Sightlines · reception
How The Blues Brothers was received
1980 · John Landis · The Blues Brothers on Sightlines
The arc
Critics in 1980 were lukewarm — it was infamous for its runaway budget and chaotic shoot, and many reviewers found it bloated. It grossed well anyway, became a home-video and midnight-screening perennial, and was added to the National Film Registry in 2020 as a certified classic.
What’s debated
Fans still argue whether two white SNL guys fronting a Black R&B revue is appropriation or the loving tribute that handed showstopping numbers to Aretha Franklin, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and James Brown.
Its footprint
"We're on a mission from God" and the 106-miles-to-Chicago speech are permanently quotable, and the black suits, hats and Ray-Bans remain an instantly readable costume — arguably the most iconic look ever to come out of an SNL sketch.
Where it stands
Widely held up as the SNL movie — the gold standard every subsequent sketch-to-film adaptation gets measured against, and a comfort-rewatch staple on Letterboxd.
Did you know? The legendary mall car chase was shot in a real dead mall — the Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Illinois, which had closed in 1978; the production partially re-dressed it with fake storefronts just to destroy it.