Michael Jackson’s iconic 1988 “Smooth Criminal” video has joined the Billion Views Club on YouTube, celebrated for its legendary “anti-gravity lean” and 1930s gangster theme.
This milestone marks Jackson’s fifth video to reach 1 billion views, alongside “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” “They Don’t Care About Us,” and “Thriller.” With Halloween approaching, “Thriller” surges to #46 on the US Top Songs chart, boosting Jackson to #46 on the US Top Artists chart.
Michael Jackson is one of the best musicians of all-time! To this day, there aren’t many albums better than Thriller or Off the Wall. The King of Pop could really do it all! His moves were second to none. His voice was amazing. Not only did you love his singles, but his videos were visuals you didn’t want to miss.
MJ and his team were spot-on when it came to making the music come alive. You either wanted to dance like him or actually tried to when watching. With so many great videos, a few of them stood out from the rest.
Mike has the moves for days! You really see it in “The Way You Make Me Feel”. Even when he’s simply walking, he’s doing a number. When he’s just standing there serenading the young woman, he’s moving his legs and hips. Honestly, he doesn’t stop moving in this video. No one did it like Mike Jack!
“Smooth Criminal”
Michael does it again in “Smooth Criminal”. Just like in “Billie Jean”, he sinks his quarter from across the room into a jukebox. He defines the word smooth! Dressed in all-white, MJ proves that he is a smooth criminal using his moves to combat the regular criminals in the bar. The best part of the video may be young actor Brandon Adams imitating Jackson’s dance moves. Before going on to play roles in films like The Sandlot and The Mighty Ducks, Adams got his first start acting on Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal”.
“Remember the Time”
MJ must have an aficionado with cats as another cat appears in his video. There was an orange and black striped cat in “Billie Jean ” and a black cat in “Smooth Criminal”. At the start of this video is a cat, yet again. Michael wasn’t the only star in this video as Eddie Murphy, Iman, Magic Johnson, and Tommy Lister Jr., who played Deebo on Friday all play a role as well. After serenading the Queen and planting a kiss, MJ was almost apprehended by the kingsmen. He hit a spin and vanished into kitty litter, leaving me to believe that he had a thing for cats.
“Beat It”
“Beat It” is just as entertaining as a mini movie to say the least. The way the video starts reminds me of the start of a gang movie. It reminds me of the movie, The Warriors, where all the gangs in the city were meeting up.
In the video, as MJ is sitting in his room, both crews are traveling through town picking up members on the way. They finally get to their destination when the two rival leaders engage in a knife fight, but Michael steps in as he sings “it doesn’t matter who’s wrong or who’s right”. MJ goes into one of his prominent dance numbers as the group joins in behind him. The video absolutely goes perfect with the lyrics!
“Man in the Mirror”
MJ serves to send a message to the world with the video for “Man in the Mirror”. He sheds light on the issues in our society such as hunger, racism, and homelessness. Powerful shots of the Ku Klux Klan as well as Adolf Hitler are included in the video. Michael urges us to change all of our ways like certain leaders would want us to. Leaders like Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. can be seen throughout this video. We all have to look in the mirror and change our ways.
“Black or White”
This might be one of the most powerful songs Michael Jackson has ever made. In this video, MJ sheds light on all cultures and shows we are all alike despite cultural differences. Race has always and continues to be a major issue in today’s society. With this song and video, MJ was trying to help the world understand we are all just human.
You can tell the King of Pop was a man who truly embraced all cultures and nationalities. While he is standing atop the Statue of Liberty, you will see important structures from different countries all over the world. Throughout the video, Michael also reveals things about the different nationalities via the fashion, dancing, or background setting.
We all love the ending of the music video when different people are singing the song. As one person morphs into the next, you can see the similarities in us all.
“Thriller”
Michael must’ve loved movies as he brings us another movie-like music video. Before “Thriller” starts, MJ is out late at night with his lady. Like in a horror movie, before he tells her his secret, the full moon shows, and he turns into a werewolf. Ultimately, scaring his date and causing her to run. You have to give credit to the production on this one as there are sound effects as if you are really watching a horror film.
Low and behold, it turns out Michael is really watching a horror film in theaters as the video cuts to him and his date. MJ is clearly enjoying the film, but his date can’t stand to watch and leaves. As the music starts, you can just tell Mike is just charming and charismatic. Even though they’re both acting here, you can’t help but notice the chemistry. It is Michael Jackson after all as he was known to make women faint.
Kudos to the narration as Michael and his date are approached by zombies. The narration made “Thriller” feel more like a story. This leads to MJ becoming a zombie himself, before doing the infamous “Thriller” dance. There’s really no other way to dance to this song when it comes on. “Thriller” was truly a short film and is MJ’s best video.
Let us know your favorite Michael Jackson video in the comments!
