Michael Jackson's This Is It

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Movie
German title Michael Jackson’s
This Is It
Original title Michael Jackson’s
This Is It
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2009
length 111 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
JMK 6
Rod
Director Kenny Ortega
production Paul Gongaware ,
Kenny Ortega ,
Randy Phillips
music Michael Bearden
camera Sandrine Orabona ,
Timothy Patterson
cut Don Brochu ,
Brandon Key ,
Timothy Patterson ,
Kevin Stitt
occupation
  • Background dancers: Misha Gabriel, Nicholas Bass, Daniel Celebre, Mekia Cox , Christopher Grant Shannon Holtzapffel , Devin Jamieson, Charles Klapow, Ricardo Andres Reid, Danielle Rueda Watts, Tyne Stecklein, Timor Steffens

Michael Jackson's This Is It is a music documentary film directed by Kenny Ortega from 2009. Viewed worldwide, it is the most successful concert film in film history.

action

The film documents the preparations of the singer Michael Jackson for his planned but not realized concert series This Is It due to his untimely death , which should have taken place in the O₂Arena in London from summer 2009 . There are scenes on stage as well as behind the scenes. The film also features Jackson's work in developing the show, interviews with friends, crew members, and 3D sequences that were supposed to be shown during the shows. The recordings were originally intended for Jackson's private use.

Jackson's songs are played in the film in the following order:

The setlist for the concerts:

  • 1. Light Man intro
  • 2. Wanna Be Startin 'Somethin'
  • 3. Jam
  • 4. The drill dance sequence
  • 5. They Don't Care About Us
  • 6. Human Nature or sometimes Stranger in Moscow
  • 7. Smooth Criminal
  • 8. You Are Not Alone
  • 9. The Way You Make Me Feel or sometimes You Rock My World
  • 10. The Jackson 5 Medley
I want you back
The Love You Save
I'll be there
  • 11. Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) dance scene
  • 12. "Off the Wall" Medley (sometimes)
Rock with you
Off the wall
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
  • 13. I Just Can't Stop Loving You
  • 14. Black Panther video interlude
  • 15. Billie Jean
  • 16. Thriller
  • 17. Dirty Diana (the ending is the transition to Beat It )
  • 18. Beat It
  • 19. Who Is It Instrumental
  • 20. Dangerous
  • 21. Bad or Blood On the Dance Floor
  • 22. Black or White
  • 23. Earth Song
  • 24. We Are the World Interlude
  • 25. Heal the World
  • 26. Will You Be There (sometimes)
  • 27. Man in the Mirror
  • 28th MJ Air Finale

background

Jackson worked on the realization of This Is It for four years , together with the video choreographer Travis Payne , with whom he had worked for around twenty years.

On March 5, 2009, Jackson announced in a press conference that he would say goodbye to the stage. The concert series This Is It in the London O₂ Arena would be his last appearances. Due to the enormous demand, the concert series was gradually increased from the planned ten concerts by 40 more dates. The concert series, which was sold out in record time, was to include a total of 50 shows from July 13, 2009 to March 6, 2010. However, Jackson died on June 25, 2009 at the age of 50 and all concerts had to be canceled about three weeks before the start.

The film was shot from April to June 2009 in California - in the Staples Center in Los Angeles and in the multi-purpose sports arena The Forum in Inglewood .

publication

On September 13, 2009 the trailer for Michael Jackson's This Is It premiered at the MTV Video Music Awards 2009 in New York. Advance ticket sales started on September 27, 2009. Within the first 24 hours, over 32,000 tickets were sold in Germany.

On October 28, 2009, Sony Pictures Entertainment released Michael Jackson's This Is It in theaters worldwide. The film was originally supposed to be shown there for only two weeks. However, due to the great demand, the term was extended. The film grossed $ 20.1 million worldwide on day one. After five days in the cinema, 600,000 people had seen the film in 782 German cinemas and grossed over 100 million US dollars worldwide. The film became the most successful concert film of all time. In Germany it reached number 1 in the cinema charts, the soundtrack number 3 in the album charts. The worldwide box office results added up to 200 million US dollars after two weeks in theaters.

