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TechnoTV - Blues Brothers
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List Price: $14.98
Our Price: $5.00
Your Save: $ 9.98 ( 67% )
Availability:
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Starring: Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, James Brown, Cab Calloway, John Candy
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780783225197
Format: Closed-captioned
ISBN: 0783225199
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Universal Studios
Release Date: 1998-02-03
Running Time: 133
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: 1980-06-20
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: This won't give you the blues; that's for sure...
Comment: I remember when I was a kid visiting Universal Studios with my family and we always stopping in the street to listen to the Blues Brothers. There was a huge crowd of people gathered around to `boogie' as it were; shaking their money-makers for two middle-aged men in black suits.
It was awesome.
I was very young at the time, pre-teen, and so the idea of watching the movie from which all this fun came from was not within my reach. My parents were very strict when it came to entertainment, and an R-rated film was definitely out of the question. Well, I'm older now, married and out of the house and I can watch what I want to, so when I saw that `The Blues Brothers' was coming on Encore I DVR'd it, all those childhood memories rushing back to me like a warm blanket on a wintry night (and beings that it is literally freezing outside I think that analogy works quite well).
So, the question remains; was the movie as good as those childhood memories?
Almost, but not quite. The movie is truly a classic in the sense that it was one of a kind at the time and is definitely still unlike any other film to be released since. It's fun and exciting and funny at times, although some if it didn't seem to flow as nicely as I would have wanted it to. It seems weakly plotted to me, and I wanted something a little more intelligent; but that's just me.
I still really liked it.
The film tells the story of Jake and Elwood Blues, two men who grew up brothers in an orphanage. They weren't `blood brothers' but they were united by their love of music. The film opens with Jake being released from prison. He moves in with Elwood and the two quickly learn that the orphanage in which they were raised is going to be torn down unless they can raise a significant amount of money; so they decide to round up their old blues band and make it happen. When they get the police force on their tail for wrecking havoc as it were, these brothers find they have a hurdle standing in the way of their `mission from God'.
The performances are all strong, especially from Belushi and Aykroyd. They deliver their extended SNL-skit personas wittily and effectively. They are supported by a slew of musical guests from Ray Charles to Aretha Franklin, all of which big a smile to the face of the audience members. Also look out for a funny turn from Carrie Fisher who plays a homicidal ex-girlfriend.
Like I said, the film is fun (adult fun thanks to some harsh language) and maybe that is a little bit of my disappointment with the film. I know that I'm gonna get some `unhelpful' votes for this one, and probably a few "it's an R-rated movie, what do you expect?" type comments, but anyone who knows me and has read my reviews knows that I never gripe about a films mature content. All I'm saying is that this subject (the subject of `The Blues Brothers') brings back some very wholesome and just wonderful memories for me that the film in a small way was able to diminish. The language was unnecessary, but whatever. It's still a fun movie, a classic at that, and I won't hesitate to watch it again.
Maybe I'm just looking for something to complain about.
Customer Rating:
Summary: All time Classic
Comment: I didn't realize I bought this here, but this is a classic flick if there ever was one. At least for the guys. Great blues type music through out the movie, a lot of great musician cameos, and one of the best SNL made movies ever.
Customer Rating:
Summary: classic comedy
Comment: When Jake and Elwood Blues are reunited after Jake's stint in Joliet, Jake finds that the beloved Bluesmobile has been replaced by a former City of Mount Prospect police car, and the Blues Brothers Band has been disbanded.
They visit "the penguin," the nun who runs the orphanage where they grew up, only to find that the orphanage will be shut down unless they come up with $5000 in back taxes. Since she vetoes any suggestion of ill-gotten gains, Jake comes up with a plan: put the band back together.
From then on it's non-stop action, laughs, and music, as they're "on a mission from God" to collect the former band members one by one, equip them, then try to get enough gigs to earn the money. Along the way, they also collect quite a trail of people out to get them: a mystery woman armed with everything from a bazooka to a flamethrower, Illinois Nazis, a country-western band, as well as the cops.
Star-studded doesn't begin to cover the casting, either. It's practically a who's who of rhythm and blues, as well as immediately recognizable actors. Check the IMDB for the list.
As with Blazing Saddles, the humor is hilarious without being pointless. Maybe I'm showing my age, but my sons agreed, and it's something we've discussed about other movies as well. In this case, nobody's safe from being skewered by humor, and everything's a target: relationships, crime, racism, poverty, country music, etc., etc. It's no surprise that The Blues Brothers' roots are in the original irreverent TV show (SNL).
Anyway, it's a classic that I never get tired of, and I'm not a very patient person when it comes to re-watching movies, so that's saying something. Plus, it's fun to send the boys off to school in the morning with "remember, you're on a mission from God." (Okay, maybe that's just fun for me.)
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Blues Brothers
Comment: It's the BEST Movie ever according to my brother! But I enjoyed it too a must buy!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Classic film
Comment: If you didn't see it, you got to get it! Classic saturday night live skit in a movie.
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Editorial Reviews:
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After building up the duo's popularity through popular recordings and several performances on Saturday Night Live, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd--as "legendary" Chicago blues brothers Jake and Elwood Blues--took their act to the big screen in this action-packed hit from 1980. As Jake and Elwood struggle to reunite their old band and save the Chicago orphanage where they were raised, they wreak enough good-natured havoc to attract the entire Cook County police force. The result is a big-budget stunt-fest on a scale rarely attempted before or since, including extended car chases that result in the wanton destruction of shopping malls and more police cars than you can count. Along the way there's plenty of music to punctuate the action, including performances by Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Cab Calloway, and James Brown that are guaranteed to knock you out. As played with deadpan wit by Belushi and Aykroyd, the Blues Brothers are "on a mission from God," and that gives them a kind of reckless glee that keeps the movie from losing its comedic appeal. Otherwise this might have been just a bloated marathon of mayhem that quickly wears out its welcome (which is how some critics described this film and its 1998 sequel). Keep an eye out for Steven Spielberg as the city clerk who stamps some crucial paperwork near the end of the film. --Jeff Shannon
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