The Blues Brothers (1980)

Director:

John Landis

Writers:

Dan Aykroyd (written by) &
John Landis (written by)

Release Date:

20 June 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Music | Musical

Tagline:

They'll never get caught. They're on a mission from God.

Plot:

Jake Blues, just out from prison, puts together his old band to save the Catholic home where he and brother Elwood were raised.

Plot Keywords:

Prisoner | Roman Catholic | Country And Western | Catholic | Guitar Man

Awards:

1 win

Cast

John Belushi	...	'Joliet' Jake Blues (as Jake)
Dan Aykroyd	...	Elwood Blues (as Elwood)
James Brown	...	Reverend Cleophus James
Cab Calloway	...	Curtis
Ray Charles	...	Ray
Aretha Franklin	...	Mrs. Murphy
Steve Cropper	...	Steve 'The Colonel' Cropper
Donald Dunn	...	Donald 'Duck' Dunn
Murphy Dunne	...	Murphy 'Murph' Dunne
Willie Hall	...	Willie 'Too Big' Hall
Tom Malone	...	Tom 'Bones' Malone
Lou Marini	...	'Blue Lou' Marini
Matt Murphy	...	Matt 'Guitar' Murphy
Alan Rubin	...	Alan 'Mr. Fabulous' Rubin
Carrie Fisher	...	Mystery Woman

Runtime:

133 min | USA:148 min (extended version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (magnetic prints) | Mono (optical prints)

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Brazil:Livre | UK:AA (original rating) | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12 | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

22 W. Van Buren Street, The Loop, Downtown, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The mall used for the mall chase was the Dixie Square Mall in south suburban Harvey, Illinois. It had been closed for over a year. The filmmakers got sponsorship from different retailers to re-build the entire mall. There were certain stores that were allowed to be crashed into and others that weren't. In April 2005, plans were made to demolish the empty and decaying mall, and to hopefully attract high-level retailers to the site.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the downtown Chicago chase scene, the shadow of the camera can be seen on the hood of the Blues Brothers' car in two adjacent shots.

Quotes:

[Camille has fired a machine gun at Jake and Elwood]
Elwood: Who *is* that girl?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

Soundtrack:

BOOGIE CHILLUN

Wild "musical comedy" offers long-lasting fun and excitement.

What an impressive following this large movie is recently having! It would've been just another cult classic to begin with! THE BLUES BROTHERS is easily the best film collaboration with Dan ("Dry White Toast") Aykroyd, and John ("4 Fried Chickens & A Coke") Belushi. While it gets too overly far-fetched with the action plot, there is reason to sit back and chow down on the comical hilarity and nonsense thrills that only John Landis can master perfectly into a comedy.

This is such a big deal after all because it offers a walloping combination of soul tunes, car chases, special effects, and crazy characters like female assassin Carrie Fisher and Nazi leader Henry Gibson. Put everything else together and you have one of the wildest experiences ever. If you want to know why it's so wild, the supporting cast of dancers, prison inmates, and law enforcers really shows that the movie itself is very hard at work! The music was supposed to be the main attraction in the first place, with real-life singers James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Cab Calloway. They add to the theme of this "bluesy" movie with their own style of performing familiar tunes. The real stars are Aykroyd and Belushi who can be both funny and talented on and off the stage. Probably the duo's all-time best performance is the singing numbers. But after the singing, we await the sudden amazement of car crashes and smashes that make up the excitement, with the largest impact ever since the 1974 cult classic GONE IN 60 SECONDS. It certainly has "Made In Chicago" stamped all over this picture! There are tons of entertaining moments that never go blind. Just sit back and watch it all go boom!

Aykroyd and Belushi would have fared well in GHOSTBUSTERS had there been more movies produced, but this remains to be THE comedy classic for the wild SNL pair. DVD owners must not miss this one as it makes a valuable addition to your library. It's not really the masterpiece of a genius, but it is a good-natured effort in using different film genres in one complete package. Definitely recommended for Landis lovers out there.