Thriller 40

I expected a mediocre retelling of the success of "Thriller", a sort of a cash cow, but what I got to see was (pun intended) actually really thrilling. Goosebumps from start till finish.

The good: this album still is such BLISS to listen to some 40 years later! What is especially great about this documentary is that we get to hear snippets of the demos of "Thriller", which sounded awesome already, with merely hearing Michael Jackson's voice solo. What power.

Back in time. Back to the eighties. Back to one of the greatest classics. Back to music heaven!

Recommended watch for any fans of the "Thriller" album!

The album Thriller has a special place in my heart and this has probably to do with the fact that like everyone who happened to live in the last few decades of the 20th century, the album would hold a deeper meaning. For those that grew and lived during this time period, little did we anticipate that this album would continue to remain popular well into 21st century and we would still be enjoying this album as we become older and greyer. What's more interesting is that the current generation are enjoying this masterpiece and this will hopefully be the trend in the decades to follow. Big up to the mastermind.

Always worth remembering that Jackson was acquitted in life from 14 charges in a gruesome trial where 'previous bad acts' where allowed and that the FBI never found anything incriminatory in an investigation that spanned 13 years and that included three thorough surprise raids of Neverland.

These are facts and you can look them up.

The documentary is a bit all over the place in terms of structure but is emotionally resonant.

It takes us to a time when Jackson was transitioning from teen to man, or from Michael Jackson to MJ, as he put it down in paper.

It excels at documenting this passage and at bringing us back when we watched in awe his inmense talent.

It takes.

I have been looking forward to this for years after the excellent Bad 25.

Unfortunately it didn't deliver.

Way too much focus on the opinions of newer folks who weren't there. Instead of Misty Copeland why not interview Jeffrey Daniel or the NY Undercover guy who was in Beat It? First hand opinions by people who were there.

No historical interview footage of Rod Temperton or Bruce Swedien yet tons of Usher and Will I Am giving the exact same interviews they have all over youtube a thousand times. These parts pull down the good elements of this film as they look and feel like filler material. Yes these are great artists who were influenced by Thriller but not directly relevant to the subject at hand as they were probably children back then so all they can contribute are opinions.

I was really hoping for the definitive story of this incredible album by the people who created it but it feels like an homage created for YouTube.

Bad25 in contrast did a fantastic job of keeping the story very focused on the actual creation of the record by the people who were there.

Good to see Greg Phillinganes and a few others but this feels very incomplete with some glaring omissions. Yes some of the main players are sadly deceased but there is a ton of historical interview footage by people who were there that could have made a much more cohesive and definitive telling of the story.

Unfortunately I felt like this didn't really tell the full story which an album as genre defining as this still deserves.

As "Thriller 40" (2023 release; 88 min) opens, talking heads are gushing over the album, and we are reminded along that Thriller was, still is, and always will be the best selling album of all time. We then go back in time to the Jackson 5. At this point we are 10 minutes into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this is directed by writer-musician-director Nelson George (who in fact played on the Thriller album). Here he celebrates one of the best and most iconic albums of all time, with Michael Jackson, then 24-25, at the peak of his creative forces. The talking heads include people like Usher, Mary J. Blige, Maxwell, etc. The documentary really pays off when we get to the actual dissecting of the album tracks and the videos. Watch how current acts like K-Pop's BTS liberally "borrow" many moves introduced by MJ. And last, but not certainly least, there is "Thriller, the short film". Bottom line: I rarely play "thriller" anymore (because all of it has been played to death), but watching this documentary gave me a new appreciation for this, one of the greatest achievements in the history of pop music, and frankly all music, period. Please note that of course "Thriller" the album was released in late 1982, but "Thriller" the short movie was released in late 2983.

"Thriller 40" was released in limited theaters as a one-off on December 2, 2023. It started streaming on Showtime (now part of Paramount+) in late December. I just caught up with it the other night. If you are a fan of Michael Jackson or, say, of the just released "The Greatest Bight In Pop" documentary, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.