Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: "The Blues Brothers"...Released 30 Years Ago Today

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Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 06-20-2010, 06:36 PM:

John Landis' "The Blues Brothers" was released on this date thirty years ago.

1) How many of you saw "The Blues Brothers" in its original theatrical release?

2) Do you believe "The Blues Brothers" is a classic worthy of discussion/celebration?

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 06-20-2010, 07:55 PM:

1) - Not me, I am under 60 years old.

2) - Not really. I always thought it was supposed to be a comedy, but it definitely isn't. Instead, it's a vehicle for poorly-acted cameos. Also, I have always hated John Belushi and I do not miss his existence.

Posted by Victor Liorentas (Member # 5272) on 06-20-2010, 08:20 PM:

1. Yes me! Again saw it at the Odeon 1 and i am only 25 with 20 years experience!
2.At first i thought it was less than funny and a bit long yet i still liked it so saw it many more times and found it got better and better due to the music!
So i am now a big fan and have my own 16mm print!

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 06-20-2010, 08:31 PM:

Yep! It's one of my favorite films. Definately a worthy classic and many in it are now gone! It gave Aretha Franklin and Cab Calloway an entire new chapter in their lives and exposed them to at least two generations of people that had never even seen them. I saw it at the Chicago Theater in it's initial release. I want to say there were no optical stereo prints but there may have been some 4 track mag prints. The production went way over budget and way over time. I had a 70mm preview of it at one point in time... don't know what happened to it though. It had a very strange 4 track mix on it... Also watched quite a bit of the filming of it around Chicago land including the gas station sequence. A friend on his way to work one morning actually pulled into that gas station just after construction was finished thinking it was a real gas station! He immediately found out it was not. It was located on Il. Rt 59 just south of Rt. 38, west side of the street. I have pictures at home of some of that I should dig out and post here. Just post a line from the movie on your Facebook page some time and see how many lines you get back in just a short time. Oh and during the filming there was a small scandal about the then Mayor Jane Byrne selling the studio all those cop cars on the cheap... She also briefly appears on the movie...

"He broke my watch!"

"It's got cop shocks, Cop suspension, runs good on regular gas... Fix the cigarette lighter"

"How often do the trains go by?.... So often you'll never notice them"

"New Chryslers are in early this year"

"Lots of space in this mall"

"We're on a mission from God"

"It's 9:00... we got to go to work"

"Our Lady Of The Blessed Accelerator"

And so on... this is one movie that never runs out of bulletts, car pile ups, chase sequences, and gas!

Posted by Jake Spell (Member # 5294) on 06-20-2010, 08:45 PM:

1. No I'm way to young to had seen it in theaters, but I do own the 25th (i think) remastered dvd, which has some great re mastering of the audio. I never thought that movie would sound so good!

2.I remember watching The Blues Brothers as a child and falling in love with it, it was even better watching it and getting most of the comedy. This is one of my favorite comedies

Posted by Victor Liorentas (Member # 5272) on 06-20-2010, 10:08 PM:

Wow thanks for that info Mark! Hope you can post those picture's!
[Smile]

You want i should wipe the dead bugs off your windshield?

Posted by Greg Anderson (Member # 235) on 06-20-2010, 11:08 PM:

Yes, I saw it during its initial run at a theatre in Schaumburg, Illinois... about the best theatre around which was also close to Mount Prospect. So, the moment Elwood mentioned Mount Prospect, the crowd was hooked. TOO classic!

(I thought the sign in front of the theatre said "Dolby Stereo" but, no matter what format it was, I definitely heard stereo separation in the church scene with James Brown as the reverend.)

Granted, I was only 14 years old and we felt both sneaky and fortunate that the theatre didn't seem to care about the whole R-rating thing on this particular film. But I still concede that the movie should have been rated PG to begin with. It would have been far more successful and it really wouldn't have changed the movie significantly to throw away the F-bombs. Making this as an R-rated movie is the all-time, number one blunder in the history of cinema!

I recently watched the behind-the-scenes segment on the 25th anniversary DVD. There's no question that this is a classic worthy of discussion/celebration. Unfortunately, Dan Aykroyd only matched this brilliance once, with the original Ghostbusters.

