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Released by: Universal
Released on: 7/26/2011
Director: John Landis
Cast: John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, John Candy, Carrie Fisher
Year: 1980
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The Movie:
The first and still the best Saturday Night Live spin-off feature film, 1979's The Blues Brothers might be light on story but it more than makes up for that with some great laughs, an ass kicking soundtrack, and a whole lot of style. For the three of four people left on this planet who haven't seen the film, the picture begins when Jake Blues (John Belushi) is let out of Joliet Prison in Illinois after a three year stint behind bars. He's picked up in an old cop car by his brother, Elwood (Dan Akroyd), who traded their old Cadillac for a microphone. Once Jake is out of the joint the pair visit the head nun (Kathleen Freeman) at the orphanage where they were raised where they learn that if they don't come up with a cool five grand within a couple of days, the city is going to shut them down. After a quick visit to the local church at the insistence of the orphanage's old janitor, Curtis (Cab Calloway), Jake sees the light with some help from the Reverend Cleophus (James Brown).
Before you know it, the Blues Brothers are out to get their old band back together. Declaring themselves to be on a mission from God, they make the rounds and gather up their old band mates and along the way wind up pissing off the Illinois Nazi Party, a saloon owner named Bob (Jeff Morris), a country band called The Good Old Boys (lead by Charles Napier) and way too many cops to count (lead by John Candy) - and if that weren't enough, there's a mysterious woman (Carrie Fisher) quite literally gunning for Jake. If the guys can pull off one big show before everyone catches up with them, they just might save the orphanage, but that's not going to be easy even if Jake and The Lord have got an understanding.
Rarely is a movie as entertaining the twentieth time you see it as it is the first time but The Blues Brothers is one of those rare comedies that remains funny throughout the years and that doesn't seem to age much. A picture that transcends generations in that it's funny to both young and old, it's quite obviously carried by Belushi and Akroyd's collective onscreen cool factor but there's more to the movie's success than black suits and dark glasses. What could have seemed like novelty casting - what with cameos from the aforementioned James Brown and Cab Calloway as well as the likes of Aretha Franklin as a band member's wife, John Lee Hooker as a street musician and Ray Charles as a take no shit music store owner - only solidifies the film's legitimacy as does the fact that The Blues Brothers themselves are just really great at what they do. Backed by a band of tight, experienced musicians, the two front men jump and dance their way through some pretty hot numbers and never ever come even close to making fools of themselves - they've quite simply got it going on. While Belushi was quite well known as a metal-head and a fan of punk bands like FEAR, he's got the swagger and the attitude down completely right for the blues while Akroyd's bass backing vocals and harmonica playing are nothing short of awesome.
John Landis, who co-wrote with Akroyd (who turned in a reportedly mammoth first draft at well over three hundred pages in length), directs with style and manages to rein in some fantastic chase scenes (the car chase through the mall is rightfully legendary) but also allows for just enough introspection and soul searching that the central characters are never less than completely likeable despite the fact that they're periodically prone to cheating and stealing. Even those generally predisposed to hate musicals will have trouble not enjoying this one, a perfect mix of bone dry comedy and appropriately soulful music played for laughs without ever disrespecting the music that makes up its very core.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Universal's AVC encoded 1.85.1 widescreen 1080p high definition transfer is pretty great despite a couple of odd noisy shots here and there. The film's grain structure doesn't appear to have been monkied with at all and there are no problems with noise reduction smearing or heavy edge enhancement worth complaining about. Some minor print damage is present if you really want to look for it but you'll probably be too busy taking in the excellent detail, texture and color reproduction to care much. Black levels are generally very strong, there's only minor crush in a couple of scenes, and skin tones look nice and lifelike. Some scenes are soft looking, as they've always been, and some of the added scenes in the extended cut still look a bit different (as they always have) but overall, Universal has done an excellent job here and the movie looks fantastic.
Also impressive is the English language DTS Surround 5.1 mix on the disc - no lossless option is provided, for some reason, but this track does sound fantastic from start to finish. Dialogue is always clean and clear, there are no problems at all with quirky level fluctuations, hiss or distortion and the musical numbers sound perfect. Bass response is strong and powerful and provides a nice low end to the car chase scenes without burying the performers, while the high end never gets too shrill or high pitched. A French language DTS 2.0 Stereo mix is supplied for the theatrical version only with subtitles offered up in English SDH, French and Spanish.
There aren't any significant new extra features on this Blu-ray (which does include the theatrical version and the longer extended cut), though Universal has added BD Live functionality, MyScenes bookmarking options, made the disc D-Box enabled and included their Pocket Blu controls. Carried over from the previous special edition release are a few goodies, however, starting with the fifty-six minute documentary, Stories Behind The Making Of The Blues Brothers in which most of the surviving cast members and many of the crew members are interviewed about the film. Here we get input from Akroyd, Landis, most of the backing band members, and even Paul Schaffer. There are some great behind the scenes clips here and this is absolutely worth watching for fans of the movie.
The fifteen minute Transposing The Music featurette features a few more interviews, this time focused around the film's music while the ten minute Remembering John includes input from Belushi's widow, Jane, and his brother James as well as Landis, Akroyd and others who knew and cared for the late comedian. The film's theatrical trailer, animated menus and chapter stops round out the supplements, all of which are presented in standard definition.
The Final Word:
Some new extras would have been nice, and the omission of a lossless track is puzzling even if the DTS mix here is excellent but the upgrade in video quality is substantial and fans of the film should upgrade to this Blu-ray (Blues-ray?) release without hesitation.
Click on the images below for full size Blu-ray screen caps!
