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Blazing Saddles

Blazing Saddles (1974)

February. 07,1974
|
7.7
|
R
| Comedy Western

A town—where everyone seems to be named Johnson—stands in the way of the railroad. In order to grab their land, robber baron Hedley Lamarr sends his henchmen to make life in the town unbearable. After the sheriff is killed, the town demands a new sheriff from the Governor, so Hedley convinces him to send the town the first black sheriff in the west.

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PodBill
1974/02/07

Just what I expected

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Claysaba
1974/02/08

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

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Nessieldwi
1974/02/09

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

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Livestonth
1974/02/10

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

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Evan Wessman (CinematicInceptions)
1974/02/11

Even though this is one of Mel Brooks' more acclaimed and respected movies, I felt like he found his beat more later in Spaceballs and Men in Tights. There were parts of this that made me smile, but very few that actually made me laugh. I wasn't surprised that there was some off color humor, because it wouldn't be a Mel Brooks movie if it weren't. But I was surprised that he did as many racial jokes as he did. Some of it is making fun of racism itself, but some of it actually is racist. So that was another tick down. On the upside, it gives a lot of attention to a lot of characters, which added some variety to the style of comedy. I can see how some people might love it, but it just didn't work for me. Overall Rating: 6.6/10.

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Jon Gilbert
1974/02/12

In Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks touches on the inherent theme of racism in Hollywood in the classic movies of the Wild West in a way that is both hilarious and clever. Although shown over 40 years ago, it is still a timeless classic. Cleavon Little enters as a black railroad worker named Bart, who escapes death at the hangman's noose only to find himself thrust into a conflict between Attorney General Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman) and the Wild West town of Rock Ridge. Wanting to drive out the residents so he can build a railroad through the land he makes Bart the sheriff of Rock Ridge, hoping to create chaos and anarchy through the townspeople's inherent racism. This attitude towards Bart is taken to the extremes, at one point having him dress up as a member of the KKK to avoid detection, but Brooks carefully navigates this to create a masterpiece of comedy. Bart arrives in the town of Rock Ridge as the new sheriff but instead of being greeted with open arms by the residents he is instead faced with a seemingly impenetrable wall of hostility and racism. However, along with alcoholic gunslinger Jim, he saves the town from a terrorizing band of outlaws and so wins their trust. Together they create a hero and sidekick that is so obviously clichéd that it instead becomes genius. The jokes in the movie are corny and silly, the bad guys are unbelievably stupid, and a blonde German bombshell, Lili von Shtupp (Madeline Kahn) who is hired by Lamarr to seduce Bart is probably the silliest, most ridiculous character I have ever seen. However, this does not detract from the film but rather adds to it. This eccentric group of characters combined with the take on Wild West racism throughout could have made this film bad, not funny, and potentially extremely offensive. But it isn't. The film works because it finds the thin line between funny and offensive and treads it perfectly, each character finds their stereotype and exploits it to the maximum but with full awareness of where they are in the plot. Although on the surface the film can seem messy and sloppily told, look deeper and you will see how carefully the film has been put together. Each new joke and scene is daring and bold, taking your expectations of the film and shattering them. With any comedy, however, there are the bad jokes, not a single film in existence is perfect and comedies are often the most imperfect of all, as the job of keeping us laughing throughout is incredibly challenging. But Blazing Saddles knows this, and instead of refining the film to create a "perfect" comedy, it knows the truth, that being the audience certainly won't laugh at everything so it throws enough curve balls that if you are guaranteed to find yourself enjoying it at the very least. Blazing Saddles has stood the test of time as it is a rare example of originality in an industry dominated by sequels and clichés, it finds every cliché known to man and turns them into a movie that while crude and slightly shocking at times, is a movie for which the saying "a must see classic" is wholly deserved.

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irishm
1974/02/13

How disappointing. My family loved "Young Frankenstein" and went to see "Blazing Saddles" expecting more of the same clever parody by Mel Brooks. Boy, were we wrong. The film was dull and the humor was extremely offensive, and since I saw it in a first-run theater I'm not talking about it not "aging well" or being offensive by today's standards: I'm talking about forty years ago, being a teenager and realizing how offensive and un-funny it was. If I'd realized that walking out was an option, I might have... but I would have had to walk home since I was too young to drive.So many of the performers were capable of so much better... the "waste of talent" factor was very high. The great Harvey Korman, for example, never failed to get a laugh from us on "The Carol Burnett Show". Here, we just felt sorry for him. Poor Harvey, trapped in this boring and tasteless movie.I'd just like to mention that I'm not now nor have I ever been much of a prude. Give me crude humor that's actually funny, I'll go for it. My taste is pretty broad and includes such movies as "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". It's entertaining. That's all I ever ask of a film. I'll never understand all the great reviews, or how it got such good reviews from "professional" critics at the time of its release.

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oOoBarracuda
1974/02/14

What is left to be said that hasn't been already about Mel Brooks' seminal piece, Blazing Saddles? Comedy genius Mel Brooks was at work in 1974 creating a classic that has more than withstood the test of time. Starring Gene Wilder, Cleavon Little, and Harvey Korman, Blazing Saddles brought an all-star cast together with some of the greatest comedic writing to result in a film that is still shared over 40 years after its release. Gene Wilder had a brilliant year in 1974, and Blazing Saddles was part of that.The year is 1874, the rules of the Old West still rule the country, and Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman) needs to find a way to get a whole town out of his way in order to build a new railroad track. After his first attempt to evacuate the town fails, when he sends in henchmen to rid them, he must come up with a plan B. The town then demands a new sheriff to help keep them safe. Lamarr decides to send the town a black man to act as sheriff, an idea they are sure to disdain. Once the newly appointed sheriff, Bart (Cleavon Little) arrives, the town revolts just as expected. With the help of prisoner turned only friend, Jim (Gene Wilder) Bart's sophisticated ways and effective law keeping eventually win over the townsfolk as they see they are safe under Bart's reign. Becoming quite displeased that none of his plans are working, Lamarr then goes, with guns blazing towards sheriff Bart with his political muscle behind him. Blazing Saddles goes the distance to show how the west was really won in the 1870's. Mel Brooks, even at his zaniest is king of the spoof. This time spoofing a western, Brooks found his home at Rock Ridge. This movie was the best of Brooks and Wilder and an absolute gift to audiences everywhere that they shared their peaks with us. Another film that will make you wish they had collaborated more together, Blazing Saddles is one to watch again and again. The comedic writing was exceptional in this film. So many subtleties exist that there is bound to be something you missed the first time you saw it to pick up the next time you see it. That is the true beauty of this film that so much of its comedy is subtle. Any comedic writers/directors/actors of today should be required to watch Blazing Saddles; perhaps then, this generation would not be devoid of great comedy.

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