The Blues Brothers: Classic comedy

Great music, fantastic comedy and wonderful car chases

I mean tell me, what more could you want?

Now a comedy classic, I remember the first time I saw this movie and I rather suspect that I've watched it at least once a year since. (You know you're getting old when films you saw when they were brand new are now classics).

Classic quotable lines

Many people find that quotes from films and TV shows enter into their family vocabulary and we are no exception. Over the years, I must have owned dozens of t-shirts and merchandise bearing assorted quotes from Jake and Elwood.

Who hasn't wondered who that girl is?' or commented on the arrival of the new Oldsmobiles? You haven't? I'm talking nonsense?

Then you need this in your collection

Now that we have this special anniversary edition, the film is finding new fans who were too young to see it the first time round and it's often shown on television so it gets new fans all the time. But when it's shown on TV, it is usually cut to smithereens, no doubt thanks to censorship or to make it fit in perfectly with the time slot available in the schedule.

But when you have the DVD not only can enjoy the fabulous music and the immense daftness of this film at anytime, you'll also see it as it's supposed to be and not just the way the television networks think you ought to see it.

Now that so many new fans are discovering this movie, you'll be lost and baffled if someone tells you that they want to buy your women and your children and you haven't a clue what they are talking about.

And oh, the music

Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi had a genuine, real-life blues band - this wasn't an acting thing. So naturally when this film was made they surrounded themselves with the very best musicians for their band and for other characters throughout the film.

I can't think of any other film that has a line-up of musical stars the way this movie does.

Combine this with a crazy plot, great characters and lots of action

And what have you got? An absolute classic that is an essential in all DVD collections. This edition has a variety of extras too and makes a wonderful gift that will be enjoyed over and over. When you watch the film don't miss:

• The scene in Bob's Country Bunker (where they have 'country and western!') where the plugs are pulled on the electric guitars and the band has to improvise rapidly and hilariously
• The soul food diner where Jake and Elwood go to find two members of their ex-band. What a performance with truly classic comedy dialogue and a great song routine
• The prison warden who is enumerating Jake's belongings when he leaves jail - just one of the many brilliant cameos in this film. Watch carefully for them - some are obvious,others more subtle
• All the car chases - they are all magnificent. I read a statistic about how many cars were wrecked and I can't remember the exact number (typically) but it was a pretty impressive amount
• Every single music scene is nothing short of wonderful

I first saw this film when I lived in England from a bootleg VHS video which a friend brought along one day.

We begged him to leave it for us so that we could have it copied - and I have a feeling that doing so wasn't strictly legal in those days but we had to have it. Before long, we'd watched it so many times that the quality of the tape (that makes me sound so old!) was pretty dodgy. But we knew the lines that were hard to hear and just playing the movie was great fun, despite the flaws on the tape.

Thank goodness that those days are over and we now have a pristine and perfect DVD version.

Watch the trailer

For a taste of what you can expect, see below.

Actually,the trailer features more banging and crashing than I'd like (why so many explosions?) and doesn't show enough humor or music but I suppose the people who put the trailer together know what appeals to the general public!.

Scroll down further and see quotes from the film (you'll have to click to enlarge).