Reacting to THE BLUES BROTHERS (1980) | Movie Reaction

[@manueldeabreu1980]

The only sad thing about a younger generation revisiting this movie is they just don't know a lot of these amazing artists. I think this was the first Saturday Night Live based movie.

[@RetroRobotRadio]

I showed my wife movies like it's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World or Cannonball Run and she gets the same lack of reaction to all the famous people doing cameos. They mean nothing to her.

[@jimideth]

Damn it’s cuz we didn’t have choices when we were kids we had to watch the shit our parents watched. No longer

[@Anon54387]

The ONLY sad thing? I'd say more, but that risks opening a big can of worms.

[@jonc7739]

The first and IMO the best SNL movie.

[@formatique_arschloch]

Thankfully my (R.I.P.) big brother showed me this movie when I was about 9yrs old. Around 1988. Bro was 11 yrs older than me and a music and book eater. He introduced me to all this music and a lot more. Greetings from Finland.

[@robertbunting3117]

"Oh we got both kinds here, Country ANNNDD Western." that line kills me every time. So many just absolute STARS in this. whether you like the movie itself or not, the music is killer

[@mrtveye6682]

Legendary. One of those quotes - together with some from "This is Spinal Tap" - that you heard in almost every backstage room all the time back in the 80 and 90s when I was still playing gigs.

[@robertbunting3117]

@@mrtveye6682 Spinal is an amazing movie too, i used to have that soundtrack on tape

[@bwilliams463]

"Don't you say a f@ckin' word."

[@thomastimlin1724]

Me too! I'm a former public school music teacher! lol

[@reverance_pavane]

Myself and some friends ended up at a dance with a country & western band in the Outback. The band had no clue why we kept requesting "The theme from Rawhide."

[@jansenart0]

The Blues Brothers Band was assembled by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd for a skit on Saturday Night Live, which became a recurring segment. They were some of the biggest names in Blues and R&B in the 60s and 70s, but in that day musicians weren't paid anything near what they get today. Even Aretha, James, Ray, Cab, they were happy to work for scale to appear in the movie, and to a person will say that it revitalized their careers and made them accessible to generations of new fans. The movie certainly did expand my views on music. I consider The Blues Brothers life-changing.

[@LordVolkov]

Just going through the music of the band members is a fantastic musical experience, let alone all the big names who pop up like Aretha, Ray, and Cab.

[@JayPadrig]

Was not an SNL skit per say. It was more like the musical guest except it was in-character regulars already on the show.

[@backtoearth1983]

I'm 41 now, I first saw this when I was 12, Imagine a 12 year old being introduced to Minnie The Moocher. It was a revelation.

[@richwagener]

I played the album, the CD and now I stream it all the time.

[@chrisdobbs9155]

The band, while you may not recognize thier names, are at least in part responsible for much of the popular music made from the 60's to the 90's. All of them legends of studio musicians. Basically they would play on albums/ write the music for solo artists so you might know the artists they played/ wrote for, but never know about thier contributions.

[@cshubs]

The old player in the South Side was John Lee Hooker. The boy in Ray's place who tried to steal the guitar was the happy limo driver in Die Hard.

[@jek4837]

Oh cool. I didn't know that 2nd piece of trivia.

[@behindthescenesphotos5133]

Harlem's in New York.

[@cshubs]

@@behindthescenesphotos5133 You're right, of course. Brain fart on my end. Must be the South Side...

[@TylerD288]

I love Johnny Lee Hooker, especially "I'm Bad, Like Jesse James". That's a great story-song with a edgy, dark, mean guitar melody!

[@johnwest5837]

@@behindthescenesphotos5133 Were they talking about Harlem Ave in Chicago?

[@michaelnolan6951]

"The use of unnecessary violence in the apprehension of the Blues Brothers has been approved"

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

I like how he sounds like a robot.

[@crhu319]

Same cops that can't bust the Nazis.

[@crhu319]

Literally AI voice used by NYPD against protesters this week.

[@oobrocks]

The greatest musical / comedy ever released and it might never be matched ❤🎉😊. The band weren’t actors; they were famous musicians. The song by Cab Calloway Minnie the Moocher the first released in 1931. Dear Dawn your dancing was Hilarious 😅❤

[@nataliestclair6176]

Not even close

[@oobrocks]

Tell us, in your wisdom, a better one

[@nataliestclair6176]

@@oobrocks Little Shop of Horrors, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Grease, My Fair Lady, Cabaret, Chicago, The Producers, Funny Girl, just to name a few

[@oobrocks]

Half of those aren’t comedies

[@BaccarWozat]

More importantly, Minnie the Moocher was mentioned in "A Night At The Opera" which Dawn has seen.

[@theylied1776]

The clerks at the very beginning in the prison is Frank oz, the voice of Yoda. The Cook County Clerk at the end is Steven Spielberg.

[@jansenart0]

Also the voice and puppeteer of Grover!

[@TalaCruz]

and the fat mans girlfriend is Carrie. The voice of Princess Leia.

