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Michael Jackson's Moonwalker at 25

I watched moonwalker today in all it's glory :) timeless classic, a fantastic production of art.. special effects and overall a genius up close.
 
I wish that the arcade version of the video game could be re-released.
 
Oh, I love that Moonwalker's anniversary is noted! I remember I went to the movies with my mom to watch it. I'm gonna watch it again this weekend to celebrate the anniversary.
 
I get really nostalgic watching Moonwalker. I remember watching it over and over again on VHS when i was a kid. Also Smooth Criminal is still the greatest short film ever made. Smooth Criminal is the definition of cool
 
It's an unusual movie, it's not like it has some groundbreaking plot or anything, but the music, the dance, the videos and of course Michael's presence make it unique. It's a cult movie as far as I'm concerned.
 
respect77 said:
It's an unusual movie, it's not like it has some groundbreaking plot or anything, but the music, the dance, the videos and of course Michael's presence make it unique. It's a cult movie as far as I'm concerned.
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I think you need to be a true Michael Jackson fan to really appreciate this movie. Anyone who isn't a fan or is just a casual listener to his music probably won't like it
 
analogue said:
I think you need to be a true Michael Jackson fan to really appreciate this movie. Anyone who isn't a fan or is just a casual listener to his music probably won't like it
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respect77 said:
It's an unusual movie, it's not like it has some groundbreaking plot or anything, but the music, the dance, the videos and of course Michael's presence make it unique. It's a cult movie as far as I'm concerned.
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Agreed. Cinematically, it's not that great of a movie. The plot is just terrible and the dialogue is even worse. I think at one point Mr. Big tells the girl to shut up "Shut up ! Don't you talk to me !" (ugh) but then asks her something literally seconds later. That being said, the music is top notch along with the dance sequences, and I do enjoy watching it whenever I do. It's a nice little movie to watch when you just wanna sit back, relax and not even have to think. It's also a nice movie if you're a lot younger, I know little kids I've showed this to who enjoyed it quite a bit :)

I would've loved it if Michael crafted a proper neo-noir/gangster like film based around the idea of Smooth Criminal. Sure, he expanded on Smooth Criminal for Moonwalker (I really like the chase, it has some cool cinematography in it ! I also really like the 10 minute Smooth Criminal segment in the night club, that's my favourite part of the film hehe), but I mean properly expand.

Set it around a Smooth Criminal who is feared by the general public and kills a lot of people (If you've seen Immortal, you'll remember that awesome intro to SC that has all those newspapers talking about the crime spree he's gone on). I really like how he expanded on Smooth Criminal for the This Is It tour, effortlessly merging him into classic noirs of the 1940s. In This Is It, he truly WAS a Smooth Criminal, effortlessly escaping from the pursuing detectives and law enforcement !

Overall though, I just don't really think it's that great of a movie cinematically, but in saying that, it's certainly unique and I still find enjoyable to watch whenever I do :)
 
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I still can't believe the hasn't been released on DVD or BluRay in the USA!
 
In my experience - it's a movie that kids just love.
 
It doesn't need 'restoring', they rescanned the negatives a few years ago and likely cleaned up the footage then before releasing it to Blu-ray. They released it on Blu-ray alongside a new DVD, though I believe the DVD just has the usual 4:3 version on it whereas the Blu-ray was cropped from 4:3 to 16:9. It would be cool to see some 'Behind the Scenes' of Moonwalker, but I don't think it'd be enough to make me to buy it again.

If you're in the US, you can always import it from overseas ? I can't imagine it'd be too expensive, it's not like it's rare or anything...
 
I think everything that's re-released should have behind the scenes attached !!! That would make MANY buy it even more.
 
HIStoric said:
If you're in the US, you can always import it from overseas ? I can't imagine it'd be too expensive, it's not like it's rare or anything...
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I'm in Europe and if I want something that is only released in the US I buy it on Amazon.com. Yes, shipping is a bit more expensive when it comes from the US, but if you really want something... it's not like it's unaffordable.
 
Yeah it's easy to buy it from another country, but it's always nice to have an official release in your own country!
 
I imagine that more casual fans were digging it when it was first released; Michael's star was burning at its hottest in the late 80's so people weren't as technically critical and accepted it at face value. It's no "Gone With the Wind" or anything lol, I don't think Michael intended it to be, but it was wonderful for what it was. An overview of his career tied to the concepts of the Bad album presented as a long-form visual experience. Colorful, imaginative, with cool tunes and dance breaks to carry it along.

Sometimes, I think people get so focused on being analytical (though there's nothing wrong with that) that they overshoot the fact that some things simply are what they are lol. Us as fans can more readily appreciate it, but the general public probably would too if they weren't trying to make it measure up to Spielberg blockbuster standards when it clearly wasn't meant to be lol.
 
Check out this Moonwalker '88 Special, http://youtu.be/f3R3PpO2cIs

It aired on Dutch TV in December 1988. It includes a rare interview with Brandon Adams (Baby Bad) and he even gives the audience a short dance performance. There is also some behind the scene footage from Smooth Criminal (at 1.55 and starting from 10.30). This footage was ripped from a 25-year-old VHS tape, so you can experience how a VHS recording looks like after almost 25 years of home storage. Turn on the English subtitles if you want to understand what the Dutch presenter says. The behind the scene footage at 11.09 is also subtitled, which is really funny... Ooh hi. This video will bring you in the mood to watch Moonwalker all over again (if you haven't done it already this month) :D
 
Urvino said:
his footage was ripped from a 25-year-old VHS tape, so you can experience how a VHS recording looks like after almost 25 years of home storage.
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Thanks for that! The quality is actually pretty good for a VHS :D
 
HIStoric said:
Thanks for that! The quality is actually pretty good for a VHS :D
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Yeah, I thought so too, cause I have some recordings on VHS from the 90s and early 00s, but they don't all look as good, but that's probably because I played those tapes a lot. I know the person who posted this, and he had stored this tape in a sealable foam VHS case, while I have many tapes in just a ordinary cardboard sleeve. He will post more MJ related and other old VHS stuff in the next month :)
 
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