User reviews

Mel Brooks found a way in 1974 to direct two of the greatest comedies of all time. And in that one year, he found a way to cram as many movie parodies, and not have any overlap, as any director can in Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles. What Young Frankenstein was to the 1930s horror movies Blazing Saddles was to the Westerns of the 1960s. And add in there the oppression of blacks during the same time, and you have a biting satire on the role of blacks in society, if not in 1974, at least the way it was in 1874. Cleavon Little (by the way, he's black) plays Bart, a slave laborer for Hedley Lamarr's (Harvey Korman in a GREAT performance as a scheming government employee) railroad who needs to cut through the town of Rock Ridge for completion. The townspeople won't sell their land, so Lamarr has the sheriff killed and replaced with Bart. He's not really welcomed into the town, but with help from Jim, the Waco Kid (Gene Wilder) he is able to earn's the town's trust. Standard plot, and a plot that does not really matter. The humor is so scatological, from so many periods of time, that we know it's a movie, and the characters in the movie know they are in a movie. Take Slim Pickens when he cries out "What in the wide world of sports is going on here?" And the final 10 minutes of the movie is just odd in any other movie, but somehow works in Blazing Saddles. So much humor is cut out of the TV versions, so don't waste your time with it. It has to be seen with the language and "sexually suggestive" scenes to be fully appreciated.

Quality. many people who love this film may feel that the negative comments from others are inoffensive as this is such a funny film, I will say this. They are entitled to their opinions ...even if they are wrong. This is one of the best comedies ever made.

Firstly it's not just Mel Brooks as scriptwriter which seems to make a big difference to the quality of the film he produces (Yung Frankestein is co-written by Gene Wilder) but then you have a cast in fine form, especially Harvey Corman as the fantastic Hedley Lamarr (Not Hedy, It's Hedley!) add to that a fantastic series of sight gags and word play, with a good dose of racism ridicule thrown in for good measure (...and they is so DUMB!)and it all makes for a brilliant mix of inspired film-making.

There are numerous scenes of note, but the scene of the townsfolk looking at their work and Bart chasing after the bad guy still makes my skin cold as they are genuinely moving moments.

best visual gag though has got to be the Wako Kid versus the goons at the railroad top drawer Much Love Mike

Howling comedy from Mel Brooks about the Old West with a script that keeps you laughing all the way through and a cast of characters right up there with the Marx Brothers. Kahn is especially tempting as a Marlene Dietrich-like performer, while director Brooks has a fine little cameo as a befuddled and distracted governor. The skits and sight gags are constant. One of the funniest films ever made!

In its side-splitting takedown of racism and all-purpose ignorance, 1974's "Blazing Saddles" is one of the boldest and most important satires ever made. As raunchy and as ludicrous as it is whip-smart, it can claim parentage of modern-day parodies from "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)" to "Sausage Party (2016)" to music industry spoof "Stadium Anthems (2018)" in their uses of obscenity, intelligence, and song to expose inane social truths.

It's the Wild West. Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman) is a white business opportunist with moronic and hyper-sexed governor William J. LePetomane (Mel Brooks) in his back pocket. Lamarr wants to build a railroad through the outpost town of Rock Ridge. When he can't scare off the town folk, he incites chaos by saddling them with a black sheriff (Bart, played by the now-iconic Cleavon Little), who just days before was a railroad laborer sentenced to hanging. It turns out that the sly Bart is a rare sage in a frontier littered with dumb white people; he pairs with booze-soaked gunslinger Jim (Gene Wilder) to rally the town against Lamarr's thugs.

Wearing no seatbelt, "Blazing Saddles" rebukes the absurdity of racism with its own absurdist countermeasures. While its blueprint would never make it past present-day studio tastemakers, its defrocking of ignorance has never been better primed for mass consumption. This is a watershed comedy that presides atop any short list of film's greatest satires. - (Was this review of use to you? If so, let me know by clicking "Helpful." Cheers!)

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.