[@erolbulut2584]

The opening scene is Frank Oz, the voice of Kermit the Frog

[@theylied1776]

@@erolbulut2584 Eventually, in 1980 Jim Henson was still doing the voice of Kermit.

[@mevb]

​@erolbulut2584 Actually, Jim Henson did Kermit. Frank Oz did Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam the Eagle, Bert, Cookie Monster, Grover and Yoda (and many more).

[@paul5589]

The girl that was waiting on Elwood for a date was Twiggy. She was a famous model from the 60s/70s.

[@wmason1961]

I had a major crush on her in the 70s.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

Note how Elwood uses only the best ... Marine Epoxy.

[@Zealdave2223]

The first super model 😍

[@MarkLewis-sl5tk]

@@Zealdave2223 I'm glad somebody said it

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

​@@RideAcrossTheRiverStrong stuff.

[@leftcoaster67]

Some of the greatest blues and R&B artists in history. Cab Calloway was amazing.

[@gregbard]

Every single musician in this movie that plays or sings a note is a legend. The member of the cast who received the LEAST recognition, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, for their musical talent still was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.

[@1fuglyNDN]

Steven Spielberg did a CAMEO...! 😂

[@jansenart0]

Cab Calloway was so upset that John Landis wanted him to do the classic version of Minnie the Moocher that he phoned in the first take of it. He'd done a new version of Minnie for every dance craze and wanted to do a disco version but John was like "No, I want the classic one!" When he finished laying down the vocals, he was like "How was that!?" all grumpy. And John said that was okay. But you're Cab Calloway, and it should be great. So he laid the one down in the movie and was like "WELL YOU GOTTA TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT!" I still laugh at that story XD

[@pete_lind]

Usually they who play most on albums are not known, like that bands that tour with vocalist is not same that is in studio. Specially when we go older vocalist , music is basic easy to play , then came Jimi Hendrix and Richie Blackmore little bit harder to play .

[@Theomite]

And in the end, Calloway's career got a resurgence of sorts with a new generation of fans so Landis was right.

[@mevb]

Though it was on singing the playback, not the actual filming on the stage.

[@Theomite]

@@mevb Right, this was when they were in the studio recording. By the time they filmed, that argument had been long over.

[@williamii3108]

Like others have said, one really strong reason this movie is so beloved is that Belushi and Ackroyd were so respectful to blues legends, including the 'band' members - it was like a tribute to them. When this came out, a lot of them were at the back end of their careers, and disco, urban cowboy, etc, had become more mainstream popular. Ackroyd and Belushi had had a long-running Blues Bros skit on SNL, and Ackroyd especially was an old-school blues fan. Anyway, a lot of older fans loved the way the movie respected the older blues musicians. Now, 'why Chicago?' - Google 'The Second City' wikipedia entry - you will see so many of these guys - the casts of so many of the comedies of the era - got their start there, in Chicago - and you will see so many continued to work together in movie after movie, often in Chicago.

[@libertyresearch-iu4fy]

Two directors: John Hughes and John Landis.

[@ronbo11]

Plus, Chicago blues music popularized electric blues with artists like Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Willie Dixon. This was a direct predecessor to Rock and Roll. In the movie, John Lee Hooker was the elder bluesman sitting on the curb singing "Boom Boom", but he was actually from a few miles north and east in Detroit, Michigan.

[@matthewfike4491]

This and The Commitments are my two favorite musicals ever of all time. Thank you for reacting to this, Dawn.

[@Dej24601]

Yes!!

[@leopoldstotch3524]

God sent him … what on a fucking Suzuki 😂

[@youngThrashbarg]

Lets see it, I'll bring the jaffa cakes.

[@harveylee51]

@mathewfifke4491 Right with you there this is a favorite of mine as well ! it just makes you want to get up and dance .. and it'd be awesome if DAWN reacts to The Commitments i would love to watch a Scottish woman react to a movie about an Irish Soul Band ! I already know it'd be hilarious . (Yes i mean that in a good way ) CHEERS .

[@ChicagoDB]

“The Commitments” is an absolute MUST!

[@Crazyivan777]

Personal anecdotes: - My friend Kurt was one of the Illinois Nazis on the bridge. He was hired cos he 'looked mean', but he was the nicest guy you'd ever meet. If he was still alive today, he'd be out punching Nazis in the eye. Also, when I was in the city with a friend, we witnessed the 'big drop' of the car. When I got home and told my folks, they 100% didn't believe me until the movie came out.

[@Theomite]

I can see from the overhead they were dropping the car onto an island of some kind off the river and not anywhere near a city street. Was it something the whole city knew was gonna happen that day or did you have to catch it by luck?

[@cojones8518]

It's not every day you see a red, flying Pinto station wagon.

[@jansenart0]

2:09 That's Frank Oz, the voice and puppeteer of Grover and YODA! (AND Ms. Piggy and Fozzie and Bert....)

[@VonBlade]

And Miss Piggy. He also reprises this role in Trading Places, kinda.

[@patrickmcandrew6631]

Mmmm disgusting that used one was! lol

[@cshubs]

@@VonBlade Which is what the customer was buying at the Toys R Us in the mall!

