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* AluminumChristmasTrees: The Illinois Nazis might seem to a latter-day viewer to be a random bit of craziness. In fact those scenes were inspired by a RealLife Supreme Court case (''National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie'') in which the American Nazi Party won the right to march through the largely Jewish suburb of Skokie, IL. (The Nazis eventually marched through Chicago instead.)
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* CreatorCameo: John Landis is a cop in the second car that shows up to chase the Blues Brothers through the mall.
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Changed line(s) 33 (click to see context) from:
** The light ''was'' yellow, and Illinios state law states that as long as the light is still yellow when the front tires cross the white line. In this instince, the light did not change to red until after he had left the intersection.
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** The light ''was'' yellow, and Illinios state law states that as long as the light is still yellow when the front tires cross the white line.line, the car has legally passed through the intersection. In this instince, the light did not change to red until after he had left the intersection.
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Adding additional information, and that phrasing is horrendous.
* ArtisticLicenseLaw: There's two things wrong with the scene where Elwood is pulled over, then chased around the mall:
** The police who pull him over are State Troopers, not Chicago Police, so pulling someone over for running a red light within Chicago city limits is beyond their jurisdiction (they also go all the way to Wisconsin to arrest the Blues Brothers, which is even worse);
** The light ''was'' yellow, and Illinios state law states that as long as the light is still yellow when the front tires cross the white line. In this instince, the light did not change to red until after he had left the intersection.
** The police who pull him over are State Troopers, not Chicago Police, so pulling someone over for running a red light within Chicago city limits is beyond their jurisdiction (they also go all the way to Wisconsin to arrest the Blues Brothers, which is even worse);
** The light ''was'' yellow, and Illinios state law states that as long as the light is still yellow when the front tires cross the white line. In this instince, the light did not change to red until after he had left the intersection.
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* VehicularSabotage: On their way to sneaking in to their concert, Elwood makes Jake wait while he sprays glue onto the gas pedal of the Good Ol' Boys' RV and fills the police cars' tires with a gas that will expand and blow them.
to:
* VehicularSabotage: On their way to sneaking in to their concert, Elwood makes Jake wait while he sprays glue onto the gas pedal of the Good Ol' Boys' RV and fills the police cars' tires with a gas that will expand and blow them.burst them (although the latter is a deleted scene that didn't quite fit the rest of the film).
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Changed line(s) 159 (click to see context) from:
* PuppyDogEyes: Jake Blues may have executed the most epic use of this trope ever.
to:
* PuppyDogEyes: Jake Blues may have executed the most epic use of this trope ever.ever in order to ''not'' get blasted in the face by his ex-wife.
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Changed line(s) 159 (click to see context) from:
* PuppyDogEyes: Jake Blues make have executed the most epic use of this trope ever.
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* PuppyDogEyes: Jake Blues make may have executed the most epic use of this trope ever.
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Changed line(s) 141 (click to see context) from:
* NoEnding: [[spoiler: The second film ends with Elwood and Buster on the run from authorities; whether they escape is uncertain.]]
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* NoEnding: [[spoiler: The second film ends with Elwood [[spoiler:Elwood and Buster on the run from authorities; whether they escape is uncertain.]]
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* MagicRealism: The car, the Blues Brothers' invulnerability, etc.
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* EtherealChoir: Heard by Jake when he sees the light.
** Also heard by Cab in the sequel when he similarly has an epiphany.
** Also heard by Cab in the sequel when he similarly has an epiphany.
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** In the first film, Elwood's favorite meal is two pieces of dry white toast. He orders it at the soul food restaurant, tries to cook some in his apartment and even pulls some out of his pocket in Ray's music store to try out a toaster oven with. In the second film, the police invade Bob's Country Kitchen to look for the Blues Brothers, they notice the table where they were sitting. One of the plates has two pieces of dry white toast on it.
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** BrickJoke: When the police invade Bob's Country Kitchen in the sequel to look for the Blues Brothers, they notice the table where they were sitting. One of the plates has two pieces of dry white toast on it.
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** BrickJoke: When the police invade Bob's Country Kitchen in the sequel to look for the Blues Brothers, they notice the table where they were sitting. One of the plates has two pieces of dry white toast on it.
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** BrickJoke: When the police invade Bob's Country Kitchen in the sequel to look for the Blues Brothers, they notice the table where they were sitting. One of the plates has two pieces of dry white toast on it.
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Changed line(s) 68 (click to see context) from:
** It survives jump after jump, being driven through a shopping mall, and a high-speed chase with a thrown rod, among other things - and then it ''literally'' falls apart upon reaching the property tax office. Elwood briefly pauses to pay his last respects to the wreck while the cops are still chasing them.
to:
** It survives jump after jump, being driven through a [[TheMall shopping mall, mall]], and a high-speed chase with a thrown rod, among other things - and then it ''literally'' falls apart upon reaching the property tax office. Elwood briefly pauses to pay his last respects to the wreck while the cops are still chasing them.
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* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot: Somehow, despite being being only 106 miles away from Chicago at midnight, and traveling at a high rate of speed, the Blues Brothers do not arrive in Chicago until 8 a.m. or so when the Cook County Assessor's Office is open.
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* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Aykroyd's original script is said to have been phonebook-sized and included special recruitment scenes for each band member. Considering the size of the band, this could have elevated things to unfeasibly epic proportions.
** These scenes and many others cut from the original script are in the novelization of the film.
** These scenes and many others cut from the original script are in the novelization of the film.
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Deleted line(s) 143 (click to see context) :
* OneSceneWonder: As noted, several examples, the most memorable perhaps being Kathleen Freeman's "[[NunsAreFunny Penguin]]."
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* CrazyPrepared: Elwood produces various props that are all exactly perfect for whatever needs to be done, from spare white bread for toasting to the materials needed to sabotage elevators and vehicles.
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* VehicularSabotage: On their way to sneaking in to their concert, Elwood makes Jake wait while he sprays glue onto the gas pedal of the Good Ol' Boys' RV. Later during the big ChaseScene, the driver's foot becomes stuck to the pedal (and the pedal stuck to the floorboard), causing him to go out of control and crash.
to:
* VehicularSabotage: On their way to sneaking in to their concert, Elwood makes Jake wait while he sprays glue onto the gas pedal of the Good Ol' Boys' RV. Later during RV and fills the big ChaseScene, the driver's foot becomes stuck to the pedal (and the pedal stuck to the floorboard), causing him to go out of control police cars' tires with a gas that will expand and crash.blow them.
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** During the mall chase, one of the officers in the flipped police car laments that he broke his watch in the chase. During the pileup on the highway shortly after dawn in the finale chase, one of the officers in the background is heard complaining of a broken watch as he climbs out of the wrecked car.
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Added info about the novelization of the film
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** These scenes and many others cut from the original script are in the novelization of the film.
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Changed line(s) 13,14 (click to see context) from:
There was a sequel -- ''BluesBrothers 2000'' -- in 1998. This film didn't go over as well as the original, in part because some important players -- most notably JohnBelushi -- had died in the interim. (The death [[RealLifeWritesthePlot was actually worked into]] [[LampshadeHanging the film's plot]], but it didn't really help. Though at the least it was respectful to Belushi.) Some admit that though the plot wasn't as up to snuff as the original, the music at least was pretty good. JohnLandis helmed the director's chair on both movies.
to:
There was a sequel -- ''BluesBrothers 2000'' -- in 1998. This film didn't go over as well as the original, in part because some important players -- most notably JohnBelushi -- had died in the interim. (The death [[RealLifeWritesthePlot was actually worked into]] [[LampshadeHanging [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim the film's plot]], but it didn't really help. Though at the least it was respectful to Belushi.) Some admit that though the plot wasn't as up to snuff as the original, the music at least was pretty good. JohnLandis helmed the director's chair on both movies.
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* TheCharacterDiedWithHim: John Belushi / Jake.
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* BattleOfTheBands: Where the band is ultimately headed to in the sequel.
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** The car in the sequel can drive ''underwater''.
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** "Orange Whip? Orange Whip? Orange Whip?"
