|
Smacked into taking on the assignment by a ruler-wielding
nun, The Penguin, the boys head out recruiting former members
of the Blues Brothers Band to stage a concert and save the
orphans from being homeless.
Along the way they run into some people who can sing and
perform a bit - Ray Charles, James Brown, Aretha Franklin,
Cab Calloway, Johnny Lee Hooker - and get down to some serious
bootie shaking or, more correctly, tail-feather shaking.
The music is just excellent - the soundtrack won three Grammys,
sold 3.5 million albums and is chokkers with such fantastic
songs as Charles' Shake Your Tail Feather, Franklin's
Think, Calloway's Minnie the Moocher, and the Blues
Brothers' Stand by Your Man, Everybody Needs Somebody
to Love and the unforgettable theme from Rawhide.
In between the tasty musical numbers, there are a host of
guest stars who pop up and interesting moments including Frank
Oz, Carrie Fisher and Twiggy.
As you would expect from a yarn about two hopeless cases,
Jake and Elwood manage to get under the skins of some pretty
dangerous characters.
Firstly there are the local Nazis, who are forced to go swimming
when the Bluesmobile runs their bridge-blocking protest into
a river, then a good-ol'-boys band whose red-neck gig is hijacked
by the Blues Brothers, a heavily armed ex-lover who hasn't
taken kindly to being jilted, and … the entire Illinois police
force.
In fact, apart from its chart-topping musical success, the
movie is reknown for its spectacular car chases and vehicle
pile-ups that still hold the world record for the most number
of cars written off.
Who can forget the scene of the Bluesmobile being chased
by scores of police cars with the lights and bells going,
or the aural mismatch of the peace of an elevator's muzak
contrasted with the "hut, hut, hut" bellows from thousands
of National Guardsmen as they storm up a massive stairwell,
or Carrie Fisher being dropped face-first into mud.
The Blues Brothers is one of those movies that should
be on the shelves of anyone who likes music, comedy and sheer
fun.
Conclusion: Rating: 90%
Extras 75%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
|
