Product Description

THE BROTHERS LEAN THAT THIER OLD ORPHANAGE WILL BE CLOSED AND SOLD WITHIN DAYS UNLESS THE PROPETY TAX IS PAID AND QUICKLY. SO THEY DECIDE TO PUT THEIR BLUES BAND BACK TOGETHER AND START THEIR MISSION FROM GOD WHICH SEEMS TO MAKE MORE ENEMIES THAN FRIENDS. WILL THEY COME UP WITH THE MONEY IN TIME.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1099 in DVD
• Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
• Released on: 2005-08-30
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 133 minutes

Amazon.com
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

DVD features
The bonus features on The Blues Brothers (25th Anniversary Edition) are good enough that you'll wish there were more of them. On side A of the two-sided disc, "Stories Behind the Making of The Blues Brothers" is an excellent 56-minute retrospective (included on the previous DVD release) that fully captures the spirit of the film's exuberant production, highlighted by interviews with nearly all of the primary cast and crew, plus on-set footage (including the late John Belushi) from a vintage behind-the-scenes promo film. On side B, the "Introduction by Dan Aykroyd" is cursory at best, and at 22 seconds it's way too brief (perhaps because Aykroyd's anecdotes can be found in the retrospective). "Going Rounds: A Day on the Blues Brothers Tour" is a seven-minute featurette showing Aykroyd and Jim Belushi as the 2005 incarnation of The Blues Brothers, and... well, hey guys, maybe it's time to hang it up and admit that it'll never be the same without John. Your time is better spent on the 15-minute featurette "Transposing the Music," which chronicles the spin-offs inspired by the film, and includes interviews with Aykroyd, John Goodman (costar of The Blues Brothers 2000), composers Howard Shore and Paul Shaffer, and others. "Remembering John" is an essential tribute to Aykroyd's inimitable Saturday Night Live and Blues Brothers costar, with fond and funny remembrance by Aykroyd, director John Landis (one of Hollywood's funniest raconteurs), Belushi's widow Judy Belushi-Pisano, and others who were close to the late comedy legend. It's a fitting honor to one-half of the great, original Blues Brothers duo, immortalized by Landis's 1980 hit, which is looking more and more like a classic with each passing year. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

We're On A Mission From God...But Made a Deal With The Devil
What a let down! The promise of "never before seen footage" turns out to be the same "never before seen footage" from the last DVD. The bonus materials on this disc are a joke (and not in a funny "ha ha" way). The special "Introduction to the film by Dan Aykroyd" is 23 seconds long. The "Day on the Blues Brothers Tour" is nothing more than a lame performance by the current Blues Brothers at the House of Blues. But the real insult is the featurette called "Remembering John: An ultimate portrait of John Belushi." It clocks in at 9 minutes long (including credits). Ultimate?? This is John Belushi, not Garrett Morris!

You might be reading this wondering, "So what was this guy expecting?" Well, how about an audio commentary? Perhaps some outtakes? Bloopers? Maybe concert footage of the REAL Blues Brothers on tour with Steve Martin? Why not include Blues Brothers performance footage from SNL? How about revisiting the locations made famous in the movie (the abandoned mall is still standing and still abandoned)? Instead, they chose to include John performing as the Killer Bee on SNL. Instead of a track listing booklet inside the case, they'd rather you have an ad for other "great" DVD titles available from Universal. Instead of never before seen footage, you get the same documentary, the same production notes/pictures, and the same interviews that were included in the previous release.

It's obvious that this was thrown together with little thought or effort. The Chicago Sun Times did a better tribute piece to the anniversary of the Blues Brothers than Aykroyd did for his own film.

Oh well...only five more years until the 30th Anniversary Edition comes out.

"We're on a mission from God"
The Blues Brothers is a true classic movie, one of the few SNL movies that is actually a good story. Joliet Jake is recently released from prison and picked up by his brother Elwood. The two discover that the orphanage they grew up in is going to be sold to the Board of Education unless they can raise $5,000 to give to the State Assesors office. The Blues Brothers try to get the money by putting their band back together and doing a few gigs. Along the way, they anger the Illinois State Police, the Illinois Nazi Party, the owner of Bob's Country Bunker, and a band from Nashville, the Good Ole Boys. This movie is great from beginning to end. The musical numbers are all great including Jake's revelation in the church, Ray Charles singing Shake Your Tail Feather, Aretha Franklin singing in her soul food diner, the peformance in Bob's Country Bunker, and finally the concert at the end including two of their best songs. As well, there is action galore from Elwood jumping a bridge with their 1974 Dodge Sedan to their chaotic ride through a crowded mall to the police chase at the end through the streets of Chicago( especially Lower Wacker Drive) and the chase up the staircase to the Assessor's office. The Blues Brothers has something for everybody and should not be missed.

The Blues Brothers are played to perfection by John Belushi as Jake and Dan Aykroyd as Elwood. The two actors are hysterical together throughout as they anger just about everybody in the city of Chicago. There are far too many lines to mention, but it is obvious that they had fun making this movie. There are plenty of musical cameos also including Cab Calloway, James Brown as a preacher, Aretha Franklin as the owner of a Soul Food diner, Ray Charles as the owner of music store, and John Lee Hooker as a street peformer on Maxwell Street. The film also stars Carrie Fisher, John Candy, Kathleen Freeman, Henry Gibson, and many more. Also look out for a very funny cameo by Frank Oz and a short appearance by Steven Spielberg. Also worth mentioning is the Blues Brothers band including Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Murphy Dunne, "Blue Lou" Marini, Tom "Bones" Malone, Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, Alan Rubin, and Willy "Two Bits" Hall. The Collector's Edition DVD offers widescreen presentation, the original theatrical trailer, a making of documentary with interviews with the cast and crew, and footage not seen since the original release in 1980. This is a great movie that all viewers will find something to like in it. Do not miss this classic!

I want the original version!
I love The Blues Brothers. This is one of the all-time great comedies; a truly epic comedy. In it's original form, it is flawless from beginning to end. Five Stars easily.

Unfortunately, this "Special Edition" dvd includes 15+ minutes of scenes. Not under a "deleted scenes" section, which would have been appropriate and very welcome, but inserted into the movie itself. To be fair, the extra footage doesn't really hurt the music scenes. But did we really need to see Elwood at his place of employment? Did we really need to see where the Blues-mobile is stored when not being driven? None of the extra footage adds anything to the movie. In fact, it really ruins the perfect pacing of the regular cut.

I truly hope Universal sees the error of their ways and reissues this film on DVD with the original cut. They could even make the added footage viewable within the movie, through seamless branching, but for the love of Pete, give us the option!!!