FIRST TIME WATCHING: The Blues Brothers (1980) REACTION (Movie Commentary) 

"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." My brother and I still do this bit sometimes when we're about to drive somewhere. It's one of my favorite quotes from any movie.

that man is none other than Cab Calloway. Watch his original Minnie's a Moocher. This is a musical unlike any other

Ackroyd and Belushi were not trained musicians, but they loved good rhythm and blues music and they just decided to form a band and perform. What a lot of people do not know is that the band is composed of some of the very best side musicians of that day. I mean guys who backed up all the stars you recognized, but are never recognized themselves. And that is a major reason why the music is so great. The reason Ackroyd and Belushi can pull this off is because the musical talent behind them is the very best.

During preproduction they learned a major city was upgrading all their cop cars and selling the old ones cheap. So they wrote the ending around buying A LOT of used cop cars. Taking advantage of what was available. Really brilliant.

The filmakers were able to destroy the mall because it had been abandoned for about a year. The crews put up a few fake store fronts to make it look like a functional mall.

Belushi and Aykroyd were members of the first SNL cast. The 'Blues Brothers' made regular appearances on the show for a year or so before this movie was released. The public was well primed for this movie long before release.

31:52 So the clerk is played by a director called... Steven Spielberg.

A lot of people miss that it was Steven Spielberg who played the man at the Cook County Assessors office who took the tax money from them and gave them a receipt. Great reaction from you and yes, it's a comedy, a musical, and an action movie all in one!

My theory is that they really were on a mission from God. As soon as they completed the mission, divine favor and protection was over.

The person who gets missed the most is Chaka Khan. She is one of the singers in the Choir in the church scene. They do have a single shot of her, but it is very brief. Great movie, one of my favorites

When I was in Basic Training (1993-ish).... The Drill Sgt. would let us listen to a stereo in his office when we were polishing boots or something. The was a syndicated show on... playing KILLER blues... then the DJ came on.... "This is Elwood, and as always, this show is dedicated to my baby brother, Jake...." Dan Ackroyd did the show... in character... Was awesome.

Actually, Dan Aykroyd can sing and plays the harmonica along with both Belushi brother's who are talented as well.

I will never forget watching this movie as a kid. The scene when the Blues Brothers arrive at the Soul Food Cafe with John Lee Hooker playing Boom Boom just about changed my life. 40-odd years later that song still gets me every time I hear it.

obviously the car was blessed with the power of the mission.. once its job was done.. it was done

Akroyd and Belushi insisted on having legendary but mostly forgotten blues musicians in the film. John Lee Hooker, Aretha Franklin and Cab Calloway all had a resurgence in popularity after this came out. I became a John Lee Hooker fan myself. It's impossible to pick a favorite song from the Blues Brothers soundtrack. RIP Donald "Duck" Dunn... Best bass player that ever lived.

To this day, I don't QUICKLY go through a yellow light without thinking that quote and sometimes saying it out loud. "The light was YELLOW sir."

Of all the stars in the movie Cab Calloway may be the greatest, and that's saying something with Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and James Brown sharing credits... Minnie the Moocher was the number 1 song of 1932, and being one of the greatest exponents of scat Cab involved the audience like no other performer ever has... he became the first African American to sell a million records from a single with Minnie but he had a hit record in 5 consecutive decades... vale the Hi-de-ho man

Frank Oz, the puppeteer and voice of Miss Piggy, Fozzie the Bear, Bert (from Sesame Street), Yoda, and Grover, was the prison guard who returned Jake's items (including the 2 condoms) to him. Thus there was an inside joke when the shopper at Toys R Us (holding a Grover doll) asked for a Miss Piggy doll.

I was born in 1986, when I watched this Movie as a kid my parents told me IT'S "COOL"! SO THE BLUES BROTHERS TAUGHT ME WHAT COOL WAS!

The finest soundtrack of ANY movie.

The stunt driving in this is GOAT

I think it broke the record for the most cars damaged in a movie. Holy crap! The older gentleman singing with the band at the concert is Cab Calloway, famous jazz singer. The Blues Bros albums are really good. The band members are real players. This was an SNL skit that became a movie. Pretty wild.

Ackroyd played Joe Friday in the 1987 movie remake of Dragnet, a 1960s police drama. When the lady asks (around 11:00) "Are you the police?" he answers "No mam, we're musicians," in EXACTLY the Joe Friday Character's voice. I love this movie. He makes Dragnet in 1987, years after The Blues Brothers, but you can see it in his eyes that he wants to. Dragnet is another amazing Dan Ackroyd film that you GOTTA watch.

24:15 Cab Calloway. He was big in R&B before World War II.

