**WHY AM I LAUGHING?!** The Blues Brothers (1980) Reaction/ Commentary: FIRST TIME WATCHING 

James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Cab Calloway, Chaka Khan, and John Lee Hooker are all giants in Blues, Jazz and R&B circles. So in addition to the comedy style of Aykroyd and Belushi in an over-the-top road-trip, you get a movie filled with amazing musical performances by some of the all-time biggest names of their respective eras, not to mention a who's-who cast of classic talent.

'Why does he remind me of Steven Spielberg' - Mainly because it is Steven Spielberg. I know it's not your style of music, but every one of the song numbers is played and sung by the greats of the genre, and there are other world class cameos too. Oh, and the film held the record for the most cars crashed in a film until The Blues Bothers 2 broke it by one car- on purpose.

I've never seen anyone not recognize a single artist while watching this film..

19:03 - "what, we get a random song number?" - well that _is_ Aretha Franklin and that is one of her most famous songs!

“i don’t know why that guy reminds me of Steven Spielberg” i was almost on the floor laughing the clerk in the county assessor’s office was played by Steven Spielberg

Dude, you TOTALLY overlooked the legendary and historical significance of this cast....WOW!!!!

"he's quite the performer" rofl yes, Cab Calloway had some skill

19:44 I find it weirdly adorable how Blue Lou waits like a puppy for Mrs. Murphy's permission to go with his bandmates.

I believe the Blues Brothers started as a sketch on Saturday Night Live, which took off and became it's own thing. The band was real. They made two live records prior to the movie.

The jail officer at the beginning handing Jake his personal effects was Frank Oz, voice for many of The Muppets including Fozzy Bear, Gonzo the Great, and Miss Piggy, and also a director of many fine movies including What About Bob?, Little Shop of Horrors, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Awesome movie and good reaction. What someone should have told you before you started the movie is that "everyone" in the movie, even with a small cameo part and a couple of the extras, is famous. All star cast. Even the guitar and bass player in the Blues Brothers band - Steve Cropper and Donal Duck Dunn from Booker T and the MGs. And ofc Ray Charles, James Brown, the list goes on. Oh, Aretha (Franklin). Seeing her in this movie was a shock. Her stage presence was always really big, with huge glittery outifts and big-ass hats. She was THERE on stage, so seeing here like this - no makeup, no costume, no HAT - singing in a dingy diner took some mental downsizing! But as soon as she started singing, WOW. Chaka Khan was in the choir, Joe Walsh from The Eagles jumps on a table and dances in the final prison scene. And John Lee Hooker singing in the street scene. The leader of the Illinois Nazis was a famous comedian, Henry Gibson, from the television show Laugh In. And Cab Calloway from the Cotton Club!!! And Twiggy in the convertible sports car!! Most famous model from the 60s. And factually the biggest car chase scene ever in a movie.

What many may not know is that Dan Akroyd is a real afficanado and expert in Blues music. For 24 years he hosted his own radio show originally called the house of blues hour and later called Elwood's BluesMobile

Fun Fact: 103 cars were destroyed in this movie and that set a Guinness World Record for most cars destroyed in a movie for that time. It was beat by 1 more in Blues Brothers 2000. Since then it has been surpassed by other movies. So many famous musicians in this movie, even if they weren't stated. The Blues Brothers first appeared on SNL a few years prior (1978) as a musical guest, but I guess they put together a script and this is what happened after they grew in popularity. Another with John Belushi in it is Animal House. That movie alone has had a lot of other movies and TV shows adapt episodes close to the same type of plot/concept. They rented that mall out for like 6 weeks shortly after it closed down and filmed that chase scene, then they just left it like that since the mall was closed anyway. lol

One of the funniest action comedy musical films ever made! RIP, John Belushi and Carrie Fisher.

30:30 That's Cab Calloway singing his 1931 song, "Minnie the Moocher."

I feel like this movie needs to come with subtitles for people under 45 identifying the celebrities

Wow... it's 43 years old... saw it first when I was in high school. (Oy) We loved it... had no idea it would be loved as much 4 decades later. One of the main things Akroyd and Belushi wanted to do with the Blues Brothers Band was to bring back grass roots blues guys and give exposure to these guys who were still alive and under appreciated. It worked, we all became blues aficionados and started playing slide guitar. I think this was one of the principal reasons it lasted so long.

Tons of legendary musicians.

Well, the reason why that clerk towards the end of the movie reminds you of Steven Spielberg... is because that IS Steven Spielberg. :) Great reaction, Þórr. Keep it up. :)

It's a shame you had no idea of the multitude iconic greatness in this one movie

The clerk at the courthouse is Steven Spielberg.