[@dan_hitchman007]

And Miss Piggy and Fozzi Bear and Bert and...

[@LordVolkov]

Frank also cameos in Landis' American Werewolf In London.

[@kenpullig1652]

By the end of the movie there's going to be everybody chasing them, she says. Oh, my sweet girl, you have no idea!

[@RichKohli2]

The apocalyptic landscape at the begging of the movie is all the factories, refineries and steel mills that were found along the southern shore of Lake Michigan. includes some of South Chicago, Illinois, East Chicago, Hammond and Gary, Indiania.

[@Anon54387]

Too bad we produce so little steel these days. FWIW, my chemistry teacher in high school was obsessed with this movie for some reason. He often said we're on a mission from God and occasionally some other lines from this movie.

[@libertyresearch-iu4fy]

... and Joliet, Illinois. Where it was filmed.

[@pardwayne]

Dirty industry. You know times are good when you drive on the Indiana tollway and you can't see a mile ahead of you with all that shit in the air.

[@christopherconard2831]

​@@pardwayne I remember, as a kid, going to visit friends of our family in Indiana. We lived in Waukegan, and the entire way until we were past Gary the sky would be brown/orange. That was in the 70's and considered normal. Eventually winds would shift and blow everything across lake Michigan and then it was their problem.

[@johnwest5837]

@@christopherconard2831 Is the Skyway still in use?

[@reverendB]

This movie is loaded with musicians. Curtis at the beginning was Cab Calloway, the preacher was James Brown, Chaka Khan was also in the church scene, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin... The mall they drove through was the Dixie Square mall in Harvey,IL. It was finally demolished in 2012. The site of the gas station that blew up is 5 miles from where I live in West Chicago, IL.

[@stevedavis5704]

Don’t forget when James Brown was preaching he was and is an ordained minister.

[@dareal5401]

​@@stevedavis5704 john lee hooker

[@DrTrin]

The opening sequence of the industrial land was what most industrial cities in the U.S. looked like in what is now called the Rust Belt. It was before the EPA (formed by pres Nixon), before the 70's oil crisis, before the early 80's collapse, before 1988/92 Free Trade with Mexico, and before it all went to China. The mall was an actual mall, one of the earliest ones that went bankrupt as the economy began to collapse in the late 70's.

[@RobertHaglund-h8d]

Joliet has several oil refineries - the opening sequence was establishing the location as Joliet.

[@ronbo11]

@@RobertHaglund-h8d Then you go right across the state line to Indiana and you hit the industrialized heaps of Hammond and Gary (the last big steel producer left in the US). Definitely the Rust Belt!

[@thomastimlin1724]

The guy taking the tax payment at the end is actually Steven Spielberg famous director and producer. Ackroyd and Belushi appeared in a previous movie for Spielberg called "1941." So I guess he repaid the favor by appearing in the Blues Brothers for the gag in the tax office...in the theater we all cracked up when we saw him. It was totally unexpected.

[@exile220ify]

This movie set the world record for most cars destroyed in a single film. It held that record until 1998, when it was exceeded - by ONE car - by its sequel, "Blues Brothers 2000"

[@cojones8518]

They broke my watch!

[@DavidSnow-s2r]

This movie is a great movie and also held the record for most cars damaged in a movie for 30 years. Yes they were doing over 100 mph in downtown Chicago on a Sunday because there would be less traffic. Them driving through the mall was real at the time of filming the mall was set to be demolished. One of my favorite movies.

[@mikeh8416]

Sunday, and EARLY. I watched a rehearsal of one of the chases at 6:30 am. I didn't learn what it was until I SAW the movie. At the time it happened, I couldn't figure out why so many cars were chasing an old Black & White. It had to be a rehearsal because there wasn't a camera in sight.

[@Calamity_Jack]

They bought 60 surplus cop cars for only $400 each. They wrecked 104 vehicles, including 60 cop cars! Actually, while the mall was abandoned, its owners supposedly hoped (probably futilely) to re-open it at some future point. They rented it out to Landis for the movie, but the production left much of the interior destroyed. As a result they were sued. The mall continued to deteriorate and after several abortive attempts to demolish it, it was only finally completely razed in 2012!

[@mikeh8416]

@@Calamity_Jack The inside of that mall was ALREADY destroyed (Roof Collapses, An "Anchor Store" already demolished, SEVERAL arson fires, etc). They *_REBUILT_* the indoor sections they used in the film. The money paid to the Mall Investors was actually to recoup some of the losses incurred from several mis-guided attempts to reconstruct the mall. The investors had been DESPERATELY trying to sell it for YEARS. Crime was the cause of it's decline, murders, gang activity, and arson (several cases), became pretty common there. We'd quit shopping there in the EARLY 1970's.

[@Calamity_Jack]

@@mikeh8416 Huh. Well, I guess Wikipedia, Daily Mail, Chicago Sun-Times, Jalopnik, etc. all got it wrong, then.

[@mikeh8416]

@@Calamity_Jack I *_LIVED THERE._* We started going to this mall as soon as it opened, and WATCHED not only IT, but the area fall apart.

[@iambecomepaul]

“Did ya get me my Cheez Whiz, boy?”

