The Blues Brothers (1980)

Director:

John Landis

Writers:

Dan Aykroyd (written by) &
John Landis (written by)

Release Date:

20 June 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Music | Musical

Tagline:

They'll never get caught. They're on a mission from God.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Bridge | Roman Catholic | Office | Catholic Church | Assault

Awards:

1 win

Cast

John Belushi	...	'Joliet' Jake Blues (as Jake)
Dan Aykroyd	...	Elwood Blues (as Elwood)
James Brown	...	Reverend Cleophus James
Cab Calloway	...	Curtis
Ray Charles	...	Ray
Aretha Franklin	...	Mrs. Murphy
Steve Cropper	...	Steve 'The Colonel' Cropper
Donald Dunn	...	Donald 'Duck' Dunn
Murphy Dunne	...	Murphy 'Murph' Dunne
Willie Hall	...	Willie 'Too Big' Hall
Tom Malone	...	Tom 'Bones' Malone
Lou Marini	...	'Blue Lou' Marini
Matt Murphy	...	Matt 'Guitar' Murphy
Alan Rubin	...	Alan 'Mr. Fabulous' Rubin
Carrie Fisher	...	Mystery Woman

Runtime:

133 min | USA:148 min (extended version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (magnetic prints) | Mono (optical prints)

Certification:

South Korea:12 | UK:AA (original rating) | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12 | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

22 W. Van Buren Street, The Loop, Downtown, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The mall used for the mall chase was the Dixie Square Mall in south suburban Harvey, Illinois. It had been closed for over a year. The filmmakers got sponsorship from different retailers to re-build the entire mall. There were certain stores that were allowed to be crashed into and others that weren't. In April 2005, plans were made to demolish the empty and decaying mall, and to hopefully attract high-level retailers to the site.

Goofs:

Continuity: When being chased by the Illinois Nazis, the Bluesmobile comes to a halt and just misses falling over the edge of an incomplete bridge. Elwood then throws the car into reverse and the force of the car's acceleration causes it to flip on its own rear-bumper and leap over the pursuing car. However, the way the car is shown rotating in mid-air (edge over edge), it should have landed still pointing in the same direction it was traveling before the flip. Instead, the car lands pointed in the opposite direction.

Quotes:

Mr. Fabulous: No, sir, Mayor Daley no longer dines here, sir. He's dead, sir.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Best! Movies! Ever!: Dance Sequences (#1.9)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

QUANDO, QUANDO, QUANDO

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.