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Changed line(s) 13,14 (click to see context) from:
There was a sequel -- ''BluesBrothers 2000'' -- in 1998. This film didn't go over as well as the original, in part because some important players -- most notably JohnBelushi -- had died in the interim. (The death [[RealLifeWritesthePlot was actually worked into]] [[LampshadeHanging the film's plot]], but it didn't really help. Though at the least it was respectful to Belushi). Some admit that though the plot wasn't as up to snuff as the original, the music at least was pretty good. JohnLandis helmed the director's chair on both movies.
to:
There was a sequel -- ''BluesBrothers 2000'' -- in 1998. This film didn't go over as well as the original, in part because some important players -- most notably JohnBelushi -- had died in the interim. (The death [[RealLifeWritesthePlot was actually worked into]] [[LampshadeHanging the film's plot]], but it didn't really help. Though at the least it was respectful to Belushi). Belushi.) Some admit that though the plot wasn't as up to snuff as the original, the music at least was pretty good. JohnLandis helmed the director's chair on both movies.
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** Makes it more of a downer in the sequel when its revealed [[spoiler: the oprhange closed down during Jake's second stint in the clink making all their efforts pointless]]
to:
** Makes it more of a downer in the sequel when its revealed [[spoiler: the oprhange orphanage closed down during Jake's second stint in the clink making all their efforts pointless]]
Changed line(s) 202 (click to see context) from:
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Akroyd's original script is said to have been phonebook-sized and included special recruitment scenes for each band member. Considering the size of the band, this could have elevated things to unfeasibly epic proportions.
to:
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Akroyd's Aykroyd's original script is said to have been phonebook-sized and included special recruitment scenes for each band member. Considering the size of the band, this could have elevated things to unfeasibly epic proportions.
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Adding a trope.
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* JustTakeThePoster: One of the Nazis brings a poster promoting the band's gig at the Palace Hotel Ballroom, which he had obviously torn off a wall somewhere, to the leader of the Illinois Nazi Party.
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Changing Namespace, yeah
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Wondering what they could do to save the orphanage, Jake sees the light -- literally -- while listening to a sermon from JamesBrown. During the lively service, he has an epiphany and receives a MissionFromGod: the Blues Brothers must [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether get their band back together]] and raise the money to save their old orphanage ''no matter what''. Along the way, they meet up with CabCalloway, [[StarWars Carrie Fisher]], ArethaFranklin, RayCharles, John Candy, Twiggy, [[TheMuppetShow Frank Oz]], Chaka Khan, John Landis, Paul Reubens and StevenSpielberg. HilarityEnsues, and [[RefugeInAudacity every last police car in the state of Illinois is destroyed]].
to:
Wondering what they could do to save the orphanage, Jake sees the light -- literally -- while listening to a sermon from JamesBrown. During the lively service, he has an epiphany and receives a MissionFromGod: the Blues Brothers must [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether get their band back together]] and raise the money to save their old orphanage ''no matter what''. Along the way, they meet up with CabCalloway, [[StarWars Carrie Fisher]], ArethaFranklin, RayCharles, John Candy, Twiggy, [[TheMuppetShow Frank Oz]], Chaka Khan, John Landis, Paul Reubens and StevenSpielberg.Creator/StevenSpielberg. HilarityEnsues, and [[RefugeInAudacity every last police car in the state of Illinois is destroyed]].
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** Big Mack in the sequel
to:
** Big Mack in the sequel sequel
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* AllStarCast: Bit parts for the likes of Ray Charles, John Candy, Aretha Franklin, Carrie Fisher, James Brown, CabCalloway, and Henry Gibson, plus cameos by StevenSpielberg, Frank Oz, and Twiggy. Paul Reubens also appears, [[RetroactiveRecognition pre-"Pee-Wee Herman" fame]].
to:
* AllStarCast: Bit parts for the likes of Ray Charles, John Candy, Aretha Franklin, Carrie Fisher, James Brown, CabCalloway, and Henry Gibson, plus cameos by StevenSpielberg, Creator/StevenSpielberg, Frank Oz, and Twiggy. Paul Reubens also appears, [[RetroactiveRecognition pre-"Pee-Wee Herman" fame]].
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* CatchPhrase: "We're on a [[MissionFromGod mission from God]]."
to:
* CatchPhrase: "We're on a [[MissionFromGod mission from God]].MissionFromGod."
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* CoolShades: Which they almost never take off.
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* CoolShades: Which they almost never take off.
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-->''"It's got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters, so it'll run good on regular gas. What do you say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what?"''
to:
-->''"It's got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters, so it'll run good on regular gas. What do you say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what?"'' what?"''
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* DrivingIntoATruck: ''Literally''. A police squad car jumps off the side of a freeway, smashing into the side of a passing truck.
to:
* DrivingIntoATruck: ''Literally''. A police squad car jumps off the side of a freeway, smashing into the side of a passing truck.
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* OrphanageOfLove: St. Helen of the Blessed Shroud, where Jake and Elwood grew up and what they risked everything to save.
to:
* OrphanageOfLove: St. Helen of the Blessed Shroud, where Jake and Elwood grew up and what they risked everything to save.
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* OverlyPolitePals: The brothers invoke this trope when they go into Mr. Fabulous' restaurant, taking each other's arms.
to:
* OverlyPolitePals: The brothers invoke this trope when they go into Mr. Fabulous' restaurant, taking each other's arms.
Changed line(s) 195 (click to see context) from:
* VehicularSabotage: On their way to sneaking in to their concert, Elwood makes Jake wait while he sprays glue onto the gas pedal of the Good Ol' Boys' RV. Later during the big ChaseScene, the driver's foot becomes stuck to the pedal (and the pedal stuck to the floorboard), causing him to go out of control and crash.
to:
* VehicularSabotage: On their way to sneaking in to their concert, Elwood makes Jake wait while he sprays glue onto the gas pedal of the Good Ol' Boys' RV. Later during the big ChaseScene, the driver's foot becomes stuck to the pedal (and the pedal stuck to the floorboard), causing him to go out of control and crash.
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** The sequel begins with Elwood getting out of jail, though [[RealLifeWritesThePlot Jake did not join him]].
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* HurricaneOfExcuses: Jake's list of excuses as to why he failed to show up to marry Carrie Fisher.
-->"No I didn't. Honest... I ran out of gas. I, I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood! ''Locusts!'' '''IT WASN'T MY FAULT I SWEAR TO GOOOD!'''"
-->"No I didn't. Honest... I ran out of gas. I, I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood! ''Locusts!'' '''IT WASN'T MY FAULT I SWEAR TO GOOOD!'''"
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** Later Jake gives an entire HurricaneOfExcuses to Carrie Fisher's character about why he stood her up at their wedding.
to:
** Later Jake gives an entire See also HurricaneOfExcuses to Carrie Fisher's character about why he stood her up at their wedding.above.
Changed line(s) 126 (click to see context) from:
* TheMusical: Not to extent of most stage musicals, but...
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* TheMusical: Not to extent of most stage musicals, but...TheMusical
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** Perhaps one of the most interesting ones being that they found a closed-off shopping mall (Dixie Square Mall) and set up some fake stores in it for that scene. The abandoned mall is still there, but it's been abandoned ever since and has been left to rot and decay.
*** Final structural demolition of Dixie Square Mall began February 15, 2012.
*** Final structural demolition of Dixie Square Mall began February 15, 2012.
to:
** Perhaps one of the most interesting ones being that they found a closed-off shopping mall (Dixie Square Mall) and set up some fake stores in it for that scene. The abandoned mall is still there, but it's been remained abandoned ever since and has been left to rot and decay.
*** Final structuralfor over thirty more years until demolition of Dixie Square Mall began February 15, 2012. commenced in 2012.
*** Final structural
* {{Thememobile}}: The Bluesmobile.
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* {{Thememobile}}: The Bluesmobile.
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Deleted line(s) 153,154 (click to see context) :
** Now, bear in mind this man has the spatial awareness to sit down at a piano and immediately find, for example, third A-flat. If the director says, "Okay Ray, point it here, no slightly left, a little more, ''perfect''," you can count on Ray aiming it perfectly when the film is rolling. Even so, it's a ''great'' scene.
** As an actual props person, I promise you that is not how that scene went down. Everyone remembers what happened on TheCrow. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Lee]]
** As an actual props person, I promise you that is not how that scene went down. Everyone remembers what happened on TheCrow. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Lee]]
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Moved named tropes to the trivia page.
%% The tropes that a work named is trivia and belongs on the Trivia tab.
Deleted line(s) 15,18 (click to see context) :
!!Trope Namer For:
* MissionFromGod
* PuttingTheBandBackTogether
----
* MissionFromGod
* PuttingTheBandBackTogether
----
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* ChekhovsGun
* ChekhovsLecture: The benefits of a cop car prove necessary.
* ChekhovsLecture: The benefits of a cop car prove necessary.
to:
* ChekhovsGun
* ChekhovsLecture:ChekhovsGun: The benefits of a cop car prove necessary.
