[Spoiler] Documentary On Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ From Jackson Estate And Sony Music Entertainment

[ChanceToDance]

- Michael recording The Girl is Mine with Paul McCartney
- New footage from the Making of Beat it in amazing quality
- New footage from the Making of Thriller in amazing quality, including new parts where Michael rehearses the dance on studio (with different outfit)
- A whole new interview with Michael (at home?) just after Thriller in amazing quality
- A LOT of footage from The Victory Tour in the highest quality. I have no words to describe it, and it was also multicamera. It included Wanna be startin' Something, Human Nature, Beat it, Billie Jean...And the way it was recorded is totally different from what you expect. It is similar to how the new footage from Munich is recorded. You had to be there. WOW

Were any of these new footages in full or were they just snippets?

 

[zinniabooklover]

First of all, I am sorry but no phones were allowed, but I wanted to share this. I just went to a Thriller 40 event organized by Sony, where the Nelson George documentary was played. I gotta say that it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. I had zero expectations and it blew my mind. I have no idea why wouldn't they release this. The never-seen-before footage includes:
- Michael recording The Girl is Mine with Paul McCartney
- New footage from the Making of Beat it in amazing quality
- New footage from the Making of Thriller in amazing quality, including new parts where Michael rehearses the dance on studio (with different outfit)

is that the black and white jacket or something else?

- A whole new interview with Michael (at home?) just after Thriller in amazing quality

is that the Hayvenhurst one? is he sitting in front of a fountain?

- A LOT of footage from The Victory Tour in the highest quality. I have no words to describe it, and it was also multicamera. It included Wanna be startin' Something, Human Nature, Beat it, Billie Jean...And the way it was recorded is totally different from what you expect. It is similar to how the new footage from Munich is recorded. You had to be there. WOW

I am probably forgetting more things, in case I remember them I will edit this thread. This gave me hope (a little, I am not still very confident) that we will have Victory in the future. The only bad thing is that they still showed Billie Jean in regular quality, so I guess that means we will never have this one in better quality.

Cheers.

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you had the best time. This was a cool account.

 

[lounisp]

Thriller 40th review:

5/10

It starts with a brief bad montage of Jackson 5 to off the wall. Nothing special, nothing new.

Then the endless interviews start.

Highlight: The girl is mine.
Video recording session
Paul McCartney and MJ singing (never seen before)
Maybe 1min footage
Heavily edited between interviews

Then more interviews
Nothing new.
The pacing is a bit all over the place.

Beat it.
Demo audio that we all heard already.
Then 2 deleted cuts from Beat It music video and some never seen behind the scene (all in glorious 4K)
Unfortunately very short.

Billie Jean.
Some bit of music video and demo audio
Nothing new there.
Wonderful footage of BTS (K-pop band) 😜

Thriller
Some bit of the music video (and some unseen behind the stage) all in 4K include the unseen making of.
Interview with MJ at a desk that seemed to be made from the thriller video. Unseen before.

Then some boring bits and interviews.
Pepsi advert ( A french fan uploaded the original 35mm reel a few years back with oversaturated highlight)
They took that footage from YouTube and put some AI filter on it. So it looks like a cartoon.

Mentioning Motown 25th and ET storybook
Grammies. Nothing new there to see.

Then the moment I was waiting for.

Victory tour live Los Angeles in amazing Glorious 4K
Very short beginning of the entrance and the start of WBSS.
Snippet of human nature and beat it.
Billie Jean is weirdly edited with multiple non-synchronised angles. (And added with some low-quality footage that we already saw)
The audio isn't great.

The victory tour 4K footage is in total there for 4min


Overall you ll learn nothing new in that documentary.
90% is people being interviewed.

I ll say 12min out of 1h30min is unseen.

Quincy jones is briefly mentioned and they randomly put the audio of him talking about carousel taken from the thriller special edition 2001.

Watching this in a room full of MJ fans wasn’t great either as some people kept talking, loudly commenting and screaming during the screening

The rating is my own personal opinion.
Someone may think it was amazing and rate it 10/10.

 

[JamieStarr]

Were any of these new footages in full or were they just snippets?

They didn't show the full songs of the concert but believe me, they were not just snippets.

