Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The ESSENTIAL comedy CLASSIC
Mel Brooks' career really took off with this rip-roaringly hilarious send up of everything Western. Cleavon Little as the first black sherrif in the west with Gucci saddle bags shines in his best role. The cast is loaded with Brooks regulars; Gene Wilder, Harvey Korman, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Khan and, of course, Mel himself! All having a hell of a laugh at the expense of EVERYONE! That's EVERYONE! Even the bit players leave you crying with laughter! Especially Alex Karras' horse punching Mongo and Slim Pickens moronic railroad foreman Taggart. This film gets a ton of flack these days for being "racist"? People who see this film in that sort of light should take off their blinders and realize that political correctness is just another form of censorship. Why can't you let free thinkers enjoy a GREAT MOVIE without having to worry about the thought police busting down their doors? The top notch script, written by a "collective" of writers including Richard Pryor(who wrote most of the more racially charged material and finds it hilarious), is so full of verbal jabs and visual japes that you will find yourself visiting this movie over and over again when you need a good dose of laughter. Don't let the conservatives scare you off, this is one of the funniest films ever made! Enjoy repeatedly!
Rating: - Forget Political Correctness ....
Blazing Saddles is one of the great comedies of all time. Unfortunately, it's likely that no major studio today would release it. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Something About Mary and American Pie (all hilarious movies which I would highly recommend, by the way) contain toilet humor that makes Mel Brooks at his most graphic seem like a Disney movie in comparison. However, today's politically correct Hollywood would be horrified with a comedy that uses racial epithets left and right, worrying about the backlash that subject matter would cause.This is too bad because Blazing Saddles shows that such language, given the right context, can actually combat bigotry by showing how stupid it really is. Cleavon Little, as Sheriff Bart, and Gene Wilder, as The Waco Kid, are presented as islands of sanity in a sea of ignorant, racist townspeople. The 'n' word is thrown out repeatedly, but is intended as an insult to the people who say it rather than a slur against blacks. Mel Brooks, a very liberal Democrat, recognized that racism is offensive and nasty in nature and showed it in its true light in Blazing Saddles. As a result, the film does more to ridicule racism and bigotry than most serious "message films" on the same subject ever could. Unfortunately, the corporate suits who now run the big studios are more worried about image and profits than producing quality movies. As long as a film offends as few people as possible and appeals to as many members of the general public as possible (preferably between the ages of 18 and 35), the executives like it -- even if the film has no originality or artistic merit at all. As a result, films like Blazing Saddles and TV shows like All in the Family are taboo these days. Hollywood has lost a lot of daring and courage since 1974. See Blazing Saddles and you will realize just how much.
Rating:  - Saddle Up
Mel Brooks's hilarious spoof of the western remains a comedy classic. Released at a time when the term politcal correctness wasn't invented yet, BLAZING SADDLES, lets loose and doesn't look back. Filled with uproarious off the wall humor, watching the film again, made me apreciate it even more. The late Cleavon little, stars as Bart, the first black man to serve as Sheriff of Rock Ridge. Gene Wilder is the Waco Kid, the deputy, Harvey Korman is Hedley Lamarr, a ruthless Attorney General, and the late Madeline Kahn is Lili Von Shtupp. The film has so many funny moments that pretty soon you'll forget all about the plot and just enjoy the film for what it is--a screwball comedy. The finale alone is worth the price of admission and will have you in stitchesI would like to join the others who have expressed their disappointment over how the film is treated on DVD. Warner Brothers need to release the film, intact, on DVD. Until they do that this version will have to do...This edition features the theatrical trailer, production notes, and a 55 minute audio commentary by Brooks that is ok but ends rather abruptly. It also allows viewers to choose between both Widescreen and Pan and Scan formats. Recommened but a better edition DVD is needed for sure...
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