Blazing Saddles

One of the least funny comedies that I've ever sighed through and one of the most overrated pieces of crap I can think of. I like a couple of Brooks' movies. Young Frankenstein I would call his masterpiece, and The Producers is pretty funny. After that, Silent Movie is okay. Spaceballs is good for some cheap laughs. But he can make quite the awful film when he wants to. Remember the Hitchcock parody, High Anxiety? That sucked big time, but I liked Blazing Saddles even less. I giggled a couple of times, but there was only one big laugh. Most of the funnier jokes were ruined by a 60 seconds long promo I saw on Comedy Central! Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, and Slim Pickens try their damndest to make it work, but they have no material to work with whatsoever. Some of the racial comedy might have worked back when Richard Pryor first started his career, but it's all hopelessly dated in 2002. And is it just me, or do others cringe whenever Madeline Kahn shows up in a Mel Brooks movie? I guess I laugh at her in Young Frankenstein, but she does little but embarrass the production when she comes on screen. 4/10.

Funny, how some legendary comedies aren't funny. Did "Blazing Saddles" work in 1974 when it was released? Yes. Does it work 30+ years later? No. 95% of it is staggeringly tedious and boring. The other 5% (namely Madeline Kahn and the baked-beans scene) are wonderful. Like a five-year-old discovering the "humor" in fart jokes, "Blazing Saddles" revels in its then-shocking use of the n-word. (Note: in today's politically correct environment, spelling out the n-word could get one kicked off of IMDb.) Unfortunately, Richard Pryor had already laid to rest the n-word's ostensible shock value in perhaps the most audacious and brilliant comedy album ever, "That Nigger's Crazy" (released the same year, 1974). Pryor's genius also exposes the utter lack of humor and sophistication in what is Mel Brooks' worst film. Like a grade-school child spewing newly-discovered "bad" words, Brooks' grandiose exercise in "look-at-me-being-bad" schlock arouses nothing so much as scorn. Coming after "The Producers" (brilliant) and before "Young Frankenstein" (also brilliant), "Blazing Saddles" is a cheap melange of adolescent minds trying to get a rise out of the grownups. Neither shocking nor ugly, it's just boring -- except for the one or two moments mentioned. Its silly, contrived "studio ending" is yet another smug Hollywood "in-joke" (among many in this wanna-be-funny film) that doesn't work. The performers are all fine. Madeline Kahn stands out, as she always did. The script and conception are the problems. Today, thirty-plus years later, they're just excruciating and pointless. Compare to Richard Pryor, who wove these same "dirty" words into an everlasting record of socio-comic genius through his writing and acting and sketches on, "That Nigger's Crazy." Then you'll realize what a low point "Blazing Saddles" was for the otherwise remarkable Mel Brooks. Not because it was "tasteless" (tastelessness can be hysterical, and is one of Brooks' hallmarks) but because it's so boring (there's never an excuse for being boring).

source: Blazing Saddles

Trailer—Blazing Saddles

Blazing Saddles

A new sheriff is needed in Rock Ridge to clear away a team of local land grabbers out to lay a new railroad. The man in charge (Korman) needs the sheriff to fail so sends a black sheriff (Little) to the racist town. Utterly over the top, crazed western full of the most wonderfully faux racist, sexist and slapstick comic set pieces made by Brooks. Korman is a glorious villain, Kahn hilarious as the Dietrich type sent to seduce Little and Wilder is as great as ever as the alcoholic quick draw. The whole film is riddled with hysterical scenes and rarely does Brooks miss a beat - possibly his 'Gov' piece is a bit lame, but otherwise it's Brooks best film apart from Young Frankenstein.

Incredibly funny. A Mel Brooks comedy set in the Wild West. A corrupt politician wants to drive out the inhabitants of a town so that he can buy it up, as a railroad is about to go through it. One of the plans he devises to drive them out involves appointing a black sheriff... Mel Brooks at his comedic, satirical, subversive and irreverent best. Has so many quotable lines and classic scenes. Great work by Cleavon Little in the lead role. Good support from Gene Wilder, Harvey Korman, Brooks himself, Madeline Kahn, Slim Pickens and a host of others. Bound to offend the dial-an-offense crowd (who are usually offended on behalf of a group they don't belong to, and who probably don't take offense themselves). That just makes it so much better...

No doubt pseudo-intellectuals ( Ie People who only think they`re clever ) will claim that BLAZING SADDLES deconstructs the traditional western by pointing out how fundamentally racist the genre is . I`ve no idea how much truth there is in that because I was too busy laughing at what was happening on screen . Yeah the N word figures a lot but let`s not forget one of the screenwriters is a famous black stand up comedian and that everyone be they black , white or Jewish are targets for the outrageous events in this movie so I fail to see what`s racist about it . It is of course politically incorrect but hands up anyone who`s seen a politically correct comedy that made them laugh ? I won`t bother to go into any detail as to how funny BLAZING SADDLES is except to say I remember seeing it years ago and watched it again at the weekend . Unlike a great number of movies I have fond memories of this is one film that didn`t disappoint me after a long absence

Whenever I look at this film I laugh so hard that somtimes tears come to my eyes. Brooks manages to do with this film what Young Frankenstien did to classic horror films. The thing that really works is all the in jokes laced throughout the film. This shows that the cast and crew were really having fun in writing and producing this film. But the main credit should go to the late Cleavon Little. He was perfect as Bart. He took the role when many thought it should have gone to Richard Pryor (who was a co-writer on the film). However, I think Pryor might have been a little too over the top for the role. Little played it more low key and not as militant as Pryor might have. Also, this film was rated R when it was first released back in 1974. Today it probably would get either a P.G. or, at most, a P.G.-13 rating.