[@reservoirdude92]

Such a random moment lol

[@waylandblack]

That's Shotgun Britton, an actor, makeup artist and a hollywood legend 😎

[@iambecomepaul]

@@waylandblack very cool detail!

[@flnthrn2]

@@iambecomepaul It's in the credits !! The Cheese Whiz................. Shotgun Brittion

[@iambecomepaul]

@@flnthrn2 😁

[@jansenart0]

Oh HELL yes! This is my favorite musical of all time!

[@philmakris8507]

"Orange whip? Orange whip, Orange whip?"

[@philmakris8507]

Former police cars are some of the best deals in used cars. They come from the factory with loads of heavy duty parts And because they are somebody's office they are really well maintained for health and safety reasons. Once they reach a certain numbers of miles of usage they are put up for public auction. 🚔

[@firstenforemost]

A movie with lots of music and characters performing music DOES NOT MAKE a movie a musical.

[@Hexon66]

@@ModMyMind I took it more that the enjoyment comes from the music, rather than the comedy. Which I'd agree with wholeheartedly. But, correct enough, it's not a musical.

[@johnwest5837]

@@philmakris8507 Yeah a lot of people don't realize that, same with Postal jeeps.

[@waylandblack]

You may not have known the musicians by name but many of them were part of the Stax Records house band; so when you hear recordings by Otis Redding, Booker T. and the MGs, Isaac Hayes, The Bar-Kays and many other artists recording during the 60s and 70s, you could say it was the Blues Brothers band (minus Jake and Elwood) who wrote and played the music. They are absolute Legends. They also put out albums and did performances with John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd before and after the Blues Brothers movies. This movie and all the people involved is an incredible monument to blues and soul music and it was a lot of fun watching you discover and enjoy it. 😎 Thanks Dawn!

[@frankrossi6972]

Actually, until Mayor Daley (Sr.) died in the late ‘70s, few films were made in Chicago because Daley charged studios a fortune to film there. The new administration launched an effort to lure films to the Windy City, including tax breaks and other goodies, which led to a string of Chicago-based classics, starting in the late ‘70s, including “The Fury,” Thief,” “Blues Brothers,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” and most of John Hughes’ ‘80s movies.

[@nugel-firra1547]

Thank you Mayor Jane Byrne!

[@kathyastrom1315]

And my personal favorite teen film, My Bodyguard, with debut or nearly debut performances from Matt Dillon, Joan Cusack, and Adam Baldwin, alongside seasoned actors like Ruth Gordon and John Gielgud.

[@frankrossi6972]

another good one. They actually showed that in sixth grade at my Catholic School in Calumet City (penguin-free) around the same time BB came out---uncut too, so I always wondered whether they knew about the foul language beforehand.

[@jansenart0]

24:13 Stephen Spielberg's first and only on-screen performance (not featured)!

[@reverendB]

Not entirely. He was in the background in the airport scene in the beginning of Temple of Doom.

[@gavinsheridan4680]

He actually played the sled in cool runnings.

[@GreenOnion333]

He is in Austin Powers 3

[@zvimur]

​@@GreenOnion333 as himself!!

[@behindthescenesphotos5133]

He goes by on a golf cart in Gremlins when the father's at the convention.

[@richardhotz2803]

Elwood is doing a "Chicago accent". That accent was used on "Saturday Night Live" television show for the skit this movie was based upon and other skits that referred to Chicago like "Da Bears" (The Chicago pro football team.) The Chicago connection to SNL is that the many of the players in that show were from the Chicago based Second City improvisational comedy troupe.

[@ChicagoDB]

South Side

[@thomastimlin1724]

The blonde lady Elwood tried to pick up at the gas station is British teen Model from the 1960's, Twiggy" who is about 30 years old here.

[@petergeyer7584]

Born and raised in Chicago in the 70s. As a kid, we talked about the filming going on around the city, and how excited we were to have a movie about “us” coming out. When The Blues Brothers was released, everyone in Chicago felt like this film was part of our shared soul. Every scene and every location was a familiar landmark of some sort - from Joliet Prison at the beginning to Daley Plaza at the end. We felt like the soundtrack for this film was the soundtrack to our lives.

[@Jeff_Lichtman]

It's legal in the U.S. to drive an old police car as long as everything that identifies it as a police car has been removed. So no lights on top, no department name or logo on the side, no siren. . . I see people driving them every so often. I wouldn't want to own one, though, because they're usually pretty worn out by the time the police get rid of them. There are so many great musicians and singers in this movie: Cab Calloway, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and John Lee Hooker all had featured performances. Session musicians and side performers include Chaka Khan, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Walter Horton, and Pinetop Perkins. Steve Lawrence was also a musical performer, but he didn't sing in the film. The mall they destroyed was real. They rented the Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Illinois. It had been closed for over a year, and there were rumors that the place was going to be refurbished and reopened after the filming. The producers assumed, since the mall was closed, that it was OK if they wrecked the place. The owners of the property sued Universal for failing to return the mall in its original condition. The case went on for years, and the mall was eventually demolished in 2012. 104 cars were wrecked in the making of this movie.

