Subtitles:

English (SDH), English, French, none

Extras:

• movieIQ featuring the "This Is It" Playlist and BD-Live connect you to real-time information on the cast, music, trivia and more while watching the movie!
• Thriller Vignette (3:51 in HD!)
• Smooth Criminal Vignette (3:58 in HD!)
• Making Smooth Criminal Featurette (11:08 in HD!)
• Staging the Return - Two-part Making of Documentary (40:46 in HD!)
• The Gloved One Featurette: Costumes (15:13 in HD!)
• Memories of Michael Featurette (16;19 in HD!)
• Auditions: Searching for the World's Best Dancers featurette (9:50 in HD!)

• Theatrical trailer (2:31 in HD!)

• 8 Previews (The disc starts with one; 'Grown Ups')

"This Is it," Michael Jackson told his fans in London, announcing his forthcoming concert tour. "This is the final curtain call." The curtain fell sooner than expected. What is left is this extraordinary documentary, nothing at all like what I was expecting to see. Here is not a sick and drugged man forcing himself through grueling rehearsals, but a spirit embodied by music. Michael Jackson was something else.

The film has been assembled from rehearsals from April through June 2009 for a concert tour scheduled for this summer. The footage was "captured by a few cameras," an opening screen tells us, but they were professional high-def cameras and the sound track is full-range stereo. The result is one of the most revealing music documentaries I've seen.

 

And it's more than that. It's a portrait of Michael Jackson that belies all the rumors that he would have been too weak to tour. That shows not the slightest trace of a spoiled prima donna. That benefits from the limited number of cameras by allowing us to experience his work in something closer to realistic time, instead of fracturing it into quick cuts. That provides both a good idea of what the final concert would have looked like, and a portrait of the artist at work.

 

From the 'Smooth Criminal' sequence you get Rita Hayworth, Bogie, Edward G. and Gloria Grahame in 1080P!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the biggest attribute. Probably more important for than the video, for many, is the audio track and the DTS-HD Master 5.1 at a whopping 4303 kbps produces some exceptionally clean and crisp music. Wow - it had a resonance very much like a concert. I confess I was constantly looking to see if I could detect lip-syncing as the audio was often so clean and tight. I found none. The 'Thriller' sequences sounded and looked especially good. I'm no expert of Jackson's music but this definitely sounded more robust and crisper than I have ever heard on CD or the radio. It is more 'live' sounding than studio mixed. There are optional subtitles and some forced English ones when the music or activity was so loud we can't really make out Michael's dialogue. My Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked Blu-ray disc so I am unsure of the quality in region 'B'.

NOTE: My Momistu player produced some unusual static while playing the first 6-7 minutes but my Oppo handled it without problem. I'm still investigating why this occurred but it may be a unique connection issue.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
As Michael Jackson describes at the Press Conference in London - 'this is for the fans'. He was talking about the song selections for the upcoming concert but prophetically it can relate directly to this Blu-ray. Personally, I suspect This Is It shows an accurate side to Jackson that many are curious about. He never loses his temper during the rehearsals - he is totally professional, showing a few respectful concerns and above all he is an entertainer often appearing quite shy outside that persona. Aside from everything you could every say about him - he remains one of the most interesting celebrities of the past 50 years. And his fan base is gigantic even down to the teary-eyed dancers who were emotional at simply the prospect of performing on the same stage as him. I think this documentary can extend outside that fan-base though. This is a great Blu-ray to play if you are starting a party for both the music/dancing/singing performances and the curiosity surrounding Jackson's eccentric life. There is a lot of value here - and definitely worth indulging for many reasons beyond the obvious. Yes - we must recommend. 

Gary Tooze

January 16th, 2010