I accept Cab Calloway and Arthea Franklin, but the fact that people are no longer instantly recognizing James Brown or John Candy is starting to make me feel quite sad.

Btw. Rawhide is an American Western TV series starring Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood! The show aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, ...

I was a little kid when this movie came out. Every singing number was performed by a legend of the industry. James Brown, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, John Lee Hooker, Cab Calloway...

RIP to John Belushi, Cab Calloway, and Carrie Fisher you will be missed.

Fun fact, in that flyby shot just before they show the speedometer the car is really doing 118 mph under the elevated train tracks.

The year after Blues Brothers (in 1981), Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi did another great comedy together called "Neighbors", it's most definitely worth a watch and review.

There is so many famous cameos in this movie. The one that is not listed is the cashier at the end is Steven Spielberg.

Legends from the blues, jazz, soul and R&B make appearances in this movie. Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Chaka Khan, Isaac Hayes, and John Lee Hooker have cameos where they show us exactly why they're legends.

So many amazing legends in this movie

The sequel: Blues Brothers 2000 gets a bad rep, but actually is nowhere near as bad as some people say. The music in it is great. I think you would enjoy it also.

How are you able to not even vibe a bit to this musical masterpiece

The shopping mall scene was actually shot in a closed mall in Harvey, IL right near my home. It was not a set built for the movie.

One of my favourite movies ever. The music is epic

All those random songs by side characters are much more than just sound-track filler. James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles were very well known performers and audiences recognized them and their musical legacies immediately. The movie sound-track album was a big seller in the 1980s.

"I would love to see the destruction of all these sets" ha! no sets there, that was a real mall

1980 had three of my favorite comedies. This film, Airplane!, and Used Cars.

I love this film. Whe I saw this as kid, this film taught me real music by Aretha Franklin, Johnny Lee Hooker and Ray Charles. I hadn´t heard of these before this film. Now decades later they are my staple of music experience.

"This feels like Ocean's 11" The original "get the band back together" movie is Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai." The plot structure has been aped by everything from this movie to the first "Avengers"

You had no clue who all the famous people were that was in this movie?

So I'm guessing this is not only Thor, God of Doing Reactions but also Thor, God of Not Recognizing Any Famous People Outside of Carrie Fisher and Half Recognizing Steven Spielberg. I know Thor is on the younger side and probably didn't have a full knowledge of artists before his time but I figured he would've at least recognized Aretha Franklin singing her own very famous song. Great reaction otherwise and I'm really glad you enjoyed it. It's been one of my favorites since I was a little kid and I've shown it to some people and they really didn't like it. So I'm glad you did. Now go watch Stripes or something! :D

The $2 concert price was about the same as a movie ticket back then, so yes it was affordable.

So which of the famous musicians did you recognise?

He called Cab Calloway "Quite the performer". Hilarious!!! And, the blind guy who sold them the keyboard has a movie made about him called "Ray". Jamie Foxx won an Oscar for his portrayal of him.

Black *is* the mist fashionable. Basic black, as a color, is never out of style.

I was almost 13 when this came out theatrically and I saw it with my buddy and his mom, not only did I think it was hilarious but it exposed me to a genre of music with incredible artists who I love and respect to this day.👍

"Is she missing on purpose?" She's basically shooting like a stormtrooper 😄

Blue Lou, the sax player, is the one who played the iconic sax part on the original Saturday Night Live theme. He's still blowing horns - saw him last summer playing for James Taylor on his tour.

All of the people i the sauna were not just ordinary folks listening in on the conversation. They were the bandmembers.

I have seen all the movies and I can say without any trace of hype or exaggeration that "The Blues Brothers" is both subjectively and objectively the finest one. Thank you for your time and attention.

What a beautiful post-film analysis. I have to admit, I took this movie a little for granted all these years and appreciate it so much more now then I did. Just to have all these rare appearances of musicians you hardly ever saw on the big screen. And any more time you get to spend with John Belushi is precious. Back then, who knew he didn't have much more time? Damn, was he charismatic, huh? Have you seen "National Lampoon's Animal House" yet? That's got more raunch, definitely an R rated movie, but super classic and Belushi is fantastic. (the whole cast is). Brilliant script.