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 06-21-2010, 02:06 AM:

quote: Greg Anderson
Making this as an R-rated movie is the all-time, number one blunder in the history of cinema!

I agree, and this reminds me of Universal Pictures executive Ned Tanen famously (or is it infamously) predicting shortly before its release that "The Blues Brothers" would be 1980's most successful movie. Tanen even went so far as to title-drop "The Empire Strikes Back" as one of the movies "The Blues Brothers" would outperform at the box-office. Was Tanen serious, or was he just saying something outrageous to drum up publicity? I mean, the "R" rating (and two-hour-plus running time) should have been a clue that the film would not be a huge success.

(For the record, "The Empire Strikes Back" finished 1980 in the #1 position with a domestic gross around $200 million; "The Blues Brothers" finished at #10 barely topping $50 million.)

I realize some filmmakers/studios/audiences prefer R-rated films, often for reasons of authenticity, but there's no question an R rating is a box-office handicap. In the 40+ years the MPAA has been assigning ratings, I think it can be counted on one hand the number of times an R-rated film was a year's top-grosser.

Posted by Victor Liorentas (Member # 5272) on 06-21-2010, 02:19 AM:

In Canada the rating was revised from R to Adult Entertainment or PG after the first week and F words were cut to make this possible i believe?!?

I seem to remember this but now i am not sure but i was 16 years old and allowed admission.

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 06-21-2010, 02:53 AM:

I've only handled 2 prints of The Blues Brothers and both were optical mono. I recall my manager saying the theaters running it in stereo was in 4 channel magnetic, just like Woodstock 10 years prior.
The only Dolby movie we ran that summer was Can't Stop The Music.
Mann Slide Road, across the street from us, was running Xanadu, in mono. The Mann's Fox ran Empire Strikes Back, in mono. And Caddyshack.
Didn't Urban Cowboy come out that summer?

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 06-21-2010, 06:42 AM:

You won't find the Dolby logo on this film, at least not on its initial release...all stereo prints I known about were 4-track.

Though I have yet to attain 60-years of age, I did see it on its initial release and have shown it.

Steve

Posted by Hillary Charles (Member # 769) on 06-21-2010, 08:04 AM:

quote:
I agree, and this reminds me of Universal Pictures executive Ned Tanen famously (or is it infamously) predicting shortly before its release that "The Blues Brothers" would be 1980's most successful movie. Tanen even went so far as to title-drop "The Empire Strikes Back" as one of the movies "The Blues Brothers" would outperform at the box-office. Was Tanen serious, or was he just saying something outrageous to drum up publicity?

Maybe it was an impotent swipe at George Lucas. The two of them had bad blood since the infamous preview of "American Graffiti." Just a guess.

BTW, I saw this on the big screen on a double bill with "Cheech and Chong's Next Movie" (1981 or 1982?) It was funny seeing Paul Reubens in both movies. IMO, he was the best thing in the C&C movie, but I loved "The Blues Brothers" from the very beginning!

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 06-21-2010, 08:07 AM:

In the Los Angeles market it opened on Hollywood Blvd. at the Mann's Hollywood Theatre and on the Westside of the city at the former Plitt Century Plaza Theatre both in 4-Track Mag. Stereo.
I saw it at both theatres that weekend. Had a ball. Later Universal did a double feature release of "The Blues Brothers" and "Cheech and Chong's Next Movie". We got the double at the Picwood Theatre and "Blues Brothers" was one of the 4-Track prints. The Picwood Theatre featured that early double system preview cut of the film.

In 1980 Universal did not use NSS for posters during this time.

The first Universal film I remember to carry a Dolby Stereo logo was "Island" (1980) with Michael Caine from a Peter Benchley novel. (It opened at the Mann's Vogue Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. in 70MM Dolby Stereo).

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 06-21-2010, 08:32 AM:

Saw it an ran it at many theatres in the DC area when it was first released. Loathe it.

