Welcome back to the second installment of “Movies You Need To See.” In this review, I will be discussing another classic and a personal favorite.
“The Blues Brothers,” directed by John Landis, is a must-see. It started off as a sketch, created by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in 1976 on Saturday Night Live. Then, over time, it became more popular, and they decided to transform it into a movie.
Jake (John Belushi) and Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) Blue are brothers that were raised by a Catholic Nun. The boys consider her to be like family, even though their relationship is barely seen throughout the movie. Jake is a convicted felon and wants to get his band together right after he’s released from jail. Once Jake is finally released, he and Elwood are told to go to church by Curtis, the closest person to family they have other than the Nun that raised them. After their church visit, the boys reunite the band, calling themselves the “Blues Brothers.” After reuniting, they go on a “mission sent from God” to save the orphanage they grew up in by trying to raise money to pay off the orphanages property taxes. Although attempting to do their best, they manage to tick off neo-Nazis, cowboys, the mob, and cops by consistently messing with each of them.
Their mission all begins with a funny chase scene with the state police. We then get to the parts where the Illinois Nazis attempt to kill the Blues Brothers while chasing them around Chicago.
The music is well-played as it features many great artists like Aretha Franklin and Willie Hall. The movie is very funny, as the action and comedy of the movie flow along very nicely with the dialogue. As it is more of a musical, the backstory isn’t very well explained. That being said, it is a comedy sketch that turned into a movie, so it doesn’t necessarily need a well explained backstory.
As a whole, I enjoyed the film, especially the mind-blowing scenes that could never be done with real cars and real people in today’s world. The crashes are all created with practical effects by using real cars throughout the movie. The music is well played by all the actors as they all have a background in music. Now a funny part of the film in regards to the production is the interesting technique for acting. Most of the cast was high during the film, especially John Belushi. This wasn’t noticeable during the film, but was revealed years later that they were high to loosen the actors up. To add, the film had a separate budget for cocaine.
John Belushi is at his best as he is a brilliant musician in this film. 5/5 stars for this great movie and its good ol’ practical effects and enthusiastic music.
