What is this film about?

It's a love-letter to Chicago, disguised as a road picture. In this case, Dan and John on an almost continuous journey around more Chicago locales than you can count on all of your available digits.

It's a musical. Throughout the "road trip", the film exploits every opportunity to enlist so many musical legends (who find reasons to "break out in song"), that you probably won't be able to keep track of all of them, either.

It's an excuse to throw in a long list of famous comedians, and other celebrities, strewn throughout the movie in bit parts, just for grins. (You should pay attention to almost every character that shows up along the journey, as virtually all of them are someone famous, e.g. even Twiggy shows up at one point.)

It's an excuse to destroy, in unimaginably creative ways, an entire mall, and numerous other buildings, as a result of chases, vendettas, etc., just in case you need an "action fix" to "round out" the movie's musical and comedic experience. (A decent percentage of those destructive activities, perpetrated by Carrie Fisher's character.)

There is a "plot thread" that provides an underlying reason for Dan and John's journey, but it's just there to facilitate all of the craziness. The journey is never boring (there's never time to get bored), and it is an awful lot of fun.

I finally decided to review this, while watching the 2020 4K UHD release (which, as an aside, looks great). I would be remiss not to mention that it's a bit hard to watch the film, and not feel a hint of sadness, based upon the fact that 40 years on, from its original release, so many of the actors, musicians, and comedians it features, are simply not with us anymore. For some, that is simply a consequence of age, but there are far too many others that should have still been with us. The only silver lining is that we get to see why we enjoyed them, while we had them.

I highly recommend this. It successfully melds so many film genres together into a single film, that it's almost impossible not to have fun.

After John Landis had directed John Belushi in "Animal House", and after John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd had co-starred in "1941", all three collaborated on a movie with which they will forever be associated: "The Blues Brothers". The plot of course has Jake (Belushi) and Elwood Blues (Aykroyd) on "a mission from God" to save the orphanage where they grew up. This necessitates reassembling their blues band and going on tour. By going on tour, I mean making a mess of everything. Whether it's their boorish behavior in a ritzy restaurant, the demolition of a mall, or an infinite number of car crashes, these guys are the bane of orderly society.

Of course, the real star is the music. Making guest appearances are some of the twentieth century's most renowned artists. Ray Charles plays a music store owner, James Brown plays a preacher, Aretha Franklin plays The Soul Food Cafe owner, and there's many more. This movie reminds us why the blues remain an integral part of our national heritage. The big concert is probably the best example (especially with Elwood's crazy dance).

Also appearing are Carrie Fisher as a woman out to kill Jake, John Candy as the police chief chasing them, Henry Gibson as an Illinois Nazi out to get Jake and Elwood after a most unusual encounter, and Steven Spielberg as the Cook County Clerk. All in all, this is one movie that won't disappoint you. Because everybody needs some movie to love (some movie to love/some movie to love). It needs you, you, you...

The Blues Brothers is definitely in my book one of the best comedies of all time. I couldn't believe my eyes that this film is not on the top 250, well, John Landis doesn't get enough credit in all. He brought us the most memorable comedies of all time: An American Werewolf in London, Trading Places, Animal House, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. He brings us The Blues Brothers, two popular characters off of Saturday Night Live who were at the height of their popularity. John puts them in Chicago(this is the best Chicago movie to watch next to Ferris Bueller by the way)and makes this into one of the greatest comedies ever. The great thing about this film is it's not gross out, it's not the obvious silly humor, it's just humor that keeps you laughing every minute. Dan and John are such a great comedic duo, they are without a doubt the most memorable duo off of SNL I would say.

Jake and Elwood go to the orphanage where they were raised and learn that it is being shut down due to insufficient funds, so they want to reunite their band and put on a show to help save the place. On a mission from God they claim, they gather up their old band members to put on the show of the decade! But along the way, Jake and Elwood get into quite a bit of trouble with the police, the Illinois Nazi party, a girlfriend of one of their band members, and a girl who just seems to keep going after them and wants them dead.

With great and endless cameos from great people like Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, terrific Chicago landmarks, endless hilarious jokes, The Blues Brothers is the perfect comedy that is one of the best movies of all time. The concert scene is unforgettable and the scene that will always get me down on the floor in tears is where they go to the restaurant, John's line of "How much for your women?!" was just too priceless! You really have to see this movie, I guarantee you, you will die of laughter.

10/10