[@anonygent]

I see old cop cars in this area all the time. They are sold at auction and often sell quite cheaply.

[@awm7353]

My cousin's son bought a used police car at an auction, bought a lightbar and fixed up the car. He then began to pull women over and extorted money and information out of them. He kept files of all of these women. He had a profile picture of him standing outside the car, wearing a uniform and holding a shotgun. I don't know if they ever caught him, but it makes you wonder how often this stuff happens, especially in backwoods, southern states.

[@MrHws5mp]

Pretty much the same rules here in the UK for ex-police vehicles: as long as it doesn't actually says "Police" on it, it's legal. I had an ex-police BMW R80RT motorbike for a while, but mine had been painted grey with a four-inch brush by the previous owner. I did hear of a despatch rider in London who bought one and kept it in the ortiginal white with dayglo orange stripes. Funnily enough, cars tended to get out of his way... Eventually, the police arrested him and charged him with impersonating a police officer, but the case was thrown out when it came to court.

[@Sarah_Gravydog316]

@@awm7353 you should have turned him in & got a reward!

[@odgjr]

The song "Rawhide" that they sang in the country bar was the theme song from an old western TV show that Clint Eastwood was in.

[@carriemilito2851]

The waiter in the fancy restaurant is Paul Reubens, who played Pee Wee Herman. I also remember he had a part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

[@VonBlade]

What a quality set of patreons you have. Anyone who picks this, knows their stuff. I can tell you're a young lass. Anyone who doesn't immediately recognise James Brown. Man I feel old lol.

[@davewhitmore1958]

She's educating herself quickly (and we love her for it!)

[@b54b32]

The characters all expertly played in their over the top style, the musical performances all done by the legendary icons themselves, and the stunt work in both of the absurd car chases through the (in real life), soon to be demolished anyway shopping mall, and through the streets of Chicago, was meticulously choreographed and filmed by experts, and it was REAL, before the early days of "CGI", which made a mockery out of trying to portray "realism" to both theatrical and home audiences on the cheap. 44 years old, and it's still incredibly entertaining!!!

[@jamiemacdonald436]

Beer at a bar in 1980 was around $1.50 give or take. That would have had about 200 beers to run that tab up. 😂

[@bobsylvester88]

Beer was so inexpensive then. You could buy a six pack of Budweiser in bottles for $3.

[@JohnH.Sturgis]

This makes me think, Dawn Marie would absolutely LOVE Animal House!

[@kingbeauregard]

You'd like the TV show "Rawhide". It stars Clint Eastwood at his youngest and most charmingest. He even sings the "Rawhide" end credits song in one episode and he's got great pipes.

[@chefskiss6179]

Couple years later (1982) Clint directed and starred in Honkytonk Man. Did his own guitar picking and singing heading to the Grand Ole Opry.

[@Caseytify]

It's always weird to hear Clint sing. 😏

[@nigeldepledge3790]

This movie still contains one of the biggest car chases (if not *the* biggest) in the history of cinema. The Chicago PD were in the process of replacing their entire fleet of police cruisers. The cars that they no longer wanted ended up in this movie.

[@yournamehere6002]

I wonder what Dawn would think of ANIMAL HOUSE. She doesn't seem phased by un-PC stuff, so maybe she'd appreciate what it was going for.

[@gibbletronic5139]

"Animal House" and "1941" for more not-politically-correct John Belushi.

[@Travelinmatt1976]

I feel like anybody reacting to this movie should have somebody with them that can explain who everybody is.

[@jerrypeacock2234]

I saw this movie in the theater when I was a teenager, that's over 40 years ago Christ I'm old thank you for reviewing one of my all-time favorite movies. The opening scene was shot in Gary Indiana , Gary isn't the end of the world but you can see it from there

[@carlwilkerson9722]

And I could smell Gary from my apartment on 53rd Street, and it smelled like the end of the world had been dead for two weeks.

[@davemcbroom695]

Orange whip? Orange whip? Three orange whips.😆

[@melenatorr]

"We're in a truck." Only John Candy can make you crack up with a line like that.

[@jek4837]

I used to have an Orange Whip tshirt. I also had an Abe Froman, Sausage King of Chicago shirt.

[@melenatorr]

@@jek4837 I'd love to have an Orange Whip tshirt1

[@bullpup33]

When it came out it was famous for being one of the most expensive movies made and they didn't create anything. Even the mall they drove into was a real mall that was closing.

[@nahkohese555]

Most of this movie was filmed in and around Chicago - Except for the big concert . They filmed that in LA specifically so it wouldn't be associated with the movie. They wanted to keep it a secret, so they told the Audience that it was for a special episode of Saturday Night Live (which was odd, since that was usually filmed in Ney York - but the tickets were free, so no one asked too many questions)

[@Ekkis25]

Back in the 80's i went to many bars with chicken wire. After about 2 am people were not necessarily throwing things at the band, but things would get pretty rowdy and if you wanted the band to return you protected them and their equipment. Bar fights were pretty common, and these bars would usually not be in town, so police were not coming by

[@ink-cow]

You can buy old police cars and other emergency vehicles at auctions. There's an old black and white that cruises my neighborhood, I think as long as the official seals and markings are taken off it's OK. Ghostbusters came out later, but there is a connection. Bill Murray's Venkman was originally intended for the late Belushi, who unfortunately died young of an overdose. Belushi lived large, and that was really him tumbling through the church, and not a double. The green slimer ghost Ray finds in the hotel hallway was supposedly a tribute to the late Belushi. At least it was intended to be, but I think the puppet/model-maker was a bit rushed. The way it chowed down was at least reminiscent of Belushi's antics in Animal House.

