Michael Jackson Videos

Michael Jackson videos occupy a special place in the art form as well as the hearts of anyone who grew up in the 80’s. They clips are always opulent, usually bizarre, often incomprehensible and always chock full of the WTF? moments that will have you questioning reality for days to come. Here are the top five clips from Michael Jackson’s patently ridiculous videography.

1. “Thriller” – Let’s deal with the elephant in the room. “Thriller” isn’t just the best Michael Jackson music video, it’s the best music video, period. No further proof of its landmark cultural status is required than its status as the first music video to make the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. Then there’s the tribute video made by thousands of prisoners in the Philippines, who memorized the entire dance. The fourteen-minute long clip features dancing zombies and was directed by John Landis, the man behind Eddie Murphy classics “Trading Places” and “Coming to America.”
2. “Remember the Time” – Oh boy. It’s hard to describe just how amazing the video for “Remember the Time” is. The clip starts in ancient Egypt, where Eddie Murphy, playing Ramses, hangs out in his palatial home with hawks, lions and a very dissatisfied wife. Magic Johnson is there, too. A mystic shows up a conjures what at first looks like a golden version of T100 from “Terminator 2” but turns out to be Michael Jackson. He busts out a song, entertaining the good folk of Egypt, going so far as to romance the bored wife of pharaoh before the pyramids, which, historically speaking, wouldn’t have existed yet. A fantastic dance sequences takes place as Jackson yells about all the places he wants to have sex. Can’t beat that. Truly one of the best Michael Jackson videos.
3. “Black or White” – The video for “Black or White” turned a music video into an event in a way that only the King of Pop could do. The clip features Macaulay Culkin who, at the time, a year after the release of the first “Home Alone,” was a megastar in his own right. “Black or White” premiered in 27 countries simultaneously: if you were alive in 1991 and you weren’t in prison, a crack house or at sea, you were planted in front of your TV, watching the video along with the 500 million other people doing the same thing. And that’s no hyperbole, kids, that’s a real number. The clip itself defies all expectations. Culkin shreds riffs, a middle-aged fat man flies across the earth in an easy chair, African tribesman hunt a lion, some Thai princesses show up for a dance routine, there’s a wild west shoot out and Jackson grabbing his junk while smashing a car with a crowbar.
4. “Beat It” – One of the best Michael Jackson videos, “Beat It” completely captures the distopian vision of the 80’s propagated by movies like “Gangs of NY” and “Warriors.” Rival gangs, all young men with pierced ears and menacing glowers, meet up in a warehouse and duke it out. The video fits the song’s lyrics perfectly, a paean to running away from a fight rather than ending up dead. Here here. Weird subject for a pop song, but that’s Michael for you.
5. “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” – The clip for “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” starts with Jackson flying through space talking about the force and goes on to superimpose the image of the young pop star, dressed up in a suit and sporting a short afro, dancing before a meteor shower, some huge ice cubes, balloons, a flying drum kit, strange little land formations in monochromatic hues and what appears to be a liquid metal staircase that leads nowhere. Obviously there was some acid going around on the set of this one.