Like You've Never Seen Him Before
A compilation of interviews, rehearsals and backstage footage of Michael Jackson as he prepared for his series of sold-out shows in London.
Genre(s): Documentary, Music
Runtime: 112 minutes
Rating: 7.5/10 (5,939 votes)
Release Date: 28 October 2009
Country: USA
Languages: English
Company: Columbia Pictures
Sound: Dolby Digital
MPAA: Rated PG for some suggestive choreography and scary images.
Director(s): Kenny Ortega
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Producer(s):
Michael Bearden - associate producer
Chantal Feghali - co-producer
Paul Gongaware - producer
Randy Phillips - producer
Robb Wagner - producer: film and video content
Cast:
Michael Jackson - Himself
Alex Al - Himself / Electric and Synth Bass
Nick Bass - Himself / Dancer
Michael Bearden - Himself / Keyboards
Daniel Celebre - Himself / Dancer
Mekia Cox - Herself / Dancer
Misha Gabriel - Himself / Dancer
Chris Grant - Himself / Dancer
Judith Hill - Herself / Vocalist
Dorian Holley - Himself / Vocal Supervision
Music: Michael Bearden
Michael Bearden - associate producer
Chantal Feghali - co-producer
Paul Gongaware - producer
Randy Phillips - producer
Robb Wagner - producer: film and video content
Cast:
Michael Jackson - Himself
Alex Al - Himself / Electric and Synth Bass
Nick Bass - Himself / Dancer
Michael Bearden - Himself / Keyboards
Daniel Celebre - Himself / Dancer
Mekia Cox - Herself / Dancer
Misha Gabriel - Himself / Dancer
Chris Grant - Himself / Dancer
Judith Hill - Herself / Vocalist
Dorian Holley - Himself / Vocal Supervision
Music: Michael Bearden
Posted on: October 27, 2009
Posted in: Documentary
October 28th, 2009
This movie comes out today. I can’t wait. I love you Michael! RIP.
November 1st, 2009
I admit I was one who ran to the box office the day the tickets went onsale so I could make sure to get in to see the movie. And am I everglad I did! The movie was a wonderful look into Michael Jackson'screative process. It was great to see him going through the songs andeven stopping from time to time to try and explain when somethingdidn't seem right.
This was going to be a phenomenal concert, one that perhaps would havebeen the best ever put on. The effects, the pieces with the greenscreen uses, all of it. It all came together and even in its imperfectform, it was still dazzling. I can only imagine what it all would havelooked like in one solid run through as opposed to stringing bits ofrehearsal together to get a full song. It was still great though.Creative and unique, and I was left speechless at the end. I definitelyrecommend this movie for all Michael Jackson fans, and maybe even tothose who didn't understand what the hype was all about. The man waspure genius and was always, always looking for ways to improve. You'llsee that in "This is It."
November 3rd, 2009
Film is such an ordinary business in many respects that when somethingunique comes along, it takes on an importance on that fact alone.
Whatever you think of the music, he was a person manufactured to existonly in the media marketplace, uncomfortable and profoundlyunsuccessful at a human scale. He, like some other performers Isuppose, can only live, can only actually breath on a stage, and thenonly if it is bigger and more dynamic than any ever created. If I hadseen the show, I would likely have left crying about the huge waste ofresources, the fantastic color budget, there only to suspend a shakybeing and the shakier admiration we grew to need.
The form of the film is set up to keep us from reminding ourselves thatwe are not seeing a concert. Instead we are seeing stuff that wouldhave been culled for a terse "making of" DVD extra, one focused on howthe most expensive and elaborate stage show in history was puttogether. Jackson would never have allowed us to see him as a human,never allowed us to see him not trying hard. He would have hidden whathe knew to be his great weaknesses — that he was never allowed todevelop a mind, a means of articulation, any semblance of connection tothe world outside his craft. If it were possible for him to know aboutthis, it would be a hell for him, knowing that we can see him as he is,not as he invented the image:
He knows music and movement at an intuitive level, perhaps qualifyingas genius, but he cannot speak more than four words that are genuine,even when it comes to the music. He is a master showman, but unable toimagine anything at all, instead only see what others have done for himand intuit how it needs to bend to fit him in. There are sequences herethat you can see someone was clever with, for instance a sequence whichwould have him composited into old movies. He is terminallyuncomfortable in this, and one can imagine the angst of identity hecarried home and which had to be drugged away. The man shown here ashis trusted collaborator (credited as "director") was who killedJackson, by shifting the only world he knew.
The performances themselves are remarkable. The singing is unrewarding;he tells us repeatedly that he isn't really using his voice, that he ispreparing to warm up, knowing that physical stress was coming. We don'tnotice it much because we know the songs so well, and what we hear hasbeen supplemented dishonestly. But the dancing IS rewarding. The backupdancers are rewarding in the usual way; they are the best in the world,possibly — given advances in the science of training — the best everassembled. Each time we see them, they are working hard as if theirlives depended on it. In terms of narrative, the film is about them(and to a lesser extent the backup musicians). We see the tryouts, andthe announcements of the winners. We see some truly extraordinarypeople here. This is where the energy comes from.
