The Blues Brothers
1980 · Directed by John Landis
A musical, a car-chase movie, a love letter to Chicago, and a gospel revival all at once. "We're on a mission from God" is the whole movie's thesis and its alibi.
Why It's Cult
The Blues Brothers shouldn't work. It's a two-hour-plus SNL sketch that destroys more cars than any movie in history up to that point. It works because Belushi and Aykroyd believed it. Because Aretha Franklin got to perform "Think" in a diner. Because sometimes the only correct answer to "what should this movie be" is "everything, all at once, with a horn section."
The Plot, Officially
After the release of Jake Blues from prison, he and brother Elwood go to visit "The Penguin", the last of the nuns who raised them in an orphanage. They learn the Archdiocese will stop supporting the school and will sell the place to the Education Authority. The only way to keep the place open is if the $5000 tax on the property is paid within 11 days. The Blues Brothers want to help, and decide to put their blues band back together and raise the money by staging a big gig. As they set off on their "mission from God" they seem to make more enemies along the way. Will they manage to come up with the money in time?
Gateway Scenes
Act 2
Aretha Franklin performing "Think" in the diner.
If this doesn't convert them, nothing will. One of the greatest musical sequences ever filmed.
Starring
John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Cab Calloway
Where to Watch
via JustWatch →
