Review of Blues Brothers: Collector`s Edition, The

Video

The quality of the transfer to DvD is good, although it does show some of the films age. The restored scenes don`t look any different in quality to the rest, and are nicely blended despite having been on the cutting room floor for 18 years. As its a comedy, there aren`t exactly a lot of taxing scenes like many a special effect laden movie, but what is there clearly hasn`t suffered from many compression problems. Contrast is always good, whether it be a night lit scene or bright daylight, blacks are black and grain is at a minimum. Oh, and before I forget, this disk is an anamorphic transfer which naturally yields a much higher picture quality for those of us with widescreen displays. You also get 47 chapters to help find that favourite moment, and they are well positioned across the movie.

Audio

The soundtrack has been remixed in a subtle 5.1 track. The rears are used occasionally in ambient effects, but to be honest they aren`t really that important in a film such as this. The music is absolutely great, which is just as well, being half the content of the film. Occasionally though, dialog can get lost a little bit in the background noise of car engines and such like, but this is solely the fault of the original movie rather than this DD mix.

Features

This is a good disc for bonus material, you don`t get quantity but you do get quality. Firstly you have a chance to see the whole entire uncut movie (not even those who saw it originally in the cinema got to view that) which although doesn`t add anything overly significant due to it being 3 to 5 minutes here and there, does extend the film nicely. Secondly you have the usual trailer and production photographs, but more importantly is the final extra, the documentary. This is in the same class as those on Universal`s other Collectors Edition disks, such as Apollo 13, and filled with great interviews with cast/crew. The menus are pretty uneventful, in fact the nicest thing I can say about them is they are functional.

Conclusion

I really liked this film, having seen it a fair number of times in the past, it has lost none of its appeal for me. The excellent cast of well-known artists adds that something special to the many music numbers, hell it`s worth watching just to hear Ray Charles say the word s***. Akroyd and Belushi make a great pairing, and the combination of their backing band do give the numbers they perform a very unique and pleasing sound.

The direction and editing is very well done, John Landis seems to have a love for landmarks whether they be famous nationally or locally. He spends a fair time of this movie showing you beautiful buildings, vast shopping malls, suburban streets, and a large number of police cars overturning, accidentally crashing into, and generally driving all over them. The ending is spectacularly over the top, and involves just about every law enforcement related unit in existence, yet is all shot with the same matter-of-factness that Landis uses throughout.

The restored footage is very nice to have, albeit not necessary to the plot of the movie. But it doesn`t detract from the film in any way, and is a welcome addition especially for fans that, lets face it, without this DvD release could never have been able to see it. And of course the documentary is as high class as that on the Apollo 13 disc, including many a good interview with the cast and director, plus some good discussions on the musical numbers, the bands sound, and how that chimp off of the Letterman show could have been in it instead of a decent musician who took his place.

If you have ever seen and liked this movie, then this disk is an absolute must buy. Whether I could unreservedly advise the rest of you to purchase it is another matter. The humour is often subtle, and the film does sometimes move quite slowly and indulge itself in lingering shots and pans of city sites. Personally the dry wit and incidental delivery of punch lines strongly appeals to me, and when mixed into the outlandish and often epic car crashes and musical numbers, makes this possibly one of the most prized possessions in my DvD collection. Definitely a must for any fan of Belushi, Akroyd, or rhythm and blues music.