This film begins out west with a railroad line being built but because of quicksand directly in its path has to be rerouted through the small town of Rock Ridge. Realizing that he stands to make a fortune if he can acquire the rights to this town the corrupt attorney general by the name of "Headley Lamarr" (Harvey Corman) decides to send in some ruthless cowboys to chase all of the town's residents out. However, much to his chagrin, rather than leaving, the townspeople decide to hire a sheriff to defend their interests instead. That being said, upon learning of the townspeople's plan, he subsequently manipulates "Governor Lepetomane" (Mel Brooks) into hiring a black man named "Bart" (Cleavon Little) to the position figuring that they won't tolerate someone who isn't white. What he doesn't count on, however, is just how clever and resourceful Sheriff Bart becomes once he actually pins on his badge. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a good comedy which benefited from several fine performances with Madeline Kahn (as "Lili Von Shtupp") probably standing out the most. I also liked Robyn Hilton (as the governor's secretary "Miss Stein") for a completely different reason. On the flip side, however, I must admit that a good part of the humor was rather crude and some viewers might take great offense at some of the off-color jokes and stereotypes. Be that as it may, although this film definitely had its faults, I still found it to be quite humorous and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

Remember the days when humanity could laugh at itself? Blazing Saddles is a film that takes us all back to a more innocent era. An era where PC was just a couple of letters stuck together. I'll get this out of the way first: To all of you pc commies out there... the racism in this film is there to MAKE THE WHITE PEOPLE THE BUTT OF THE JOKES!!!! There is not a single person of color in this film who plays a negative character. The rednecks are what this film is really making fun of. I think most people realize this (hence the 7.7), but there are still a few who don't.

This is such a funny film. From the opening scene along the railroad tracks to the shot of Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little riding off into the sunset in a limo, the film provides an endless stream of laughs. Every time a person views this film, they can notice something truly hilarious that they may have missed the last time. Mel Brooks doesn't always hit the mark with his comedy, but this film was by far his best effort.

Cleavon Little and Harvey Korman give the best performances in my opinion. I think Cleavon Little stole every scene in every film I saw him in. He died way too young, and I wish he could have acted in more films. Korman's Hedley Lamar character is a real hoot. By the end of my most stressful days at work, I often find myself talking to everyone in his voice. So evil, and so calculating! He and Slim Pickens played off each other flawlessly.

Good luck catching an un-edited version of this classic anywhere but on the DVD. Forget about any kind of an effective remake, either. Not in this day and age.

Don't miss this film! 10 of 10 stars.

So sayeth the Hound.

I am going to be greatly in the minority here. I sheepishly admit to having seen this in 1974 and not once since until last night. I had very high expectations and remembered some funny things about it, but the funny things that I remembered are nearly all that still seem humorous to me. This was bold and brave, politically incorrect and outrageous 49 years ago, but many of the jokes Are very dated and almost not a bit of it is particularly outrageous today. It has a well known cast of comedians from that era and they are all doing their familiar shtick that is now more nostalgic than funny, though I did smile a lot for a while. This is a comedy classic, but for me, it no longer works all that well. Mel Brooks is a funny guy and made some very good movies, particularly young Frankenstein, put much of the humor here is from the Catskills days. It certainly had its moment in time, but sad to say, the sun has set on this somewhat.

A few years ago, Broadway producers decided to adapt a Mel Brooks comedy and made a bundle. Could it happen again with 'Blazing Saddles?' The movie already has four great songs; a half-dozen more of similar caliber would make for a strong score. 'Blazing Saddles' has a ready-made cast of over-the-top characters, strong audience identification, and some minor problems for a theatrical production (like blowing up the phony Rock Ridge) which are easily overcome.

But 'The Producers' was a cult film that never made it to Main Street and needed the second act of a Broadway musical to give it a place in popular culture. 'Blazing Saddles' could never open again as big as it did in 1974. In the summer of Watergate and Patty Hearst, here was one bit of madness people could enjoy. And it wasn't just random kookiness, but a film that broke barriers and courted controversy like no other major-release film of its time. No other movie had characters that were basically likable if stupid throwing around the 'N' word before. In fact, it hasn't happened since (and I doubt it would on Broadway today.) The whole notion of white people and black people living together was not new, but the approach of 'Blazing Saddles' was certainly new. In order to live together, we have to laugh together first. The only way this film was not a trailblazer was in that it blazed trails untaken by any film that came after.

