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Michael Jackson - Moonwalker [1988]


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A must see piece of musical history
Review date: 2008-08-18 Rating: 10 out of 10

It is almost inaccurate to call this DVD a single movie. 'Moonwalker' is more like a collection a mini-movies and watching it is a journey. You can never be sure what will come up next.

The dvd begins with fabulous performances of 'Man in the Mirror' from Michael, filmed live in two different locations and teamed with a picture montage of famous do-gooders. From here we are treated to clips from Michael's career and a re-enactment of the 'Bad' video by children.
My favourite part of the movie comes up next though, where various claymation fans pursue Michael through Hollywood studios and he transforms into a rabbit. 'Speed demon' kicks in and later Michael and the rabbit have a dance duel.
The award winning and fascinating music video for 'Leave me alone' begins after this where Michael lashes out at some of the bad press he received at the time.
What I would consider the movie to be then begins, which gets away with stretching the viewers imagination somewhat, where we witness Michael's efforts to defeat an evil drug dealer by several sci-fi means.
The highlight of this part of the film has to be the 'Smooth Criminal' music video though. It is incredibly engaging and well put together - arguably Michael's finest 10 minutes to date.
The movie ends with a performance of The Beatles 'Come Together' from Jackson, which is a joy.

This is a DVD to be viewed with an open mind. The story lines are neither believable or complex, but they are incredibly innocent and charming. It is an adventure through the mind of a genius and anybody who enjoys Jacksons music, particulary from the Bad era, will enjoy this. If nothing else, let your children watch it. I guarantee they will love it.




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Reviews


Imaginative and Entertaining Retrospective/Noir Musical
Review date: 2008-08-13 Rating: 10 out of 10

If I were to take a trip back to my childhood, the aptly-named "Moonwalker", the brainchild of Michael Jackson, would be one of the prominent stops. Even back when I wasn't necessarily an MJ fan (I am now), this movie captured my imagination. Rather than a whole, cohesive movie, it's a collection of mini-films, for the most part well-woven together. The first part is a performance of "Man in the Mirror". The second is a retrospective on Michael Jackson's career, with clips from his music videos and performances from his early career to his "Bad" days (which is the era when the movie was made, and it shows). The third is a re-enactment of the "Bad" video by a younger counterpart of the cast. The fourth part is a mini-movie which features Michael Jackson escaping from maniacal fans and press by racing a motorcycle as a rabbit-man and eventually doing a dance duel with him (you really need to see it to believe it). The fifth is a video for "Leave Me Alone", and the sixth and final part is a noir/sci-fi film where Michael and three young kids on the streets who have befriended him try to escape a drug lord (Joe Pesci) who wants Michael's head after the latter discovers his plans to get all kids addicted to drugs.

"Moonwalker" never made it to theatres in the US (it did, however, in Europe and South America), but that didn't stop the VHS release to be sold in over 800,000 copies within a year of the movie's release. It is a truly engrossing trip through the imagination of the legendary musician/entertainer. While many musicians have tried their hands at filmmaking and only succeeded at showing that they have no talent at it, Michael Jackson surprises. Not only does he show that he has as much feel for staging and visual storytelling as he has for music, he manages to make this movie his own, weaving into both the collage and story some truly imaginative moments.

Take the second part of the movie, where we sort of hit the "present". The "Bad" video is reenacted by younger actors, in a truly hilarious but nonetheless competent spectacle. After that, Michael Jackson emerges onto the 'streets' of Hollywood and is hounded by an assortment of stark-raving-mad, claymated fans and press. An attempt by a humoured Michael to escape his chasers ensues, but as he finds out, trying to hide out in Hollywood studios (especially when you're Michael Jackson) is about as easy as hiding the punch at a banquet.