* ChekhovsLecture:
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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/BluesBrothers_4443.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"They'll never catch us. We're on a MissionFromGod."]]
->'''Elwood''': ''[[MemeticMutation It's 106 miles to Chicago. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes]], [[SunglassesAtNight it's dark]], [[CoolShades and we're wearing sunglasses]].''
->'''Jake''': ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHa_jqxnn4o Hit it.]]''
Perhaps the greatest -- and certainly the most successful -- ''SaturdayNightLive'' act to spin off from the show into the realm of movies. Back when DanAykroyd wasn't fat and JohnBelushi wasn't dead, they starred together in an occasional sketch-cum-musical-act featuring the two of them in dark suits and [[CoolShades sunglasses]] as "The Blues Brothers"; Belushi was Jake Blues, and Aykroyd was Jake's silent brother Elwood. What made the skits good? The duo were skilled at both the comedy (obviously) and the music (which was surprising). Aykroyd and Belushi spun off their own band with established musicians (members of the SNL house band as well as experienced R&B musicians) and served as the frontmen, in character as Elwood and Jake.
In 1980, they got a musical-extravaganza feature film -- titled ''The Blues Brothers'' -- that quickly and deservedly became a CultClassic. "Joliet" Jake Blues has [[JustGotOutOfJail just been released from prison]], with Elwood there to pick him up in a battered piece of crap that used to be a police car. (Elwood is not silent in this film--he gives some serious lectures.) Fulfilling a promise, the Blues go to the Chicagoland orphanage where they grew up and visit "The Penguin", the nun who runs the place; it is during this meeting that the brothers learn that the orphanage is about to be closed down due to a tax bill that is unable to be paid.
Wondering what they could do to save the orphanage, Jake sees the light -- literally -- while listening to a sermon from JamesBrown. During the lively service, he has an epiphany and receives a MissionFromGod: the Blues Brothers must [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether get their band back together]] and raise the money to save their old orphanage ''no matter what''. Along the way, they meet up with CabCalloway, [[StarWars Carrie Fisher]], ArethaFranklin, RayCharles, John Candy, Twiggy, [[TheMuppetShow Frank Oz]], Chaka Khan, John Landis, Paul Reubens and StevenSpielberg. HilarityEnsues, and [[RefugeInAudacity every last police car in the state of Illinois is destroyed]].
There was a sequel -- ''BluesBrothers 2000'' -- in 1998. This film didn't go over as well as the original, in part because some important players -- most notably JohnBelushi -- had died in the interim. (The death [[RealLifeWritesthePlot was actually worked into]] [[LampshadeHanging the film's plot]], but it didn't really help. Though at the least it was respectful to Belushi). Some admit that though the plot wasn't as up to snuff as the original, the music at least was pretty good. JohnLandis helmed the director's chair on both movies.
----
!!Trope Namer For:
* MissionFromGod
* PuttingTheBandBackTogether
----
!!Tropes present in the films include:
* AbsurdAltitude: The Nazis chasing the Brothers are launched from an unfinished highway ramp... fly as high as the Sears Tower... and fall several miles away, just in time for the Blues Brothers to dodge the hole they made and another Nazi to fall into the hole.
* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: Everyone knows church properties can't be taxed, but that wouldn't make for a plot. Or a nun on rails. Or the best car chase EVER.
** There was actually a law being debated in the Illinois state legislature at the time the film was being written that would have made some church properties taxable, though it was completely dead by the time the film came out, making this movie a sort of AlternateHistory.
* {{Acrofatic}}: John Belushi. Damn, that man could dance...
** Then again, it took a stuntman for the flips in the church scene.
** Big Mack in the sequel
* ActuallyPrettyFunny
-->'''Mercer:''' You know, I kinda liked the Wrigley Field bit.
-->'''Mount:''' [[SarcasmMode Yeah.]] ''Real'' cute.
* AllStarCast: Bit parts for the likes of Ray Charles, John Candy, Aretha Franklin, Carrie Fisher, James Brown, CabCalloway, and Henry Gibson, plus cameos by StevenSpielberg, Frank Oz, and Twiggy. Paul Reubens also appears, [[RetroactiveRecognition pre-"Pee-Wee Herman" fame]].
* AllThereInTheManual: Information about the brothers' background comes from the liner notes of their first album, ''Briefcase Full of Blues'', while fictional backstories are included for the rest of the band members and some other characters found their way into a book written by John Belushi's wife.
* AnimatedAdaptation: In 1997, 6 animated episodes were produced (with Peter Aykroyd and Jim Belushi) for the UPN network but were never aired.
* ATeamFiring: Everyone's a crap shot, except when they're not aiming ''directly'' for the Blues Brothers. Vaguely justified with Holy Protection, but mostly played for RuleOfFunny.
* [[BackedByThePentagon Backed By the Vatican]]: While not so during the production of the movie, in recent years they have admitted to finding it a good, religious movie.
* BackupTwin: Jim Belushi filled in for his late brother in a handful of live shows. Averted in the sequel, where he wasn't cast, due to scheduling and contract issues. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen It could have worked quite nicely]].
** Belushi and Aykroyd currently perform in the [[{{Expy}} Have Love Will Travel]] blues revue.
* BashBrothers: They don't fight a lot, but when they do...
* BavarianFireDrill: Elwood's "puffball bacteria". John Goodman's [[LargeHam intentional hamming it up]] and Evan Bonifant's over-the-top screaming is hilarious, but the rest of the band ''[[CrowningMomentOfFunny completely ignoring them]]'' is what sells it.
* BigWhat: The whole band delivered this when Curtis told them they need to raise the money for the orphanage.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The orphanage is saved, but the Brothers get tossed back into jail.]] The sheer hilarity of the buildup, however, overshadows it.
** Makes it more of a downer in the sequel when its revealed [[spoiler: the oprhange closed down during Jake's second stint in the clink making all their efforts pointless]]
* BloodBrothers: According to supplemental materials, the brothers are not biologically related, but sealed their blood brotherhood at the orphanage by cutting their fingers with Elmore James' guitar string.
* BloodlessCarnage: Despite the ''gazillions'' of dollars in property damage throughout the first movie, nobody dies.
** Except the Nazis, [[AcceptableTargets and that's all right]].
* BerserkButton: Do ''not'' use unacceptable language in front of The Penguin. Taking the Lord's name in vain is even worse.
** Also, you shouldn't go to a country and western bar and try to play the blues. It never ends well.
* BookEnds: The first movie opens and closes with Jake in jail. He's just being released in the beginning and performing while re-incarcerated at the end.
* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Jake's personal effects, being returned to him at the beginning of the movie, include a ''used condom.''
* BrickJoke: Elwood mentions early in the film that he spoofed his address forms to show the address for Wrigley Field. Later in the film, the Illinois Nazis find his information and meet up to discuss tracking him down... in front of Wrigley Field.
* BulletproofFashionPlate: The boys' suits. True to the trope, ending up covered in mud signals that their situation has gone to hell.
* ButtMonkey: The Illinois Nazis; ''all'' of them.
** AcceptableTargets
* CarFu: Taken to an exorbitant amount in ''both'' films, as both contain 50+ car pileups.
** The first film held the Guinness World Record for most cars destroyed in a single movie (reports vary, but the number's about 75 to 80) for ''18 years'', finally being surpassed by the ''sequel'', (over 100, as reported by Guinness) for another 11 years. That's almost 200 cars destroyed and almost 30 years of car-totaling supremacy.
* CastingGag: Paul Shaffer was the band's original keyboardist, but wasn't in the original film because -- in addition to his ''SNL'' commitments -- he was also working on ''Gilda Radner: Live from New York'', a one-woman stage show which starred fellow former ''SNL'' regular Gilda Radner. He finally appeared in ''2000'' as Queen Mouset's assistant, and asks Murph if he wouldn't mind letting him have a crack at the keyboard.
* CasualDangerDialogue: While driving through the mall, Jake and Elwood remark on the variety of stores the mall has. "This place has everything."
* CatchPhrase: "We're on a [[MissionFromGod mission from God]]."
* CelebrityStar: Many famous musicians appear in various roles to sing their hits.
* ChaseScene: Several times. The last half of the first movie is one ''giant'' ChaseScene.
** "We're in a truck!"
* CheckPlease: Bob's Country Kitchen in the second movie.
* ChekhovsGun
* ChekhovsLecture: The benefits of a cop car prove necessary.
