A Binge too Far #50 - Singing and Dancing with The Blues Brothers duo (1980 – 1998)

John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in The Blues Brothers (1980)

The Blues Brothers (1980)

The Blues Brothers (1980)

 

Recently-released from prison Jake Blues (John Belushi) is reunited with his brother Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) and in order to find enough dough to save the catholic orphanage in which they grew up, they re-assemble their old blues band, resulting in adventures with the law and the Nazis.

 

Written by John Landis (who also directed) and Dan Aykroyd (developed from the same-titled sketch that originally appeared on NBC’s Saturday Night Live) this fun musical comedy is full of wild (but safe, within the limits of its R rating) humour and spectacular musical numbers by a variety of Blues legends, including James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and John Lee Hooker.

 

Made on an excessive $27.5 million budget, it was distributed by Universal Pictures and went on to gross a stunning $115.2 million at the box-office, and following positive reviews from critics and enthusiastic word-of-mouth from audiences it also became a VHS phenomenon too, essentially one of the most iconic films of the 1980s.

 

Featuring car crashes and shootouts, as well as a fascinating cast (Frank Oz, Carrie Fisher, John Candy, Paul Reubens, Charles Napier, Twiggy, Steven Spielberg, and Steve Lawrence), and a R&B soundtrack for the ages, this is classic Hollywood at its best.

 

Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)

Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)

 

Recently-released from prison where he was serving for 18 years for the felonies depicted mostly in the finale of the first film, Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd, who also penned the screenplay with the film’s director John Landis) and with his brother now dead, he must re-assemble his old band for a new “Mission from God” that will result in new adventures with the law and even communists.

 

Produced by Dan Aykroyd, John Landis, and Leslie Belzerg on a massive $30 million budget that went to a spectacle that is featuring car crashes, shootouts, a large cast of extras, and some terrible CGI, this is essentially a rehash of the original and it was indented as a comeback project for its director. It delivers the most fun you could possibly have at the movies in the late 1990s with entertaining singing and dancing that is giving you the feel and magic of R&B, but you shouldn’t be expecting the greatness of the first film. It grossed a disastrous $32.1 million.

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