Thriller 3D Update

[MJTruth]

If the MJ Estate are serious with their suggestion that they will distribute Thriller 3D to other territories in future years then I doubt it will be released in 2019. Maybe 2020 or 2021.

Maybe the intention was always to just distribute to limited markets this year and follow it up with a wider release next year if the project was successful, but surely the reception from UK cinema chains has disappointed them. Personally I think the plan was to release Thriller 3D to cinemas now and then release the film for on demand service THIS YEAR. Maybe even a BluRay but it's hard to see who would buy it unless packaged with 'the making of' or something else.

I have no intention of buying a home release of Thriller 3D. For me the attraction of this project was always seeing it in a cinema with the improved picture clarity, in 3D, and with that impressive audio. It was going to be an event / experience worth paying for. A home release will not provide that for me. I don't have a massive 3d-capable TV accompanied by a top class atmos audio system. Even if I did, there's something special about going to the cinema, so that element would always be missing.

As they've had little success distributing Thriller 3D and the profit from it (if any) is limited, I would guess this puts a remastered 'Ghosts' project in doubt. If they couldn't 'sell' Thriller 3D then there's no hope for Ghosts being a commercially successful project.

 

[Zakk]

^ I personally care more for the restoration that was done, rather than the 3D

Agreed, how great would it be to have a 4K UHD Blu-Ray with a holographic/3D cover of Michael's faces from each short film entitled 'Is It Scary' including making ofs for both. Wishful thinking! Right ??

 

[SmoothGangsta]

^ I personally care more for the restoration that was done, rather than the 3D

Yeah, 3D isn't that big of an appeal to me. It's sounding more and more like they're just gonna trudge it out as a cinema release every year rather than actually release it.

 

[mj_brainiac]

Does anyone have any extra posters? The theater I went to didn't have them:angry:

 

[IMWhizzle]

I thought that “Ghosts” would also get the same treatment this year? Wasn’t that confirmed last year by the estate?

 

[dam2040]

Yeah, 3D isn't that big of an appeal to me. It's sounding more and more like they're just gonna trudge it out as a cinema release every year rather than actually release it.

This is absolutely, without a doubt, the worst thing they could do with this.

I look forward to seeing which theatres have it next year.

 

[MJTruth]

^ I personally care more for the restoration that was done, rather than the 3D

Fair enough. Even without the 3D element, I'd still rather see the 2D version in the cinema with that thumping sound system and massive screen. Plus cinema is more of an experience than sitting at home, but maybe that's just me.

Agreed, how great would it be to have a 4K UHD Blu-Ray with a holographic/3D cover of Michael's faces from each short film entitled 'Is It Scary' including making ofs for both. Wishful thinking! Right ��

That would be incredible!!

Yeah, 3D isn't that big of an appeal to me. It's sounding more and more like they're just gonna trudge it out as a cinema release every year rather than actually release it.

I don't know why you say that. It doesn't seem like it at all to me. If I take them at their word then it MIGHT be released in other countries next year, but there's no indication this is going to be an annual event. Given the lack of interest from cinemas in the UK this year I doubt they'll release it at all in the cinema after this year. The USA was much better but I suspect they struck a deal to secure screenings.

Oh hell no... Now you are starting to worry me. I thought it was almost a fact that it would be released this year. We even waited a year for this, since Halloween 2017. COME ON BRANCA!!!!

Nothing is fact until it is announced. no. nothing is fact until it is released.
I'm sure they WILL release it for home viewing, but when is the question.

I thought that “Ghosts” would also get the same treatment this year? Wasn’t that confirmed last year by the estate?

If thriller was a massive success then yes I'm sure Ghosts would be remastered too. Branca kinda confirmed they were thinking about it. The intention was to associate Halloween more specifically with MJ. So there was the MJ's Halloween cartoon last year. They had trouble distributing that to many countries in the world. This year there is Thriller but they had trouble distributing it (certainly in the UK and many, many countries didn't get it at all) and I'm not sure it has been successful enough. It would make sense that next year they'd focus on Ghosts, but given the issues with MJ's Halloween cartoon and Thriller 3D I doubt Ghosts will be done now, but I sure hope it is!