The accompanying soundtrack was released on CD on October 26, 2009 . Most of the songs heard in the film can be found on the album, with the original recording always being used. In They Don't Care About Us , for example, the song was not interrupted by an excerpt from the song " HIStory ", as in the film , but the original version from 1995 from the album HIStory - Past, Present and Future Book I was taken over. As a result, Jackson's original voice from 2009 can only be heard on demos and a poem - on the second CD of the soundtrack. The title song " This Is It " comes from the archive and was probably not intended by Michael Jackson for the concerts. The song was recorded from 1983 (according to Paul Anka , who wrote the song with Jackson) and completed bit by bit on occasion by 2009.

The film was released on DVD on February 25, 2010 . In a special edition it was also released on double DVD, on Blu-ray Disc , in a Steelbook Edition on another Blu-ray Disc and on Universal Media Disc for PlayStation Portable , each with bonus scenes.

The private broadcaster ProSieben showed the music documentary on June 24, 2010 on the occasion of Michael Jackson Day as a German free TV premiere.

Reviews

"That the thing is worth it seems as good as agreed [...] How the film will affect the entertainer's reputation and fame is probably a different story. Because what can be seen is composed coherently, but basically nothing half and nothing whole, i.e. neither a real, spectacular concert film, nor a real, informative documentation of Jackson's way of working and the creation of a million dollar pop show at the limits of what is technically possible in this genre today. "

- Jens-Christian Rabe : Süddeutsche Zeitung, 2009

"This is it. That's it In fact, the rehearsal material for that last planned show has something definitive, even end-of-the-time. The strongest scene in the trailer is Jackson's appearance as the leader of an alien military parade. Humanity as a black, synchronized army of automatons: crackling rhythms, staccato popping of boot heels, cutting short arm swings, machine-like jerking of helmeted heads. It's the old hit Bad , which leads to a nasty version of the Third World anthem They Don't Care About Us . That was Jackson's last mission: armed cultural criticism on a grand scale. Preach humanity as what is humanly possible without denying the monstrous. "

- Evelyn Finger : Die Zeit, 2009

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Age rating for Michael Jackson's This Is It . Youth Media Commission .
  2. a b Michael Jackson: “This Is It” is the most successful concert film of all time  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in electronic beats on November 3, 2009@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.telekom-musicwire.net  
  3. a b Evelyn Finger: Michael Supernova . In: Die Zeit , November 2, 2009. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
  4. Comeback plan: Two minutes of Jacko-Spuk in Spiegel Online from March 5, 2009
  5. Sony Pictures and Sony Music bring Michael Jackson's This Is It to cinemas worldwide in Sony Pictures press release on August 11, 2009
  6. News of August 24, 2009: "Michael Jackson's This Is It" in Sony Pictures press release of August 24, 2009
  7. News from September 28, 2009: Michael Jackson's This is it breaks all records in Sony Pictures press release of September 28, 2009
  8. Sony extends "This Is It" in Blickpunkt: Film from November 2, 2009
  9. 20.1 million dollars: "This Is It" starts successfully on n-tv on October 29, 2009
  10. Box Office: Jacko moonwalkt his way to the top in Spiegel Online from November 2, 2009
  11. "This is it": Jackson film grosses $ 100 million in Stern on October 28, 2009
  12. "This Is It": New number one in the cinema charts in the media control press release of November 2, 2009
  13. Bon Jovi immediately to number one on the album charts in the media control press release of November 10, 2009
  14. "This Is It" grosses over $ 200 million in Der Standard on November 12, 2009
  15. New Michael Jackson Music Gets Midnight Release in The New York Times of October 11, 2009 (English)
  16. Jens-Christian Rabe: Unreal self-control . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . Issue No. 249, p. 11, October 29, 2009.