It's been a long time coming, but I've now finally seen
The Blues Brothers (1980). I know I've been missing out on an 80's classic, but I can't think of a reason as to why other than I just never had the opportunity. Well that's why I'm doing this site in the first place! This film is a pop culture icon as are the Blues Brothers themselves, and even their car, The Bluesmobile. Hit the jump to see if I think this 31-year-old film has held up over the years.
First I'll just give you the low down on the plot. Jake has just been released from jail on good behaviour and his brother Elwood is there too meet him. We quickly find out they were raised in an orphanage which the taxman is about to put under. That is, unless they can come up with $5000 in a few days. After being inspired by a gospel church choir, they decide to put "the band" back together. It's a mission from God.
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| Elwood meets Jake at the prison gates |
This movie is absolutely packed with music. The plot revolves around recruiting the old band members so they can play a gig to get the money they need, but it's also full of cameos of famous music legends of the time. Ray Charles, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Steve Cropper and Aretha Franklin all show up as famous musicians and all have a musical number that they then take part in which is quite the sight to see. All the numbers worked for me even though the music is a little dated and not normally my kind of thing.
The other thing that stands out in Blues Brothers is all the car chases and absolutely absurd number of cars that get wrecked through the course of the film. There are numerous car pile-ups of dozens of cars! The Bluesmobile is definitely one of those legendary cars of pop culture, and I never even knew it! Some of the gags at the end of the movie with the car are just absurd, but they were so stupid and obviously intended as a joke it made me laugh right out loud.
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| Ray Charles with the Blues Brothers |
While the movie is certainly dated, it held enough crazy fun and high speed chases that it didn't really bother me that much. Elwood and Jake are also such memorable characters. I loved how in the credits, while it listed everyone's real names, it still said Elwood and Jake for Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi's names. There are just so many great little moments that pepper the movie here and there. Check it out if you're curious about it in the least, I had a fun time with it.
I've heard somewhere that until recently this movie held the record for most destroyed cars in a movie. I couldn't tell you which movie has usurped it's place though.
ReplyDeleteI had also heard that it had the most wrecked cars. I've just looked it up and Blues Brothers destroyed 103 cars while filming. The G.I. Joe movie passed that by destroying 112. I just grabbed these off a forum, not sure how accurate they are.
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