Was Cleavon Little then a civil rights pioneer for the 1970s, in a way Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were the decade before? He's very good, bringing a lightness to the role that's equal parts Shaft and Bugs Bunny. Richard Pryor was one of the film's writers and Brooks' first choice for Sheriff Bart, but Pryor wouldn't have played the role in the same smooth way. Little is an amiable actor, one step ahead but never cocky about it. He makes for a sympathetic center, and he is flash in those corduroy threads.

Little didn't work much after 'Blazing Saddles,' which makes no sense. It was only the highest-grossing Western of all time, and Little was the lead actor in it. Maybe institutional racism wasn't the sole cause. After all, he had a distractingly rock-solid cast around him, particularly Harvey Korman as Attorney General Hedley Lamarr. Growing up in the '70s, it was a shock the first time I saw the unedited 'Blazing Saddles' with all the casual vulgarity spewing from the mouth of Tim Conway's slapstick buddy on the ultra G-rated 'Carol Burnett Show.' 'You will be only risking your lives, whilst I will be risking an almost-certain Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor,' he tells his gang before they ride off to pillage Rock Ridge. If only the Academy didn't penalize comedies so, that might have been true.

Madeline Kahn did get nominated for Lili Von Shtupp, and deserved her Laurel and Hardy handshake for sure. Her Baba Wawa meets Marlene Dietrich performance is a comic masterpiece, and it takes guts to wear that dead-weed lingerie in which she performs 'I'm So Tired.' Slim Pickens (Taggart), Burton Gilliam (Lyle), Dom DeLuise (Buddy), and Brooks himself as 'the Gov' all shine, and the level of comic acting remains high all the way to the smallest roles, like the guy playing Hitler ('They lose me right after the bunker scene') and the cowboy who chews gum in line ('I didn't know there was gonna be so many people!')

Gene Wilder is a little young and ironic for the bitter ex-gunslinger known as the Waco Kid, but he grows into the role well enough. Certainly he was in tune with what Brooks was doing more than Gig Young or Dan Dailey would have been (Brooks' earlier choices for the part, with Young making it all the way to the first day's shooting before it was discovered he wasn't just acting the part of a hopeless drunk.)

'Blazing Saddles' doesn't make the IMDb top 250, but it's still one of the most significant video titles because it rewards repeat viewings so well. The wholeness of the film's comic spectacle is too dense to be absorbed in one viewing, especially when you are laughing too hard. It's a cultural landmark, yes, but it's even funnier now than it was 30 years ago, one of the funniest comedies that exist today. Making it into a musical now would almost be demeaning, but I suspect it will happen anyway.

After trying to sit through some movies with a friend of mine this past weekend, we finally decided to watch "Blazing Saddles" and we're glad we did. Previously I had only seen this movie on network or syndicated television with a lot of edits and missing scenes. I'm glad I finally decided to watch it on DVD.

The story isn't really important (about an old western town that finds itself in the path of a railroad development and in the way of some despicable politicos who try to destroy it) it just gives the brilliant Mel Brooks a long clothesline on which he can hang hundreds of old jokes, then-current jokes and timeless jokes. Mel Brooks is one of the best directors when it comes to tackling racism. He is so even handed that he can deliver a message when you don't even realize you are receiving one. It's the openness of overall acceptance that sits with you afterwards that is the final reward.

When I watched this I wondered what had happened to a lot of the actors and actresses who appeared in it. I think only Gene Wilder is really still very active in making movies these days (or as of 2005). The cast was a tremendous collection of great comic and dramatic actors and actresses who all turned in wonderful performances, combining to turn a complicated storyline into an apparently seamless comic farce. I particularly liked seeing David Huddleston as Olson Johnson. He's a long time favorite supporting actor and, he too, is still playing some small roles (see the new "The Producers").

My only complaints about "Blazing Saddles" are that some of the "current" references don't hold up too well after all this time and the ending gets a little complicated. I wish Mel Brooks could have kept the story in the same time line instead of resorting to "return to reality" ending he used.

And it goes without saying, "Blazing Saddles" has the all time greatest farting scene in movie history.