But his way out of this situation is possibly my favourite part of the movie. Disguising himself as a leather-clad rabbit man, he manages to escape the studios on a bicycle, which transforms into a motorcycle. At this point "Speed Demon" kicks in as the rabbit-man drives at breakneck speed down the highway, ocean and sky. And still the relentless fans and media are hot on Michael's tail, his disguise not fooling them. This all makes up a truly stunning piece of claymation, both excellently-paced and delicious to behold. Driving out into the desert, Michael takes off his disguise only to have the rabbit disguise reanimate itself, and the two do the best dance duel I've ever seen. It's especially stunning to see the claymated rabbit dance like MJ, and Will Vinton and co (who were responsible for the claymation segment, while Michael himself is live-action) truly deserve an applause for this as well as Michael.

Following is the video for "Leave Me Alone", a truly imaginative, satirical portrait of the mass hysteria the media attribute to Michael. Michael humorously visualises this as an amusement park constructed on top of him, while a miniature version of him goes through a has-to-be-seen-to-be-believed tour, frequented by lots of dogs in suits. This video may feel like a filler but its imagination and vision more than make up for it.

This is when the 'movie' itself begins. My favourite part is when Michael steps into a 30s-style club and "Smooth Criminal" kicks in, resulting in a truly artistic music-video sequence, climaxing in the middle, when the music dies and the club-goers chant, for almost a minute, before the music kicks back in. I won't spoil the rest of the movie for you, but these are my favourite parts.

If you are a Michael Jackson fan then this belongs in your collection for sure. Whether or not you are a fan, if you want to see a really imaginative, creative journey through Michael Jackons's musical mindscape, I can also recommend this. Michael proves with this movie that there's more to him than just the moonwalk. One thing is for sure; the tag couldn't be more correct. This truly IS a movie like no other.

For fans only
Review date: 2008-03-06 Rating: 4 out of 10

I remember seeing Moonwalker way back when I was a boy. I remember getting right into by the world-beating videos, laughing at the Speed Demon claymation sequence and marvelling at the special-effects-heavy Smooth Criminal short film with Joe Pesci as the villain. Recently, I rented the DVD to see if I could relive the magic a bit.

Nowadays, with Michael's reputation tarnished, his face unrecognisable and his fame mostly overlooked, I wonder what the fuss was about. Even excepting of the elements that appear dodgy with the benefit of hindsight (the boy from the "Bad" sequence passing through a cloud of smoke and emerging as adult Michael, for instance), the whole film is pretty much a showcase for his work and not much more. Even the Smooth Criminal film is not all that.

If you remember all that was great about Michael and were more of a fan than me, you should get it. You might even get a bit of a kick out of the magical Smooth Criminal showdown if you loved Transformers. Otherwise, you'll probably just get a little bored and even disconcerted in spite of all the glitz.

Superb!
Review date: 2006-04-30 Rating: 10 out of 10

A movie that starts out with the "Man in the Mirror" music video which was captured on stage of two Michael performances, it then changes to a montage of video clips of Michael's amazing career with fantastic footage from the Jackson 5 days and Motown 25.

Next comes a parody of his 'Bad' video by children who perform 'Badder', and then Michael is chased by fans in a fantasy sequence. Two more videos are shown which includes 'Leave Me Alone' and the fantastic claymation mini-movie of 'Speed Demon'.

The movie now begins in which Michael plays a hero with magical powers. In it he is chased by drug dealer Mr. Big (Joe Pesci) and saves three children while turning into the super car and the Jackson robot.

Also included is the spectacular 20 minute piece of music film which is unquestionably the best video of all time 'Smooth Criminal' and finishes with Michael live on stage to perform 'Come Together'

AMAZING, and fan will love this.

moonwalker
Review date: 2005-06-26 Rating: 10 out of 10

If you love micheal jackson the ultimate king of pop and greatest musical icon of all time then you'll love this full of great music videos and look out for the kids version of bad and micheals superb dance routine to smooth criminal absouloutely amazing.long may micheal reign as the king of pop.Shamone!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Sean Lennon
Kelly Parker
Brandon Adams
Joe Pesci
Michael Jackson

Creators:
Michael Jackson (Primary Contributor)
Sean Lennon (Primary Contributor)

Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321900008174
Binding: DVD
Format: Full Screen, PAL,
Release date: 2006-06-19
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 88 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1988
Language: English (Original Language)

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