[@LordVolkov]

The Bluesmobile is one of the more underrated cinematic supercars. It can do anything in its mission from god to deliver the brothers, and then immediately falls to pieces when they arrive. It's evokative of Greek mythology, which has horses that can run forever but 😵 when they reach their destination. The car also keeps them from getting arrested too soon by running out of gas so they show up late to the concert 😉

[@kevinjekyll1521]

Now that was a refreshing comment, that movies are meant to entertain, and this movie does it is such comedic way, everything was over the top.

[@marck717]

Hi Dawn Marie, Thanks for another great movie reaction. The mall scene was in a real mall called the Dixie Mall in Harvey Illinois. The mall had been closed down for renovations at the time of the filming of this movie, however the production company was supposed to pay for all the repairs, but they refused. So the mall sat abandoned until it was finally demolished in 2012.

[@MuttonfudgeRacing]

Blues Brothers used to come on TBS all the time when I was a kid.

[@johnscott4196]

That girl Elwood met at the gas station was a famous supermodel named Twiggy.

[@CMB21497]

That woman that was "waiting" was a British super model known as Twiggy. Cab Callaway was the singer of "Minny the Moocher". There were more famous people in it than you realize. They were just well known in the 1970s.

[@jansenart0]

22:17 John Landis cut to the speedometer because they were literally going THAT FAST through Chicago. He was very proud of this chase scene, which Red Letter Media pointed out a few days ago, was apparently lifted shot-for-shot from a movie called Mr. No Legs.

[@carlwilkerson9722]

Cinema Snob did an episode around "Mr. No-Legs." He's pretty deferential about the film 30% of the time.

[@JHN12x12]

driving under the el is reminiscent of the chase scene in the French Connection (which iirc was filmed WITHOUT permits or street closures! - but not at 100+ mph)

[@carlwilkerson9722]

@@JHN12x12 Likewise, the Lower Wacker Drive scene inspires a similar scene in "The Dark Knight." It's rare for "Gotham City" not to be understood to be New York in a Batman film, but it was solid gold when they took it to designate Chicago.

[@Calamity_Jack]

It's astounding that they actually got permission to drive that fast under the el! One false move could've taken down part of the track! The city really bent over backwards for them, closing down major parts of the downtown core for filming.

[@jansenart0]

@@Calamity_Jack Wasn't "The City" per se, it was, at the time, the people who "owned" the city.

[@jayman58016]

The mall they drove through had actually closed weeks before production started and the film makers redid the whole place with their own store fronts for that scene

[@exile220ify]

Blue Lou was originally pissed off that they shot him (in the Soul Food Cafe) in such a way that you couldn't see his head. John Landis insisted it played better comedically this way. Once the film came out and was a huge smash, Blue Lou reluctantly changed his mind and acknowledged John Landis got it right :)

[@biguy617]

Many of the singers in this movie were legends of their craft. They are some of the best Blues singers.

[@DNulrammah]

"SEE YOU NEXT WEDNESDAY" is a running gag in movies directed by John Landis. It's a homage to director Stanley Kubrick (2001 : A Space Odyssey). If you go back, and freeze the movie, you will see thst the movie 'SEE YOU NEXT WEDNESDAY" was directed by "Carl LaFong". Landis played "Trooper La Fong" (They broke my watch!) in the Mall chase scene.

[@alanmackie6180]

It was a porno film in An American Werewolf In London. I thought it was just the sequel to See You Next Tuesday, which is a euphemism for a lady garden.😋

[@briangoss8062]

This is pretty much considered the best modern musical movie ever. EVERY single person in this movie who plays an instrument or sings was a REAL LIFE music legend in rhythm and blues and rock all the way to the 30's-70's. They were all real musicians and performers of top tier ability and status! Yes, it was ALL real cars and this movie holds the record for the most used and destroyed cars and biggest car chase ever filmed. I think they destroyed something like 200 cars in the movie.

[@alancrofoot]

I knew you were going to like this one. The scene where they appear to completely destroy a shopping mall was filmed in a mall that had shut down a year earlier, an abandoned derelict structure. They say the studio spent a ton money on items to stock the 30 storefronts that they built up for the sole purpose of being demolished by the Bluesmobile. It was a nasty moldy building then, and as of the middle of 2020 was actually still standing! The 'Toys-R-Us' they showed wasn't even in the mall when it closed. When it was all said and done, the film had the highest number of cars ever destroyed on set, a record 104 cars were damaged during filming, a lot of them total loses.