Blazing Saddles is one of the funniest movies to not only to come from Mel Brooks, but from cinema itself. Film stars Cleavon Little as a regular black laborer, but then a villain (Heldey Lamarr is perfectly played by Harvey Korman) wants to move a community out of the town Rockridge. So, he brings Cleavon in to make the people leave (the people in town are racist including the line: "The sherrif is a nig! "What'd he say?" "He said the sherrif's a near). Funny story, funny jokes (the farting sequence is ahead of it's time for 1974) and 2 breakthroughs- Madedline Kahn in a Oscar nominated performance as Von Shtupp and shines through. The other is Richard Pryor, who co-writes the script with Brooks and Andrew Bergman. Hilarious, forever. A+

Blazing Saddles is an iconic comedy. However, I have to admit that I remember it being funnier. Watching it now, I still laughed out loud a few times, and chuckled a few more, but the jokes seemed farther apart, and some of the references were so dated that I had to look them up. I was also surprised that, aside from the constant barrage of racial slurs, it's actually a fairly tame R-rated movie. Cleavon Little & Gene Wilder make a great duo. And while I'm always happy to see Madeline Kahn on the screen, I felt like she was underutilized. Mel Brooks definitely made an impact with this irreverent comedy.

I suppose this movie can be considered a classic of comedy, but only if you are prepared to lump into the classic category such movies as Airplane.

It's a matter of what you find amusing. If slapstick and childishly simple puns and one-liners, puerile plays-on-words or bathroom humour are what gets you rolling in the aisles, then BS (an interesting acronym) will not only float your boat, it will wash it away in a veritable flood.

On the other hand, if more subtle and clever comedy are what you prefer, then I'd suggest staying well clear.

It's not that BS isn't a reasonable film. It's just that its comedy hails from an era when nothing like it was ever seen on film or TV. It was a hit because of its difference, much like Airplane would be later. But, like Airplane, BS's humour doesn't stand the test of time very well. Audiences, for the most part, grow up and mature. The simple humour shown here won't make it today.

As a result, the movie is disappointing. Living on its laurels from yesteryear - being hailed as a classic - is a hard crown for any film to wear successfully for more than a few years, let alone thirty. It's remembered fondly by those that saw it way back when, and those that may have seen it later without anything else for reference. But, being subjected to the deluge of "other" comedy in the intervening years since its original release, the movie fades from the bright star that it once was into the somewhat struggling, tarnished movie that it now appears as.

The most redeeming feature of the movie today is its utter and complete lack of anything that remotely resembles political correctness. It's nice to see the N-word uttered by someone other than a black actor. Not just uttered, but uttered without much trace of vitriol or menace.

We should give a nod to these old movies for, despite the clumsy scripts and poor humour, they remind us of a time when things were simpler, easier to understand. When things were (if you'll pardon the pun) black and white. Simpler movies for a simpler time.

Shake your head at the shallowness of it all if you will today, but remember that there was a time when this was entertainment.

1974 was a very good year for the team of Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder; their "Young Frankenstein" (which came out in 1974) is one of the funniest movies ever made, and "Blazing Saddles" (same year) is almost just behind it. It's a bit overrated (but just a bit); I know a lot of people look on this as the funniest movie of all time, but I can't go THAT far. But it is ONE of the funniest movies of all time, and for two such movies by the same director, with the same star, to come out the same year, to be on that list is quite an achievement.

The residents of Rock Ridge (all named Johnson) need a new sheriff. They get one... Bart, played by Cleavon Little, who happens to be black. It's all planned out by Hedley Lamarr (don't call him Heddy!), an employee of the governor (Mel Brooks), in a plot to run the residents out of town so he can have a railroad run through it. At first, the townsfolk aren't happy about this development, but when Bart endeavors to save them from the evil Lamarr, who's played to slimy perfection by Harvey Korman, they warm up to him. Also thrown into the mix is Wilder as "The Waco Kid", a gunslinger who's lost his knack for shooting, Alex Karras as a huge idiot named Mongo , and Madeline Khan as Lily von Schtupp, a parody of Marlene Dietrich, complete with ridiculous German accent. She stands out heads and shoulders above everybody else in this movie, I think, and her song "I'm Tired" ("I'm not a wabbit! I need some west!") is possibly the funniest song ever to appear in a film. This is no doubt the funniest part Madeline Khan has ever had (and she ALSO appeared in "Young Frankenstein"!). It's also a kick to see a pre-"Magnum PI" John Hillerman as Howard Johnson, with an ice cream shop with a sign that screams "1 Flavor"; and Slim Pickens (Taggart, another bad guy) is always a hoot.

