Granujas a todo ritmo (The Blues Brothers)

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...

Where to begin? I WISHED the adults in my life took me to see it when it first came out! But alas, it would be years later when I'd first see it, on TV, and on VHS, then many more times on TV. READ the list of cast from start to end! You will be amazed who was in this movie! Including Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia in Star Wars), and even Steven Spielberg acted in this movie too!

Everyone should be required to see this movie, as kids, teens, and adults! Every age group will enjoy this movie. NICE family movie too! The kids and adults will 100% enjoy watching it. It is sooo sad that many of those music legends are forgotten, are not taught about in any school, and remain unknown! I never knew who Ray Charles was until I finally saw this movie! Possibly the first ever movie in which the soundtrack sold as well as the movie. There is even a tribute to Elvis at the very end. The re-watch factor is NICE - one never ever gets tired of re-watching this movie over and over! Which is unheard of with present day movies.

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.

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.

1/ The music in this film is outstanding, with roles for Aretha Franklin, Cab Calloway, John Lee Hooker, Ray Charles and more.... that's not really surprising.

2/ One of the finest car chases in cinematic history (The Italian Job and Smokey and the Bandit 2 are the only others that come close)

3/ John Belushi's own brand of comic genius throughout the movie

4/ Mulitiple memorable scenes and one liners

5/ Cameos from Steven Spielberg, Twiggy, Frank Oz, etc.

6/ Carrie Fisher as the psycho love interest intent on revenge.

Nuff said, watch it and love it 10/10