I saw a post once about how this whole film is a depiction of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign and Jake and Elwood are just a pair of bards who keep rolling insanely well and I have never been more convinced of anything in my life

the elevator music in the end was called “Girl from Ipanema” it was a common chamber music used by many buildings in the early 80’s . I remember when even Wal-Mart played the same tunage over the store PA

Yes that was actually John Belushi dancing. And he also did the flips according to everyone. The talent alone was amazing. I bought the album when it came out". Love this movie.Especially Cab Calloways performance.Hydee hydee hydee ho.xx

Because this is still, to this day, one of the best, funniest, most off the wall movies ever, that's why you're laughing, oh Thunder God!!😁 John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd were an absolutely perfect comic duo, their comedic chemistry with each other was undeniable. Aykroyd was the perfect straight man for Belushi's craziness. The musical performances/cameos were all around fire. One of, if not THE best car chase(s) ever put to film. All around a near perfect movie. Another great choice and reaction my dude. Cheers!!!😁

You might like Dan Akroyd and Tom Hanks in Dragnet. Based on detective TV show.

All the singers are some of the greats! Aretha, Hooker, Brown, Callaway, Charles etc

The mall was not a set, it was supposed to be demolished anyways so they paid relatively little to shoot their car chase in there - same with all the cop cars, the chicago police wanted to update their fleet anyway and so they sold the old cars for cheap and even took part in crashing them for the movie - it's just brilliant how they had all those people, from police officers to huge stars of the music industry to freaking *Princess Leia* involved in this movie

I'm really depressed and felling old that you didn't recognize multiple legendary icons of rhythm and blues

You definitely need to check out Animal House. It's another classic john beluchi film.

2 things I can add: Cab singing "Minnie the Moocher"... at THAT point the song was about 40 years old, and Cab STILL sounded great singing it live a decade later! The Blues Brothers act would intentionally play/perform songs from blues artists who needed the residuals from performance rights... as thier was to pay back those great artists.

Love all your movie reactions! I laugh when you laugh, cry when you cry. Thanks for sharing your feelings and thoughts.

I like to recommend the other Belushi and Aykroyd first 1941 which came out in 1979and aslo Neighbors 1982 and even though Belushi was long gone in 1998 when Blues Brothers 2000 came out and even though not on the Same level as the original it's still fun

My favorite movie of all time. I grew up in chicagoland. I have been past a lot of the places in this movie.

LOVE THIS MOVIE, the amount of star power is crazy when it came to the music scene. My favorite numbers are James Brown's and of course the actual fundraising performance.

The woman in the diner is the GREAT Aretha Franklin. The woman he hit on was Twiggy-Model Extraordinaire of the period. Performer in white tux-the GREAT Cab Calloway.

It breaks my heart that you didn't recognize a single legend in this movie. Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and more.

You should have watched the end credits! All the great musicians who were in the movie (James Brown, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Cab Calloway...etc.) as well as other famous people (including Stephen Spielberg!!!)!!!

The girl who said "I'll think about it" was the famous model Twiggy.

These AREN'T sets. They destroyed and drove through a REAL mall. The mall was shutting down and going to be demolished, so they filmed a car chase in it. Likewise, they REALLY destroyed all those cars. This was the world record biggest car chase and most cars destroyed in a movie.....until Blues Brothers 2000 broke the record.

They sold the movie to the studio by claiming it would be Animal House set to music. In fact it was a love letter to 20th century American music, from blues, R&B, country, and rock'n'roll. As others have pointed out, the cast is a who's who of blues & R&B. Cab Calloway got his start in the 20s, and his Minnie the Moocher was one of the first black artist songs to achieve crossover status. I thought at least you would recognize Ray Charles.

Damn, I love this movie! The coolest guys ever been on screen, the quotes, the bone-dry humor, the cast, the music...just everything! Here's some trivia for you: First of all: yes, they are invincible, they are on a mission from GOD! 😉 Initially "The Blues Brothers Band" was created by Aykroyd and Belushi as a single music number for "Saturday Night Live" and soon became a permant part of the show and even released 3 albums in the following years. The movie was holding a long-term record for the most wrecked cars in a movie. 1:53 This guy is Frank Oz, business partner of Jim Henson and the creator of the puppets in "The Muppet Show", "Sesame Street", "Star Wars" and many others. 5:37 The legendary Cab Caloway 6:00 "The godfather of soul" James Brown 9:00 The filming took place in an abandoned mall which was filled up with stores just to destroy everything again for the car chasing scene. 10:28 Yes, that's Carrie Fisher 😉 12:12 Mr. John Candy 😁 17:30 Mr. John Lee Hooker 😎 17:54 The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin 😊 20:22 The one and only Mr. Ray Charles 😎 35:49 THE most iconic line of the movie 😎 37:59 Nope, the car was really driving that fast 38:50 Again: they are on a mission from GOD! 😂 39:00 The downfall is real, they hooked a car on a helicopter and let it fall down 40:50 Yip, that IS Steven Spielberg 😂 And this list isn't complete at all 😂

I've never seen the extended version of this film so I am enjoying seeing all the scenes that got cut out...😁🙃🙂😄

I am dying. "Look 'em up on Facebook". BWAAHAHAROFLHAHALOL. Millenials and younger won't know why I am laughing, which makes me laugh harder.

