Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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255 of 260 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Revolutionized MTV, November 23, 2003
1. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
2. Rock With You
3. Billie Jean
4. Beat It
5. Thriller
6. Bad (short version)
7. The Way You Make Me Feel (excludes beginning few minutes)
8. Man In The Mirror
9. Smooth Criminal (fast/blurry version)
10. Dirty Diana
11. Black or White (includes Macaulay Culkin segment but excludes panther segment)
12. You Are Not Alone
13. Earth Song
14. Blood On The Dance Floor (re-edited version)
15. You Rock My World (excludes beginning few minutes)The very basic packaging tells you that this is a no frills DVD. Many of MJ's best videos are presented and that is all you get. No fancy menu or insert. No live performances, interviews, commercials or still gallery. Nothing. Not even a discography. This doesn't cut it in this day and age of DVD. The videos are great, but this is hardly a difinitive collection. Expecially since all of these (save "You Rock My World") are already available on other discs. And why do video collections keep getting released with shortened or re-edited videos? We want the FULL original video ok! Is that too much to ask? It's hard to go wrong with an MJ music video and these are all great. But this DVD could have (and should have) been definitie. Instead it's just yet another collection of videos collectors already have.
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102 of 103 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Three great videos boost an otherwise redundant collection., November 23, 2004
If you were like me and already owned the two DVDs of HIStory (Video Greatest Hits - HIStory and HIStory on Film - Volume II), you were probably disdainful when this Number Ones DVD got released. Almost everything on Number Ones was already presented in the HIStory DVDs.
So is there buying incentive? At bargain-bin prices, yes, because on this DVD you will find three Michael Jackson videos that range from good to fantastic, and they're not available on DVD outside of here.
"Man in the Mirror" was a flat-out ballsy move on Jackson's part, to use only grainy stock footage and not a single shot of himself to make a video of one of his greatest hits of that time ("Man" was one of two singles from Bad that had two weeks at #1, not one). The song itself is a classic, thanks to one of Quincy Jones' best productions, a soul-stirring rhythm track, and Siedah Garrett's poetic, visionary lyrics, but coupled with the video's images of a world in turmoil, it's magic. This style actually spawned another classic music video years later with Soul Asylum's "Runaway Train", but Jackson was there first.
"Dirty Diana" holds a special place for me because it's one of the very few Jackson performance videos. Many people don't like the song, but I like it just fine, and Jackson and guitarist Steve Stevens were on fire in the stage show. This video made you realize that Jackson's touring band simply kicked ass.
There's one more curio: The short, sped-up version of "Smooth Criminal" intended as a broadcast alternative. This was the first version of this classic video I ever saw, and while it doesn't convey the stunning choreography and art direction of the full version, it is a masterpiece from the editing standpoint. If you want to do speed cutting, this is the way to do it, and at many points they even managed to sync up Jackson's hyper-sped-up footage to the tempo of the track, no small feat. Unfortunately, both this video and "Dirty Diana" seem to lack for a good master source; both videos feature substantial film scratches and look far less pristine than the rest of the official videos.
There's just one more video on here not available on other DVDs, and that's "You Rock My World". The song blows, and so does the video -- an expensive, self-indulgent piece whose only point of interest is its guest stars Chris Tucker, Michael Madsen and Billy Drago (Nitti in The Untouchables). I'm not surprised this video was directed by Paul Hunter, the same man who had made Bulletproof Monk an unwatchable mess, because "You Rock My World" is your typical modern video with too much concept and not enough substance -- the choreography is messy, Jackson himself looks ridiculous (as he always does when he tries to act), and all the guest stars are wasted when they could've been given a chances to really colour the video with their personalities. Even "Liberian Girl" (available on HIStory on Film Volume II) was better.
I got this DVD from the bargain bin, so from my end, it was still worth it just for the three videos I mentioned. If you don't own either HIStory DVDs, I'd still recommend you get them rather than Number Ones, because the HIStory DVDs are a more comprehensive collection of Jackson's videos, and it's on those that you'll find the classic full version of "Smooth Criminal". Number Ones is for the casual viewer who wants to pay less to get most of Jackson's videos. If that's your preference, then this DVD will serve just fine. I'm still waiting for them to put Moonwalker out on DVD, though. That live version of "Come Together" and the hilarious "Bad" spoof "Badder" (featuring kids playing the punk roles!) are still only available on Moonwalker, and it's about time they resurfaced.
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42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Well I Feel Ripped Off!, August 23, 2008
I'm not criticising Michael Jackson here, and the fact that there are no commentaries on these film clips or interviews with Michael, he probably has no idea this con job of a DVD collection was even released.
The whole problem and feeling that I was ripped off comes from the fact that they do not mention on the packaging anywhere and especially with the track listing, that these film clips on here are either not the versions played on TV in the 80s etc, or if they are, they have been severely edited with huge chunks cut away. There's a few still in their original version including his (and music's) greatest film clip of all time Thriller. What's going on with the rest though? If they need room get rid of the fillers like Blood on the Dance Floor (a song so bad even Michael stuggles to dance to it and spends most of the film clip sitting on a chair).
They should have listed the tracks that aren't the real or full versions with brackets such as with Smooth Criminal (crappy low budget doesn't resemble in any way the one you remember version) Bad (shorter starts half way though actual film clip), Black and White (controversial vandalism of car, panther turning into scenes not included) etc If they were honest and did this only the hardcore Michael Jackson fans who already have the other longer film clip versions would buy this so they have these alternative versions. The rest of the public who expect the same version they saw on their TV screens back inthe 80s and so forth wouldn't feel ripped off. Everyone would be happy!
Of course if the record company actually did that they'd make less money, but that would have been the moral thing to do.
If you can get this for $2 or something and you don't plan on getting other Jackson DVDs it's worth getting for Thriller then its worth getting. The sheer rehearsals and shooting takes it would have taken to make that masterpiece with all the zombies choreography exactly in line, leaving the ground at the same time etc is phenomenal. DVD tracks are in chronological order of his career but you know even the menu screen is pretty average. With no features it might as well have been a video, there's no advantage except skipping to the track you want instead of fast forwarding.
Yeah you probably want to give this a miss, don't get ripped off!
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