[@brianvernon249]

The entire diner sequence cracks me up. The way the Blues Bros. join in the dancing for a bit, then sit back down. And Lou Marini’s head being purposely left out of frame.

[@cbobwhite5768]

Their friend, Curtis the old black guy, was Cab Calloway, a jazz singer and band leader, from the 30's and 40's.

[@jonboy700]

You said "if a church was like that I'd go all the time". My first church was just like that - I don't remember trampolines but it was the most exciting thing I had ever seen, and I'm still going.

[@ZeroOskul]

11:04 John Lee Hooker - Boom, Boom, Boom

[@larryk731]

This is the best plotless live action cartoon movie ever made. The irony is the fact that the light was actually yellow

[@cshubs]

This is one of the first two R-rated movies I saw, in a double feature at a drive-in when I was about 13 in 1982. The other feature was Animal House!!!

[@allenruss2976]

That was a hell of a double feature... "thank you god!"

[@delscoville]

The band (the people you said you don't know) were actually studio musicians that you can find credited in various albums in the 70s. So real musicians. The director specifically insisted on dancers that weren't professional, so mostly people off the street. The only time they used real dancers was at the church near the beginning of the film. The mall scene was an actual mall that was just closed. They made a deal with the stores to have stuff stocked, and they would pays for everything that was damaged. But the biggist problem were stuff being stolen. The hired a security service to guard the mall, but the security guards were stealing things too.

[@bugvswindshield]

" needs a new lighter" LMAO... after he threw the car lighter out the window before the car jump. I've seen this movie oh....maybe 100 times. Back in college days we played it 3 times a week minimum. 😃😃

[@AllegedlyElPresidente.]

*over 103 cars were destroyed in the movie Blues Brothers*

[@wyldhowl2821]

I'd love to see the talley between this and Mad Max. I mean this is a comedy, not an action film. 🤪

[@SRG558]

I was 21 when Saturday Night Live debuted in 1975, and I immediately fell in love with the cast, which included Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin, John Belushi, and Laraine Newman, some of the funniest people to have ever graced a comedy stage. RIP Gilda! I'll tell you right now Dawn, you're denying yourself an amazing and unforgettable experience for not ever having listened to blues music! PS: Just after the mall scene, when they're targeted with a rocket launcher, the theme from the TV detective series from 1958, Peter Gunn, starts, one of the best theme songs ever written! My last name is Gunn (Clan Gunn Rules!!!). All during elementary school, kids asked me if I was related to Peter Gunn. I told them he was my Dad! lol

[@dumy187]

An orange whip is an Orange Julius with alcohol. They're delightful.

[@jansenart0]

4:25 "...I heard a disturbing sound! What I heard was the jingle-jangle of a THOUSAND lost souls. I'm talkin about souls of mortal men and women departed from this life! Those lost angel souls romin' unseen over the Earth, seekin' divine light! They'll not find! Because it's too late! TOOO LATE, YEAH! Too late for them to ever see again, the light they once chose not to follow! Don't be lost in when the time comes because the day of the lord cometh, as a THIEF in the NIGHT! AAAAAAMEEN!" I remember that by heart.

[@KingOfGamesss]

Nice memory...but you know the sermon was actually incorrect about it being "Too late". IT IS NEVER TOO LATE!

[@jansenart0]

@@KingOfGamesss Yes it was. They were dead. Lost souls over the surface of the earth.

[@KingOfGamesss]

@@jansenart0 Oh yeah...you're right LOL

[@bradsouthers7476]

I saw Blue Lou just a year or so ago, blowing horns for James Taylor when he came to town for a concert. Not as much hair and now snowy white, but still just amazing on the horns.

[@Joseph-r6x6o]

I always loved their song rubber biscuit

[@fmellish71]

Original version by the Chips in 1956, but yeah the Blues Brothers did a great cover of it

[@thomastimlin1724]

Dawn...Many of these music stars in the movie and others will go right over your head. The guy checking Jake out of prison is Frank Oz, famous puppeteer and voice artist of the Muppets....Miss Piggy and many others...Kathleen Freeman, playing the nun, was one of the great character actresses of the movies and TV. Anything she did in comedy she was hysterical. Cab Calloway, withe sun glasses and the hat. very famous musician/movie star from the 1930's, 40's, later sang Minnie the Moocher in a white tux. The younger set in the theater audience loved him, they cheered for him. It was like "Grampa's gettin' down and funky!" The lady with the weapons is the late Carrie Fisher, Princess Leia in the first Star Wars movies...she was the daughter of Debbie Reynolds who was the girl in Singing in the Rain from 1952. The Nazi leader is played by comedian Henry Gibson, who became famous in the late 1960's as cast member of a popular comedy show "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In"...he was really a nice guy and had many funny movie supporting roles...the street musician is famous blues star John Lee Hooker....Restaurant Owner the famous Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, I have so much "respect" for her....one of the greatest singers of my time...James Brown as the preacher, the Godfather of Soul...Matt "Guitar" Murphy, one of the greats in solo guitar in rhythm and blues. The promoter guy in the steam bath is singer/crooner Steve Lawrence, who just passed away!! It would have been funnier if they had gotten Sinatra himself!!

