Product Details

• Actors: Michael Jackson, Richard Pryor, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Adam Ant
• Format: Color, NTSC, HiFi Sound
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM/UA Home Video
• VHS Release Date: July 1, 1991
• Run Time: 128 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301972317
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #127,748 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

From Wikipedia: Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever was a 1983 television special produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown Records, to commemorate Motown's twenty-fifth year of existence. (Motown was founded in January 1959, meaning that a twenty-fifth anniversary special should have aired in 1984, not 1983. One could argue that Gordy's vision of what would become "Hitsville U.S.A." was conceived in 1958, considering the month of Motown's founding.) The show was also co-written by de Passe along with Ruth Adkins Robinson who would go on to write shows with de Passe for the next 25 years, including the follow up label tributes-through "Motown 40," Buz Kohan was the head writer of the threesome. The program was taped before a live studio audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California on March 25, 1983,[1] and broadcast on NBC on May 16. Among its highlights were Michael Jackson's iconic performance of "Billie Jean", a Temptations/Four Tops "battle of the bands", Marvin Gaye's inspired speech about black music history and his memorable performance of "What's Going On", a Jackson 5 reunion, and an abbreviated reunion of Diana Ross & the Supremes, who performed their final #1 hit, "Someday We'll Be Together" from 1969.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just music................but music history!, October 11, 2005

By 

A longtime Motown fan (Colorado Springs, CO. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I had the pleasure of watching this incredible program when it originally aired on NBC (May 16, 1983). Like cheese and fine wine, it gets better with age. Great sets by Stevie Wonder, Four Tops/Temptations, Lionel Richie and the original Jackson Five/Michael Jackson.

Since this was the first time in 8 years that the original Jackson Five appeared together, it looked as if Michael and brother Jermaine had a reunion/reconciliation of sorts. Jermaine, as we recall, was/is married to Berry Gordy's daughter. That kept him at Motown (in the interest of domestic tranquility) when his brothers left for greener pastures.

Another reason for this being a classic is that several of the performers have passed, and their work has been preserved; e.g., Melvin Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, Lawrence Payton & Obie Benson (of the Four Tops)to name a few. There's also a neat segment about the songwriters that made it all happen.

Note to previous reviewers: THIS IS AVAILABLE ON DVD. If Amazon.com doesn't have it at this time, it won't be long until they do. (I found the DVD on a major online auction website)

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliance Collecting Dust?, May 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever [VHS] (VHS Tape)

How is it possible that this is not out on DVD yet? It was one of the highest rated events in television history. Not just Michael Jackson, who is deservedly the most remembered part of the show, but the late Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, the incredible Temps/Tops faceoff, and many other elements demand that this piece of black culture and history be placed on a medium that will preserve it as it was meant to be.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great!, January 27, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Even though this show is 20 years old, it was great to watch it. Despite his problems, Michael Jackson was a performer to be reckoned with. That Billie Jean performance never gets old. This video also has one of Marvin Gaye's last performances. Knowing his fate and watching his perfomance is almost haunting. There were so many great performers at Motown so I'm still baffled as to why they spent so much time featuring acts like Linda Ronstadt and those dancers when they could have featured more performances by Martha Reeves and the Commodores. Finally, we also see the performance by Diana Ross that marked her downfall. Too bad most of her behavior was edited out. Her bump and grind on Where Did Our Love Go is something that could have used some editing. I don't understand why Motown won't release this special on DVD along with their other products like the Jackson 5 cartoon and Lady Sings the Blues.