Michael Jackson's This Is It (www.the-usher.com)

"This is it!"

Announcing his residency at the O2 Arena in London for fifty exclusive concerts, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson said that this would be his greatest and final live show. Chronicling the months from April to June 2009, we see the man developing, creating and rehearsing for the show at the Staple Centre in Los Angeles before he was supposed to travel to the British capital. With new versions and visuals for classics like ‘Man in the Mirror’, ‘Thriller’, ‘Earth Song’, ‘Billy Jean’, ‘They Don’t Care About Us’, ‘Smooth Criminal’, ‘Jam’, ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough’, ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ and many more, Michael Jackson himself said that ‘This Is It’.

When Michael Jackson tragically passed away on 25th June 2009 the world lost one of music’s most influential performers but we have a chance to see what could have been, one last time.

On March 5th, 2009 Michael Jackson announced that he would be taking up residency of the O2 Arena in London for a new music spectacular called ‘This is It’. With fifty shows planned running from July 2009 to March 2010, these would be Michael Jackson’s farewell to live performance but it would be a show that would take pop concerts to a new level. To be overseen by ‘High School Musical’ director and Jackson collaborator Kenny Ortega and combining live music with 3D visuals, aerial performances and some of the best dancers to grace the stage, this was to be an event that would be never forgotten.

With ‘This Is It’ promotional machine in full flow and the fifty concerts quickly selling out, Jackson and his creative team concentrated on creating the show that no one would forget. New 3D video sequences for ‘Thriller’ and ‘Smooth Criminal’ were shot, dancers and band members were hired and the stage set was built. Rehearsals commenced in Los Angeles, with these been recorded for Michael Jackson’s own personal library and the people around him where interviewed by Kenny Ortega, talking about what it was like to work with Michael. Everything what going according to plan but no one would have expected Michael Jackson to suddenly pass away.

While the world mourned one of the greatest and most influential artist in music history, the media in a frenzy over the circumstances of his death and the Jackson family and his children becoming the centre of attention, Columbia Pictures, AEG and the Jackson family decided to ask show director Kenny Ortega to look through the three hundred plus hours of footage and put together a version of the concert and a unique insight into the King of Pop.

With fans never going to see the ‘This Is It’ concerts, Kenny Ortega and his creative team have brought us a concert movie for a concert that will never happen. What we see here is a man who had gone through the mire with the media because of events in his personal life and his financial situation, returning to the place where he is home, the stage. For anyone questioning if Michael Jackson could have still performed at 50 and brought everything to those O2 shows, the movie shows that he was still has it and is one of the great performers in music history.

‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’ is a must see for all fans of the King of Pop. While some may have been expecting more of an insight into the artist and a retrospective of this career, this is a welcomed look at what could have been and not just a cavalcade of celebrities talking about what Michael Jackson meant to them. This is how we want to remember him and ‘This is it’ is a fitting tribute to Michael Jackson.

PICTURE & SOUND

The Blu-Ray disc presents the movie in High Definition widescreen 1:75 up to 1080p, with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound. Certain views are in standard definition however and these are not as good as the HD recordings.

BONUS FEATURES

Thriller Vignette with 5.1 Audio (3.51 mins/HD)
Watch the full new opening to ‘Thriller’ with Michael Jackson’s new dancers as zombies and the classic Vincent Price narration.

Smooth Criminal Vignette with 5.1 Audio (3.58 mins/HD)
Watch the full version of the new opening to ‘Smooth Criminal’ with Michael Jackson appearing with some of the great gangster stars of the 40s.

Making Smooth Criminal (11.08 mins/HD)
Director Kenny Ortega, live show associate producer Alif Sankey, production designer Michael Cotten and visual effects producers Robb Wagner and Bruce Jones take you behind the scenes of the making of the introduction to Smooth Criminal.

Staging the Return (40.46 mins/HD)
Split into two sections entitled ‘The Adventure Begins’ and ‘Beyond the Show’, director Kenny Ortega, producer Randy Phillips, production designer Michael Cotton and the performers and crew take you behind the scenes of the development of ‘This Is It’ and reveal the vision that Michael Jackson wanted to bring to the O2 Arena.

The Gloved One (15.13 mins/HD)
Director Kenny Ortega, costume designer Zaldy and wardrobe and dressing room supervisor Abby Frankling take you through the costumes that Michael Jackson was going to wear during the show.

Memories of Michael (16.19 mins/HD)
Director Kenny Ortega and the rest of the performers and crew talk about what it was like working with Michael Jackson and how it affected their lives.

Auditions: Searching for the World’s Best Dancers (9.50 mins/HD)
Follow the process of whittling down two hundred dancers to eleven with choreographer Travis Payne explaining what they were looking for.

Dancing Machine (15.52 mins/HD)
Director Kenny Ortega and choreographer Travis Payne talk about Michael Jackson’s approach to dance and the new routines for the show.

Meet the Dances (26.11 mins/HD)
Choreographer Travis Payne introduces you to the eleven backing dancers that were chosen for ‘This Is It’.

Meet the Band (12.03 mins/HD)
Music supervisor/keyboard player Michael Bearden, drummer Jonathan Moffett, percussionist Bashiri Johnson, bassist Alex Al and guitars Orianthi Panagaris and Tommy Organ talk about playing the music for the King of Pop greatest hits.

Meet the Vocalists (11.49 mins/HD)
Music supervisor/keyboard player Michael Bearden introduces back vocalists Dorien Holly, Darryl Phinnessee, Judith Hill and Ken Stacey.

The Unfinished Rehearsals (9.23 mins/HD)
Production designer Michael Cotten takes you through the unfinished set designs for ‘Smooth Criminal’ and ‘Dirty Diana’.

Michael Jackson’s This Is It: Photo Collection
View images of Michael Jackson, the band, vocalists, dancers, Kenny Ortega and props and themes.

Theatrical Trailer (2.31 mins/HD)
View the trailer that promoted the film in cinemas and on the Internet.

Trailer
Watch a preview of ‘Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs’

OVERALL

The Blu-Ray treatment for ‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’ is one that fans with revel in. The amount of bonus features is staggering, with well over three hours worth of featurettes. This is a must buy for all Michael Jackson fans and how a concert movie should be packaged.

BLU-RAY

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