SummaryOn January 25, 1985, dozens of the biggest names in music convened at a studio in Los Angeles, checked their egos at the door and recorded a song to benefit African famine relief that would alter global pop culture history. The Greatest Night in Pop chronicles the massive undertaking to assemble the world’s most impressive supergroup in a world b... Read More
Directed By:Bao Nguyen
The Greatest Night in Pop
Metascore
Generally Favorable
69
User score
Generally Favorable
6.9
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
69
80% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
20% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Jan 29, 2024
80
Lionel Richie serves as the de facto tour guide for this trip down memory lane, which fulfills its promise to make a better day (or at least 90-some-odd minutes) for you and me.
Jan 29, 2024
75
Directed by Bao Nguyen, who expertly combines the multi-camera recordings from the night of the session with new interviews with Richie, Cyndi Lauper, Kenny Loggins, Huey Lewis, Smokey Robinson and Bruce Springsteen, as well as technicians who were there, “The Greatest Night in Pop” is a terrific behind-the-scenes chronicle of the making of a single that sold 20 million copies worldwide, won multiple Grammys and, most important, of course, raised more than $60 million in 1985 dollars.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.9
70% Positive
21 Ratings
21 Ratings
17% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
13% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
Apr 5, 2024
9
Even i can feel the tension in that room that night, The Greatest Night In Pop succeed to captures not only just the magic and even though it's not all, and i wish it did, i mean who actually minded to not seeing this stacked superstar making one song in a day for hours and hours, but the documentary also captured the struggle and like i mention earlier the tension, but then again the heartwarming intension behind it, the knowing about most of these artist later on, it's pretty emotional and mesmerising to see, it definitely would made the song now even more and more powerful and meaningful not only because of the message of the song, but the making of the song is i think not less interesting than the message of the song itself, i think The Greatest Night In Pop was a very interesting piece of story that deserve to be told and pretty well made documentary overall too.
Jan 29, 2024
9
Have always loved this song and how so many superstars came together to deliver this record. Watching this took me back to a special time. So many great stars, some of which are no longer with us. I loved all of this. At times it brought me to tears. How Quincy & Lionel got this done is amazing.
Jan 20, 2024
75
The good news is that it largely breaks the trend of mediocre rock docs through specificity, being at its best when it’s granular in the process of the recording, including some lyrical near-misses, some personality conflicts in the room, and even one participant who liked a bit too much wine.
Jan 29, 2024
70
While the making of the song was partially detailed in its long-form video, there’s plenty of new, engaging, and sometimes eyebrow-raising anecdotal material here.
Jan 29, 2024
60
The Greatest Night in Pop is a worthy story in its own right, but a bit more of the director's touch could've done justice to this gigantic achievement of pop music history.
Jan 24, 2024
58
While The Greatest Night in Pop may not amount to anything more than a sanitized and somewhat masturbatory look back at one of the wildest get-togethers in the modern history of music (the film doesn’t offer any commentary deeper than “isn’t it so fucking crazy that this happened, and that we have it all on tape?”), there’s no denying that it’s a lot of fun to watch it all go down.
Sep 30, 2024
7
This film documents the creation of a song and, in doing so, reveals much about **** and the creative process for musical entertainers at the top of their field.
Jan 31, 2024
7
O maior mérito do filme, sem duvidas, é o resgate das imagens e de como há uma trama a ser contada: a luta para reunir os maiores astros da música pop, o momento da gravação coincidir com o American Music Awards (AMA), a única noite para gravar o hit, os bastidores, a simpatia e o talento dos artistas. É um filme competente, e que esbanja graciosidade pela simpatia dos envolvidos em um momento realmente inspirado. Mas ainda assim, engrandecer uma música piegas é cansativo demais, ainda mais nos fazer engolir o propósito de um país imperialista nos fazer acreditar que está se fazendo uma revolução para salvar a África com artistas pops. Oi? É o simulacro do simulacro aqui.
Production Company:
- Dorothy Street Pictures
- MRC Film
- Makemake
- Paramount Pictures
Release Date:Jan 29, 2024
Duration:1 h 36 m
Rating:PG-13
Awards
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
Primetime Emmy Awards
• 3 Nominations
Image Awards (NAACP)
• 2 Nominations
