Blues Brothers, The (Blu-ray) (1980)

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General		Extras
Category	Musical	Featurette-Stories Behind The Making Of The Blues Brothers Featurette-Transposing The Music Featurette-Remembering John
Rating
Year Of Production	1980
Running Time	132:49
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	John Landis
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	John Belushi Dan Aykroyd Carrie Fisher John Candy Henry Gibson Steve Lawrence
Case	Amaray Variant
RPI	$15.95	Music	The Blues Brothers Band Cab Calloway too many others to list here

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English dts 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired Danish Finnish Icelandic Norwegian Swedish	Smoking	Yes, constantly
		Annoying Product Placement	Yes, mildly
		Action In or After Credits	No

     I believe I have mentioned the whole history of how my family was one of the first on the block to get a VCR and start watching films at home. One title that got frequent plays when I was a boy was a television/radio simulcast of The Blues Brothers. The Blues Brothers is a musical and a comedy. It is a comedy because it piles on the absurdity so fast it makes one long for the sensical approach of a Salvador Dali painting. It is a musical because, like all good musicals, it is a celebration of the form of music it is about.

     Jake Blues (John Belushi) is a blues musician. After being released from prison he is picked up at the gates by his brother, Elwood (Dan Aykroyd). Their first port of call is the orphanage in Chicago where they were raised by Sister Mary Stigmata (Kathleen Freeman), whom they proceed to visit. After learning that the orphanage is being closed due to tax problems and generally upsetting the Sister by speaking like they do at home, they are given some advice by the other parental figure in their lives, Curtis (Cab Calloway). Curtis tells the Brothers to go and see the Reverend Cleophus (James Brown).

    Over Jake's objections, they do so, and in one of the film's signature scenes he literally sees the light. Jake now believes that he has been given a mission by the Catholic god, and in order to fulfil it he intends to bring the Blues Brothers band back together. Unfortunately, the world Jake went to prison from and the world he came out to are two different things, and the incompatibilities between the two will mean that in order to raise the money needed Jake and Elwood are going to end up making a lot of enemies.

     The plot is a little better-constructed than is the case than a lot of other musicals, but it is still little more than an excuse for musical numbers (and car crashes). The whole central premise does reflect a proposal at the time to tax churches within a certain county, but it is otherwise so outside of reality it sets the tone for the rest of the film. But if you are anything like me and appreciate good music or good vehicular mayhem (or both), then The Blues Brothers is a must-have. Unfortunately, the disc it has been presented on in this case is anything but.

Video

     When I became fully cognisant of the difference between lossless and lossy audio, The Blues Brothers became near to the top of the list of titles I wanted yesterday. Considering how long it took Universal to release this disc, it is a serious disappointment. No, let me repeat that with 1/100th of the proper emphasis: this disc is a MAJOR disappointment.

     One thing they did get right is they chose to include both the theatrical and extended cuts of the film. I watched both, starting with the extended cut.

     The transfer is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio within a 1920 by 1080 window. The first thing you see when you start the extended cut is a message that essentially warns that there will be differences in the overall video quality of scenes exclusive to the extended cut. Unfortunately, both sets of footage have serious problems to one degree or another.

     The transfer is sharp enough to be an upgrade over the previously-released DVD, but not nearly to the degree I expect of films of similar age. Grain and noise are present in the wide shot of the prison gates to a degree similar to the aforementioned DVD, only more so. One major, major problem here is the shadow detail. Much of this film takes place at night or in underlit locations and, like Animal House before it, the resolution of such sequences is a dramatic fall-off. On the plus side, the dark portions of the transfer are noise-free.

     Another thing they got right is the progressive transfer. The only artefact of the film-to-video category that appears is minor camera wobble during some tracking shots, such as when the Brothers stroll to the slum that Elwood calls home. Compression artefacts are not evident during this AVCHD transfer. Film artefacts are occasionally seen, but in small enough amounts to be more than acceptable when the film's age is taken into consideration.

     Subtitles are offered in English for the Hearing Impaired. They are reasonably accurate, with good sound effect cues on occasion.

