Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson’s VISION
MJJ Productions/Epic/Legacy
By David Chiu
Other than his music, the essential medium to really understand the impact of Michael Jackson is the videos (or as this new DVD set more artistically refers to as short films. Whatever the term you choose to prefer, it is extremely hard to separate the man from the groundbreaking (and sometimes controversial) videos he made—it’s been engrained in the minds and hearts of generations weaned from MTV. VISION collects all of them on two DVDs from 1979’s “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” to 2001’s “Cry.” The production values for their time are just amazing in retrospect—stylized cinematic films, especially on the early videos such as “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and “Thriller.” And the quality and innovation carried on through subsequent videos like “Bad,” “Smooth Criminal,” “Black and White,” and “You Rock My World.” The videos benefit from the special effects and the genius of auteur like Jon Landis, Martin Scorsese, Bob Giraldi and Steve Barron, but the real star of course is Jackson with his charisma and moves. In other words, he was a natural fit for the medium. A bonus DVD includes additional videos including ones with the Jacksons (the excellent “Can You Feel It”) and Michael’s duet with Paul McCartney on “Say, Say, Say.”
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