Production note Aykroyd wrote a 324-page script that had to be heavily cut down.
Production note The production reportedly had cocaine worked into the budget for night shoots.
Production note The film reportedly destroyed 103 cars.
Production note The downtown finale cost about $3.5 million.
Production note The movie made $115.2 million and was one of 1980’s biggest musical hits.
Production note Mann Theaters reportedly refused to book the movie in white neighborhoods and wanted it in Compton.
Production note The final chase included dropping a Ford Pinto from a helicopter.
Production note Belushi supposedly lost about 500 Ray-Bans during filming.
Saturday Night Live The movie is framed as the first SNL film and part of SNL’s early variety-show identity.
Animal House Used as a key comparison point in Belushi’s rise and Landis’s career.
Wayne's World Compared as a later SNL movie that is funnier but maybe less of a movie overall.
Smokey and the Bandit Cited as part of the 70s movies that feature repeated cool-person cameos and car chaos.
Cannonball Run Another comparison for all-star, car-chase ensemble comedy of the era.
Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Referenced as an older version of the pop-up cameo ensemble model.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off Cited as a later Chicago movie that owes something to Blues Brothers.
The Commitments Suggested as a double feature because it is another soul-band movie built around sincerity and performance.
Ghostbusters Mentioned as the film Belushi was supposed to make with Aykroyd before his death.
Trading Places Used to describe John Landis’s run and to compare VHS-era texture.
The Blues Brothers 2000 Discussed as a later sequel that many fans regarded as a fiasco despite premiere hype.
Apocalypse Now Referenced through the Colleen Camp poster in Elwood’s apartment and the Linda Carter/Playboy connection story.
The Empire Strikes Back Noted as opening the same day as The Blues Brothers and as a big day for Carrie Fisher.
Risky Business Cited as another Chicago/Ray-Bans-era movie and as a source of John Lee Hooker associations.
The Blues Brothers (concert album Briefcase Full of Blues) Referenced as the live album tied to the group’s popularity and sales.