 

[JamieStarr]

is that the black and white jacket or something else?


is that the Hayvenhurst one? is he sitting in front of a fountain?


Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you had the best time. This was a cool account.

As for the black and white jacket, you mean in Thriller? NOPE, I would swear Michael dances with just a regular white t-shirt on. Trust me, UNSEEN stuff. And now that you mention it, also new footage from the black and white jacket, with John Landis. NEW.

Nope, he is not in the fountain, I know that one and it's not. It was something totally new with the highest quality ever. Michael was in a room, just around a table, and even at some point he picks up the phone. He talks about the success of Thriller, the Motown night...

 

[ChanceToDance]

They didn't show the full songs of the concert but believe me, they were not just snippets.

Are you able to give an estimate as to how much of the songs they've shown? Thank you very much for sharing btw.

 

[JamieStarr]

Are you able to give an estimate as to how much of the songs they've shown? Thank you very much for sharing btw.

In minutes you mean? I would say that, in total (as Victory footage was shown in different parts of the documentary) about 15-20 minutes. And also, in Billie Jean, they showed different angles (again, this is totally new). For instance, parts of Human Nature are recorded from behind. Again, the closest feeling to how it is recorded is the new Billie Jean from Munich. And the close ups were soooo detailed, you could see everything from Michael, even the *steam?* when Michael sang.

 

[lounisp]

Thriller 40th review:

5/10

It starts with a brief bad montage of Jackson 5 to off the wall. Nothing special, nothing new.

Then the endless interviews start.

Highlight: The girl is mine.
Video recording session
Paul McCartney and MJ singing (never seen before)
Maybe 1min footage
Heavily edited between interviews

Then more interviews
Nothing new.
The pacing is a bit all over the place.

Beat it.
Demo audio that we all heard already.
Then 2 deleted cuts from Beat It music video and some never seen behind the scene (all in glorious 4K)
Unfortunately very short.

Billie Jean.
Some bit of music video and demo audio
Nothing new there.
Wonderful footage of BTS (K-pop band) 😜

Thriller
Some bit of the music video (and some unseen behind the stage) all in 4K include the unseen making of.
Interview with MJ at a desk that seemed to be made from the thriller video. Unseen before.

Then some boring bits and interviews.
Pepsi advert ( A french fan uploaded the original 35mm reel a few years back with oversaturated highlight)
They took that footage from YouTube and put some AI filter on it. So it looks like a cartoon.

Mentioning Motown 25th and ET storybook
Grammies. Nothing new there to see.

Then the moment I was waiting for.

Victory tour live Los Angeles in amazing Glorious 4K
Very short beginning of the entrance and the start of WBSS.
Snippet of human nature and beat it.
Billie Jean is weirdly edited with multiple non-synchronised angles. (And added with some low-quality footage that we already saw)
The audio isn't great.

The victory tour 4K footage is in total there for 4min


Overall you ll learn nothing new in that documentary.
90% is people being interviewed.

I ll say 12min out of 1h30min is unseen.

Quincy jones is briefly mentioned and they randomly put the audio of him talking about carousel taken from the thriller special edition 2001.

Watching this in a room full of MJ fans wasn’t great either as some people kept talking, loudly commenting and screaming during the screening

The rating is my own personal opinion.
Someone may think it was amazing and rate it 10/10

 

[lounisp]

- A whole new interview with Michael (at home?) just after Thriller in amazing quality

This was taken during the making of Thriller.

 

[lounisp]

In minutes you mean? I would say that, in total (as Victory footage was shown in different parts of the documentary) about 15-20 minutes. And also, in Billie Jean, they showed different angles (again, this is totally new). For instance, parts of Human Nature are recorded from behind. Again, the closest feeling to how it is recorded is the new Billie Jean from Munich. And the close ups were soooo detailed, you could see everything from Michael, even the *steam?* when Michael sang.

That was not 15 to 20min!
That time is enough for 4 full performances!

