It features musical numbers by singers James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and John Lee Hooker.

The story is a tale of redemption for paroled convict Jake and his blood brother Elwood, who set out on "a mission from God" to prevent the foreclosure of the Roman Catholic orphanage in which they were raised.

On location in Chicago, Belushi's partying and drug use caused lengthy and costly delays that, along with the destructive car chases depicted onscreen, made the film one of the most expensive comedies ever produced.

In 2020, The Blues Brothers was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

They win over the rowdy crowd, but run up a bar tab higher than their pay, and infuriate the Good Ole Boys, the country band that was booked for the gig.

Realizing that they need a big show to raise the necessary money, the brothers persuade their old agent to book the Palace Hotel Ballroom, north of Chicago.

They mount a loudspeaker atop the Bluesmobile and drive around the Chicago area promoting the concert—and alerting the police, the neo-Nazis, and the Good Ole Boys of their whereabouts.

After her volley of M16 rifle bullets leaves them once again miraculously unharmed, Jake offers a series of ridiculous excuses that she rejects, but when she looks into his eyes she takes interest in him again, allowing the brothers to escape to the Bluesmobile.

At the Richard J. Daley Center, they rush inside the adjacent Chicago City Hall building, followed by hundreds of police, state troopers, SWAT teams, firefighters, and the Illinois Army National Guard.

Aykroyd developed the blood brothers' backstory and character sketches in collaboration with Ron Gwynne, who is credited as a story consultant for the film.

[2] To soften the impact, Aykroyd made a joke of the thick script and had it bound with the cover of the Los Angeles Yellow Pages directory when he turned it in to producer Robert K. Weiss.

[2] At Aykroyd's demand, soul and R&B stars James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin were cast in speaking parts to support musical numbers built around them.

Since none of them except Charles had had any hits in recent years, the studio wanted Landis to replace them with—or add performances by—younger acts, such as Rose Royce, whose "Car Wash" had made them disco stars after its use in the 1976 film of that name.

Horn players Lou Marini, Tom Malone, and Alan Rubin had all played in Blood, Sweat & Tears and the house band on Saturday Night Live.

[11][12] The film has a number of cameo appearances by established celebrities and entertainment industry figures, including Steve Lawrence as a booking agent, Twiggy as a "chic lady" in a Jaguar convertible whom Elwood propositions at a gas station, Steven Spielberg as the Cook County Assessor's clerk, Landis as a state trooper in the mall chase, Joe Walsh as the first prisoner to jump up on a table in the final scene, and Chaka Khan as the soloist in the Triple Rock choir.

Wasserman persuaded the city's top orthopedic surgeon to postpone his weekend plans long enough to anesthetize Belushi's knee, and the scene was filmed as intended.

[19] In the final car chase scene, the production actually dropped a Ford Pinto, representing the one driven by the "Illinois Nazis", from a helicopter at an altitude of about 1,200 feet—and had to gain a Special Airworthiness Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration to do it.

The Palace Hotel Ballroom, where the band performs their climactic concert, was at the time of filming a country club, but later became the South Shore Cultural Center, named after the Chicago neighborhood where it is located.

The site's critical consensus reads: "Too over the top for its own good, but ultimately rescued by the cast's charm, director John Landis' grace, and several soul-stirring musical numbers.

[30] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave The Blues Brothers three out of four, praising its energetic musical numbers and "incredible" car chases.

Ebert wrote, "Belushi and Aykroyd come over as hard-boiled city guys, total cynics with a world-view of sublime simplicity, and that all fits perfectly with the movie's other parts.

He called the film "technically superb", praised it for "countering every explosion with a quiet moment", and said it "is at once a pure exercise in physical comedy as well as a marvelous tribute to the urban blues sound".

"[34] In his review for The Washington Post, Gary Arnold criticized Landis for engorging "the frail plot of The Blues Brothers with car chases and crack-ups, filmed with such avid, humorless starkness on the streets of Chicago that comic sensations are virtually obliterated".

[35] Janet Maslin of The New York Times criticized The Blues Brothers for shortchanging viewers on details about Jake and Elwood's affinity for African-American culture.

She also took Landis to task for "distracting editing", mentioning the Soul Food diner scene in which saxophonist Marini's head is out of shot as he dances on the counter.

[36] In the documentary, Stories Behind the Making of The Blues Brothers, Landis acknowledges the criticism, and says, "Everybody has his opinion", and Marini recalls the dismay he felt at seeing the completed film.

[42] Attendees included Landis, former Universal Studios executive Thom Mount, film editor George Folsey Jr., and cast members James Brown, Henry Gibson, Charles Napier, Steve Cropper, and Stephen Bishop.

The band toured the same year to promote the film, later releasing a second live album, Made in America, which featured the Top 40 track "Who's Making Love".

The film's score includes "God Music" (instrumental with choir vocalise) by Elmer Bernstein, who had worked with Landis on National Lampoon's Animal House.

Landis returned to direct the film and Aykroyd reprised his role, joining John Goodman, Joe Morton, and 10-year-old J. Evan Bonifant as the new Blues Brothers.