     Universal, I have to be blunt. I take issue with the "perfect picture" blurb on the cardboard slip cover, and for a reason other than all those I have listed above. You know very well that in order to equal the resolution of 35mm film, experts generally agree a digital representation needs to be 4000 pixels tall. 1920 by 1080 adds up to a lot less than perfect in this context, thanks very much.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Now that you have read the description of the video transfer, I expect you are thinking "so what is the problem?". Well, this is the problem: the audio.

     The transfer is presented with what appears to be one soundtrack choice: the original English dialogue in DTS 5.1 - not DTS HD Master Audio, or even DTS High Resolution. Nope, just lossy old DTS. When the original DVD release of The Blues Brothers came out, this would have been considered a godsend. Well, that that was then, this is now. Universal, even Warners have stopped using lossy soundtracks exclusively. As I have posted on the associated Fudgebook page, I want my money back. I consider this disc as having been sold to me under false pretenses.

     Now that that is out of the way, the dialogue is clear and easy to understand most of the time, but such moments as when Elwood explains why the police are not already breaking down his door now that they have his address make one really miss the option of lossless audio. Dan Aykroyd's voice and the train in the background seem to literally be right on top of each other. As you can imagine, this notable effect of lossy compression does not do the music a whole lot of favours.

     Speaking of the music, the music consists pretty much entirely of Blues music from the twentieth century, with Ira Newborn and John Strauss serving as conductor/music supervisor and editor respectively. Numerous big names in Blues music not only contribute to the soundtrack, they make some awesome cameo appearances to boot. Especially worthy of mention is Cab Calloway's performance of his 1931 hit, Minnie The Moocher. It is not a coincidence that once the show this number opens has closed, the only other musical number is Jailhouse Rock as a closer. Calling the concert a peak is like calling the deaths of a great number of the performers seen in this film a great loss to the world.

     The surround channels burst into life during musical numbers, and are used well to separate instruments, vocals, and audiences. During dialogue sequences, they are still used, but are noticeably less integrated with the rest of the soundtrack. Home video and stereo television were considered far-out concepts at the time this film was made, and this audio transfer reflects this. It would reflect this to some degree even if we had been favoured with a lossless soundtrack.

     The subwoofer is very active during car crashes and musical numbers, and far more integrated with the rest of the soundtrack than the surrounds. I have often said that the compact disc specification could be improved no end simply by adding a dedicated LFE channel, and Donald Dunn's bass playing in this film is the proof.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    A very small selection of extras are present on this disc. All of them are recycled from the previous DVD release. High Def Digest has pointed out (and rightly expressed bafflement at) the fact that the Region A versions are presented with lossless audio. I did not really check if this was the case on the Region B disc, but if this is the case, puzzlement does not even begin to describe what I am experiencing.

• Featurette - Stories Behind The Making Of The Blues Brothers
• Featurette - Transposing The Music
• Featurette - Remembering John: This is the one featurette that I watched from beginning to end. A reflection on John Belushi's life by those who knew him best, including his widow Judith Belushi-Pisano.

     From reading the High-Def Digest review of the Region A disc, I draw the following conclusions:

• 1) The discs are identical except for the inclusion of an extra French DTS 2.0 soundtrack (why, for god's sake?) and different subtitle options (Spanish and French rather than Scandinavian languages on Region A).
• 2) The inclusions of both cuts of the film is no excuse for the absence of lossless audio, and you know it, High-Def Digest. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind includes not only three different cuts of the film, but two lossless soundtracks to boot. There is no reason why The Blues Brothers had to be presented like this. None. Nada.

     The Blues Brothers is more than a musical. It is an expression of everything that music is about. If you grew up during the 1980s, you would have had to have been living under a rock to have not heard of it. As I said, it was near to the top of the list of films I wanted to see in high definition with lossless audio. Unfortunately, it deserves to presented in much better fashion than has been the case on this disc. I simply cannot recommend purchasing it in good conscience.

     The video transfer is good, but the limitations of the source material are heavy.

    The audio transfer is like a poke in the eye with a blunt stick. Universal, lossless audio was added to the BD-Video specification for a good reason, and this disc only serves to remind me of that.

    The extras are worth looking at for historical value, but are nothing to write home about.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall