🕶 ... The Blues Brothers (1980) FIRST TIME WATCHING!! | MOVIE REACTION & COMMENTARY!!

[@frankmiranda9162]

Cab Callaway, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Matt 'guitar'Murphy, Blue Lou on the Sax,..... The list.goes.on and on

[@thunderstruck5484]

“you get my cheese whiz boy” I use that line at least 5 times a year , most don’t get it but I always laugh to myself, thanks!

[@latenightswithsammy]

Not sure if I got it entirely 😅

[@kathyastrom1315]

I have several connections to this film. I grew up in Joliet. My second college roommate’s dad was a Mt. Prospect policeman whose old car had been one of the Bluesmobiles. My college drama professor Fr. Gerald Walling was the shorter of the two guards escorting Jake across the prison in Joliet (his name is directly above John Belushi’s in the end credits). It was released the summer before I stsrted high school at a Catholic school in Joliet. Our Homecoming theme was “We’re on a mission from God;” and we had a Dress Like a Blues Brother Day that week. So, yeah, just about everyone not just in my school but in my entire city saw that film!

[@latenightswithsammy]

WHAT!?! Wow, what a brilliant set of connections! Thank you so much for sharing this Kathy 😆

[@BigGator5]

"It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses." "Hit it." Fun Fact: The line "They broke my watch!" occurs three times in the film, each time spoken or voiced over by a policeman on the losing end of a car chase with the Blues Brothers. Music Enthusiast Fact: Some performers were not used to lip-syncing to pre-recorded songs, standard procedure for movie musicals. James Brown ended up singing his number live with a recorded backing (the rest of his choir was lip-syncing). John Lee Hooker's performance of "Boom Boom" was recorded live at Chicago's Maxwell Street Market. Aretha Franklin's performance is cut together from many, many takes, using the parts where her lip-syncing was actually in sync. Automobile Enthusiast Fact: The Bluesmobile is a 1974 Dodge Monaco. The vehicles used in the film were used police cars purchased from the California Highway Patrol, and featured the "cop tires, cop suspension, and cop motor, a 440-cubic-inch plant" mentioned by Elwood in the film. A total of twelve Bluesmobiles were used in the movie, including one that was built just so it could fall apart. Several replicas have been built by collectors, but one original is known to exist, and is owned by the brother-in-law of Dan Aykroyd. Dodge Monacos from 1974-77, including the upscale Royal Monaco, especially those which came with the A38 police option, are now considered collector's items. They have been used as replica Chicago P.D. and Illinois State Police cars, including Bluesmobile tribute cars. This has led to the scarcity of this generation of Mopar C-bodies, leading some replica squad cars and Bluesmobiles to use the Plymouth Gran Fury or Chrysler Newport instead. Universal Studios Hollywood has a replica Bluesmobile on the lot; it's a 1974 Dodge Coronet, since the Monaco has became so rare. A world record 103 cars were wrecked during filming. The Junkman (1982) broke the record 2 years later, wrecking 150 cars and a plane. That record held for 2 decades, until over 300 cars were wrecked during the filming of The Matrix Reloaded (2003).

[@latenightswithsammy]

Wow, the Bluesmobile is truly extraordinary! It easily ranks as one of my top "movie cars" 😆

[@BigGator5]

Indeed. Go in Peace and Walk with God. 😎 👍

[@robertparker6280]

One of the best little cameo is the kid trying to steal the guitar. Ends up being a limo driver for John McLane.

[@Raven5150]

I will never think a blind man shooting a gun at a kid then going into a musical number isn't the greatest thing ever

[@stamps77]

Ray obviously knew what he was doing...his sense of hearing was stronger to make up for his lack of sight...and it's a freakin' fictional movie. Reality ceases to exist on the screen. The Bluesmobile was a magic car doing things that couldn't happen in real life either.

[@thunderstruck5484]

John Landis was on some kind of roll back then , so many great movies

[@latenightswithsammy]

YES!

[@amurmurmur609]

I had the wonderful experience of working for a concert promoter in my teenage years. I saw many of the great touring acts from several generations and many genres. John Lee Hooker outplayed and outperformed (almost) all of them while sitting down. He is an all time Top 5 live performance experience for me.

[@latenightswithsammy]

That's wonderful! What an experience, thank you for sharing this!! :)

[@stamps77]

Yes, the 95th Street Bridge jump was real. My family was from this part of Chicago and my dad's best friend was there all day in 1979 watching them make the jump multiple times.

