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Michael Jackson’s videos are best understood not as one kind of spectacle, but as a body of short films shaped by performance, choreography, narrative, visual effects and cinema. Rolling Stone’s June 24, 2014 feature, “Michael Jackson’s 20 Greatest Videos: The Stories Behind the Vision,” offered one critic’s selection and drew on accounts from directors who helped make them. Its ranking is a point of view, not an objective or definitive canon—and the surviving excerpts do not establish a complete list of all 20 entries.
What are Michael Jackson’s greatest music videos?
There is no universally authoritative order. Rolling Stone’s 2014 feature is a useful starting point because it treats the videos as creative productions with stories behind them, rather than simply ranking familiar hits. The feature’s incomplete mirror preserves discussion of Rock With You, Billie Jean, Black or White, Can You Feel It and Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough, among other material, but it does not reliably establish the full ranking. The preserved excerpts therefore support a discussion of the range of approaches, not a reconstructed top 20.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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The Will Smith Music Video Collection | $11.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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The Essential Video Collection | $11.71 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Madonna - The Immaculate Collection | $9.90 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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The Greatest Hits Video Collection | $11.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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Madonna Celebration: The Video Collection | $104.00 | Buy on Amazon |
A more useful way to compare the videos is to ask what each one does with the song: foreground a performance, build a story, organize movement into choreography, use visual effects, or draw on cinematic genres and conventions. Those are interpretive categories, not an official Rolling Stone scoring system.
Performance, movement and visual design
Some videos place the singer and the act of performing at the center; others depend on choreographed group movement or a strongly designed visual world. Can You Feel It and Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough appear in the preserved feature material, but the available excerpts do not provide enough detail to make a reliable, complete production comparison for every entry.
#1 Best Overall
Story and cinema
Billie Jean and Black or White are among the titles discussed in the excerpts. For Billie Jean, a 2014 Michael Jackson World Network article attributes a film-oriented creative approach to director Steve Barron. Because that source is a fan publication reproducing interview material, it is best treated as a reported account, not as a basis for unverified direct quotations or unsupported claims about the full production. The article’s account of Barron’s perspective adds a director’s point of view to the broader story.
How did Thriller make the music video feel like a film?
Thriller is a particularly well-documented example of Jackson’s short films being planned with cinematic ambitions. Vanity Fair’s 2010 production account describes director John Landis being approached to direct and the idea of making behind-the-scenes material to accompany the short film. That combination points to a deliberate expansion of the project beyond a brief promotional clip: the film itself and material about its making could both be part of how audiences encountered it. This is a documented example, not proof that every Jackson video followed the same production strategy. Vanity Fair’s account of the making of Thriller provides production context.
Rank #2
- Shrink-wrapped
The media landscape mattered, too. A short film designed to be watched as a substantial visual work—and accompanied by a making-of—could serve audiences beyond the moment a song played on television. The available account supports that interpretation for Thriller; it should not be generalized into a claim about every video’s budget, distribution or intent.
Who shaped the videos besides Jackson?
Directors and collaborators helped turn songs into distinct screen works. John Landis’s role on Thriller and Steve Barron’s connection to Billie Jean show why production stories should name the people behind the camera where the record supports it. The incomplete Rolling Stone mirror also preserves director-attributed stories for some entries, but it is not a complete source for all 20 videos or their credits. The available material does not justify filling gaps with guessed names, production details or quotations.
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The Michael Jackson’s Vision video collection is a reference point for viewers seeking a collected set of the short films. A secondary listing describes an edition as three DVDs containing 42 videos, but that detail is edition-sensitive and does not establish current availability, format suitability or region compatibility. Check the exact edition and playback requirements before buying or borrowing a copy. Michael Jackson’s official site is a starting point for checking authorized media information; the specific collection’s present availability is not established here.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What a 2014 ranking can—and cannot—tell you
Rolling Stone’s feature is best read as a critic’s selection accompanied by production accounts, not a definitive historical verdict. Its value lies in directing attention to the variety of Jackson’s visual work and to the directors’ contributions. Because the complete ranking and all 20 director accounts are not independently available in the preserved material, a full ordered list would risk presenting an incomplete record as fact.
Sony Music announced on October 4, 2022 that the Estate of Michael Jackson and Sony Music Entertainment were producing an official documentary about the Thriller album and its short films. The announcement establishes that the project was in production at that time; it does not establish whether it has since been released. Sony Music’s announcement is the appropriate source for what was announced, rather than evidence of current release status.
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- MADONNA CELEBRATION (2DVD)
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