Michael Jackson: Smooth Criminal (1988 Music Video) User Reviews

Genius

[jonsnow-80520 · 10/10 · 19 October 2018]

Genius, amazing, incredible. To think that this legend once lived and walked in the same planet as us. Everything about this video is pure art. Nothing more can be said.

The best film ever

[floydcarey-45342 · 10/10 · 15 October 2018]

This might be the number one best short film ever. Iconic movies filled with amazing choreography and singing. Not to mention that catchy beat and iconic costume. Wow. Michael Jackson was surely ahead of his time. What a legend. There will never be anyone like him. Simply astonishing.

Perfect. Could not have been better

[ninagold-40894 · 10/10 · 25 May 2018]

Is this the single greatest video of all time. It sure as hell is. Every minute of this short film is a masterpiece. From the set, clothes, dancing and how the video was shoot. 10 out of 10

A classic timeless video. You will never get tired of watching. Incredible.

Best Video Ever!

[tonynworah-11169 · 10/10 · 30 January 2020]

Of all music videos, this is my most favorite music video ever. I've watched it over a twenty times and I still can't get over it. MJ the legend was at his prime here and it shows. The dancing, the choreography, the costumes, the song, simply amazing. And I wonder, who came up with the idea of the anti gravity lean (the long haired guy holding his chin is the standout for me) and the wooden legs walk. The wooden leg (at least that's what we called it in Nigeria) became a dance sensation in parties in Nigeria.

MJ shows here why he surpassed stardom status to the legend status. The video is simply breath taking.

However if any star dares to remake the video, they should eliminate the children' scenes and the bizarre interlude scene where the dancers seemed to be either in a frenzied full clothed orgy or were conjuring a supernatural entity. Still trying to decide which.

Nevertheless, despite these minor distractions, the video is totally awesome.

Absolute FLAWLESS MASTERPIECE!! Best video ever made!!

[joiningjt · 10/10 · 1 March 2021]

Everyone always picks thriller as best video ever made it's a 10 as well but this video was brilliant it redefined music videos again!! The clothes, the filming, of course the dancing, the flawless lip synching, the Michael Jackson shoe invention, it's in a league of its own and NEVER will have an equal. His videos will forever be the best ever made. His pure genius will not be truly appreciated until decades later especially since no one will even come close to his perfection. Also he was an extremely Underrated singer, listen to his version of come together, the best by far!! Him and freddy mercury were the best ever.

Wow

[michaeljackson-19118 · 10/10 · 19 February 2020]

The King of Pop does it again and again. He never disappoints. An incredible piece of art this is

The Best Music Video Ever Made!!!

[CinemaFX · 10/10 · 29 December 2020]

You want Michael Jackson at his peak?

well, here you are. talk about this 10 minute gangster themed mini-movie, such crisp choreography, and the lean, coin toss, the dress-up and the IMPACT of this one overall.

and still, I haven't covered nothing.

Almost, ALMOST, perfect

[SnowLeopardMaster · 8/10 · 30 April 2018]

I love this music video! Michael Jackson is the king of both music and dancing, and his fashion sense is brilliant as well. The dance and song are both very good, with the song being amazingly well written and the dance being really well choreographed. (But what do you expect? It's Michael Jackson!)

However, I do have some problems with the music video. First off, that weird section in which Michael shatters the ceiling or something, everything goes dark, and it turns into a sort of blues thing. I don't get the point of this part, and usually skip past it.

Additionally, the section after that isn't to great either. It's just a really long instrumental section in which Michael does some really cool, complex dance moves, but doesn't open his mouth once.

Then the video cuts to some random kids who are watching Michael through the windows of the club like stalkers or something, and this just sort of increases the time before we can hear Michael sing again. And even then, it is interrupted by the appearance of random CIA looking dudes who march around the outside of the bar, who Michael shoots with a machine gun before escaping.

So, in a nutshell, the first half of the video is brilliant, but the second half isn't as great, and maybe the video shouldn't have been as long as it was.

Not a smooth 10 minutes sadly

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 4 July 2017]

The title "Michael Jackson: Smooth Criminal" already gives it away. This one here is the music video for the MJ song mentioned in the title. As almost always, it is considerably longer than other music videos and this one here reaches the 9.5-minute mark. Director is Colin Chilvers, who is mostly known for his special effect work today and also worked with Jackson on other occasions. The cast includes the likes of Joe Pesci briefly before his Oscar win and Sean Lennon, son of John and Yoko. But these are not enough to make the video work. The chorus of the song is pretty catchy to be honest and the video doesn't look all bad, but really the rest of the song did very little for me and even with Jackson's dancing I cannot really think of any reason why you would want to watch the video here instead of simply listening to the record. Definitely not my favorite video by Michael Jackson, but then again I am a bit biased as I believe several of his works are very much style over substance, occasionally even a bit on the pretentious side. This one is no exception and I give it a thumbs-down.