One criticism I have always had of the MJ Estate is that they concentrate most of their promotion effort on the USA.
In almost 10 years I have never seen Branca or anybody else promoting a posthumous MJ release on UK TV or radio. On the other hand I have frequently seen Priscilla Presley promoting Elvis products in the same time period. The UK was one of MJ's biggest markets and yet seemingly they strike deals to ensure coverage in the USA and ignore UK. They should have learned by now that they cannot take the UK for granted any longer. We didn't get MJ's Halloween. The Off The Wall documentary was not shown. Thriller 3D was so limited in release it is meaningless. Those two projects specifically have been entirely invisible as far as the UK is concerned. They need to promote here. If they do that their products will sell.

 

[Hess]

I thought that “Ghosts” would also get the same treatment this year? Wasn’t that confirmed last year by the estate?

It was not confirmed. It was talked about as a possibility. - But if Thriller 3D is not a succes... I think they will not do Ghosts, unfortunately…

I actually wanted a 4K version of Ghosts more than Thriller...

 

[ChrisC]

So I saw it yesterday in Bradford. And wow. It's really something. It's so upsetting this has received such a limited release as it deserves to be enjoyed by so many people. The depth of vision you can enjoy now is just staggering, and of course the level of detail on those close ups of Michael make it feel like a totally different performance. I noticed performances in Michael's eyes and the eyes of the zombies that you just couldn't detect in the old version.

Now the negative. It would appear to me that everything in audio has been recreated with the exception of spoken lines. As a result, they have made several missteps throughout that will make any diehard fan stop and think. I'm sure the score is new, the sound FX and as we know the Thriller song. When Michael doubles over and growls "GO AWAY" at Ola, I knew immediately it was different.

They've not 'ruined it' by any means, but the changes are often enough and significant enough (to diehards) that many will probably feel a little uncomfortable with it. I feel like with a bit more time and effort to match the original they could have shown a bit more respect to his work. It makes me question who signs off on these things when it's clear us fans know Michael's work better than anyone.

Oh and I got a poster - absolutely delighted. I thought about getting a bundle for people on here but I know Thriller is screening there for another week and didn't want other fans to come and be disappointed because there's none left.

I also made a Michael friend at the screening who was sitting just two seats away from me. It's cool how Michael still brings people together like that.

 

[dam2040]

So I saw it yesterday in Bradford. And wow. It's really something. It's so upsetting this has received such a limited release as it deserves to be enjoyed by so many people. The depth of vision you can enjoy now is just staggering, and of course the level of detail on those close ups of Michael make it feel like a totally different performance. I noticed performances in Michael's eyes and the eyes of the zombies that you just couldn't detect in the old version.

Now the negative. It would appear to me that everything in audio has been recreated with the exception of spoken lines. As a result, they have made several missteps throughout that will make any diehard fan stop and think. I'm sure the score is new, the sound FX and as we know the Thriller song. When Michael doubles over and growls "GO AWAY" at Ola, I knew immediately it was different.

They've not 'ruined it' by any means, but the changes are often enough and significant enough (to diehards) that many will probably feel a little uncomfortable with it. I feel like with a bit more time and effort to match the original they could have shown a bit more respect to his work. It makes me question who signs off on these things when it's clear us fans know Michael's work better than anyone.

Oh and I got a poster - absolutely delighted. I thought about getting a bundle for people on here but I know Thriller is screening there for another week and didn't want other fans to come and be disappointed because there's none left.

I also made a Michael friend at the screening who was sitting just two seats away from me. It's cool how Michael still brings people together like that.

I'm positive the dance sequence audio is also wrong. It probably sounds great on the Atmos systems etc. but it's so off-putting to me.

 

[Galactus123]

^ I personally care more for the restoration that was done, rather than the 3D

Me too. I just hope that they haven't ruined it with too much digital noise reduction to remove the film grain. It can look really bad.

 

[wednesday]

They've not 'ruined it' by any means, but the changes are often enough and significant enough (to diehards) that many will probably feel a little uncomfortable with it. I feel like with a bit more time and effort to match the original they could have shown a bit more respect to his work. It makes me question who signs off on these things when it's clear us fans know Michael's work better than anyone.

OK, so have those changes improved the short film in any way whatsoever? Can you fathom, since you had the opportunity to watch the film, why they would have made those alterations at all? Thanks.

 

[ShineGloveShine]

I know you're asking Chris but I don't think it improved it -- there are more nifty sound effects in the original which are definitely better.

They most likely had no access to the original sound effects anymore, or they degraded for whatever reason -- so it may have been a bit more tricky to do those.

