4. The Making of ‘Thriller’ - 1983

I found a VHS copy of this for 50 cents, in a big blue bin, in the basement of an enormous Goodwill in Denver. The sleeve has a sticker on it that reads: $29.95 suggested retail price. (Awesome.)  But my first memory of this documentary is wandering around Pueblo’s first Rent-A-Center while my dad priced stereos. I remember seeing parts of it showing on ABC primetime that night. It was on one of those old school big-screen TV’s with the external 3-color projectors that made the whole unit like 6 feet deep from front to back. Enormous and awkward. Is that a review of the feature? Nope, just nostalgia. VHS baby, a catalyst of a generation worth of smiles.

That said, the documentary is exactly that, a time capsule of an era when entertainment seemed more of a physical craft. This hour long stroll starts off with the timeless Thriller video and continues to brings us as much John Landis as it does MJ. There are a few early MJ videos (examples of Michael’s high standard of his productions), some live performance footage including an old home video from Gary, IN and a performance that prompted a call from Fred Astaire (a great little story), and a full behind-the-scenes feature of how Landis and Jackson worked together to create what may be the greatest music video of all time. Michael is young and at the peak of his game, but even then, so soft and strange that the moments where he outwardly expresses himself and his opinions, are refreshing.

Landis is young too, and excited about everything, confident in his vision and the process of finding it. He’s happy to direct everyone and to use authority to call in Rick Baker (who worked with him on An American Werewolf in London, the film that caused Michael to choose Landis for the video) to create all the monster make-up and special effects. When Landis chooses Ola Ray to be Michael’s date (3-years famous from her Playboy appearance as Miss June 1980), she’s such a potent choice, that it raises Michael’s status even more, making a sweet, soft-voiced, feminine boy, a sex symbol with hordes of fans waiting in the cold night just to get a smile from him between takes. And seeing Landis’ input, helps emphasize how well Ola makes that playful, slow walk home from the theater really, really work. Some of the shooting footage is a little lackluster but the dance rehearsal scenes remind any MJ fan of exactly how contagious his moves are, making us want to jump up and try to bust a move like Mike.

All in all, if you miss Michael like I do, this is a treat. And if you don’t, but you have an hour between laundry loads, just push play, let that Thriller video start and see if it doesn’t pull you into a quick little hour of how it all came to be. My only added suggestion is, after the feature is done, rewind (or whatever) and watch the music video again, to properly bookend the whole experience (if not to just see that great little masterpiece, one more time.)

Bonus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al1pZzdSpA4 Can you dig it?