Daring, provocative, and laugh-out-loud funny, Blazing Saddles is a gleefully vulgar spoof of Westerns that marks a high point in Mel Brooks' storied career. Read critic reviews
Blazing Saddles
1974, Comedy/Western, 1h 33m
65 Reviews 100,000+ RatingsWhat to know
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Movie Info
In this satirical take on Westerns, crafty railroad worker Bart (Cleavon Little) becomes the first black sheriff of Rock Ridge, a frontier town about to be destroyed in order to make way for a new railroad. Initially, the people of Rock Ridge harbor a racial bias toward their new leader. However, they warm to him after realizing that Bart and his perpetually drunk gunfighter friend (Gene Wilder) are the only defense against a wave of thugs sent to rid the town of its population.
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Rating: R
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Genre: Comedy, Western
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Original Language: English
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Director: Mel Brooks
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Producer: Michael Hertzberg
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Writer: Andrew Bergman, Andrew Bergman, Mel Brooks, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg, Alan Uger
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Release Date (Theaters): wide
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Runtime:
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Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
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Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)
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Critic Reviews for Blazing Saddles
Audience Reviews for Blazing Saddles
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There are a few moments here and there that made me laugh out loud, but on a whole this raunchy comedy shoots in every direction with a bunch of silly, hit-or-miss gags whose punch lines we can see from miles away - and also, what the hell is so funny about people farting?
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An African-American sheriff protects a Western town threatened by a railroad expansion. Let's take a look at some of the bits in this film. First, the bad guys want to discredit the sheriff, so they employ a prostitute to seduce him. She does, but because black men have large penises, she is grateful for their night of love-making and doesn't threaten his honor. Second, the sheriff outwits the bad guys by dressing up as a bellboy, who goes unnoticed because black people are meant to be in servile roles. There's no doubt that there's a lot of satire here, but the film nonetheless commerces in racial stereotypes in ways that I find uncomfortable. Rather than finding the film funny, I found its social critique pedestrian, and while making fun of racism is good, repeating racial stereotypes can be dangerous even under the glass of satire. Perhaps if I had seen this film when it was first released, I would have found it valuable, but now I find it difficult to recommend. Overall, with uncomfortable racial politics, i don't think this film hits the mark.
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It's got a few particularly memorable gags, but Blazing Saddles' padded runtime leaves the impression that Mel Gibson and company simply ran out of ideas about halfway through.
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Perhaps it's because Young Frankenstein remains one of my favorite comedies of all time, but this sort of seems like a step below that high standard, even if this movie came out a little less than a year before Young Frankenstein. Anyway, setting all that aside, this film is still absolutely tremendous with its raunchy humor and a manic, yet silly, energy about that makes this film an absolute blast. The film could certainly be seen as controversial due to its racial humor, but it is used to illustrate a point about the western genre and it's racism, so in that way the film is far more thoughtful than its humor would imply. This isn't unlike Mel Brooks' other spoof films, it's silly, it's over the top, features a large cast of incredibly talented comedians, with Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn and Dom Deluise's cameo being highlights in a film that's hilarious from beginning to end. Perhaps another reason I liked Young Frankenstein more was because of Gene Wilder's genius comedic performance in that movie and in this movie there isn't that individual performance that would take it to the next level, it's the work of the entire cast. And don't get me wrong, Young Frankenstein is the work of the cast as well, but there's that little extra oomph when you have Gene Wilder going batshit as well. This film doesn't have that, though, again, this film is still pretty amazing and hilarious without that aspect. The film is really all over the place and while the climax of the film breaks the fourth wall in a pretty gigantic manner, it somehow fits with the insanity of the film. And, in hindsight, it actually makes the film even funnier than it was after the "twist". So yea I loved this movie, this might be a shitty review, and it really is, but I had tears flowing down my face because that's how funny the movie was. Comedy gold right here.
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