WBSS:1min
Human nature: 30 seconde
Beat it: 10seconde
Billie Jean: 1min 30 (mixed with different two angle cameras)

 

[Hulkamaniac]

Ok im officially excited

 

[Hulkamaniac]

Billie Jean.
Some bit of music video and demo audio

Was it 4K tho? Because the SD version looks crappy on a really big screen

 

[Hulkamaniac]

They didn't show the full songs of the concert but believe me, they were not just snippets.

they were just snippets for the most part according to Lounis. It's sad

 

[lounisp]

Was it 4K tho? Because the SD version looks crappy on a really big screen

Billie Jean music video was in SD

 

[lounisp]

they were just snippets for the most part according to Lounis. It's sad

Beat it was just a snippet split with two camera angles (not synchronised)
Human nature is I ll say max 40sec.
The entrance of the Jacksons on stage, plus the first min of WBSS.
Billie Jean is max 1min
It seems longer because they replayed some bit but with different camera angles. (And they mixed it with that low-quality footage from the MTV video we saw billion times

 

[1nn5]

Why don't they release Human Nature video with different performances in 4k as they did with Another Part Of Me for Bad 25

 

[lounisp]

Also, everyone has a different opinion about Quincy Jones, but when you talk about Thriller you have to talk about Quincy Jones.
He was barely mentioned in that documentary.
Quincy jones is very respected and is an amazing musician and producer whether you like it or not.
It’s very disrespectful to not recognise his print on the album.
But then it’s not too much of a surprise as we saw more interviews of usher and Mary j blige than Greg Philigane
This documentary was more about the impact that thriller had rather than the actual making of the album.
People are hyped because of the unseen footage. But this documentary was simply not well made.

 

[filmandmusic]

Today I learned that one minute might not be the same length for everyone

 

[kai]

They didn't show the full songs of the concert but believe me, they were not just snippets.

but if something is not full IT IS snippets.

 

[barthard47]

I need to see this! just can't believe 'everyone' went to the screening while I didn't even knew it was happening

 

[wonderouzmj]

That was not 15 to 20min!
That time is enough for 4 full performances!

WBSS:1min
Human nature: 30 seconde
Beat it: 10seconde
Billie Jean: 1min 30 (mixed with different two angle cameras)

I was so fcukn excited until I just read this. You mean to tell me they did all that remastering for 2fckn min??????? JOHN BRANCA CAN GO TO HELL!

 

[lounisp]

The victory tour is on 4/3 format

 

[wonderouzmj]

The victory tour is on 4/3 format

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?

 

[1nn5]

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?

What what !
Isn't Thriller and Beat It music video 4K in 4:3 ?

 

[mjdavid007]

I also attended the event. I would not say it is a 10/10, but damn, watching new footage from that era in amazing 4K is something that I did not expect at all. I thought it would all be about interviews, but to me it's absolutely worthy. Have in mind this is not a Victory Tour documentary, so no full songs. Not a Beat it one, so no full making off. Not a Thriller (song) one, so no full making off. It is about what Thriller meant, and in my opinion it pretty much covers everything. Of course I would have loved to watch full songs or even the full concert, but again, it is a documentary about Thriller.

but if something is not full IT IS snippets.

As I said, it's not a Victory Tour report. I think that Jamie meant they are not the regular snippets we are used to (from TV reports, usually recorded from the front and that's it). He's right: the quality is beyond this world (4k) and the way it is recorded is something totally new. For instance, the entrance in Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' is recorded from the side, really close to The Jacksons feet. A new approach that looks great. By the way, Lounis mentioned it is LA concert, but I thought it was Kansas because they are just talking about the Kansas one. But Mj is not wearing the black and white trousers. I remember Jermaine wearing a white jacket though (I could only look at Mj lol). They do speak of the LA concert, but because it was a farewell concert. They play the audio where Michael is saying it's his last tour blablabla.

What what !
Isn't Thriller and Beat It music video 4K in 4:3 ?

Exactly: of course we want 16:9, but again, most stuff from that era is 4:3.

I was so fcukn excited until I just read this. You mean to tell me they did all that remastering for 2fckn min??????? JOHN BRANCA CAN GO TO HELL!

Replied before. Not sure though if they only remastered the parts shown in the documentary or the whole concert. Would that make sense? Maybe.

Amazing parts that have not been mentioned before includes Michael waiting outside the bar of Beat it, so you see him looking through the small glass of the door. Also the behind the cameras of the part where he is on his bed.

