The Greatest Night in Pop

2024

Action / Documentary / Music

35
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 89% · 50 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 89% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.9/10 10 16000 16K

pop culture behind the scenes music recording nostalgic song writing songwriting

Plot summary

On a January night in 1985, music's biggest stars gathered to record "We Are the World." This documentary goes behind the scenes of the historic event.

Director

Bao Nguyen Photo
Bao Nguyen

Top cast

Courteney Cox Photo
Courteney Cox as Self
Sheila E. Photo
Sheila E. as Self
Tom Brokaw Photo
Tom Brokaw as Self
Bob Geldof Photo
Bob Geldof as Self
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 1080p.WEB
899.54 MB
960*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us   ar   cz   dk   de   gr   es   fi   fr   il   hr   hu   id   it   ja   kr   ms   no   nl   pl   pt   ro   ru   sv   th   tr   uk   vi   cn  
23.976 fps
1 hr 37 min
Seeds 5
1.8 GB
1440*1080
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us   ar   cz   dk   de   gr   es   fi   fr   il   hr   hu   id   it   ja   kr   ms   no   nl   pl   pt   ro   ru   sv   th   tr   uk   vi   cn  
23.976 fps
1 hr 37 min
Seeds 43
1.63 GB
1440*1080
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us   ar   cz   dk   de   gr   es   fi   fr   il   hr   hu   id   it   ja   kr   ms   no   nl   pl   pt   ro   ru   sv   th   tr   uk   vi   cn  
23.976 fps
1 hr 37 min
Seeds 21

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by DrRumack 9 / 10

Watching Music History

In 1985, We Are The World was huge. We saw the video over and over and over again.We all had the album and listened to it countless times. It was on the radio non-stop. It was an immensely powerful song.Watching this documentary and learning how the song came about and how they managed to get all the biggest names in Music together, it let me re-experience it all. Watching it was both nostalgic and entertaining. But also sad watching the great artists who aren't around anymore.It's a Must See for anyone who was around back in '85.And, after nearly 40 years, I finally learned why Prince wasn't there.
Reviewed by sectionmaven-08824 9 / 10

Couldn't Stop Watching

I can't recall the last time I watched a film from beginning to end without taking a break or even thinking of taking a break. And this has nothing to do with the quality of the ultimate product, although the film made me appreciate "We Are the World" far more than I did at the time of its creation. The experience of seeing how this event was created, assembled and carried out was mesmerizing, engrossing and tremendously moving.The film enlarged, exponentially, my knowledge and understanding of the individuals who participated in creating the song and video. For example, I appreciate, for the first time, the scope of Lionel Ritchie's talent, which extends far beyond singing. Wrangling pop stars is more difficult than herding house cats, but Ritchie proved to be a master of the art. He was the film's star, with Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones close behind. The scenes showing Stevie's interactions with Ray Charles and Bob Dylan were, at the same time, hilarious and moving.The film also enhanced my appreciation of the level of talent that participated in the project. As a contemporary of most of the participants, I realize now that they were a lot more talented than I might have thought back in the 1980s.From a technical standpoint, condensing a ten-hour all night recording session into the last hour of a ninety minute film was no mean feat. The editing of tons of archival material into a coherent narrative was masterful. If Netflix can mount more retrospective documentaries of similar events from the late twentieth century, I would welcome the endeavor.If I have one criticism, it is that I wanted to know more about the selection process, about the artists who elected not to participate, and about the one, Waylon Jennings, who walked out. Madonna was mentioned once. And maybe Waylon was there because he lost a bet to his pal Willie, and of course Prince was Prince. But Waylon and Willie were the only representatives of a genre that IS music to millions of Americans. Were any others asked?But on the whole, the film was an Oscar level documentary and should be recognized as such.
Reviewed by Judy-B31085 8 / 10

They left their egos at the door

My kids were 5 and 10 when We Are the World was released. They couldn't get enough of it probably because Michael Jackson was a big part of it and they knew the money was going to feed kids in Africa. This behind the scenes account of how Harry Belafonte inspired Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, and Quincy Jones to make it happen is beautiful and funny with some very personal commentary by many of the dozens of artists who did the marathon recording. Their effort seems like something that would never happen today even though we surely could use the love and selflessness they embodied the night they gathered in one studio to record the song. The reflections by Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Smokey Robinson , Cindy Lauper and others make this a special film. It's a little long but worth sticking with it.
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