The Blues Brothers/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Elwood:"Illinois Nazis?
Jake: I hate Illinois Nazis."

    • It's never clarified just how Illinois Nazis are worse than any other variety.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: Much of the movie, but the best bit has to be "Everybody Needs Somebody"
    • ... or "Sweet Home Chicago"
    • "Minnie the Moocher"
      • Clearly the winner, hands down
    • Three words: Gimme. Some. Lovin'
      • RAWHIIIIIIIIIDE
    • Say what you will about the sequel, but there's no denying Aretha Franklin's cover of the song that made her famous is amazing.
      • And her performance of "Think" in the first movie is spectacular as well.
    • Shake A Tailfeather
    • For Blues Brothers 2000, anything by The Louisiana Gator Boys is hard to beat. They have Eric Clapton! And B.B. King. And Bo Diddley. And Dr. John. Billy Preston! Charlie Musselwhite. Koko Taylor. And numerous others.
      • Also in Blues Brothers 2000, when the band is cornered at the state fair and perform a haunting rendition of "Ghost Riders In The Sky".
        • It's so awesome it summons undead cowboys on giant Hellish Horses chasing skeletal cattle across the sky! it's quite possibly the most awesome scene ever put on film!
      • 624-5789 and Funky Nassau are also quite catchy.
  • Cult Classic
  • Dead Horse Music Genre:
    • The brothers' booking agent Sline explains that rhythm and blues is past its prime and Disco is in vogue.
    • Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher" was nearly a victim to this trope. When Calloway went in to record, he was under the impression that it was his recent disco version that Landis wanted, and was highly annoyed to find out they wanted him to sing it as he originally did. He presumably changed his mind when his performance of that song in the film made him a star again.
  • Ear Worm: A new one every 10 minutes, but what do you expect when Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, James Brown, and Cab Calloway are cast members?
  • Epic Riff: Frequently.
    • The Peter Gunn Theme is almost as associated with the Blues Brothers as it is for the original TV Show.
  • Genius Bonus: The Triple Rock Baptist Church has Hungarian roots. You can tell by the crooked cross on top of the steeple.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: A Russian gangster promises one of his comrades that they will, eventually, drink vodka from Elwood's skull. Made funnier by the fact that Mr. Aykroyd now has a vodka brand which comes... in a bottle... shaped like a skull. There are even skull-shaped shot glasses available!
    • Also, Elwood's "Who you gonna call, Jake?" at the phone booth is put in entirely new perspective when you consider Aykroyd's other well known work.
    • Recently, another movie has featured an extended, extremely destructive chase scene through the Chicago underpass system. Soundtrack swap material, anyone?
    • "Are you the police?" "No, ma'am, we're musicians." Guess which band was just beginning to become internationally famous at the time when the movie was released?
  • Hilarity Ensues
  • Ho Yay: As the Illinois Nazis plummet thousands of feet to their doom from an overpass, one says to the other, "I've always loved you." The head Nazi is not amused.
  • Memetic Mutation:
    • "We're on a mission from God."
    • "I hate Illinois Nazis."
    • "JESUS H. TAPDANCIN' CHRIST!"
    • "Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, don't fail me now!"
    • "YOU! You got my Cheez Whiz, boy?"
  • Replacement Scrappy: Subverted and played straight in Blues Brothers 2000. Three new Blues Brothers join Elwood, and none of them is a sufficient replacement for Belushi... but their singing is pretty damn good.
    • Some folks actually thought Big Mac (John Goodman's character) came close though. But lacked the sarcastic charm of Jake's character
  • Sequelitis: Blues Brothers 2000 bombed at the box office. But did do better when it went to the home market.
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