I missed though they didn't speak about The Lady in my Life (the only song not mentioned, probably along with PYT), that Billie Jean looks unfortunately in 480p and also that it seems either the Grammys didn't grant permission or high quality footage of Michael is not available for all the awards, just some of them.

I know we would have wanted a 10-hour documentary with full stuff in 4K and 16:9, but one thing is for sure: you will be surprised when you watch it. Trust me.

 

[charismatic]

Thriller 40th review:

5/10

It starts with a brief bad montage of Jackson 5 to off the wall. Nothing special, nothing new.

Then the endless interviews start.

Highlight: The girl is mine.
Video recording session
Paul McCartney and MJ singing (never seen before)
Maybe 1min footage
Heavily edited between interviews

Then more interviews
Nothing new.
The pacing is a bit all over the place.

Beat it.
Demo audio that we all heard already.
Then 2 deleted cuts from Beat It music video and some never seen behind the scene (all in glorious 4K)
Unfortunately very short.

Billie Jean.
Some bit of music video and demo audio
Nothing new there.
Wonderful footage of BTS (K-pop band) 😜

Thriller
Some bit of the music video (and some unseen behind the stage) all in 4K include the unseen making of.
Interview with MJ at a desk that seemed to be made from the thriller video. Unseen before.

Then some boring bits and interviews.
Pepsi advert ( A french fan uploaded the original 35mm reel a few years back with oversaturated highlight)
They took that footage from YouTube and put some AI filter on it. So it looks like a cartoon.

Mentioning Motown 25th and ET storybook
Grammies. Nothing new there to see.

Then the moment I was waiting for.

Victory tour live Los Angeles in amazing Glorious 4K
Very short beginning of the entrance and the start of WBSS.
Snippet of human nature and beat it.
Billie Jean is weirdly edited with multiple non-synchronised angles. (And added with some low-quality footage that we already saw)
The audio isn't great.

The victory tour 4K footage is in total there for 4min


Overall you ll learn nothing new in that documentary.
90% is people being interviewed.

I ll say 12min out of 1h30min is unseen.

Quincy jones is briefly mentioned and they randomly put the audio of him talking about carousel taken from the thriller special edition 2001.

Watching this in a room full of MJ fans wasn’t great either as some people kept talking, loudly commenting and screaming during the screening

The rating is my own personal opinion.
Someone may think it was amazing and rate it 10/10.

Seems the intent was to rain on everyone’s parade.

We’d have gotten all of this when it was released.

At least we’d have had a moment to fantasize about it being better.

Now we have to spend this time annoyed.

Thanks.

 

[Miesjh]

I saw the screening in Amsterdam.

Pros
- Studio Footage!! I want more.
- Victory Tour Footage!! I want more.
- More back stories. Recording of demo Wanne be startin' something'.

Cons
- No interview with Quincy Jones, producer???? WTF
- No interview with Bruce Swedien, Sound Engineer???? WTF
- No interview with Steve Porcaro, writer Human Nature.
- No interview with other Jackson Family members.
- Missing the known back stories.
- BTS/Tik Tok part.
- Order of the documentary.
- Audio. Some parts with low audio. Overall, not a great audio experience.

 

[wonderouzmj]

I saw the screening in Amsterdam.

Pros
- Studio Footage!! I want more.
- Victory Tour Footage!! I want more.
- More back stories. Recording of demo Wanne be startin' something'.

Cons
- No interview with Quincy Jones, producer???? WTF
- No interview with Bruce Swedien, Sound Engineer???? WTF
- No interview with Steve Porcaro, writer Human Nature.
- No interview with other Jackson Family members.
- Missing the known back stories.
- BTS/Tik Tok part.
- Order of the documentary.
- Audio. Some parts with low audio. Overall, not a great audio experience.

I heard that what you seen is only a draft but...I don't understand why show it if it's not even complete

 

[Hiker]

I heard that what you seen is only a draft but...I don't understand why show it if it's not even complete

To generate excitement around it, maybe preview to gather feedback 🤔, why else would you show an unfinished product.

 

[Fuzball]

Cons
- No interview with Bruce Swedien, Sound Engineer???? WTF

Bruce has passed away last December.