The Greatest Night in Pop

Sometimes you realize you have to do something to change this world we live in. Sometimes you need a friend, sometimes a good idea, sometimes a great artist, sometimes a good concept and +40 artists. I'm not going to comment on how good or bad this documentary is. I'll just say this: great idea, great musicians, great song and a superb documentary.
Off-topic (after you see the movie): Imagine the top 40 Forbes or 40 powerful leaders gathering in a room from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. to create a life-changing "song" that doesn't mean to them We Are the World, but something really meaningful. I can`t.

...Music is a strange animal' cause you can't touch it, you can't smell it
you can't eat it or anything else, and it's just there.
...The collective power of the artists can be very impacting
If we put our egos aside, in the service of the people of the world who are less fortunate
... We're truly all one people, we are all in need of each other.

Much better than anticipated with great behind the scene stuff.
Only Quincy Jones could have posted "check your ego at the door" and got away with it... and probably no one else could have pulled this off.
Lionel Richie must have slept for days after making this happen and being there right till the end.

Too bad this was a complete waste of time and energy - tons of money raised and nothing has changed in Africa (and never will).

9/10

Although I was too young to appreciate this at the time, I was fascinated by this documentary, the number of stars that came together secretly for one night to create something so special

I am always fascinated by the artistic process and I’ll watch anything that shows artists naturally assembling art. While this documentary might not come close to Peter Jackson’s “Get Back” documentary on the Beatles (what could?), it is nonetheless mesmerizing. I still can’t believe that they managed to get all of those egos in the room and kept them in line for a night. That said, who didn’t want to give Dylan a hug? The resolution to that scene was probably my favorite part.

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One of the best documentaries iv seen. It captures the exact night like it was last night. I felt more involved than the singers themselves. The content of the footage is immaculate, and the past to present ratio is perfect. Even if it wasn't 'The Greatest Night in Pop', this documentary could definitely make you believe it. It was so thrilling seeing such icons packed together, being somewhat level of raw. Talking of raw, it was nice seeing the message of the song conveyed into this documentary. Also, Michael was right, "you and I" sounds so much better.

I still remember hearing this song for the first time and my reaction being this mix of cringing and laughing in complete disbelief at its existence. So, I was kinda curious how this trainwreck came together, especially with it feeling like perhaps the most dated artifact from the 80s. After watching this, I’m still amazed by the couple of artists with (what I’d refer to as) good instincts they managed to get for this. I’d assume a lot of them were tempted because of the early involvement from the likes of Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones and Stevie Wonder, even though let’s face it: these type of songs were always MJ’s major weakness as a songwriter. It’s not entirely surprising this would be the end result when you pair him with someone like Lionel Richie. As for the documentary, it’s completely boring and devoid of substance. Way too much of it plays like a nostalgia trip or puff piece for the artists involved. For the first third, it pretends as if we’re assembling The Avengers, which isn’t very interesting to watch (and occasionally infuriating when they talk about some of the superior artists that weren’t even approached). The second and third act are more about the recording, again not very interesting due to a lack of drama or interesting things happening. We have the benefit of hindsight now, why aren’t we discussing how this was culturally acceptable in the 80s? What was its impact? Which artists passed on it besides Prince, and why? This all just feels so commercial and bland, none of it made a real impact on me. As a documentary it perfectly complements the quality of the song.

2/10

A very enjoyable nostalgia piece on the making of “We Are The World”. They do a really good job building the tension around corralling the stars and just how impressive it was that it all came together. Well recommended.

I kept wondering what the Get Back version of this film would be like. I'd easily watch the complete footage of the night, warts and all.