Like most Landis films it is over long and horribly edited. The car chase through the mall should be in every film class as how to make a car crash boring. Much like Animal House, the humor there works in spite of the filmmaking. A few of the musical scenes are ok as stand alones (Aretha!). About the only thing worse is the sequel;>

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 06-21-2010, 08:42 AM:

quote: Bill Gabel
The first Universal film I remember to carry a Dolby Stereo logo was "Island" (1980)

While it's true that Universal (1) released "The Blues Brothers" in 4-track mag stereo and (2) was the last of the major studios to fully embrace the use of Dolby Stereo, they did use Dolby on a handful of titles prior to using it on "The Island," including:

1978
American Graffiti (re-release)
The Deer Hunter (70mm & 35mm)
FM
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (70mm & 35mm)
The Wiz (70mm & 35mm)

1979
Dracula
More American Graffiti

FWIW, some British sources claim "The Blues Brothers" was released in the United Kingdom in a 70mm blow-up version with Dolby-encoded six-track mag.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-21-2010, 11:07 AM:

I saw it in a Billings theatre (probably the Fox, now replaced by a performing arts house) and I ran it when we played it. We did pretty fair business on it, as I remember.

It's one of my favorite movies. One of those where if I'm flipping through the TV channels and land on it, I am then planted on that channel until it ends (or until the next commercial break).

I don't agree it should have been rated PG. The language really adds, in this case. "You're gonna look pretty funny tryin' to eat corn on the cob with no fuckin' teeth!" There's probably more "oft-quoted" lines in this movie than most.

The songs are uniformly great.

I do agree the mall car chase sequence goes on too long. They spent a lot of money doing that and it's all on the screen, but it is excessive.

I do think it's way cool that they were able to actually drive through the actual doors of the Chicago federal building. It makes it all the more fun to watch, to know that's NOT a big elaborate set, or a bunch of CGI, but the real live building all those people are racing through.

Posted by Greg Anderson (Member # 235) on 06-21-2010, 11:15 AM:

Universal was always a little weird about audio (in my experience, anyway). They were big on developing/promoting alternative sound systems which other studios were slow to accept. (SenSurround and DTS come to mind.) And, in the early 1980s, when the other studios were using a more "universal" format like optical Dolby Stereo or 6-track 70mm, Universal was still showing things like Scarface, Streets of Fire and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 4-track magnetic 35mm. But those 4-track engagements were very, very limited in the general L.A. area, as a I recall.

As far as the memorable, stereo material in The Blues Brothers, the piano in the church was definitely coming from one side and the organ was coming from the opposite side. But when the camera angle was reversed, the piano and organ sounds were not reversed to match the angle. An artistic choice, for sure, but even at age 14 I noticed and was distracted. But would others have been distracted to hear the piano/organ switch around throughout the scene? Nobody seems to like doing panned dialog either and I guess I agree that front-and-center dialog is the correct choice. I guess.

quote: Mike Blakesley
One of those where if I'm flipping through the TV channels and land on it, I am then planted on that channel until it ends (or until the next commercial break).

...and when you do that, all of the R-rated stuff is gone and it's hardly "missing." I mean, R-rated movies are supposed to be for adults, right? This movie is not an adult film. I was angry at age 14 that I couldn't see it unless I was sneaky (or went to a theatre where they just didn't care). And I still resent that because this is not a movie for grown-ups as much as it is for teenagers.

I'm just sayin'.

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 06-21-2010, 01:28 PM:

The PG-13 rating would not arrive for another 4 years and had it been around in 1980 then Blues Brothers could have been toned down to that...
But yet I like it the way it is, R rating and all.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 06-21-2010, 03:38 PM:

My home town first ran 'The Blues Brothers' as a support feature to the Dyan Cannon megahit (!) 'Coast To Coast'. The town had never played the film prior to this and it opened Wednesday, November 18th, 1981.

I thought it was fabulous. Especially the Spielberg cameo at the end.

I have run it many times since but only once in four track mag as a Saturday afternoon matinee at the old Valhalla in Glebe for about 400 patrons. That was pretty special.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-22-2010, 05:37 PM:

quote: Greg Anderson
...and when you do that, all of the R-rated stuff is gone and it's hardly "missing."

Well....watching the Blues Brothers with the R-rated stuff gone is better than not watching it at all, but it definitely waters down the film to have the language chopped out.

I mean, some things just can't be PG-ized and still be funny:

Elwood: "We've gotta go over and visit the Penguin."

Jake: "No. Fucking. Way."

Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 06-23-2010, 12:31 PM:

Elwood: It's 110 (?) miles to Chicago. We have a full tank of gas, a half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark - and we're wearing sunglasses!