* ChezRestaurant: Mr. Fabulous is maître d' at Chez Paul, which (at the time) was the name of an actual high-class restaurant in Chicago.
* CloserToEarth: Aretha Franklin's character, who tries to dissuade her husband from rejoining the Blues Brothers in both films.
* ConceptVideo
* CoolCar: At the beginning of movie, it's WhatAPieceOfJunk; at the end of movie it's TheAllegedCar.
** It survives jump after jump, being driven through a shopping mall, and a high-speed chase with a thrown rod, among other things - and then it ''literally'' falls apart upon reaching the property tax office. Elwood briefly pauses to pay his last respects to the wreck while the cops are still chasing them.
*** [[FridgeBrilliance They no longer needed the car, so it was no longer under God's protection.]]
* CoolOldGuy: Curtis, the janitor at the orphanage played by CabCalloway, who taught Jake and Elwood about the blues.
* CoolShades: Which they almost never take off.
** Flat-out parodied, like everything else, in ''2000'' when Cabel tells Elwood to take his hat and glasses off in the office. The camera pans to Cabel, then back to Elwood - covering his eyes with his arm to avoid being blinded by normal indoor light.
*** What light?
* CrazyEnoughToWork: In the sequel, they shrug off a bunch of Russian gangsters chasing them by dumping out a bag of [[strike:thumb tacks]] [[strike:carpenter nails]] [[InsistentTerminology drywall nails]], which they drive directly into. It works.
* CriticalExistenceFailure: As soon as Jake and Elwood exit the car at the end of the ChaseScene, it literally falls to pieces. Elwood even takes off his hat as a gesture of respect.
* DancePartyEnding: To the Jailhouse Rock, of course.
* DayHurtsDarkAdjustedEyes: See CoolShades
* DebutQueue
* DescriptionPorn: The famous scene when Elwood introduces the Bluesmobile to Jake after jumping the bridge.
-->''"It's got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters, so it'll run good on regular gas. What do you say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what?"''
* DestructiveSavior: Elwood and (to a lesser extent) Jake. To wit: the Blues cause what has to be several million dollars worth of damage to ''just'' the Chicago Police by wrecking all of their cars just to save an orphanage by paying a bill of $5,000.
* {{Determinator}}: Do ''not'' mess with the Blues Brothers when they're on a MissionFromGod, because they ''will'' kick your ass.
* DreamTeam: The Blues Brothers band in-universe, as well as the Louisiana Gator Boys in the second film.
* DrivesLikeCrazy: "''ELWOOD.''"
** [[LemmingCops And so do the cops.]]
*** "We're in a truck!"
* DrivingIntoATruck: ''Literally''. A police squad car jumps off the side of a freeway, smashing into the side of a passing truck.
* TheElevatorFromIpanema: A John Landis trademark.
* EveryCarIsAPinto: Averted(!), and later becomes a full-blown subversion when the Illinois' Nazis red wagon (which is actually a Ford Pinto) [[spoiler:lands in a sinkhole without ever being seen in demolished form, let alone exploding]].
* FallenOnHardTimesJob: Most of the band is recruited from one of these.
* FascinatingEyebrow: John Belushi as Jake Blues.
* FastRoping: How the SWAT team comes in near the end of the first movie. "Hut hut hut hut!"
* FatAndSkinny: Jake and Elwood.
* FemmeFatalons: Carrie Fisher in the original.
* FriendlyEnemy: The police detective played by John Candy seems honestly amused by Jake and Elwood's ability to trick the police; he even insists on waiting to arrest them until he's heard them play.
** Hell, even when he ends up with his car embedded in the back of a semi near the end, he doesn't seem the least bit angry about it.
* GenerationXerox: Cabel Chamberlain sings and dances just like Curtis, and by the end of the second movie, Buster has turned into a mini-Elwood.
* GoodOlBoy: The Good Ol' Boys band, and Tucker [=McElroy=] in particular.
** Elwood Blues: "We're the Good Ol' Blues Brothers... Boys. Band."
* HammerSpace: Elwood's pockets can have this quality. At various times, he can be seen producing Cheez Whiz, plain white bread, and tools suspiciously well-suited to disable an elevator from them.
* {{Hatedom}}: An in-universe example; the regulars at Bob's Country Bunker don't react too favourably to "Gimme Some Lovin" (but they're placated by the theme song from ''Rawhide'' and "Stand By Your Man").
* HeyLetsPutOnAShow: To save the orphanage... twice, since the first time only netted them $200 (and a $300 bar tab, which they ran out on).
* HollywoodPoliceDrivingAcademy: And how. If the cops' driving were any worse, [[EpicFail they would burst into flame as soon as they got in]].
* HollywoodVoodoo: Queen Mouset in the sequel.
* IfMyCalculationsAreCorrect
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: The police, the Nazis, the Good Ol' Boys, and the crazy woman trying to kill Jake are all terrible shots. Especially funny in the case of the crazy woman, who's played by [[StarWars Princess Leia]].
** Subverted or spoofed or ... something ... by letting ''Ray Charles'' fire a gun with incredible precision.
* ImprobableParkingSkills
* IronButtMonkey / IronWoobie: A rare live action film example. The boys manage to take a house collapsing on them and dust it off. Their shades are ''that'' cool.
* JustGotOutOfJail: The movie begins with "Joliet" Jake Blues being released from Joliet State Penitentiary.
* JukeboxMusical
* LameExcuse: After telling Bob that Elwood is in the car writing out a (nonexistent) American Express Travelers Cheque to cover the band's extensive bar tab, Jake says, "I'd better check up, see how he's doing. See, I have to sign it too...I usually sit in the car and write it out on the glove compartment lid." Then he beats a hasty retreat for the car.
** Later Jake gives an entire HurricaneOfExcuses to Carrie Fisher's character about why he stood her up at their wedding.
* {{Leitmotif}}: The horn intro from "I Can't Turn You Loose", originally recorded by Otis Redding, could very easily be retitled "The Blues Brothers Theme" by now.
* LemmingCops: And how! Leads to spectacular car crashes.
** '''HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT'''
* LimitedWardrobe: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Willie Hall. "At least we've got a change of clothes, sucka. You're wearing the same shit you had on three years ago!"
* LongList: In the second movie, Elwood runs down the list of musical genres the Blues Brothers are capable of performing. It includes just about every genre imaginable (except Caribbean music, for whatever reason).
* MassiveMultiplayerEnsembleNumber: "Jailhouse Rock" in the first movie, "New Orleans" in the second movie.
* TheMenInBlack: Jake and Elwood get mistaken for this after inquiring about one of the bandmates at his ex-landlady's apartment:
-->'''Landlady:''' Are you the police?\\
'''Elwood:''' ''[Perfect deadpan]'' No ma'am. We're musicians.
* MickeyMousing
* MissionFromGod: TropeCodifier. The phrase ''did'' exist long before, but the film put it into pop culture, and nowadays, using MissionFromGod can be a reference to this film.
* MistakenForSpecialGuest: The band impersonate the "Good Ol' Boys" at Bob's Country Bunker, adding to yet another long-ass list of pursuers during the climax when both the Good Ol' Boys and the bar owner realize they've been had.
* MotivationalLie: Elwood tells Jake that he's staying in touch with the band while Jake is in prison, this way Jake will have some hope to hang onto.
* MotorMouth: Elwood. In ''both'' movies (and indeed, in the gigs prior to the movie's creation)!
** This is Dan Aykroyd's trademark, as a tribute to Jack Webb.
* TheMusical: Not to extent of most stage musicals, but...
* NaturalSpotlight: Lampshaded.
* NoEnding: [[spoiler: The second film ends with Elwood and Buster on the run from authorities; whether they escape is uncertain.]]
* NoEndorHolocaust: Parodied; after the car crash in ''2000'', every police officer is shown climbing safely out of the mountain of wrecked cars.
* NoNameGiven: Carrie Fisher's stalking killer is never referred to by name. The script refers to her as "Mystery Woman."
* NunsAreSpooky: [[NunsAreFunny Parodied.]] The Penguin ''floats'', and the doors leading to her office open and close completely by themselves.
** And it even gets a laugh from the Vatican, who've called it a Catholic Classic.
* OhCrap: Jake and Elwood, when their car starts breaking down during the epic chase at the end.
* OneSceneWonder: As noted, several examples, the most memorable perhaps being Kathleen Freeman's "[[NunsAreFunny Penguin]]."
* OrphanageOfLove: St. Helen of the Blessed Shroud, where Jake and Elwood grew up and what they risked everything to save.