I was a music major in Chicago when this hit the big screen. My friends and I knew every song, all the dialogue, and most of the locations in and around the city. You are correct that this was a love letter to blues music. Dan Akroyd has an astonishing collection of vinyl and an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject and he wrote the story behind the script. Now you need to watch the making-of documentary. It is well worth the time.

Dan Aykroyd wrote This movie and its follow up Blues Brothers 2000 which was a Tribute to John Belushi, John Candy, and Cab Calloway as they passed away before filming. Dan Aykroyd also Wrote GhostBusters 1, 2 and Afterlife (GhostBusters 3), John Belushi was to be Peter Venkman in this movie but passed away Bill Murray played him instead, The Green Ghost who slimes Venkman was a tribute to Belushi

They arent JUST "crashing through a store" ... they are "crashing through an entire mall ACCOMPANIED BY AWESOME MUSIC!"

So, one of the reasons they were able to book all these incredible music legends to appear in the film is because disco was at its height of popularity and demand. Many of these stars, unless they were making disco tracks, weren't headlining many gigs the way we assume they should have been by virtue of who they are and their enormous talents. And fun fact: the popularity of the Blues Brothers generally and this film in particular actually led to increased exposure and popularity for those stars at that time.

Carrie fisher (the psycho ex-girlfriend) is also Princess Leah from Star Wars !!

Dan Ackroyd was in the choir for the U.S.A for Africa's "We are the World"... He Sang beside the Legendary Harry Belafonte!

Akroyd and Belushi began on SNL. This became a skit on SNL, then became "real". The band is veteran musicians.

Jake and Elwood Blues are the masters of just rolling with it. I guess it helps when you're on a mission from God.

The English woman who Elwood was supposed to meet at the motel was Twiggy (Lesley Hornby), a fashion model of the mid- to late-1960s. She was a scrawny teenager when she came on the scene in 1966. Cab Calloway's recording of "Minnie the Moocher" was released in 1931. In the movie The Cotton Club (1984), a Calloway performance of the song is accurately re-created. Good movie, with the club faithfully re-created and the musical numbers and costumes excellent reproductions of the original.

Classic, we lost John Belushi way to soon :( Great reaction , thank you!!

A movie I can watch over & over again! The music is stunning.

Fun Fact: the Chicago dispatcher that says, 'The use of unnecessary violence in the apprehension of the Blues Brothers has been approved.' was the gangster in the movie in Home Alone that says 'Keep the change you filthy animal.'

Jake did remove his shades once to calm down his ex. This movie is legendary. R.I.P. John Belushi...

My favorite part was Cab Calloway singing "Minnie the Moocher." He brought the house down

I saw this (together with my older sister) at the cinema in 1980 when I was 7 years old , it is still one of the greatest movie experiences I've ever had in the movie theater! P.E.ace from overseas, The Netherlands.

During the scene where Carrie Fisher's Character has the Blues Brothers at gunpoint, she mentions that her father used up his last favors to help prepare for the wedding that Jake didn't come to. This could imply that her father is either a mob boss or, at the very least, someone with mafia connections, which could explain how she got all those weapons. Plus, given Jake's criminal history, I don't find it that surprising that he might've been romantically involved with a criminal's daughter.

The movie is a musical comedy, playing on the leads, but they very much wanted it to be a showcase of classic blues acts (if you listen to their Briefcase Full of Blues album, they call attention to an entire generation of great blues musicians falling into obscurity, and name check every song/creator they cover). It’s just a fun vehicle for over the top scenes and good music.

The prison guard that blows the whistle at the first gate is John Landis's father. When I was at the 25th anniversary screening in Hollywood in 2005, John and his mother were there and both cheered when his father appeared on screen. The Bluesmobile is actually a redecorated California Highway Patrol car, it has tan seats unlike the real Mt Prospect cars which have black seats. My buddy Gene played one of the Illinois Nazis, he drove the green car. When the other characters grinned at each other during the final chase he just smirked slightly, because the director John Landis was hanging off the front of the car with the camera and he was terrified of throwing him off. The Nazi cars crashing through the street were filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood, on New York Street. It's right around the corner from the Back to the Future town square. The Winnebago crashing into the lake was also filmed there, you can see it drive through the western street first. Bob's Country Bunker was filmed there too, it was built for the film next to the lake where the giant blue screen ended up (in front of the log cabin from "The Great Outdoors"). There's more footage missing from this film, including a third song performed at Bob's Country Bunker called "Sink the Bismark". A recording of this song was found in the mid-2000s in the Universal archives. The Bluesmobile flipping backwards was filmed with a model. Tom Malone played trombone in David Letterman's band for several decades (on his NBC and CBS shows). Paul Shaffer himself was the original keyboard player in the band, but he wasn't able to be in the movie due to a contract issue, so he was replaced with Murphy Dunne. Willie Hall also replaced the original drummer Steve Jordan. Everyone else was in the original Blues Brothers Band, although they were missing Tom Scott on saxophone (he still played on the soundtrack).