[@TTM9691]

5:57 Duuuude....when your eyes lit up when you saw James Brown.....your level of engagement and investment in this movie went WAY up!! 😄It's still good no matter what, but when a reactor knows the musicians, or some of them at least, it makes it so much more special. So yeah, baby....James Brown!!!!!! Such a fun reaction! You made me look at the actual cinematography than I usually do with this movie! Tragic that John Belushi od'd one year later after this. What a waste, huh? He was THE big star from the first cast of SNL (although so was others like Akryoyd, Chevy Chase, etc). The wacky SNL-cast member movie that pretty much endures to this day pretty much starts with John Belushi. What might have been, that's all one can wonder. He was going to be the Bill Murray part in "Ghostbusters"! PS:: Yeah, "American Werewolf" was John Landis' next movie; he was able to do that after the success of "Blues Brothers"! You may remember the big car crashes and carnage at the end of that movie. Very "Blues Brothers!" He did a whole string of big comedies during the 80s, often with Eddie Murphy.

[@latenightswithsammy]

HAHA True! It is SUPER fun, and I very glad to see read everyone's personal experience with the film. This ironically is my first exposure to John Belushi ... And from what I hear of the "Golden" years of SNL, it seems I have a lot of catching up to do 😅

[@gggooding]

You're very right, Sammy! The scene with the penguin *is* homage to Psycho. Also the opening of Jake getting out of jail is homage to A Clockwork Orange!

[@latenightswithsammy]

Nice! Ahh, didn't catch the Clockwork reference, I thought it was Sci-Fi related 😅 Thanks for sharing this!

[@maximesteinebrunner9941]

One of the best Blues Bands of all time starring the comical Genius John Belushi and movie director genius Dan Akroyd. Simply brilliant

[@latenightswithsammy]

Totally agree Maxime!

[@DaineseBikerAZ]

Fun Fact: One of the original blues mobiles is here in Germany, directly bought from Universal Studios. It's painted as the blues mobile in black and white but if you get closer you see the blue color cause it was at first used as "real" police car in the movie

[@latenightswithsammy]

No way! Great fact, and amazing that there is one of the originals in Germany! Thanks for sharing 😊

[@stamps77]

None of the Bluesmobiles from the movie survived.

[@DaineseBikerAZ]

That's your opinion, not a fact. The fact is that there were a lot of Bluesmobiles used for filming and not all of them were destroyed. The undamaged ones were sold after filming when the film became a huge success @@stamps77

[@SciFiCatGuy]

Good eye, that was John Landis as the cop. The mall was abandoned. They restocked all the stores to film. The town where the mall was tried to sue Landis and the production company for all the damage, but lost the case because it was already slated for demolition.

[@jacqueplett1800]

The"thing" about this movie is all the celebrities that have walk-ons. The first one I recognized is Frank Oz, the muppeteer, who was the guard giving Jake his belongings back. Be sure to watch the ending credits, as they will all be named. And one of the last is the city clerk who is played by Stephen Spielberg.

[@TTM9691]

I wouldn't say that's "the" thing about this movie. It's "a" thing. "The" thing about this movie is all the legendary MUSICIANS who do small parts and cameos throughout the movie, musicians you just didn't see onscreen that often (or ever). THAT'S "the" thing about this movie. No one ever went "oh my god, look, there's Frank Oz" the way we said "Holy f**k, that's John Lee Hooker!!!!" You didn't see that in 1981. In fact, you didn't see that EVER.

[@TheDivayenta]

This movie is a living homage to Chicago and the great R&B, Soul and Blues artists of our time with their real names! Blue Lou Marini plays sax on SNL. Lots of Stax musicians - every single person in the band is hardcore legit! Not to mention the great Cab Calloway who my dad saw in Harlem in the 30’s!!

[@jeffreywillis4258]

If you look at the sax section in all the Kennedy Award shows, you will see Blue Lou still doing his thing. No more long hair but still sports the bushy mustache. They like to use the same band members because security clearance is hard to get. Once you've passed, they like to reuse you. Plus, I'd imagine finding musicians, of all people, that can pass that background check might be difficult. I know I couldn't pass it.

[@TheDivayenta]

@@jeffreywillis4258 you’re right. So maybe it’s the Tower of Power sax player- Lenny- on SNL?

[@jeffreywillis4258]

@@TheDivayenta No Blue Lou Marini is not Lenny Pickett. This is what he looks like now: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p5bWiZV6oNGVbpo&start_radio=1

[@tvgator1]

So right! Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, played on so many Stax records...Matt Murphy....all stars.