** More thanks to Curtis than the Penguin, who is way too eager to use physical discipline for minor infractions.
*** Eh, they're older now, they can take it. Besides which, Jake really needs to learn [[BerserkButton not to swear in front of a nun]].
* OverlyLongGag: The car chase in the second movie.
* OverlyPolitePals: The brothers invoke this trope when they go into Mr. Fabulous' restaurant, taking each other's arms.
* PerformanceVideo
* PlotArmor: They get at shot with rockets, caught in a collapsing building, an exploding phone booth, and shot at point-blank range with an automatic rifle and ''never get wounded''. And five seconds later [[DirtForceField their suits are clean and pressed again]].
** This is because, as they constantly remind you, they are on a MissionFromGod.
* ProducePelting: Although it's beer bottles instead of vegetables.
** And that's even ''after'' they please the crowd!
* PsychoExGirlfriend: Jake's wife, who he dumped at the altar. ''Seriously''. This one packs a '''[[NoKillLikeOverkill four-barreled ROCKET LAUNCHER]]'''.
* ThePowerOfRock: The original R&B in this case.
* PuppyDogEyes: Jake Blues make have executed the most epic use of this trope ever.
* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: The TropeNamer.
* RealMenLoveJesus: The boys are on a Mission from God, and would like to remind you that "the Lord works in mysterious ways."
* RealPlaceBackground: "This is definitely Lower Wacker Drive."
** "1060 West Addison? That's Wrigley Field."
* RecklessGunUsage: Imagine the prop people handing Ray Charles, a blind man, a pistol with blanks, and telling him to fire it in the direction of two actors, a cameraman, assorted production staff...
** Now, bear in mind this man has the spatial awareness to sit down at a piano and immediately find, for example, third A-flat. If the director says, "Okay Ray, point it here, no slightly left, a little more, ''perfect''," you can count on Ray aiming it perfectly when the film is rolling. Even so, it's a ''great'' scene.
** As an actual props person, I promise you that is not how that scene went down. Everyone remembers what happened on TheCrow. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Lee]]
* RefugeInAudacity
* "Music/RideOfTheValkyries": Played by the Nazis, no less!
* RousingSpeech: ''Blues Brothers 2000'' has Buster verbally kicking Elwood's rear end, followed up by this gem:
--> '''Elwood''': You may go if you wish. Remember this: Walk away now and you walk away from your crafts, your skills, your vocations; leaving the next generation with nothing but recycled, digitally-sampled techno-grooves, quasi-synth rhythms, pseudo-songs of violence-laden gangsta-rap, acid pop, and simpering, saccharine, soulless slush. Depart now and you forever separate yourselves from the vital American legacies of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Jimmie Reed, Memphis Slim, Blind Boy Fuller, Louie Jordan, Little Walter, Big Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson I (and II), Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Elvis Presley, Lieber and Stoller, and Robert K. Weiss.
--> '''Duck Dunn''': [[DevelopmentGag Who is Robert K. Weiss?]]
--> (Duck, Cropper and Bones Malone shrug)
--> '''Elwood''': Turn your backs now and you snuff out the fragile candles of Blues, R&B, and Soul, and when those flames flicker and expire, the light of the world is extinguished because the music which has moved mankind through seven decades leading to the millenium will wither and die on the vine of abandonment and neglect.
* [[RunawayBride Runaway Groom]]: Jake turns out to have left Carrie Fisher at the altar.
* RunningGag: Lots of them ranging from the obvious ("We're on a mission from God") to the subtle (Jake constantly checking his watch, which was declared broken in the first scene). There's also the ones in the sequel referring to the first movie, from Elwood throwing the cigarette lighter out the window to all the cops being [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy terrible shots]].
** "He broke my watch!"
** "The Lord works in mysterious ways", said by Jake, becomes the running gag of ''2000''.
** Elwood stealing things (the fireworks from the gas station in the first movie; the toilet paper from Bob's Country Kitchen in the second).
* SavingTheOrphanage: The basis for the entire plot.
* SceneryPorn: This is the film that put Chicago back on the map. Averted though in the exterior shots of the orphanage.
* SenselessViolins: A Russian gangster at the country fair hides his sniper rifle in a guitar case.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Elwood's RousingSpeech to the band in ''2000'' takes this one UpToEleven.
* ShopliftAndDie: It's a risky proposition at Ray's Music Exchange.
* ShoutOut: When Carrie Fisher's character fires off a bazooka, the sound effect is the same as the blasters in ''StarWars''.
* SlobsVersusSnobs: Jake and Elwood are deliberately crude at Chez Paul and threaten to come back every day until Mr. Fantastic rejoins the band.
* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: Matt knows Jake and Elwood by their food orders: four fried chickens and a Coke for Jake, and dry white toast for Elwood.
* StairsAreFaster: The brothers take the elevator up to the floor the Assessor's office is on, then disable the one elevator they came up in. The combined might of the Chicago Police, SWAT, National Guard, etc. try to follow up the elevator, but after waiting a few seconds they decide to charge up the stairway instead.
* TheStoic: Both Jake and Elwood are, for the most part, utterly unflappable and deadpan. Except when singing.
* StraightGay: "I've always loved you." From a Nazi. Right before the car they're in gets smashed into the ground.
* SummonBackupDancers: Though they were often there before.
* SunglassesAtNight: More like sunglasses ALL the time.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Averted by John Goodman in the sequel, who distinguishes himself from Belushi in his performance ''and'' his singing.
* SpinOff
* TakeThat[=/=]AffectionateParody: The scene with John Popper in the sequel reads like an affectionate parody, verging on a TakeThat, of the fans and the unease felt by Landis and Aykroyd whenever blues fans and musicians tell them that the Blues Brothers are these really great blues musicians on par with B.B. King or other well known names.
* TelevisionGeography: Averted; most of the exteriors really were shot in Chicago.
** Perhaps one of the most interesting ones being that they found a closed-off shopping mall (Dixie Square Mall) and set up some fake stores in it for that scene. The abandoned mall is still there, but it's been abandoned ever since and has been left to rot and decay.
*** Final structural demolition of Dixie Square Mall began February 15, 2012.
* TenMinuteRetirement: Elwood gets an unconvincing one in the sequel.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: "Use of unnecessary violence in the apprehension of the Blues Brothers has been approved." This line alone annoyed the Chicago Police Department so much that they refused to be in any films for years afterwards.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: In addition to Elwood ordering dry white toast at Matt's diner, when he and Jake are in his SRO hotel room he heats a piece of white bread over a hotplate, and at Ray's pawn shop he gets distracted examining a small toaster-oven, the better to toast his white bread with.
** He even pulls a piece of bread out of his pocket to try it out. Apparently he just carries white bread around with him.
* VideoCredits: And a great song, too!
* {{Thememobile}}: The Bluesmobile.
* TheVoiceless: Sort of. Elwood was initially introduced in the SNL sketches as Jake's "silent brother." He later sang back up and, by the time of the first film, had graduated to a [[MotorMouth full speaking role]].
* TheWindyCity (They even got the accent right: "We're on a mission from ''Gaaahd''.")
* [[ThoseWackyNazis Those Wacky Illinois Nazis]]: We hate them.
* VehicularSabotage: On their way to sneaking in to their concert, Elwood makes Jake wait while he sprays glue onto the gas pedal of the Good Ol' Boys' RV. Later during the big ChaseScene, the driver's foot becomes stuck to the pedal (and the pedal stuck to the floorboard), causing him to go out of control and crash.
* AWizardDidIt: A deleted scene was intended to HandWave why the Bluesmobile can do so many fantastic stunts. The Brothers parked it under a bunch of power transformers, allowing it to get "charged up". Since this scene was removed (and never really explained, even in versions that include it), Landis has offered the following explanation: "It's just a magic car."
** Could possibly also be explained by Elwood simply being that much of a BadassDriver.
*** They are on a MissionFromGod. Maybe that has something to do with it.
* WomanScorned: Taken to hilarious extremes by Jake's jilted fiancee, who's turned into a PyroManiac in the process and tries to blow the Brothers up several times. [[spoiler:Just when it looks like Jake's about to take her back, he drops her. Again. This time, literally as well.]]
* WorthyOpponent: John Candy's character.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Akroyd's original script is said to have been phonebook-sized and included special recruitment scenes for each band member. Considering the size of the band, this could have elevated things to unfeasibly epic proportions.
* YourFavorite: Inverted. Jake and Elwood order breakfast in a soul food restaurant. The cook -- their former band mate -- recognizes the peculiar order and comes out to greet them.