This movie is pure nostalgia for me. I was born and raised in Chicago during the early 80s.

I met this guy in college who said his dad sat him down in front of the TV, said you're going to learn about life, and popped the Blues Brothers on the VCR.

Carrie Fisher was the definition of 'On sight!' 🤣

"Orange whip? Orange whip?" 😂 One of those flicks ya have to click "LIKE" on principle alone.

I grew up on this kind of music and SNL legends, my dad played guitar and they had hundreds of records, blues, motown, classic rock, all the greats. This movie is special to me and I can always put it on sit back and smile

What a fantastic analysis of the movie at the end of this video. I'm so happy you loved it! It really is a special movie, and for many reasons, some of which you talked about. John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd were on the very first, groundbreaking cast of "SNL", and they were great friends. Unfortunately, Belushi od'd and died right after this movie. He was a comic genius, him and Ackroyd together was magic, and it was a real loss. (the Bill Murray part in "Ghostbusters" was originally written for Belushi). Anyways, GREAT reaction!!!!!!

The music in this movie is just to good.

Kudos for recognizing many of the music legends in the movie -- most young people these days don't. But it's worth mentioning that the band itself is full of folks who themselves are legends for their musicianship.

The agent in the sauna was another super famous singer: Steve Lawrence. The pretty girl at the gas station was a famous supermodel from the 1960's: Twiggy. The lead Nazi was a well-known comedian: Henry Gibson.

I saw this theatrically when I was 13 years old because I was obsessed with Belushi, I left loving a genre of music and a host of incredible artists that I never knew existed.👍

1980 had a ton of great movies. Just look at the top 20 from that year and you could easily love all of them.

This movie is such fun with stellar cameos and music, and such great chase scenes.

Please add Animal House to your list of movies to watch. Belushi is one of the stars, as is a 20 year old Kevin Bacon in his first screen role.

This is a cult classic adapted from a few SNL skits from the 70s with Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi and the band as seen in the film. I hope younger generations will discover this movie and share it with their friends and make it part of their cultural life. Thank you for your reaction.

You have to understand the impact of Saturday Night Live back then. That's why there are so many stars in it. That band was SNLs AMAZING!

John Belushi in Animal House is unforgettable!!

The "one unused prophylactic" guy from the beginning prison sequence is Frank Oz, the same actor that plays essentially the same role in Trading Places at the Philly Police Department.

Fun fact: Blues Brothers held the record for most police cars crashed. Out of the 104 vehicles crashed, 60 were police cruisers.

They have an albunm. Blues Brothers. Started as opening skit on SNL. 1st song was soul man

During the Chicago Chase Scene the POPE at the time was in town and he went onto the movie set and personally Blessed the production....

32:30 YES. FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE SAID IT!!!! 😲😂😂 I first watched this film when my parents rented it from the video store, back in the 80's. I was probably around eight at the time, and I remember saying he looked a little like Carl Weathers. Nobody agreed with me. And nobody ever did... until now. All these years later. Wow, I feel like something that has been bugging me in the back of my mind that I was completely unaware of has finally dispersed. I will sleep deeply and at peace tonight. Thank you, Caped Informer! ❤

Blues Brothers toured around the world- they’re the real deal as are all the musicians in the band. They started as a musical skit on SNL.

Blues Brothers is an actual masterpiece. It's truly original.

The cop in the beginning going over Jake’s stuff leaving was Frank Oz. He was the voice for most of the Muppets. Also, comic legend John Candy was the heavy set detective with Steven Williams (the black cop, he was from X-Files) and the other cop. I love that they bought a shopping mall that went out of business, bought it as is and trashed it by driving cars through it.

You can not imagine what fun this was seeing this film on the big screen when it came out. Between the humor, the cartoon music, and that glorious music, it was fantastic!

The moment when the car up and died is both hilarious and sad: he loved that car and that car loved him: it died for him! If you notice, Jake's wonderfully immobile expression softens just a bit as Elwood slowly removes his hat and stares at the wreckage. And then: "Come on!"