 

[Paris78]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="de"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">When you go see <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Thriller3D?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Thriller3D</a> on your baby girls 16th birthday!!! YESSS MJ FANS “ THIS IS THRILLER THRILLER NIGHT”!!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/teamzariyaluvsmj?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#teamzariyaluvsmj</a> <a href="https://t.co/v6svuaGq7d">pic.twitter.com/v6svuaGq7d</a></p>&mdash; TarausP (@tarausp) <a href="https://twitter.com/tarausp/status/1045363111102824448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">27. September 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="de"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This was LITERALLY the best thing that has ever happened to me. The quality was so unbelievably impressive. The fact that you could see everything so clearly, like Michaels little mustache hairs, and also feel like you are on the set/in the scene itself. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Thriller3D?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Thriller3D</a> <a href="https://t.co/ntKb1RKAb4">pic.twitter.com/ntKb1RKAb4</a></p>&mdash; Marcel Jackson (@kingmikey777) <a href="https://twitter.com/kingmikey777/status/1044741901272797184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">26. September 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="de"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thriller IMAX 3D Review | Should You See It? <a href="https://t.co/aKCEqkt49I">https://t.co/aKCEqkt49I</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Thriller?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Thriller</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MichaelJackson?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MichaelJackson</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Thriller3D?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Thriller3D</a> <a href="https://t.co/vjWgBn9WM3">pic.twitter.com/vjWgBn9WM3</a></p>&mdash; River Gibbs (@RiverGibbs) <a href="https://twitter.com/RiverGibbs/status/1045161043368935424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">27. September 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Annita]

<>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="de"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thriller IMAX 3D Review | Should You See It? <a href="https://t.co/aKCEqkt49I">https://t.co/aKCEqkt49I</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Thriller?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Thriller</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MichaelJackson?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MichaelJackson</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Thriller3D?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Thriller3D</a> <a href="https://t.co/vjWgBn9WM3">pic.twitter.com/vjWgBn9WM3</a></p>— River Gibbs (@RiverGibbs) <a href="https://twitter.com/RiverGibbs/status/1045161043368935424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">27. September 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Great to see this review from a young man and how impressed he is about the Thriller-vid.

 

[wednesday]

I know you're asking Chris but I don't think it improved it -- there are more nifty sound effects in the original which are definitely better.

They most likely had no access to the original sound effects anymore, or they degraded for whatever reason -- so it may have been a bit more tricky to do those.

Thanks. They BETTER had a good reason to meddle with Michael's work, geez! I get stomach aches just thinking about them doctoring with Michael's videos and songs etc.

 

[ChrisC]

I'm positive the dance sequence audio is also wrong. It probably sounds great on the Atmos systems etc. but it's so off-putting to me.

It is. All of Michael's music has been recreated I feel. The chorus section is wrong too.

Little elements in the long walk from the theatre sound different. And when the zombie comes out the drain, noticeably different on the music there.

You guys will see it for yourself eventually and you'll notice it for sure.

I can only imagine they weren't able to use the old audio to create an Atmos experience. But I expect they weren't aware of these minute details that we pick up on. Which is a shame. I'd prefer someone to approach these projects with kid gloves.

 

[wonderouzmj]

I'm positive the dance sequence audio is also wrong. It probably sounds great on the Atmos systems etc. but it's so off-putting to me.

I swear when watching it it'll throw u off for only a second

 

[travis3000]

Typical negative Nancy's have come out to play in this thread yet again I see. My advice, just go watch the original 35 year old video with grainy visuals. It'll make your nostalgic mind happy.

For the rest of the world, I think its hard to complain about Thriller 3D. It's incredible, the visuals are stunning, the sound is out of this world. The audiences LOVE it. There's a reason why the feedback has been so good. This level of quality is unreal for a 35 year old video. You could make the argument that it was released just yesterday and one would believe it. Fantastic job overall, I was very impressed, as was every other person in that theatre.

 

[dam2040]

Typical negative Nancy's have come out to play in this thread yet again I see. My advice, just go watch the original 35 year old video with grainy visuals. It'll make your nostalgic mind happy.

For the rest of the world, I think its hard to complain about Thriller 3D. It's incredible, the visuals are stunning, the sound is out of this world. The audiences LOVE it. There's a reason why the feedback has been so good. This level of quality is unreal for a 35 year old video. You could make the argument that it was released just yesterday and one would believe it. Fantastic job overall, I was very impressed, as was every other person in that theatre.