Rawhide was a TV show that aired between 1959-1965 and brought Clint Eastwood to America's awareness after playing "Rowdy Yates" in 217 episodes, That was the start of Clint Eastwood's Western movies string of hits. That definitely was Carrie Fisher blowing up things left and right. So many stars in this movie that were before your time.

Besides the Blues Legends already mention by StCerberusEngle there were cameos by 60's Icon Model "Twiggy" (girl waiting at Motel), Singer Steve Lawrence (Agent in Steambath), SCTV Comedian/Actor John Candy (Cop), Muppert Puppeteer Frank Oz (Property Clerk at Prison) and Laugh-In Comedian Henry Gibson (Head Nazi). The Mother Superior was played by Character Actress Kathleen Freeman.

besides the insane array of musical talent on display, the property guard at the beginning is Frank Oz, better known as the voice of about half the Muppets as well as Yoda. he also plays a cop in Trading Places with Dan Ackroyd & Eddie Murphy.

This is one of the best damn "musicals" ever made!

The chase scenes were great. I got a movie reaction suggestion for you it's one of my favorites. The Final Countdown (1980) The U.S.S. Nimitz goes back to December 6th, 1941. It's filmed on the Nimitz.

A few comments. The guard that gives back all of Jakes stuff at the jail is Frank Oz (The voice of miss piggy) which is why when the break into the mall the toys R us guy present a miss piggy doll. The mall was an actual mall that was going to be torn down so they were allowed to do anything in it.

This movie has done so much for the rest of the world of movies

I like how the camper with the real country band becomes a completely different camper when the cops crash into it.

did you know? the origin of the blues brothers comes from saturday night live. Belushi and Aykroyd invented them; the joke being that all the musicians were the best of the best.

to film the 1200 foot airdrop of the Nazi car they had to get a special certificate from the FAA saying the Ford Pinto was airworthy. so technically it may have been the only Ford Pinto registered as an aircraft.

So much fun thanks for the reaction!

dan aykroyd was an accompaniment singer for the song we are the world

24:16 Rawhide was the western TV show that made Clint Eastwood famous before he started making movies.

Well done!! A real, pure, blind reaction! So many people on the web that have seen a movie before!! Thank you for your sincerity, love from Italy❤😊

26:53 The billboard that reads “See You Next Wednesday” Is a running gag in a typical John Landis movie. It is hidden in other movies including “An American werewolf in London” as an adult film, “Trading Places” as a movie poster in the apartment of Jamie Lee Curtis, but also in the “Kentucky Fried Movie” all directed by John Landis.

The cultural impact of this movie cant be understated. Blues Brothers had the #1 show on tv for SNL. The release Case Full of Blues debuted at #1. This movie opened as the #1 box office in the country. This has never done before or since

Yes, that was Steven Speilburg as the asseser for Cook County.

yes that's Belushi dancing, backflips & all. they had a crew of 40 stunt drivers who destroyed 103 cars including 13 Bluesmobiles. but the dancing? that was all John.

All these famous and amazing people and our humble narrator has no idea whatsoever.

3 different genres rolled into one... comedy, musical and road trip and done the best! Loved revisiting it with you Thor and all. Thanks for the upload 👍 👍

Often times when I'm driving at night with a passenger, I stop whatever I'm doing and say, "It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses."

5:38 Thee Legendary Cab Calloway! Look him up! 6:46 John Belushi was very very athletic. Yes, that's really him dancing. Not sure about the flips but it really wouldn't surprise anyone if that was him too.

During filming, a (then) world record 103 cars were wrecked in the original 1980 Blues Brothers movie. Blues Brothers 2000 (the sequel) wrecked 104 cars. Transformers 3 (2011) holds the current record of 532 cars being destroyed.

44 years ago today, June 20, 1980, "The Blues Brothers" opened at a theater near you. “We’re On A Mission From God”

The beauty saloon that Carrie Fisher ran was called "Curl up and Dye".

in it’s time this film held the record for most cars crashed in a single film