[@andyleclerc3600]

Fun fact about the mall chase (which alone makes this movie worth seeing)....The mall was scheduled to be demolished, so they got the okay to "help" demolish it.

[@laurenherda2415]

Love this movie its so fun and entertaining. Great music, great actors, great comedy, snl back then was the best too.

[@latenightswithsammy]

Totally agree with you Lauren!

[@mkozlinski]

I prefer theatrical cut over the director's. All those missing scenes and takes weren't much important for a story and only slow the pacing down.

[@latenightswithsammy]

I watched the 148-minute cut, not even sure what was kept for this cut 😅 or removed for the theatrical

[@thundernels]

In the original, the opening is much shorter. So, you get silence, silence, blast of music. In the extended version, it’s silence, silence, silence, silence, silence, silence, blast of music. The extended version sometimes trips up reactors because they are already upset that it’s a problem to edit the music for copyright, the runtime is long, many of the famous musicians are lost on the reactors. Add to that, the opening goes on forever when they are looking for something to react to.

[@martinl8574]

All star band of musicians, countless cameo's, best action driving ever! Wonderful music, legends of music, Aretha Franklin, John Lee Hooker, James Brown. The only reason they survived everything is because THEY WERE ON A MISSION FROM GOD!

[@latenightswithsammy]

RIGHT ON! THE BAND!

[@jimmyb.6272]

I know this was awhile ago but I’m just now seeing your reaction. It kind of breaks my heart that nobody recognizes Aretha Franklin.

[@yournamehere6002]

Funny you mention NAKED GUN and AIRPLANE, because John Landis directed the first film by the team that did THOSE films---a great movie called KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE.

[@latenightswithsammy]

I heard of those films and probably watched a few of the Naked Gun films, but I was too young to understand the humor

[@Dorian-wi4lp]

I SERIOUSLY don't know why, but i love 😮the Nazi confessing his love while falling...

[@latenightswithsammy]

Hilarious detail!

[@larryk731]

Best plotless film ever. Of course they cant die - they're on a mission from God.

[@latenightswithsammy]

Right on! 😂 Thanks for writing in Larry

[@SciFiCatGuy]

That wasn't a stunt man who fell down the stairs in the desk, that was Belushi. I seem to remember he broke a couple of ribs in the process. This band is truly an all-star band. Here are the credentials of just a few of the members: Donald "Duck" Dunn bassist has almost literally played with everyone, from Booker T and the MGs to Eric Clapton, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Albert King, Bill Withers, Elvis Presley, and the Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks hit "Stop Draging My Heart Around." Guitarist Steve "The Colonel" Cropper was also part of Booker T and the MGs, backing artists like Sam and Dave, and Otis Redding and co-wrote "Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay." With Otis Redding. Matt "Guitar" Murphy has backed legends like Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry, Koko Taylor, Sonny Boy Williamson, Buddy Guy, Etta James, and Willie Dixon. Sax player "Blue" Lou Marini played with Frank Zappa, Aerosmith, Blood, Sweat, and Tears, as well as the Saturday Night Live house band for years. Trombone player, Tom "Bones" Malone, was in Blood Sweat and Tears, played with Frank Zappa, The Band, and was a long-time member of The David Letterman band. And the trumpet player, "Mr. Fabulous" Alan Ruben, has been AROUND. Frank Sinatra, Frank Zappa, Duke Ellington, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Gil Evans, Sting, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Frankie Valli, Eric Clapton, Billy Joel, B.B. King, Miles Davis, Yoko Ono, Peggy Lee, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles, Cab Calloway, and Dr. John.

[@GodwynDi]

Supposedly he actually did the flips at the church as well

[@thunderstruck5484]

Classic! Saw at the theater with my wife I think, thanks Sammy!

[@latenightswithsammy]

NICE! Thank you for tuning in 😊

[@NoahSpurrier]

Magical realism.

[@KenParrish61]

Once again a great reaction to a great movie that I saw when it was first released in the theaters (I'm now starting to show my age 🙂). This movie had so many cameos/walk-ons by many celebrities and musicians. Don't know if you know it or not, but this movie was based on an SNL skit, back with the original prime time players; John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, etc. Keep up the good work.