Let's change Michael's short film audio, you know as he approved it, because the quality looks great and to suggest otherwise is being a 'negative Nancy'. What a ridiculous thing to say. I'm sure the quality is great. They just needed to QC the audio. Only die-hard fans will know, so who cares, right?

 

[wednesday]

Typical negative Nancy's have come out to play in this thread yet again I see. My advice, just go watch the original 35 year old video with grainy visuals. It'll make your nostalgic mind happy.

My man Michael Jackson, may he rest in peace and not turn in his grave for the new audio, was a world renowned perfectionist. You do not 'update' or temper with the work of a master and not get scrutinized for it. The very idea is absurd. In fact, every minute detail should be investigated. That is, if you have any respect for Michael Jackson and his body of work.

Also, while you see "negative Nancys", I see people who love Michael and his art so much that they literally travel from one country to another to watch Thriller, who know Michael's films inside and out so that they inevitably notice differences from the original, and who come on this forum to share their experience with fans like me who cannot see this new version for whatever reasons. Everyone who watched and reported here has enjoyed the movie. Pointing out changes to the original and questioning these changes is not being negative.

 

[dam2040]

My man Michael Jackson, may he rest in peace and not turn in his grave for the new audio, was a world renowned perfectionist. You do not 'update' or temper with the work of a master and not get scrutinized for it. The very idea is absurd. In fact, every minute detail should be investigated. That is, if you have any respect for Michael Jackson and his body of work.

Also, while you see "negative Nancys", I see people who love Michael and his art so much that they literally travel from one country to another to watch Thriller, who know Michael's films inside and out so that they inevitably notice differences from the original, and who come on this forum to share their experience with fans like me who cannot see this new version for whatever reasons. Everyone who watched and reported here has enjoyed the movie. Pointing out changes to the original and questioning these changes is not being negative.

Amen!!

 

[DuranDuran]

changes

You do not 'update' or temper with the work of a master and not get scrutinized for it. The very idea is absurd. In fact, every minute detail should be investigated.

Stuff gets changed all the time, like on one version of the DVD/Blu ray that was released of the 1960s Star Trek TV show, new effects were added. A while back there was a new version of the Clint Eastwood movie The Good The Bad and The Ugly with around 30 minutes of previously unused footage added to it. Every Christmas for the last few years, CBS has shown newly colorized episodes of I Love Lucy. The Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Police, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Bob Marley, and many other acts has had remixes or current singers overdubbed on old tracks to make duets. Artists have been sampling old songs since the mid-1980s. Sampling is changing the original music and SWV had a hit single (in the USA) with Right Here which sampled Human Nature. Mike himself sample an orchestra on Will You Be There and was sued for it because it wasn't cleared. Apparently Mike was ok with changing the original recording by adding it to his song and the same with all of the snippets on the History song. Mike also overdubbed his vocals on Minnie Riperton's unreleased (at the time) song I'm In Love Again. Minnie had passed away, so didn't approve Mike or any of the other singers that were recruited to sing on her songs. The songs weren't originally planned as duets. The Bad album has been changed several times like the talking at the beginning of I Just Can't Stop was removed on later pressings. There was one version with Quincy Jones interviews on it. On the original version of Off The Wall, a few of the songs had different mixes too. For people who don't want the new versions, they don't have to watch it, listen to it, or buy it. The people who do want it can.

 

[dam2040]

Re: changes

Stuff gets changed all the time, like on one version of the DVD/Blu ray that was released of the 1960s Star Trek TV show, new effects were added. A while back there was a new version of the Clint Eastwood movie The Good The Bad and The Ugly with around 30 minutes of previously unused footage added to it. Every Christmas for the last few years, CBS has shown newly colorized episodes of I Love Lucy. The Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Police, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Bob Marley, and many other acts has had remixes or current singers overdubbed on old tracks to make duets. Artists have been sampling old songs since the mid-1980s. Sampling is changing the original music and SWV had a hit single (in the USA) with Right Here which sampled Human Nature. Mike himself sample an orchestra on Will You Be There and was sued for it because it wasn't cleared. Apparently Mike was ok with changing the original recording by adding it to his song and the same with all of the snippets on the History song. Mike also overdubbed his vocals on Minnie Riperton's unreleased (at the time) song I'm In Love Again. Minnie had passed away, so didn't approve Mike or any of the other singers that were recruited to sing on her songs. The songs weren't originally planned as duets. The Bad album has been changed several times like the talking at the beginning of I Just Can't Stop was removed on later pressings. There was one version with Quincy Jones interviews on it. On the original version of Off The Wall, a few of the songs had different mixes too. For people who don't want the new versions, they don't have to watch it, listen to it, or buy it. The people who do want it can.

