The Blues Brothers (John Landis)
I was motivated to watch this again for the first time in years by its usage as the theme for the
OpenBSD 5.7 release art and song. The release typically ships with a variety of jokes based on the theme (usually appropriated lines from the film), so it helps if I'm familiar with the original work.
This film is one of those over-the-top, ludicrously silly films that never even attempts to take itself seriously. It parodies the unrealistic nature of action flicks by taking the close shaves and overengineered pursuits to preposterous extremes; at one stage during the extended car chase that leads up to the film's climax, this is even lampshaded as the police authorise "unnecessary violence" in the capture of the elusive Blues Brothers.
The duo for which the film is named consists of two men with a penchant for making enemies of just about everyone they meet, as well as a happy-go-lucky attitude that, by rights, should make them the easiest pair of troublemakers to apprehend. Instead, they spend the entire film sending police cars, other bands, hotels, petrol stations and the entire city of Chicago into mayhem as they make unbelievable getaways, seemingly effortlessly.
This isn't a film that can be taken seriously, but for the hyperbolic comedy it aims to be -- in the same genre as such classics as
Dude, Where's My Car? and
Anchorman -- it is a thoroughly enjoyable film. It also features various well-known singers, such as Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, and musical performances that make up in spirit what they lack in depth. I won't call it a great film, but I enjoyed it.