----
[[caption-width-right:300:"They'll never catch us. We're on a MissionFromGod."]]
->'''Elwood''': ''[[MemeticMutation It's 106 miles to Chicago. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes]], [[SunglassesAtNight it's dark]], [[CoolShades and we're wearing sunglasses]].''
->'''Jake''': ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHa_jqxnn4o Hit it.]]''
Perhaps the greatest -- and certainly the most successful -- ''SaturdayNightLive'' act to spin off from the show into the realm of movies. Back when DanAykroyd wasn't fat and JohnBelushi wasn't dead, they starred together in an occasional sketch-cum-musical-act featuring the two of them in dark suits and [[CoolShades sunglasses]] as "The Blues Brothers"; Belushi was Jake Blues, and Aykroyd was Jake's silent brother Elwood. What made the skits good? The duo were skilled at both the comedy (obviously) and the music (which was surprising). Aykroyd and Belushi spun off their own band with established musicians (members of the SNL house band as well as experienced R&B musicians) and served as the frontmen, in character as Elwood and Jake.
In 1980, they got a musical-extravaganza feature film -- titled ''The Blues Brothers'' -- that quickly and deservedly became a CultClassic. "Joliet" Jake Blues has [[JustGotOutOfJail just been released from prison]], with Elwood there to pick him up in a battered piece of crap that used to be a police car. (Elwood is not silent in this film--he gives some serious lectures.) Fulfilling a promise, the Blues go to the Chicagoland orphanage where they grew up and visit "The Penguin", the nun who runs the place; it is during this meeting that the brothers learn that the orphanage is about to be closed down due to a tax bill that is unable to be paid.
Wondering what they could do to save the orphanage, Jake sees the light -- literally -- while listening to a sermon from JamesBrown. During the lively service, he has an epiphany and receives a MissionFromGod: the Blues Brothers must [[PuttingTheBandBackTogether get their band back together]] and raise the money to save their old orphanage ''no matter what''. Along the way, they meet up with CabCalloway, [[StarWars Carrie Fisher]], ArethaFranklin, RayCharles, John Candy, Twiggy, [[TheMuppetShow Frank Oz]], Chaka Khan, John Landis, Paul Reubens and StevenSpielberg. HilarityEnsues, and [[RefugeInAudacity every last police car in the state of Illinois is destroyed]].
There was a sequel -- ''BluesBrothers 2000'' -- in 1998. This film didn't go over as well as the original, in part because some important players -- most notably JohnBelushi -- had died in the interim. (The death [[RealLifeWritesthePlot was actually worked into]] [[LampshadeHanging the film's plot]], but it didn't really help. Though at the least it was respectful to Belushi). Some admit that though the plot wasn't as up to snuff as the original, the music at least was pretty good. JohnLandis helmed the director's chair on both movies.
----
!!Trope Namer For:
* MissionFromGod
* PuttingTheBandBackTogether
----
!!Tropes present in the films include:
* AbsurdAltitude: The Nazis chasing the Brothers are launched from an unfinished highway ramp... fly as high as the Sears Tower... and fall several miles away, just in time for the Blues Brothers to dodge the hole they made and another Nazi to fall into the hole.
* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: Everyone knows church properties can't be taxed, but that wouldn't make for a plot. Or a nun on rails. Or the best car chase EVER.
** There was actually a law being debated in the Illinois state legislature at the time the film was being written that would have made some church properties taxable, though it was completely dead by the time the film came out, making this movie a sort of AlternateHistory.
* {{Acrofatic}}: John Belushi. Damn, that man could dance...
** Then again, it took a stuntman for the flips in the church scene.
** Big Mack in the sequel
* ActuallyPrettyFunny
-->'''Mercer:''' You know, I kinda liked the Wrigley Field bit.
-->'''Mount:''' [[SarcasmMode Yeah.]] ''Real'' cute.
* AllStarCast: Bit parts for the likes of Ray Charles, John Candy, Aretha Franklin, Carrie Fisher, James Brown, CabCalloway, and Henry Gibson, plus cameos by StevenSpielberg, Frank Oz, and Twiggy. Paul Reubens also appears, [[RetroactiveRecognition pre-"Pee-Wee Herman" fame]].
* AllThereInTheManual: Information about the brothers' background comes from the liner notes of their first album, ''Briefcase Full of Blues'', while fictional backstories are included for the rest of the band members and some other characters found their way into a book written by John Belushi's wife.
* AnimatedAdaptation: In 1997, 6 animated episodes were produced (with Peter Aykroyd and Jim Belushi) for the UPN network but were never aired.
* ATeamFiring: Everyone's a crap shot, except when they're not aiming ''directly'' for the Blues Brothers. Vaguely justified with Holy Protection, but mostly played for RuleOfFunny.
* [[BackedByThePentagon Backed By the Vatican]]: While not so during the production of the movie, in recent years they have admitted to finding it a good, religious movie.
* BackupTwin: Jim Belushi filled in for his late brother in a handful of live shows. Averted in the sequel, where he wasn't cast, due to scheduling and contract issues. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen It could have worked quite nicely]].
** Belushi and Aykroyd currently perform in the [[{{Expy}} Have Love Will Travel]] blues revue.
* BashBrothers: They don't fight a lot, but when they do...
* BavarianFireDrill: Elwood's "puffball bacteria". John Goodman's [[LargeHam intentional hamming it up]] and Evan Bonifant's over-the-top screaming is hilarious, but the rest of the band ''[[CrowningMomentOfFunny completely ignoring them]]'' is what sells it.
* BigWhat: The whole band delivered this when Curtis told them they need to raise the money for the orphanage.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The orphanage is saved, but the Brothers get tossed back into jail.]] The sheer hilarity of the buildup, however, overshadows it.
** Makes it more of a downer in the sequel when its revealed [[spoiler: the oprhange closed down during Jake's second stint in the clink making all their efforts pointless]]
* BloodBrothers: According to supplemental materials, the brothers are not biologically related, but sealed their blood brotherhood at the orphanage by cutting their fingers with Elmore James' guitar string.
* BloodlessCarnage: Despite the ''gazillions'' of dollars in property damage throughout the first movie, nobody dies.
** Except the Nazis, [[AcceptableTargets and that's all right]].
* BerserkButton: Do ''not'' use unacceptable language in front of The Penguin. Taking the Lord's name in vain is even worse.
** Also, you shouldn't go to a country and western bar and try to play the blues. It never ends well.
* BookEnds: The first movie opens and closes with Jake in jail. He's just being released in the beginning and performing while re-incarcerated at the end.
* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Jake's personal effects, being returned to him at the beginning of the movie, include a ''used condom.''
* BrickJoke: Elwood mentions early in the film that he spoofed his address forms to show the address for Wrigley Field. Later in the film, the Illinois Nazis find his information and meet up to discuss tracking him down... in front of Wrigley Field.
* BulletproofFashionPlate: The boys' suits. True to the trope, ending up covered in mud signals that their situation has gone to hell.
* ButtMonkey: The Illinois Nazis; ''all'' of them.
** AcceptableTargets
* CarFu: Taken to an exorbitant amount in ''both'' films, as both contain 50+ car pileups.
** The first film held the Guinness World Record for most cars destroyed in a single movie (reports vary, but the number's about 75 to 80) for ''18 years'', finally being surpassed by the ''sequel'', (over 100, as reported by Guinness) for another 11 years. That's almost 200 cars destroyed and almost 30 years of car-totaling supremacy.
* CastingGag: Paul Shaffer was the band's original keyboardist, but wasn't in the original film because -- in addition to his ''SNL'' commitments -- he was also working on ''Gilda Radner: Live from New York'', a one-woman stage show which starred fellow former ''SNL'' regular Gilda Radner. He finally appeared in ''2000'' as Queen Mouset's assistant, and asks Murph if he wouldn't mind letting him have a crack at the keyboard.
* CasualDangerDialogue: While driving through the mall, Jake and Elwood remark on the variety of stores the mall has. "This place has everything."
* CatchPhrase: "We're on a [[MissionFromGod mission from God]]."
* CelebrityStar: Many famous musicians appear in various roles to sing their hits.
* ChaseScene: Several times. The last half of the first movie is one ''giant'' ChaseScene.
** "We're in a truck!"
* CheckPlease: Bob's Country Kitchen in the second movie.
* ChekhovsGun
* ChekhovsLecture: The benefits of a cop car prove necessary.
