Search - SNL - Best of John Belushi on DVD

His Liz Taylor Impersonation Still Chokes Me Up

bostonears | Lincoln, MA United States | 12/20/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was a college student in the late 1970's, and back then, every dorm room and frat house on campus settled down at 11:30 on Saturday nights, so that everyone could gather 'round the tube to watch the original SNL. Man was that show funny, especially John Belushi.

This DVD does an admirable but insufficient job of conveying Belushi's comic genius. A few of the sketches, such as Cheeseburger, haven't withstood the test of time, and left me wondering why I thought he was so funny. But then he really shines on others, such as Samurai Night Fever, Godfather Vito Corleone in therapy, and his Joe Cocker rendition of "With A Little Help From My Friends," which is so dead-on that on one episode of SNL (NOT the version on this disc) Joe himself comes out on stage in the middle of Belushi's performance, to the astonishment of the audience who thought Joe was already the one performing. But the skit that still has me laughing out loud every time I see it is Belushi's impersonation of Elizabeth Taylor choking on chicken in the middle of an interview. I know it's morbid, but it's oddly sublime, and no other comic could have pulled it off. In fact, no other comic would have even attempted it, and that's what made Belushi one-of-a-kind.

The main reason I'm giving this DVD only four stars is because the run time is a scant 78 minutes, and surely the SNL archives hold enough Belushi gems that they could have put out two or three hours worth. Nevertheless, this is as close as you can get to seeing Belushi in his prime."

Did any of you own the VHS?!?!?!

JP | Macon, GA | 01/17/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I only saw one reviewer mention the VHS but, for some reason they failed to mention the following....the DVD is incomplete!!!

Like some of the other reviewers, I was really looking forward to this being released on DVD. I bought the VHS way back in 1983(so old it's in mono!!!) and was greatly looking forward to hearing the musical performances in 5.1!

But....lo & behold... this isn't the entire VHS that was originally released!!! And among the missing parts is THE major reason I was looking forward to the DVD - the single greatest Blues Brothers performance (in my opinion)....B Movie Boxcar Blues!!! I was so disgusted that I have yet to do a skit by skit comparison so am not sure what else is missing but I am certain some comedy skits are missing as well.

I also soon realized that there are many new skits as well and one of them is the Samurai Night Fever skit with OJ Simpson. Since this wasn't on the original VHS it can only be an editing decision made after the OJ fiasco. As another reviewer noted, we definitely could have done without this skit and I hope OJ didn't get any proceeds from its addition. In fact the only reason I can think of for its inclusion is the demand for more Samurai skits. But they could have picked from many others, the 2 skits with Frank Zappa conducting his band & The Samurai musician are both priceless and rarely aired.

Also, I agree with the reviewer who stated there are better Joe Cocker skits too. In addition to the one mentioned with Joe himself, there is also a hilarious skit with Belushi doing his impersonation along side a female singer (I forget who....Ann Margaret?) and she ends up laughing so hard she can't finish the song!!

Bottom line....if you are a fan of Belushi by all means get this!! I only wish it contained ALL the material from the VHS. I guess I'll have to wait on the appropriate season DVD box set (or get the Blues Brothers DVD) to get my beloved B Movie Boxcar Blues in 5.1 hi-fi!!
"

SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

M. P Sheon | copperas cove, tx United States | 07/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"if this is the same as the video tape that came out a long time ago, we are in for a treat! my dad was a huge belushi fan, and converted me at the age of 10. the samurai, and jake blues have been ingrained into me for 20 years. that might explain alot...... anyhoo... of all the snl dvd's (outside of the eddie murphy one from the late 80's) this is the one to get."

GREAT

David Keith | Bridgeport, CT United States | 09/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this dvd is awesome! john belushi is one of my favorite comedians and im happy they finally made this on dvd. this dvd is a good mix of all his good stuff. this is definetly a must have for any belushi fans or snl fans in general. even though it doesnt say it on amazon, the dvd also has a lot of special features like his original audition, and inside look."