Fresh out of prison, Jake Blues collects his deadpan brother Elwood and sets out to reunite their old rhythm-and-blues band for one purpose: raising the money to save the Catholic orphanage that raised them. Their mission from God spirals into a demolition-derby odyssey across Chicago, pursued by Nazis, country bands, and an entire police force whose squad cars pile up in ever more absurd wreckage. John Landis stages a joyous collision of soul music and slapstick anarchy, punctuated by electrifying turns from Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Ray Charles. Loud, sweet and gleefully destructive, it remains one of cinema's great musical comedies.