* ChezRestaurant: Mr. Fabulous is maître d' at Chez Paul, which (at the time) was the name of an actual high-class restaurant in Chicago.
* CloserToEarth: Aretha Franklin's character, who tries to dissuade her husband from rejoining the Blues Brothers in both films.
* ConceptVideo
* CoolCar: At the beginning of movie, it's WhatAPieceOfJunk; at the end of movie it's TheAllegedCar.
** It survives jump after jump, being driven through a shopping mall, and a high-speed chase with a thrown rod, among other things - and then it ''literally'' falls apart upon reaching the property tax office. Elwood briefly pauses to pay his last respects to the wreck while the cops are still chasing them.
*** [[FridgeBrilliance They no longer needed the car, so it was no longer under God's protection.]]
* CoolOldGuy: Curtis, the janitor at the orphanage played by CabCalloway, who taught Jake and Elwood about the blues.
* CoolShades: Which they almost never take off.
** Flat-out parodied, like everything else, in ''2000'' when Cabel tells Elwood to take his hat and glasses off in the office. The camera pans to Cabel, then back to Elwood - covering his eyes with his arm to avoid being blinded by normal indoor light.
*** What light?
* CrazyEnoughToWork: In the sequel, they shrug off a bunch of Russian gangsters chasing them by dumping out a bag of [[strike:thumb tacks]] [[strike:carpenter nails]] [[InsistentTerminology drywall nails]], which they drive directly into. It works.
* CriticalExistenceFailure: As soon as Jake and Elwood exit the car at the end of the ChaseScene, it literally falls to pieces. Elwood even takes off his hat as a gesture of respect.
* DancePartyEnding: To the Jailhouse Rock, of course.
* DayHurtsDarkAdjustedEyes: See CoolShades
* DebutQueue
* DescriptionPorn: The famous scene when Elwood introduces the Bluesmobile to Jake after jumping the bridge.
-->''"It's got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters, so it'll run good on regular gas. What do you say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what?"''
* DestructiveSavior: Elwood and (to a lesser extent) Jake. To wit: the Blues cause what has to be several million dollars worth of damage to ''just'' the Chicago Police by wrecking all of their cars just to save an orphanage by paying a bill of $5,000.
* {{Determinator}}: Do ''not'' mess with the Blues Brothers when they're on a MissionFromGod, because they ''will'' kick your ass.
* DreamTeam: The Blues Brothers band in-universe, as well as the Louisiana Gator Boys in the second film.
* DrivesLikeCrazy: "''ELWOOD.''"
** [[LemmingCops And so do the cops.]]
*** "We're in a truck!"
* DrivingIntoATruck: ''Literally''. A police squad car jumps off the side of a freeway, smashing into the side of a passing truck.
* TheElevatorFromIpanema: A John Landis trademark.
* EveryCarIsAPinto: Averted(!), and later becomes a full-blown subversion when the Illinois' Nazis red wagon (which is actually a Ford Pinto) [[spoiler:lands in a sinkhole without ever being seen in demolished form, let alone exploding]].
* FallenOnHardTimesJob: Most of the band is recruited from one of these.
* FascinatingEyebrow: John Belushi as Jake Blues.
* FastRoping: How the SWAT team comes in near the end of the first movie. "Hut hut hut hut!"
* FatAndSkinny: Jake and Elwood.
* FemmeFatalons: Carrie Fisher in the original.
* FriendlyEnemy: The police detective played by John Candy seems honestly amused by Jake and Elwood's ability to trick the police; he even insists on waiting to arrest them until he's heard them play.
** Hell, even when he ends up with his car embedded in the back of a semi near the end, he doesn't seem the least bit angry about it.
* GenerationXerox: Cabel Chamberlain sings and dances just like Curtis, and by the end of the second movie, Buster has turned into a mini-Elwood.
* GoodOlBoy: The Good Ol' Boys band, and Tucker [=McElroy=] in particular.
** Elwood Blues: "We're the Good Ol' Blues Brothers... Boys. Band."
* HammerSpace: Elwood's pockets can have this quality. At various times, he can be seen producing Cheez Whiz, plain white bread, and tools suspiciously well-suited to disable an elevator from them.
* {{Hatedom}}: An in-universe example; the regulars at Bob's Country Bunker don't react too favourably to "Gimme Some Lovin" (but they're placated by the theme song from ''Rawhide'' and "Stand By Your Man").
* HeyLetsPutOnAShow: To save the orphanage... twice, since the first time only netted them $200 (and a $300 bar tab, which they ran out on).
* HollywoodPoliceDrivingAcademy: And how. If the cops' driving were any worse, [[EpicFail they would burst into flame as soon as they got in]].
* HollywoodVoodoo: Queen Mouset in the sequel.
* IfMyCalculationsAreCorrect
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: The police, the Nazis, the Good Ol' Boys, and the crazy woman trying to kill Jake are all terrible shots. Especially funny in the case of the crazy woman, who's played by [[StarWars Princess Leia]].
** Subverted or spoofed or ... something ... by letting ''Ray Charles'' fire a gun with incredible precision.
* ImprobableParkingSkills
* IronButtMonkey / IronWoobie: A rare live action film example. The boys manage to take a house collapsing on them and dust it off. Their shades are ''that'' cool.
* JustGotOutOfJail: The movie begins with "Joliet" Jake Blues being released from Joliet State Penitentiary.
* JukeboxMusical
* LameExcuse: After telling Bob that Elwood is in the car writing out a (nonexistent) American Express Travelers Cheque to cover the band's extensive bar tab, Jake says, "I'd better check up, see how he's doing. See, I have to sign it too...I usually sit in the car and write it out on the glove compartment lid." Then he beats a hasty retreat for the car.
** Later Jake gives an entire HurricaneOfExcuses to Carrie Fisher's character about why he stood her up at their wedding.
* {{Leitmotif}}: The horn intro from "I Can't Turn You Loose", originally recorded by Otis Redding, could very easily be retitled "The Blues Brothers Theme" by now.
* LemmingCops: And how! Leads to spectacular car crashes.
** '''HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT'''
* LimitedWardrobe: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Willie Hall. "At least we've got a change of clothes, sucka. You're wearing the same shit you had on three years ago!"
* LongList: In the second movie, Elwood runs down the list of musical genres the Blues Brothers are capable of performing. It includes just about every genre imaginable (except Caribbean music, for whatever reason).
* MassiveMultiplayerEnsembleNumber: "Jailhouse Rock" in the first movie, "New Orleans" in the second movie.
* TheMenInBlack: Jake and Elwood get mistaken for this after inquiring about one of the bandmates at his ex-landlady's apartment:
-->'''Landlady:''' Are you the police?\\
'''Elwood:''' ''[Perfect deadpan]'' No ma'am. We're musicians.
* MickeyMousing
* MissionFromGod: TropeCodifier. The phrase ''did'' exist long before, but the film put it into pop culture, and nowadays, using MissionFromGod can be a reference to this film.
* MistakenForSpecialGuest: The band impersonate the "Good Ol' Boys" at Bob's Country Bunker, adding to yet another long-ass list of pursuers during the climax when both the Good Ol' Boys and the bar owner realize they've been had.
* MotivationalLie: Elwood tells Jake that he's staying in touch with the band while Jake is in prison, this way Jake will have some hope to hang onto.
* MotorMouth: Elwood. In ''both'' movies (and indeed, in the gigs prior to the movie's creation)!
** This is Dan Aykroyd's trademark, as a tribute to Jack Webb.
* TheMusical: Not to extent of most stage musicals, but...
* NaturalSpotlight: Lampshaded.
* NoEnding: [[spoiler: The second film ends with Elwood and Buster on the run from authorities; whether they escape is uncertain.]]
* NoEndorHolocaust: Parodied; after the car crash in ''2000'', every police officer is shown climbing safely out of the mountain of wrecked cars.
* NoNameGiven: Carrie Fisher's stalking killer is never referred to by name. The script refers to her as "Mystery Woman."
* NunsAreSpooky: [[NunsAreFunny Parodied.]] The Penguin ''floats'', and the doors leading to her office open and close completely by themselves.
** And it even gets a laugh from the Vatican, who've called it a Catholic Classic.
* OhCrap: Jake and Elwood, when their car starts breaking down during the epic chase at the end.
* OneSceneWonder: As noted, several examples, the most memorable perhaps being Kathleen Freeman's "[[NunsAreFunny Penguin]]."
* OrphanageOfLove: St. Helen of the Blessed Shroud, where Jake and Elwood grew up and what they risked everything to save.