Saw this one at the Eric Feasterville in PA. Was not quite sure what to make of it at first but warmed up to it quickly when the video was released. The extended version has some weird stuff in it but it worth watching for the longer musical performance by John Lee Hooker.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 03-23-2011, 02:50 PM:

Does the 133 minute original version exist on DVD? All I can find is the 141 minute version.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 03-23-2011, 09:36 PM:

Ran it in 4trk mag to a FULL HOUSE (2500 seats-full, that is)! Audience (and me) LOVED it. I wanted to bring it back a number of times but of course the 4trk mag prints were the first to go when studios were pruning their inventories.

The main reason they stopped mixing localized dialog, Greg, is not because it's the correct choice, but because they had NO choice once they lost the discrete tracks of mag sound and had only matrixed two-track which can't handle extreme left or right dialog placement -- it always wants to bleeding into the surrounds. Digital should have solved that problem but I guess the younger mixers are uncomfortable with localized dialog because it does present some tricky aesthetic decisions, particularly like the ones you mentioned with the piano. Personally, I prefer directional over static center dialog any day. Just listen to some really good 70mm mixes and you will see how natural it can be made to sound moving across 5 channels!

Sell me your children!

Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 03-23-2011, 09:54 PM:

John... the R1 25th Anniversary Edition DVD features both cuts of the movie.

I am now 43, and I saw it on its original release. Couldn't tell you where, but I think it was a drive-in.

Oh, and if you can believe it... Hanson, of all people, have the best homage to The Blues Brothers for a recent song of theirs...

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/7364532/19255464

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 03-23-2011, 09:57 PM:

still Great!!

btw: went to college with Robt. K. Weiss. He was my best disc jocket on the dorm radio station. louis

Posted by Victor Liorentas (Member # 5272) on 03-23-2011, 11:57 PM:

I have a nice 16mm print with great color and of course non directional mono sound!

Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 03-24-2011, 05:08 AM:

That song isn't that bad actually. But I like the send up to Rays Music Exchange.

Posted by Robert Harrison (Member # 3202) on 03-25-2011, 01:44 PM:

Back in 1980, I was working at the Golf Mill Theaters 1-2-3 in Niles, Illinois. That building is now a 24 hour health club; there is now another multi-screen place in another part of the same shopping center.

Since the owners had decided to put their only 70 installation in the middle house (1000 seats), where "Empire Strikes Back" played all summer, "Blues Brothers" opened in the biggest house (1500 seats) and filled 'em up, too! Movies filmed in Chicago were a big deal to Chicagoans back then.

Not being sure of its grossing potential, the manager had booked an optical mono print, even though the big house had 4-track mag capablility. After the huge opening night, he was miraculously able to get Universal to send a 4-track print the next day (Saturday), only to then find out that either the left or right screen channel (I forget which) was dead.

So, who comes visiting the theater that night, handing out "Blues Brothers" lapel pins to the staff but John Landis. I wound up standing next to him in the theater as the feature began. As I have found throughout my career, he, like all filmmakers, asked me to go up and tell the projectionist to turn up the sound. I explained to him about the dead channel, but I don't recall his response.

As I had been reading up on directors and how they used the surround channel, I asked him if the film used an ambient or aggressive surround channel. His answer was ambient. But damn, did that movie have great separation in the front channels, so our audiences really got gypped on that until the techs came to figure out the problem. Sorry, I don't recall how long it took them to fix it or what it was exactly, but I wound up going to another theater to see and hear it in its full 4 channel glory.

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 03-29-2011, 08:38 PM:

One of my favorites, have run it many times and seen it many more. Neighborhood Theatres Inc. the local powerhouse chain at the time played it the Byrd Theatre because it was the last theatre they had that still had working 35 mag. and thought the picture would bomb, which would fit into their plan to get out of the theatre. They missed their guess and it played 12 weeks to great crowds, giving the theatre a new short lease.

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 05-11-2011, 03:58 PM:

Universal has set July 26th, 2011 as the release date for the Blu-ray edition of "The Blues Brothers". It will include both theatrical and extended versions of the film. Plus the extras from the 25th. Anniversary edition.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 05-11-2011, 04:45 PM:

Great news! Thanks Bill.