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Blues Brothers & Blues Brothers 2000 - Ultimate Collectors Pack

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment . R4 . COLOR . 119 mins . PG . PAL

  Feature
Contract

* Please note: Although only available locally within a double pack, for rating purposes this review is just for Blues Brothers 2000. Please also see the separate review of The Blues Brothers... *

I believe that a rather wise person once commented, "You can’t go home again". Here's your proof.

21 years ago a film was released that was destined to become a cult classic. That film was, of course (considering the review you are currently reading), The Blues Brothers. Sixteen or so years later one of the stars and writers of that film, Dan Aykroyd, got the silly notion to pen a sequel, re-enlist the original director John Landis, and Blues Brothers 2000 is the result. However, unlike most sequels, which retain the main characters, the original 'vibe' and then create a new story, this one basically takes the original script, changes a couple of locations and cast members (via necessity) but keeps essentially the same story, bar a few tweaks here and there.

To this end I present something I'm not particularly good at, some mathematics. The first column refers to the original The Blues Brothers, the second to Blues Brothers 2000...

Jake released from prison = Elwood released from prison
Illinois Nazis = Russians
Burton Mercer = Cabel Chamberlain
Ramada Inn = Radio station
Chez Paul = Funeral service
Soul Food Café = Mercedes dealership
Howard Johnson's = Bob's Country Kitchen
Explosive jilted fiancé = Explosive white trash supremacists
Bob's Country Bunker = County fair
Triple Rock Baptist Church = A tent
Jake sees the light = Cabel sees the light
Palace Hotel ballroom = The Plantation Club
Innumerable cop cars = Innumerable cop cars

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but should serve to demonstrate my theory that the original script was taken, chopped into sections, thrown up in the air, reassembled and scribbled upon a little with a marker pen to make it appear like it was new and fresh. There's a line between homage and plagiarism, here Aykroyd does the latter to himself - the court case could be interesting...

Anyway, if you need it, here's a basic summary. Elwood is released from prison, and in what is quite a moving scene hangs around outside for more than a day, until somebody actually deigns to tell him that Jake has passed away. Then a girl in a red convertible pulls up, thus blowing the last whiff of pathos the film contains away in a cloud of dust.

After finding a potential new Bluesmobile, Elwood visits Mother Mary Stigmata (yes, The Penguin got a promotion), bemoaning his life as everybody close to him is gone. He does however discover that his mentor Curtis (RIP Cab Calloway from the first film) had fathered a child in a tryst with a married woman, he gets lobbed with a ward of the state, Buster (hereby known as the Cute Kid®), and sets off in search of his newly discovered "stepbrother" - to put the hard word on him for a loan to purchase said Bluesmobile. This "stepbrother" ends up being the Commander of the Illinois Police, who not surprisingly finds all that Elwood has to say completely preposterous and boots him from the building.

We are then taken to Blues Brothers band drummer Willie's strip joint, where Jake replacement Matt (Fred Flintstone - alright, John Goodman) is introduced, as are this film's Illinois Nazis, the Russians. The quest commences to get the band back together (however this time there is no important mission basis to it, just something vague about Mother Mary's hospital needing funds), and basically the rest of the film consists of the original film's plot re-presented with minor tweaks here and there (just use the above table for reference) - however they still somehow managed to lose sight of all that made the original such a classic.

  Video
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This film is three years old, so we should expect a nice clean print. We almost get it. Disturbingly there are still frequent signs of film noise, but I admit to being more on the lookout for such things than I daresay a casual viewer would be - I can’t really see these causing anybody any headaches.

Like the original, Blues Brothers 2000 is presented in a ratio of 1.85:1, and is anamorphically enhanced (although since the first film it would appear that James Brown has become rather 2.35:1 - heehee!)

Colour, contrast and clarity get a thumbs-up, as should be expected - except for occasional fuzziness which appears to be present from the actual filming. The layer change whilst noticeable (around the 69 minute mark) isn’t too disruptive.

  Audio
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This is certainly not the tour de force that the disc of the original film is (especially considering its age), however I couldn't find anything to complain about here. There's some good surround usage, particularly during the utterly preposterous storm at the fairground (Ghost Riders in the Sky accompanied by one of the stupidest effects sequences ever put to celluloid), and the music is padded out nicely. The dialogue levels are pleasantly balanced with the music.

The soundtrack is another eclectic affair, basically following the blueprint of the first film (quelle surprise) - you get some soul and blues classics, the odd country number and a couple of gospel tunes, although most are not up to the standard of those in The Blues Brothers, and are generally led into rather clunkily - lacking the flow that the original managed so effortlessly. Aretha Franklin does a kick-bottom version of her virtual signature tune, Respect, and a who's who of incredible musicians including the likes of Bo Diddley, Isaac 'Chef' Hayes and Lou Rawls (oh, plus there's Eric Clapton) get to do their stuff in the battle of the bands scene. In all the soundtrack didn’t have the same classic vibe as the original film, however big brownie points must be awarded for the inclusion of Booker T and the MGs' fabulous Green Onions.