Jackson's dancing is remarkable as well, but for different reasons. Hereinvented stage dance. He is as influential as Astair, more becausehis visual style transformed music into a video art, a transitionalmetamedia where it stands today. We may be even more familiar with hismoves than his sounds. He lopes through the numbers. It isn't fair toexpect him to be good. His body is in pain; joints are taped up toallow even what we see.
But what we see, even if it lacks energy, is amazing. Jackson isimportant because he created himself and everything about himself. Evenhis ideas about love and peace are fabricated. But the invention: face,clothes, music, pseudofamily and all are physically situated. He hascreated it all in the context of the space around him and how he movesin it. Even the iconic moonwalk where physics seems denied indicatesthis. It is remarkable not only because he invented a self, one that itis outrageous and comic in every detail, but that it is coherent andhas an inner logic. That inner logic is spatial, a logic of movement.His soul invents itself first in movement and builds a self to occupy.
This part alone makes the film amazing. Often in the film, we seenumbers from beginning to end that are assembled from differentrehearsals. In some of these rehearsals, it is clear that he has justarrived on the set that has been cooking for months. His stagechoreography is made up on the spot. As the splices shift back andforth, you can see that each time, he is making up a different —sometimes wildly different — routine. He does so effortlessly. He doesso automatically and with grace. But most remarkable is that it makessense each time. It is a whole soul, coherent and true, visible.Visible to us, conveying that sense, that spatial logic.
What an experience. It is sad that he had to suffer and die so thiscould come to us. If he had lived, he would have made a big show. As itis, we are allowed to see him in his own private show, living inmovement, exposed.
Ted's Evaluation — 3 of 3: Worth watching.
November 5th, 2009
If you are a MJ fan then you will appreciate this movie. I recommend this to anyone and everyone even if they never grew up listening to Michael. RIP.
December 8th, 2009
I’ve seen This Is It three times already! i went by myself so that I could get all of my crying out. Then I took one of my daughters with me the second time for she has always loved his music. MJ was like a brother to me. We grew up together from seeing him on The Ed Sullivan Show with his brothers to going out on his own. We miss you MJ very much! The movie is fantastic!
December 25th, 2009
looo
January 23rd, 2010
MICHAEL I LOVE YOU!!!! I MISS YOU EVERY SINGLE DAY I BREATH! YOU ARE EVERYTHING TO ME AND NOW I AM ALONE!!! I COULDN’T BRING MYSELF TO GO AND SIT IN A THEATER FULL OF STRANGERS AND SHARE SUCH A PERSONAL MOMENT WITH THEM- I AM GOING TO WATCH IT IN THE PRIVACY OF MY OWN LIVING ROOM WHERE I CAN SCREAM AND CRY UNTIL MY EYES ARE SWOLLEN!!! I MISS YOU SO MUCH AND TO KNOW THAT SOME OF THIS FOOTAGE WAS ACTUALLY SHOT ON THE VERY LAST NIGHT OF YOUR LIFE- MAKES MY HEART BLEED!!! I LOVE YOU AND I ALWAYS WILL!!! YOU WERE SO HAPPY IN THOSE FINAL DAYS AND I JUST WISH I COULD GO BACK IN TIME AND TAKE YOU AWAY FROM WHAT WAS COMING!! I WISH I COULD TAKE YOU AWAY FROM DR DEATHENSTEIN AND HAVE HIM HIT BY A TRAIN!!! YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE GONE!! THE PEOPLE OF HAITI NEED YOU!! I NEED YOU!!! YOUR BABIES NEED YOU!!! THE WORLD NEEDS YOU!!!! I NOTICED HOW THE WORLD WENT STRAIGHT TO HELL AFTER THAT DAY AND IT’S BEEN THERE EVER SINCE!!! NOTHING BUT DEATH AND DESTRUCTION AND NATURAL DISASTERS!!! THE WORLD IS UNHAPPY WITH WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU!!! YOU ARE AN ANGEL AND ANGELS AREN’T SUPPOSED TO DIE!!!
I HATE THAT MOTHERFUCKER THAT DID THIS TO YOU!!!! I HATE HIM MORE THAN ANYONE I HAVE EVER NOT KNOWN IN MY LIFE!!!!
I WANT HIM TO PAY!!!
I WANT HIM TO SUFFER!!!!
I WANT HIS HEAD ON A STICK!!!
YOU ARE AND ALWAYS WILL BE MY LOVE!!!
March 19th, 2010
[...] Michael Jackson This Is It documentary was such a smash with MJ fans around the world. Many scuttled to stores to buy [...]