Sampling a song is a big difference from re-issuing material and changing it or getting it wrong.

 

[DuranDuran]

Re: changes

Sampling a song is a big difference from re-issuing material and changing it or getting it wrong.

Well nobody is forcing you to watch it. The original version still exists for you to watch. It's not like the original video is out of print and hard to find. Like people can either watch the Black Or White video with or without the KKK grafitti on the windows at the end or they can watch the short Smooth Criminal video with the blurry fast movements. Making Thriller 3D is changing it in the first place and so is cropping the picture to fit the modern IMAX screen and making a 5.1 mix, so the music being slightly different is irrelevant. The entire thing is different from the original. I don't care about Thriller or anything else getting changed, especially something minor. I have a lot of remix records to prove it. :rofl:

 

[dam2040]

Re: changes

Well nobody is forcing you to watch it. The original version still exists for you to watch. It's not like the original video is out of print and hard to find. Like people can either watch the Black Or White video with or without the KKK grafitti on the windows at the end or they can watch the short Smooth Criminal video with the blurry fast movements. Making Thriller 3D is changing it in the first place and so is cropping the picture to fit the modern IMAX screen and making a 5.1 mix, so the music being slightly different is irrelevant. The entire thing is different from the original. I don't care about Thriller or anything else getting changed, especially something minor. I have a lot of remix records to prove it. :rofl:

The 'being forced to watch it' is a terrible point. Fans deserve to see Michael's work in the highest quality possible. Not edited versions, the originals, as Michael worked on them.

 

[DuranDuran]

Re: changes

The 'being forced to watch it' is a terrible point. Fans deserve to see Michael's work in the highest quality possible. Not edited versions, the originals, as Michael worked on them.

From what I've read few people had problems with it. The only complaints I've seen outside of this site is that it's being shown very few places outside of the USA and some said they didn't want to see the Clock movie.

Anyway, a lot of people today watch TV shows & movies on a phone, tablet, or a PC/laptop with cheap computer speakers. The screen on a phone is too small for picture quality to make that much of a difference. It's like an audiophile complaining about Beats headphones not being high quality. Most of the general public is listening to MP3s or Youtube videos with compressed sound, so headphones that cost $5000 would be pretty useless for these sources. Even the average person who has an actual TV has a cheap one from Wal-Mart and many of the TV channels broadcast in low quality, most are not HD. So who are these fans you're talking about? Probably a small percentage of people like the audiophile audience.

 

[travis3000]

My man Michael Jackson, may he rest in peace and not turn in his grave for the new audio, was a world renowned perfectionist. You do not 'update' or temper with the work of a master and not get scrutinized for it. The very idea is absurd. In fact, every minute detail should be investigated. That is, if you have any respect for Michael Jackson and his body of work.

Also, while you see "negative Nancys", I see people who love Michael and his art so much that they literally travel from one country to another to watch Thriller, who know Michael's films inside and out so that they inevitably notice differences from the original, and who come on this forum to share their experience with fans like me who cannot see this new version for whatever reasons. Everyone who watched and reported here has enjoyed the movie. Pointing out changes to the original and questioning these changes is not being negative.

Michael would have LOVED this update. I didn't hear any complaining when MJ signed off on adding remixes to the iconic Thriller songs on Thriller 25 with the likes of Fergie, William, Kanye West, etc. Some of the hardcore fans go way overboard in their intention of trying to "respect" his work. Michael loved success, and he loved reaching new generations. This is the #1 way of doing just that. This project was done tastefully and kept true to the magic of Thriller. The complaints in here are nitpicking, sorry to be blunt but I had to say it.

 

[MJTruth]

Michael would have LOVED this update. I didn't hear any complaining when MJ signed off on adding remixes to the iconic Thriller songs on Thriller 25 with the likes of Fergie, William, Kanye West, etc. Some of the hardcore fans go way overboard in their intention of trying to "respect" his work. Michael loved success, and he loved reaching new generations. This is the #1 way of doing just that. This project was done tastefully and kept true to the magic of Thriller. The complaints in here are nitpicking, sorry to be blunt but I had to say it.

Agree 100%

 

[MJTruth]

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