[@latenightswithsammy]

Hey Ken! Thank you for tuning, and writing in! I really enjoy reading about experiences of individuals who saw the film when it was in theatres 😊 Didn't know before watching the film about all the cameos, or that it was based on a SNL skit, but now, I'm more curious to check out John Belushi's films

[@martinl8574]

This is called the movie that destroyed Chicago. Landis knew he could never get permission or permits for the climax, so he simply showed up one Sunday morning and filmed it, army tanks and all. He did get in trouble but nothing serious!

[@latenightswithsammy]

WOW, what a filmmaking spirit! 😆

[@libertyresearch-iu4fy]

Dan Aykroyd is a long-time blues fan. In fact, he used to host a show called the 'House of Blues Radio Hour'. If you want to know about 'the band', you could start by checking out a band call Booker T and the MGs. John Landis will always be infamous as the guy who insisted on filming a reckless stunt for his segment of 'Twilight Zone: The Movie' that killed three people.

[@latenightswithsammy]

Interesting! Thank you for sharing that Blues band! Yeah, I just Googled the accident from 'Twilight Zone' ... extremely unfortunate

[@TheDivayenta]

A hilariously entertaining musical with a socially redeeming message is the original John Waters’ Hairspray ( not the remake with Travolta- BAAAD!!!!) with Jerry Stiller, Deborah Harry, Ricki Lake and Divine - all showing in Baltimore with the actual hits if the early 69’s. 😊

[@latenightswithsammy]

It's such a gem of a film 😁

[@hawkmaster381]

The kid that tried to steal Ray Charles guitar was Argyle from Die Hard.,

[@latenightswithsammy]

No way! What a connect 😂

[@JakeandElwood1980]

Can you reaction to the Italian job 1969 please

[@latenightswithsammy]

Another great suggestion!

[@Raven5150]

Incase your wondering Elwood got 18 years for the actions in this movie Jake died in prison

[@dawnstone610]

Cab Caloway, Aretha Frankin, and a host of the greatest jazz singers of all time. It's a shame you don't know the singers or the music.

[@latenightswithsammy]

I know! It'd have taken the film experience over the top if I had 😅

[@melenatorr]

@@latenightswithsammy But now you have a hint, and I hope this fun, ridiculous movie will be a doorway to some fantastic musical experiences for you.

[@Raven5150]

The mall was set for demolition so they refilled it for the sceen, the local goverment tried to sue the movie cause the town thought they was reopening the mall, it was thrown out

[@ericjanssen394]

Plenty of other great late 70’s early 80’s John Landis films: He did the two good Eddie Murphy movies, Trading Places and Coming to America, he had already directed John Belushi in the 70’s-iconic Animal House, and even got his first big start directing the Airplane writers in.Kentucky Fried Movie. And while you probably recognized the other cameos, the old mentor who opens their show was Cab Calloway, THE hep jazz-cat of the 30's: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4m9g4qXbdCsd6c

[@kathyastrom1315]

Even with that extensive resume, my first thought when I hear his name is the Twilight Zone deadly fiasco and subsequent trial. That really tainted him in my eyes.

[@ericjanssen394]

@@kathyastrom1315 Unfortunately, the fallout from Twilight Zone, and the reputation following him wherever he went, soured Landis on directing, and had a bad effect on his movies of the late 80’s and early 90’s, which ranged from lazy to just plain unwatchable odd-Including, sadly, an attempted sequel, “Blues Brothers 2000” , where John Goodman stood in for the late Belushi. It’s bad.

[@latenightswithsammy]

Wow, I had no knowledge of the accident, until I Googled it, very unfortunate ...

[@conniegaylord5206]

Watch SNL Soul Man The Blues Brothers. Another to watch is Animal House. 😂

[@johnathanstruble1064]

Have you reacted to , Smokey and the Bandit?..Burt Reyn 30:42 olds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason? ...well, what are you waiting for? 😂

[@latenightswithsammy]

I've never seen that picture before, and it's about time that I did 😀 Thanks for the recommendation!

[@Raven5150]

Jules and Vincent also were on a mission from God and Vincent is killed only after the mission is completed, kinda like how the car got them where they needed to go then died once the mission was over

[@melenatorr]

Fort the Rawhide song, those aren't ad libs: they're part of the song. I was little young to actually watch the series, but our Spanish father learned English from watching it and others. He loved the music, but couldn't catch all the words. Not until this movie did I realize that the lyrics were not "orrah heerah heerah heerah, orrah heerah , rawhide!". Here's the real thing and you'll see that Ackroyd and Belushi do a good job: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hneqqpuJnsuksKM (yes that's a young Clint Eastwood).