** More thanks to Curtis than the Penguin, who is way too eager to use physical discipline for minor infractions.
*** Eh, they're older now, they can take it. Besides which, Jake really needs to learn [[BerserkButton not to swear in front of a nun]].
* OverlyLongGag: The car chase in the second movie.
* OverlyPolitePals: The brothers invoke this trope when they go into Mr. Fabulous' restaurant, taking each other's arms.
* PerformanceVideo
* PlotArmor: They get at shot with rockets, caught in a collapsing building, an exploding phone booth, and shot at point-blank range with an automatic rifle and ''never get wounded''. And five seconds later [[DirtForceField their suits are clean and pressed again]].
** This is because, as they constantly remind you, they are on a MissionFromGod.
* ProducePelting: Although it's beer bottles instead of vegetables.
** And that's even ''after'' they please the crowd!
* PsychoExGirlfriend: Jake's wife, who he dumped at the altar. ''Seriously''. This one packs a '''[[NoKillLikeOverkill four-barreled ROCKET LAUNCHER]]'''.
* ThePowerOfRock: The original R&B in this case.
* PuppyDogEyes: Jake Blues make have executed the most epic use of this trope ever.
* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: The TropeNamer.
* RealMenLoveJesus: The boys are on a Mission from God, and would like to remind you that "the Lord works in mysterious ways."
* RealPlaceBackground: "This is definitely Lower Wacker Drive."
** "1060 West Addison? That's Wrigley Field."
* RecklessGunUsage: Imagine the prop people handing Ray Charles, a blind man, a pistol with blanks, and telling him to fire it in the direction of two actors, a cameraman, assorted production staff...
** Now, bear in mind this man has the spatial awareness to sit down at a piano and immediately find, for example, third A-flat. If the director says, "Okay Ray, point it here, no slightly left, a little more, ''perfect''," you can count on Ray aiming it perfectly when the film is rolling. Even so, it's a ''great'' scene.
** As an actual props person, I promise you that is not how that scene went down. Everyone remembers what happened on TheCrow. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Lee]]
* RefugeInAudacity
* "Music/RideOfTheValkyries": Played by the Nazis, no less!
* RousingSpeech: ''Blues Brothers 2000'' has Buster verbally kicking Elwood's rear end, followed up by this gem:
--> '''Elwood''': You may go if you wish. Remember this: Walk away now and you walk away from your crafts, your skills, your vocations; leaving the next generation with nothing but recycled, digitally-sampled techno-grooves, quasi-synth rhythms, pseudo-songs of violence-laden gangsta-rap, acid pop, and simpering, saccharine, soulless slush. Depart now and you forever separate yourselves from the vital American legacies of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Jimmie Reed, Memphis Slim, Blind Boy Fuller, Louie Jordan, Little Walter, Big Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson I (and II), Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Elvis Presley, Lieber and Stoller, and Robert K. Weiss.
--> '''Duck Dunn''': [[DevelopmentGag Who is Robert K. Weiss?]]
--> (Duck, Cropper and Bones Malone shrug)
--> '''Elwood''': Turn your backs now and you snuff out the fragile candles of Blues, R&B, and Soul, and when those flames flicker and expire, the light of the world is extinguished because the music which has moved mankind through seven decades leading to the millenium will wither and die on the vine of abandonment and neglect.
* [[RunawayBride Runaway Groom]]: Jake turns out to have left Carrie Fisher at the altar.
* RunningGag: Lots of them ranging from the obvious ("We're on a mission from God") to the subtle (Jake constantly checking his watch, which was declared broken in the first scene). There's also the ones in the sequel referring to the first movie, from Elwood throwing the cigarette lighter out the window to all the cops being [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy terrible shots]].
** "He broke my watch!"
** "The Lord works in mysterious ways", said by Jake, becomes the running gag of ''2000''.
** Elwood stealing things (the fireworks from the gas station in the first movie; the toilet paper from Bob's Country Kitchen in the second).
* SavingTheOrphanage: The basis for the entire plot.
* SceneryPorn: This is the film that put Chicago back on the map. Averted though in the exterior shots of the orphanage.
* SenselessViolins: A Russian gangster at the country fair hides his sniper rifle in a guitar case.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Elwood's RousingSpeech to the band in ''2000'' takes this one UpToEleven.
* ShopliftAndDie: It's a risky proposition at Ray's Music Exchange.
* ShoutOut: When Carrie Fisher's character fires off a bazooka, the sound effect is the same as the blasters in ''StarWars''.
* SlobsVersusSnobs: Jake and Elwood are deliberately crude at Chez Paul and threaten to come back every day until Mr. Fantastic rejoins the band.
* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: Matt knows Jake and Elwood by their food orders: four fried chickens and a Coke for Jake, and dry white toast for Elwood.
* StairsAreFaster: The brothers take the elevator up to the floor the Assessor's office is on, then disable the one elevator they came up in. The combined might of the Chicago Police, SWAT, National Guard, etc. try to follow up the elevator, but after waiting a few seconds they decide to charge up the stairway instead.
* TheStoic: Both Jake and Elwood are, for the most part, utterly unflappable and deadpan. Except when singing.
* StraightGay: "I've always loved you." From a Nazi. Right before the car they're in gets smashed into the ground.
* SummonBackupDancers: Though they were often there before.
* SunglassesAtNight: More like sunglasses ALL the time.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Averted by John Goodman in the sequel, who distinguishes himself from Belushi in his performance ''and'' his singing.
* SpinOff
* TakeThat[=/=]AffectionateParody: The scene with John Popper in the sequel reads like an affectionate parody, verging on a TakeThat, of the fans and the unease felt by Landis and Aykroyd whenever blues fans and musicians tell them that the Blues Brothers are these really great blues musicians on par with B.B. King or other well known names.
* TelevisionGeography: Averted; most of the exteriors really were shot in Chicago.
** Perhaps one of the most interesting ones being that they found a closed-off shopping mall (Dixie Square Mall) and set up some fake stores in it for that scene. The abandoned mall is still there, but it's been abandoned ever since and has been left to rot and decay.
*** Final structural demolition of Dixie Square Mall began February 15, 2012.
* TenMinuteRetirement: Elwood gets an unconvincing one in the sequel.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: "Use of unnecessary violence in the apprehension of the Blues Brothers has been approved." This line alone annoyed the Chicago Police Department so much that they refused to be in any films for years afterwards.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: In addition to Elwood ordering dry white toast at Matt's diner, when he and Jake are in his SRO hotel room he heats a piece of white bread over a hotplate, and at Ray's pawn shop he gets distracted examining a small toaster-oven, the better to toast his white bread with.
** He even pulls a piece of bread out of his pocket to try it out. Apparently he just carries white bread around with him.
* VideoCredits: And a great song, too!
* {{Thememobile}}: The Bluesmobile.
* TheVoiceless: Sort of. Elwood was initially introduced in the SNL sketches as Jake's "silent brother." He later sang back up and, by the time of the first film, had graduated to a [[MotorMouth full speaking role]].
* TheWindyCity (They even got the accent right: "We're on a mission from ''Gaaahd''.")
* [[ThoseWackyNazis Those Wacky Illinois Nazis]]: We hate them.
* VehicularSabotage: On their way to sneaking in to their concert, Elwood makes Jake wait while he sprays glue onto the gas pedal of the Good Ol' Boys' RV. Later during the big ChaseScene, the driver's foot becomes stuck to the pedal (and the pedal stuck to the floorboard), causing him to go out of control and crash.
* AWizardDidIt: A deleted scene was intended to HandWave why the Bluesmobile can do so many fantastic stunts. The Brothers parked it under a bunch of power transformers, allowing it to get "charged up". Since this scene was removed (and never really explained, even in versions that include it), Landis has offered the following explanation: "It's just a magic car."
** Could possibly also be explained by Elwood simply being that much of a BadassDriver.
*** They are on a MissionFromGod. Maybe that has something to do with it.
* WomanScorned: Taken to hilarious extremes by Jake's jilted fiancee, who's turned into a PyroManiac in the process and tries to blow the Brothers up several times. [[spoiler:Just when it looks like Jake's about to take her back, he drops her. Again. This time, literally as well.]]
* WorthyOpponent: John Candy's character.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Akroyd's original script is said to have been phonebook-sized and included special recruitment scenes for each band member. Considering the size of the band, this could have elevated things to unfeasibly epic proportions.
* YourFavorite: Inverted. Jake and Elwood order breakfast in a soul food restaurant. The cook -- their former band mate -- recognizes the peculiar order and comes out to greet them.
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