makeup and musical depthness of Michael's genius... who and what The Man In The Mirror was all about. We saw him at his art, at his final best--preparing, carving, chiseling, molding, sculpturing it for the Moment... a la Michael Jackson! This Michael Moment was not to be, however.For the fair price of a ticket, we were able to see him at his work, to see him weave his tapestry of magic, to look into an integral part of his soul. We readily see him in character and style, we watch him perform (robbing himself of 100% now to give 200% later at O2), we see him (perhaps not at his best) at what he does best and probably better than any performer alive---happy, smiling catchingly, singing, dancing... executing his phenomenal talent and influence on stage right in front of our eyes. Counting my blessings that day, I likened the film to a 'live' concert!!!!! Yes, yes, a warm and loving human being. Outside of our dreamy state, all of us knew that we were watching his swan song-- those final `animated' days of his life. We knew that the stage-curtain would never again be lifted on him, not in our time and space.In this movie, he appeared thin yet he went about every facet of his work joyously. My thanks and appreciation go to Ortega for his fine footage-editing and 'displaying' MJ in a good light for millions to see. And, I thank the producers for giving us Michael as Michael appeared in the last months or weeks of his life. Many say he was not health, but he did not appear frail. Thank God, I would have truly tear-flooded the theater. Michael was 50, said not in his finest form, and a tad thinner than former times... yet, in loving eyes (his fans) he was beautiful and the man we knew and loved as Michael Jackson. As I write this my eyes are teary; I do not apologize for this emotion.Btw, I took along a couple of my larger hankies to wipe away my tears, but had no need for them. Each emotion of the moment (no sad moods) engrossed me throughout the movie--so much so that I forgot that MJ had left this same stage a mere 4 months earlier!I walked out of this theater feeling greatly touched, inspired and entertained... enough to want to see this movie a second time. And, I did... but this time without the hankies!TII....no waste of my bucks!!! Anxious to add the movie DVD tribute to my MJ trove of 'precious memories

This is a very special (and inexpensive) piece of history. The stage rehearsals are fantastic and the video editing is superb. Audio is excellent. Insight into MJ's thoughts and insight into all the nuance of Best-In-Class performance and dance ... WOW. The production team they had, from choreography to music direction. The guitars and drummer and keyboards -- ALL awesome. Dancers from all over the world came to audition. The whole thing is great. The ending is so sad. If you love MJ, buy this. (The Thriller scenes are great, too.) The stage setups were going to be so awesome, it's tragic in that light also that the show never appeared.

Amazing. Learned a lot.

i looooooved it!!!

THIS IS IT provides a behind-the-scenes view of Michael Jackson's efforts to launch one last tour of fifty performances prior to retirement. MJ often used cameras during rehearsals to capture footage to view in his downtime in order to make last-minute improvements and corrections for his live performances. For this reason, viewers of this DVD have the extremely rare opportunity to view a perfectionist in the midst of perfecting.While many dispute the appropriateness of sharing footage MJ never intended for the public, the amount of money generated from creating this feature-length documentary, among other projects, ensured that executors of MJ's estate (John Branca and John McClain) were able to preserve the financial wherewithal of MJ's children, which had become a major source of uncertainty and concern for their father prior to his death. To handle the business side of This is It, MJ reunited his old team of Branca and McClain with Frank Dileo along with Kenny Ortega, director of DANGEROUS and HISTORY tours, to handle the creative side.Despite the shadow of prescription drug addiction and the lethal use of anesthesia, what cannot be denied from viewing the disc is the sheer magnetism, charisma, and command of stage that MJ always maintained from childhood. Whenever he is in the camera's frame, the viewer's eyes find him and then cannot leave him. Though soft of voice, MJ maintains control of music, sound, lighting, choreography, and yes, even direction. At the same time, he respectfully receives and offers constructive feedback to raise performance levels for himself and others, always "with love," and "God bless you," he says.Because this is rehearsal footage, we do not see MJ singing or dancing at the top of his range. As he repeats several times, he is preserving his voice and energy for the show itself. Still, the audience witnesses his athletic body memory performing complex dance movements on several numbers. He also corrects the tone, pitch, and timing of his backing singers and music director.The audience sees a genius who maintains a sense of humor and generosity towards fellow performers, musicians, crew, and director. He makes sure his female guitarist and duet partner have their time to shine and that his dancers have plenty of opportunities to showcase their own athleticism. While MJ appears tired during rehearsal for Thriller, for all other numbers, he appears alert, energetic, engaged, positive, and confident.As for concerns about body weight, a repeat view of the Bad tour, Live at Wembley 1988 reveals a man with a dancer's body--slender with lean musculature and sufficient cardio ability to dance and sing for two hours. Other people who pop-locked in the 80s have since decided to give their joints rest. Nineteen years later, however, we see MJ still lean of build, fifty-years-old, and strong enough to continue pop-locking at a time most other dancers either become teachers and choreographers or actors. Weak people cannot pop lock, fall to their knees, slide on the floor, then get back up, belt out a song, jump around, stomp the floor, then reprimand their music director "with love" for still not understanding who's actually in charge. "That's why we rehearse," MJ says.In-between rehearsal footage, the audience receives asides from the producers, film and concert director, dance and music directors, costume designer, etc on their thoughts of their experiences with MJ and This is It. Missing are thoughts or views from any member of MJ's family--mother, father, sisters, brothers, children. This leaves friends and acquaintances to tell the story of the last moments of MJ's life.This is It, is also the title of an unfinished 80s demo, finally completed with backing vocals from the Jacksons that plays over end credits. The song sounds great and hopefully, such collaborations will continue with the vast collection of unreleased MJ demos, perhaps even with occasional assistance from sister Janet.Disc includes two making-of documentaries and three featurettes on costumes, dance auditions, and interviewees sharing their memories of working with MJ.Worth the price of purchase by both fans and non-fans to view the last rehearsal performances of the greatest pop star on the entire planet--Michael Jackson. Though North American media challenged and even mocked MJ's King of Pop designation, through sheer force of worldwide record and album sales, worldwide fan devotion, genius-level songwriting and storytelling ability, plus record-setting contributions to charitable causes, MJ's influence in the world of music entertainment can be denied only by the petty and the confused.No longer just a man.Michael Jackson is legend.He is King of Pop.

The best!