Jake and Elwood are the coolest duo period! 😂 This movie is hillarious in so many different ways: the music, the insane number of cameos, the one-liners and the stunt scenes! For the making a whole (abandoned) mall got destroyed, a car has been dropped from a helicopter and so many cars got destroyed that it has been many years in the Guiness Book! But it also got this silent humor that I miss in modern movies: the way Jake bends over for signing because he is not allowed to cross the line, or everybody seems to know "Sam", the guy sitting on the stairs. I just love it! Oh, and because the name John Belushi sounded jamiliar to you: you may now his brother James Belushi 😉

This was basically a live-action Road Runner cartoon.

WERE ON A MISSION FROM GOD

The county clerk at the end is Steven Spielberg

There was a 2 year lull in music after disco and before punk and this filled it and was a huge Blues explosion after this movie came out.

A great movie with random people is "Balls of Fury" (2007). It's Christopher Walken and world class Ping Pong

I wish the theatrical version of the film was the more readily available. Most of the added footage comes from the silent portions at the beginning and it seems to set most reactors on the wrong foot. I’m so glad you liked the movie! It’s one of my favorites!

Holy ISH....I've seen this like a thousand times...this is the first time I've seen the Elwood glue factory scene! I knew that he worked in one before Jake got out and I've heard of the scene! Wow!

Blues Brothers 2000 has a whole lotta musicians as well as good music

I had a t-shirt when i was a kid that said "We're on Mission from God". Probably around 81 or so.

I'm very surprised that you hadn't seen this, but glad that I am here to enjoy your reaction. Steve Lawrence(Murray Sline) and his wife, Edie Gorme, were also famous singers at one time.

_The Blues Brothers_ was one of the first R-rated movies me or my cousins saw, John Belushi & Dan Aykroyd being familiar to us as TV stars. A lot has changed in music since then. In 1980, disco was king, while R&B and blues were dead as far as the record industry was concerned. Ray Charles was doing well but that was recording country western. MCA Universal refused the soundtrack album, telling the director nobody but old Black people would buy it. Atlantic, which was a "Black label," didn't want John Lee Hooker on the album initially. But everything comes back again and as a result of this movie, James Brown, Aretha and Hooker all sold a lot of records in the '80s.

This started out as a SNL skit written by Dan Aykroyd John Belushi had already done impressions of Joe Cocker that was spot-on including a duet he did with the actual Joe Cocker Belushi's first movie role was the Ivan Reitman film Animal House

I lived in Chicago back when this was filmed - they captured the city really well; Maxwell Street, and the grit and big shoulders... You could go to any Blues club on a weekend night and hear any f the Blues greats play for like $2.00. It was amazing!

One of the best movies ever made

Awesome Movie and Work Bro, Thanks 👍👍👍😎 Greetings from Helsinki, Finland 🇫🇮🇺🇸🇫🇮🇺🇸🇫🇮🇺🇸

Man that was the most insightful reaction to the Blues Brothers I've ever seen!!!

I effing love the blues brothers! Thanks for the reaction.

Cab Calloway was a constant fixture of my childhood because of his appearance on Sesame Street.

The mall where the chase happens was scheduled for demolition. They got the okay to, as it were, help out😂

One of the funniest musical action comedy movies ever made!

You nailed it in your final comment. It's an homage to the musicians and their music. And what a glorious ride it is! :)

This film is one of the greatest comedies ever made. Funny thing about it though... Nothing is taken seriously... Except the music. The music is deadly serious, treated with real respect. It was born of the mutual love of Blues Dan and John shared. They perform with the SNL band in character... Then Dan wrote a script. A brilliant script. Amazing comedy and a soundtrack few can match.

The young guitar thief at Rays is also Argyle the limo driver in die hard

Great channel .One of the great things about this movie it kept blues artists in work all over the world and again in Blues Bros 2000.Blues lives😎

As someone born and raised in Illinois and who lived in Chicago for years, this film is a right of passage. Come on! Oh baby don’t you wanna go! Back to that same old place, sweet home Chicago!

we're on a mission to watch a blues brothers reaction

Came to say that Argyle from Die Hard was the kid Ray Charles shot at 👏👏👏 Just recently learned that one 😊 Oh and this is where I absolutely fell in love with Cab Calloway. The Blues Brothers started on SNL and after this movie went on tour too!

For the record, what you watched here is a longer version of the movie than what played in theatres. It was a "preview cut" that extended lots of scenes. I like it because it's a bigger slice of a pie I already like, but I can understand if people find it too long. The shorter theatrical version is still over 2 hours, but there's no fat on it.

They absolutely were musically inclined, they do all the singing and dan plays harmonica. Snl spawned the movie. Cab Calloway is a jazz legend and famous for mini the moocher, a big band jazz classic.

Also, @ 23:25 you have the absolute smokeshow of the 70’s, supermodel Twiggy.

So apparently there’s a directors cut of this movie, and I’m just now finding out as I watch this