  Extras
Contract

Another static and silentâ„¢ production, which begs the question once again, "how hard is it to put some music behind menus?", this disc gives us...

The Making of Blues Brothers 2000: A 24 minute or so presentation, as you may expect there are brief interview snippets with many of the actors and crew from the film - even the costumier and choreographer get to put their two cents worth in. Presented in full frame, with 1.85:1 snippets from the film. There's nothing phenomenally interesting here, but it is at least worth a look.

Production photographs: 104 promotional and behind the scenes photos, many of which are just stills from the film. Yawn.

Poster campaign: This is kind of interesting, 13 posters are featured, many of which appear to be eventually unused mock-ups.

Production notes: A few pages giving a little insight behind the film - assuming you can actually manage to read the squished font.

Cast and filmmaker bios: Brief synopses of the main players' careers. At least we discover that John Goodman's first film was the delightful sounding Jailbait Babysitter, and according to this Dan Aykroyd was in Ghostbusters III in 1998 - either it got shelved (perhaps wisely considering this film) or I must have blinked and missed it...

Theatrical trailer: Full frame (somewhat negating the "theatrical" claim once again), about two minutes long, and pretty standard fare.

  Overall  
Contract

Whilst the original Blues Brothers film was fresh, fiendishly funny and clever and had an un-trying innocence to it, this sequel smacks of contrivance, self-congratulation and a complete and utter lack of creativity or originality. Somewhere along the line Elwood turned into an annoying preacher, with political correctness raising its icky head to the point that messages are screamed at you - Don’t smoke! Don't do drugs! Wear your seatbelt! (at the same time that he drives about like a total maniac). The inclusion of the Cute Kid® also comes under the PC umbrella, perhaps an attempt to add some much needed heart to the film, but it just doesn’t work as he is a fish out of water annoyance - and heaven forbid they even let it sing - ARGHHHHHHHHH!

Goodman gives a great performance (as usual no matter how dreck-like a script is thrown his way he manages to retain some dignity), as do many of the musicians present (the great B.B. King selling cars even!) - and let's face it, at least musicians have an excuse for not being able to act well (mind you blonde surfie-type Mick Jagger wannabe try-hard moppet (bugger, I've run out of adjectives) Jonny Lang can't even mime convincingly). Paul Shaffer finally gets his Blues Brothers big screen debut, doing a hopefully inadvertent Elton John portrayal, and I daresay ruing lost opportunities at missing out on being in the original film due to contractual hassles (although we should be thankful). However, others don’t fare nearly so well. Aykroyd is 99% just plain annoying, and I spent the entirety of the film under the impression that Joe Morton must also be a singer trying to act as he was so completely over the top and simply BAD. The discovery that he is quite an experienced (as obviously distinct from accomplished) actor came as a mighty surprise.

To be fair there are at least two actually quite amusing bits I should point out. Easily the most over-the-top car crash scene in history is present, running that fine line from going on for too long, to going for so long it's funny again, to continuing to the point of the exhaustion, to being SO ridiculous that you just have to smile. Also try to sit through the credits for James Brown's hilarious pisstake of his own renowned overwrought "I just can't go on" performances.

In what is a peculiar and rather annoying marketing ploy, Blues Brothers 2000 is only available locally in a double pack with the original film. Mercifully at least The Blues Brothers is available on its own (hence its separate review so as not to sully its brilliance), as for the extra $15 or so for the double (which still greatly overvalues BB2000) you get a stupid non-standard thickness double DVD case, and no original artwork (an act of arch criminality, did Dr Evil assemble this?). If it was presented as two separate discs in original packaging shrinkwrapped together things wouldn't be nearly as bad, however as it stands somebody in the marketing department should be rendered jobless for this travesty.

Aside from the packaging, as far as actual DVD quality goes there really isn't much to complain about. Video and audio fare more than serviceably, and there's a grab bag of extras that are worth a peek. But the film, which is still the main reason to buy a disc, for reasons explained above utterly reeks.

Admittedly if The Blues Brothers itself had never existed and this film came along it may be a lot more watchable and enjoyable. But the original DID exist, and this flimsy imitation serves as the poster-child for What Not To Do in a sequel, standing as a blatant and undignified insult to the original, as well as to the memories of the sadly departed John Belushi, Cab Calloway and John Candy (all of to whom this film was dedicated to - you can almost hear them spinning in their graves.)

Come back Speed 2, all is forgiven...


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      And I quote...
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