Voters have chosen “The Blues Brothers” as the top movie in state history, embracing a film that celebrates car crashes, classic music, Chicago landmarks and two shady characters who are “on a mission from God” to save an orphanage from foreclosure.

The winning film was selected in the first round of online voting in the Illinois Top 200 project, a joint initiative of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, The State Journal-Register and the Illinois Bicentennial Commission.

Based on a “Saturday Night Live” sketch, “The Blues Brothers” is set in and around Chicago. The 1980 film stars John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as “Joliet” Jake and Elwood Blues and features musical performances from stars such as James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, John Lee Hooker and Ray Charles.

The movies that placed No. 1 through 10 in online voting are:

1. “Blues Brothers”
2. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” — Bueller, his best friend and girlfriend skip school to explore Chicago.
3. “A League of Their Own” — Women get a chance to play pro baseball during World War II.
4. “The Fugitive” — Dr. Richard Kimble tries to avoid capture while tracking down his wife’s killer in Chicago.
5. “The Untouchables” — Federal agents risk everything to bring down Al Capone.
6. “The Sting” — Two Chicago con men go after a gang boss who killed their friend; won an Oscar for best picture.
7. “Chicago” — a musical exploration of hunger for wealth and fame in the Jazz Age; won the Oscar for best picture.
8. “Eight Men Out” — the story of the Chicago White Sox throwing the 1919 World Series.
9. “Hoop Dreams” — an unforgettable documentary about poor Chicago teens and their dreams of basketball stardom.
10. “Ordinary People” — The death of a child tears apart a Lake Forest family; won an Oscar for best picture.

The Illinois Top 200 project lets Illinoisans choose the most significant people, places and things in the state’s history. New voting categories will be available every two weeks. By the state’s 200th birthday on Dec. 3, voters will have chosen 10 favorites in 20 different categories — the Illinois Top 200.

Future voting categories include inventions and innovations, buildings, historic sites, scenic spots, museums, books, writers, worst tragedies, musicians, artists and architects, actors, entertainers, scientists, athletes, groundbreaking women, minority trailblazers, leaders, greatest moments.

Get your free subscription of the Cook County digital edition

—-  ‘Blues Brothers’ picked as top movie in Illinois history —-