The plot is just an excuse to make fun of westerns, racism, and movie-making in general, as demonstrated in the extremely wacky, fourth-wall breaking finale (Watch for Dom DeLuise in these scenes). None of this is really supposed to make sense or be realistic, it's just supposed to be funny, and for the most part it is. It's one of the crassest and crudest mainstream movies in history, and that's it's strength; it often plays just like a Mad movie parody. One example of this that really sticks out is the famous farting scene, which somehow manages to be one of the funniest scenes in the movie, and probably the funniest fart scene ever. But the focus is on the way blacks were treated in the post-Civil War old west, and the movie is merciless in the way it has its ignorant white characters treat the black characters, throwing the n-word around without abandon and giving them the dirty work (at one point, a character says "We can't afford to lose any horses! Send a couple of n****rs!"). The movie finds its heart in the way the initially racist townspeople of Rock Ridge become fond of their black sheriff.

Its spirit, however, is in the hilarious and crude jokes that are thrown all through. This is one funny movie, and with Mel Brooks, that's what's really important.

The American Film Institute did not choose this as one of the 100 best American Movies of all time. They put Doctor Zhivago near the top of the list.

For these actions, all members of the institute should be stripped of rank, held somewhere with their eyes fixed open ala Clockwork Orange, and forced to watch the abysmal Zhivago until they change their minds.

Film "authorities" have these opinions that 1)great comedies inherently have less merit than serious films 2)great comedies aren't those actual funny ones, but are those stylish character-based films like Tootsie and It Happened One Night.

Blazing Saddles is one of the funniest movies ever made. It is a great parody. It has a gentle, loving spirit. People talk about it years after seeing it.

Sure, it is coarse, lowbrow, sometimes sophomoric, and silly. But it's funny, dammit. Isn't that what makes a great comedy.

I place it up there with Duck Soup - in comedy heaven.

I was mentioning this movie a while back to a co-worker, and she said, "Oh, that movie is terrible, it's so racist..." She didn't get it. There is a lot of politically incorrect language, a lot of use of the "N" word. But you have to pay attention to the context. All the racial slurs are done in such a way that the object of ridicule is the racist whites, not African Americans. In that sense, it's just brilliant. In one scene, when the black sheriff greets an old white woman on the street, she responds with "Outta my way, n****r! Later, after he has proved his worthiness as sheriff, she brings him a pie she baked for him as a token of appreciation "for saving our town from that horrible "Mongo..." Then, before departing, she says, "Oh, and, sorry about the "outta my way n****er..." Some 40+ years later, whenever I hear that line, I find myself rolling on the floor laughing... Pure genius!

You can't make a movie like this today. Not because it doesnt condemn racism (it does), but because it doesn't have that woke, virtue-signaling SJW crap dripping off its jokes like slime. I seriously hurt for society when gems like this movie can't be appreciated as satire. Don't let anyone tell you different...this movie is smart, its hilarious, it has a moral vector, and it is rewatchable. One of the funniest movies you will ever see by one of the best directors to ever grace Hollywood.

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.

All in all not a bad film... just not a great one. The first half of the movie is defintly some of the funniest material that I have ever seen in any of the films that i have watched, but sadly the second half is somewhat debatable. Its blaintant disregard for racism is a little 'close to the boarder' in parts but other laughs give it a fairly strong backbone. After watching Blazing Saddles i felt that after the halfway mark that the writers just gave up and concentrated on ending the film as soon as possible, for example the jokes in the first half were well thought out and timed extremely well whereas in the second half jokes were lacking that HaHa factor as you could see them coming a mile off.

Slightly impressed, but wouldn't say that Id be watching it again and again.

THIS is widely considered to be one of the greatest comedies in film history? I am completely stumped on that one. All that I saw here were a few charismatic performances and the occasional scene that made me chuckle. For me at least, this film stands as proof that absurdity does not necessarily create huge laughter. There was a tremendous waste of talent in this movie, and that makes it all the more annoying. In particular, Cleavon Little stands out as an actor who did a great job but had little material to work with. This is one of the most disappointing films that I have ever seen.