The Blues Brothers (1980)

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

Director:

John Landis

Writers:

Dan Aykroyd, John Landis

Stars:

John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Cab Calloway

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Erhart	...	Prison Guard
Gerald Walling	...	Prison Guard (as Gerald Walling S.J.)
John Belushi	...	Joliet Jake
Walter Levine	...	Prison Guard
Frank Oz	...	Corrections Officer
Dan Aykroyd	...	Elwood
Kathleen Freeman	...	Sister Mary Stigmata
Cab Calloway	...	Curtis
Donald Dunn	...	Donald 'Duck' Dunn (as Donald 'Duck' Dunn)
Alonzo Atkins	...	Choirmaster
James Brown	...	Reverend Cleophus James
Chaka Khan	...	Choir Soloist
Southern California Community Choir	...	Choir (as James Cleveland's Southern California Community Choir)
Armand Cerami	...	Trooper Daniel
Steven Williams	...	Trooper Mount (as Steve Williams)

Storyline

After the release of Jake Blues from prison, he and brother Elwood go to visit "The Penguin", the last of the nuns who raised them in an orphanage. They learn the Archdiocese will stop supporting the school and will sell the place to the Education Authority. The only way to keep the place open is if the $5000 tax on the property is paid within 11 days. The Blues Brothers want to help, and decide to put their blues band back together and raise the money by staging a big gig. As they set off on their "mission from God" they seem to make more enemies along the way. Will they manage to come up with the money in time?

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Plot Keywords:

pig | on the run | release from prison | reckless driving | police chase | 

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Taglines:

The Most Dangerous Combination Since Nitro and Glycerine.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Music | Musical

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Certificate:

14A

Did You Know?

Trivia

When John Candy picks up his phone and says "Get me troopers Daniel and Mount ," it's an homage to Sean Daniel and Thom Mount, two Universal Pictures executives who pushed their bosses to let John Landis make Animal House several years earlier. Both interviewed on the Animal House "Double Secret Probation" edition of the DVD.

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Goofs

For the first few frames of the scene where the Pinto crashes through the street, the car can be seen held in its pre-drop position, reflected in the upper window of one of the buildings. After it is released, a guide or safety cable can be seen extending from the rear bumper to the left of the frame. As it impacts the street, all the buildings shake, indicating that they're just scenery flats. Finally, the breakaway section of the street can be seen in outline before the car hits.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Prison Guard #1: Yeah, the Assistant Warden wants this one out of the block early. Wants to get it over with fast.
Prison Guard #2: Okay, let's do it.
[rattling the bars with his baton]
Prison Guard #1: Hey come on, it's time to wake up.
Prison Guard #2: Wake up. Let's go, it's time.
[striking the sleeping Jake with his baton]

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Crazy Credits

When in Hollywood, Visit Universal Studios (Ask for Babs) [see also National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)]

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Alternate Versions

When the extended version was created in 1998, a 5.1 remix was created that contained a bunch of alterations. Some of the cues were re-arranged and re-edited to accommodate for the added scenes and a bunch of sound effects were replaced with more modern ones. It even goes as far as to use an alternate vocal recording for Sweet Home Chicago during the stage performance scene. The movie was re-released on DVD in 2005 and for the first time on the format contained the original theatrical version as well. This DVD had only the original stereo mix for the theatrical version. However, when the blu-ray release came out, Universal integrated the 5.1 remix into the theatrical version and as a result, songs are now miscued, the sound effects replacement is still there, and there are some audio edits that are obvious whenever a scene from the extended version wasn't present in the theatrical version. In addition to that it still contains the alternate vocal take for Sweet Home Chicago. The original stereo mix isn't included as a second option for this version on the US blu-ray release.

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Connections

Referenced in Picket Fences: Remembering Rosemary (1992)

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Soundtracks

Shake a Tail Feather
(uncredited)
Written by Otha Hayes, Andre Williams and Verlie Rice
Performed by Ray Charles and the Blues Brothers Band

User Reviews

An Eccentric Cult Classic

This definitive cult classic combines two of the pioneers of Saturday Night Live in a hilarious comedy, indulging into their characters from the show. John Belushi and Dan Akroyd are Jake and Elwood Blues, two eccentric brothers who are "On A Mission From God". They seem to inevitably find themselves in large amounts of trouble. The most fun is living vicariously through them as they stick it to the police and other authority figures and evade the consequences. Blues fans will rave over the fantastic soundtrack full of classic blues tunes from the biggest stars. This film is one that will have you quoting lines, singing along, and quite possibly dancing like Elwood. By the way, sunglasses can be worn at all times, black never goes out of style, and dry white toast is quite possibly the world's perfect food.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 June 1980 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Les frères Blues

Filming Locations:

1623 S. 51st Court, Cicero, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$27,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,858,152, 22 June 1980

Gross USA:

$57,229,890

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$115,229,890

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min 148 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (magnetic prints) Mono (optical prints) DTS (DTS: X)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1