[@jansenart0]

Dawn, if you want more Blues Brothers, they actually toured with the band and put out several albums that you can get on streaming to this day! They also did a number of skits on Saturday Night live, including the first one where they were in bee costumes. Their most famous one is "Soul Man".

[@Anon54387]

A rubber biscuit?

[@richardadams4928]

"Briefcase Full of Blues" is a MASTERPIECE, me and my stepmother LOVED that album. I definitely knew these guys from SNL already before the movie came out.

[@marcusfridh8489]

There is a sequel too called Blues Brothers 2000

[@rubroken]

Every once in a while, all you reactors come upon a hidden gem. This is one of them!

[@tommc4916]

The opening scene was snipped for release in theaters. The original sequence tightens up from the smokestacks to a power plant, to a substation and then to lightning seemingly flowing INTO the glowing Bluesmobile from the substation. The Bluesmobile was supposed to somehow be endowed with 'Blues Magic,' which is what allowed it to do all the amazing stunts it did. It finally gave out and fell apart when Jake and Elwood reached their destination.

[@cptflapjacks8526]

My most loved movie ever!

[@ethelwulfmountbattenderoth2286]

The Blues Brother's band is a who's who of 5 star Blues and Soul musicians. They have played on thousands of recordings.

[@KingOfGamesss]

4:20 The sound was the Jingle-Jangle of lost Souls

[@janna2245]

I know two men in my neighborhood who drive an old, decommissioned cop car. I introduced myself to them by saying, "It's that sh!tbox Dodge!"

[@christophero1969]

I enjoyed your reaction very much!

[@3DJapan]

They auspicious continued as a real band even after Jim Belushi died. They still perform today.

[@kevinsizemore2053]

John Belushi, his brother Jim Belushi is still alive

[@lloydrasmussen554]

Fun fact, Carrie Fisher filmed The Blues Brothers before she filmed Star Wars, but Star Wars was released first, so she was very famous when the Blues Brothers movie came out.

[@fmellish71]

It was filmed in the summer of '79, two years after A New Hope was released and she had already done her filming for Empire Strikes Back between March-July

[@PeteSmoot]

Boys like the music, the deadpan humor, Carrie Fisher and her weapons, all the other cameos, _and_ the car chases.

[@Muck006]

It is always disappointing when "a kid" recognises none of the LEGENDS in this movie.

[@exile220ify]

Until he passed away, Matt "Guitar" Murphy (who played Aretha Franklin's boyfriend) used to tour extensively as a solo act. I got to see him three times here in Calgary and the man was an INCREDIBLE talent. RIP

[@LukeWarm05]

The greatest movie ever made!!!! Anyone who told you not to pick this film has absolutely no taste and deserves to be ignored. Scratch that...they deserve to be imprisoned like Jake at the beginning! Steve Cropper, Donald Dunn, and Willie Hall are all Memphis musicians and former members of Booker T & the MGs. They were also core members of the Stax Records studio band...those dudes played on TONS of great songs! And since you mentioned Kings of Leon...I was the assistant engineer on their first record.

[@TSIRKLAND]

"The Blues Brothers" (1980) and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986) are the two greatest filmic love letters to the City of Chicago. The City itself is a major character in both films. There have been other films set in Chicago, but I don't think any since then has truly embraced The City itself as a central character to the extent that these two did. It would be interesting to see a film made today that was as much of a love letter to the Chicago of the 2020s.

[@floorticket]

Started as an SNL musical/sketch in 1978. They were/are a real band, and played ~ 40 shows between 1978-1980. They famously opened for the Grateful Dead on New Year's Eve 12-31-78 at Winterland in San Francisco. John Belushi and Jerry Garcia became friends when the dead first performed on Saturday Night Live on 11-11-78. Check out "Soul Man" from SNL

[@janna2245]

Btw: the clerk checking Jake out of prison is Miss Piggy and Yoda. The clerk at the tax office is Steven Spielberg

[@ronaldsmith2965]

The amount star cameos is amazing. Joe Walsh at the end. Chaka Kahn, etc.

[@chuckhouse5179]

This movie is incredible. It is my favorite movie of all time. It's my bestfriends favorite movie of all time and it was my fathers favorite movie of all time. It's magic.

[@ZeroOskul]

19:27 The Blues Brothers Everybody Needs Somebody to Love

[@thomasgrimm1664]

"Curl up and Dye" is hands down the best hair dresser name in history.

[@scipio7837]

The raw, legendary talent that starred in this film... all of them.

[@jollyrodgers7272]

Old Curtis is Cab Calloway. During the filming they actually destroyed the defunct Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, IL , a south Chicago suburb. Donald "Duck" Dunn and Steve Cropper were the string half of Booker T. & The MGs. So many real life Blues and Soul musicians that you'll need to read the credits.

[@surfdigby]

"It was just over a red light ticket" - Well, that and demolishing an entire shopping mall.

[@Sebuin]

The tie in with Trading places as Frank Oz/Miss Piggy of the Muppets as the guy with the inventory in jail is a lovely knot for this director/writer.