[@latenightswithsammy]

Nice! Thank you so much for sharing this 😊

[@michellegruender541]

Jake left Carrie at the altar. That’s why she after him

[@michellegruender541]

I went to catholic school in the 50 and sixty and that the way nuns act

[@Raven5150]

Quenton tarintino used the black suits in his first movie resivor dogs all the main cast wore the Blues brothers suits

[@ploppill34]

❤❤

[@michellegruender541]

Hat prison is in northern Illinois

[@JayStar-yj9pu]

John Landis films mock black culture

[@JayStar-yj9pu]

See, Animal House, Trading Places and yes...Coming to America, which is an INVERSION of Trading Places. LITERALLY the swap story of The Prince and the Pauper mixed completely with a heaping helping of...KING KONG!

[@Raven5150]

The band is the original snl band without Paul Shaffer

[@jamesmoyner7499]

Before I get to the fun facts I would like to ask did you watch the 148 minute or 132 minute cut? When the film was made John Landis wanted it be like a big roadshow like experience at 3 hours long and for the longest time the version thought to only exist was the truncated cut, but a theater owner had held onto a slightly longer version never threw out the material and gave it to Universal and they were able to restore it making the longer version. Now onto the fun facts: The warden who lists off the items is Frank Oz director and long time Muppeteer who is best known for operating and performing Yoda and he has cameoed in a couple other John Landis films. The nun is the actress who tried to sell Donkey at the beginning of Shrek. The mall they shot in was already dilapidated and they just fixed up inside so it could be destroyed more. It was because of this film it helped revive the music careers of many of the people featured in it like Ray, James, and Aretha. Many cameos include: Steven Spielberg as Cook County Assessor's clerk who is given the money at the end, Landis as a state trooper in the mall chase, Paul Reubens (before he became Pee-wee Herman) as a waiter in the restaurant Chez Paul, Joe Walsh in a cameo as the first prisoner to jump up on a table in the final scene, and Chaka Khan as the soloist in the Triple Rock choir. That’s just to name a few. This started as a SNL sketch featuring Ackroyd and Belushi. The Vatican has called this a film that Catholics must see. This film held the record for most car crashes for 18 years with 103. Not a single person dies in this film, but it shows how best to deal with the Brown Shirts.

[@kathyastrom1315]

The nun was played by Kathleen Freeman, who was also in Singin’ in the Rain-she was Lena’s diction coach.

[@latenightswithsammy]

Hey James! It was the 148-minute cut 😁 How embarrassing ... I didn't even recognize Frank Oz! That mall destruction sequence was so fun! "This started as a SNL sketch featuring Ackroyd and Belushi" ... a really good one 😁 "The Vatican has called this a film that Catholics must see" ... what a validation! The car crashes are surprisingly HILARIOUS ... so epic in its nature 😂

[@jamesmoyner7499]

@@kathyastrom1315 Ooohh I did not know that. Thank you for telling me. I just saw the film in theaters a few weeks ago.

[@williamjones6031]

1.This was Dan Aykroyd's baby that started out as a SNL skit. He eventually got with Landis (thus Chicago) and it was built on that. There were already songs made for the Blues Brothers from SNL 2. All star cast must have cost🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑 3. "We have a half pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses"🤣🤣 4. A MUCH better Musical (even better than Grease IMVHO). It's "Hair" 1979. John Savage, Treat Williams and Beverly D'Angelo. Milos Foreman Directed. "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest' and "Hair"😎😎 6.. They smash so many cars that "Smokey and the Bandit" was practice. 7. They're on a mission from GOD.😇😇

[@kathyastrom1315]

Hair is terrific! I love the Twyla Tharp choreography.

[@latenightswithsammy]

Great list! Never seen "Hair" ... looks exciting!

[@williamjones6031]

@@latenightswithsammy Check it out. You won't regret it.

[@JakeandElwood1980]

Can you reaction to Duel 1971 please

[@latenightswithsammy]

Oooh, great suggestion! Thanks for that, will add it to the list 😆 Thanks Blues Brothers!

[@rafaelrosario5331]

The band is made up of classic studio musicians with many countless hits to their credit.

[@ericjanssen394]

It's all members of the original 70's SNL band, that backed Belushi & Aykroyd on their original SNL sketches.--The lounge-lizard keyboardist was supposed to be played by Dave Letterman's Paul Schaeffer, but he was too busy on the current SNL.

[@melenatorr]

Orange Whip: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_whip