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Blazing Saddles is directed by Mel Brooks. The film
stars Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Alex Karras, Harvey Korman,
Slim Pickens and Madeline Kahn. The songs are composed by
Mel Brooks and the score by John Morris. The movie was first
released in early 1974. ***
Blazing Saddles is Mel Brooks’ comical stab at the
Western genre. The plot, what little there is of one, is
as follows: A greedy land baron wants to destroy the town
of Rock Ridge to take for his own personal use. In an effort
to divert the town’s negative attention, he appoints a black
slave to be the town’s new sheriff – much to the traditional
town’s chagrin. It’s up to the new sheriff to join forces
with an aging, washed-up gunfighter to save the town – and
win over the townspeople. ***
Let’s not kid ourselves, there isn’t much of a story
here – it pretty much just serves as a setting for Brooks
to deliver his trademark jokes. It’s ironic that this came
out the same year as Brooks’ Young Frankenstein – the two
are drastically different films. If you didn’t know better,
chances are you wouldn’t know they were the brainchild of
the same man. ***
While Young Frankenstein was as much a parody as it
was an homage to the material it was spoofing, Blazing Saddles
employs a “take no prisoners” approach and keeps the jokes
flying relentlessly. The movie never stops to catch its
breath and Brooks throws in everything but the kitchen sink.
From the clichés of the Western genre to straight-up crude
humor, anachronisms and plays on words, there’s nothing
the movie doesn’t try to get laughs out of its audience.
And nearly every attempt succeeds. And yet, beneath the
surface and all the humor, there’s something deeper – a
commentary on the undying issue of racism. Additionally,
the movie has one of the first true “surprise” endings in
the world of cinema – one that (quite literally) breaks
the fourth wall. ***
However, I should point out that this movie isn’t for
the easily offended – there are several reasons it was rated
R. The level of humor often goes in a disgusting, perverted
direction (though anyone who has seen any of the raunchy
teen comedies of recent years won’t be in for any big, shocking
offensive moments.) I should also point out that this is
widely credited with being the first movie to use flatulence
as a form of humor – which should show just how low-brow
the level of comedy in the movie can go at times. The other
thing worth warning any potential viewer about is the racism
– the “N” word gets thrown around A LOT here, so if you’re
offended by such things, you should take your business elsewhere.
Politically correct this film ain't. ***
But if you can overcome the often low-brow humor and
the frequent N-word use, Blazing Saddles is a lot of fun.
It has stood the test of time and certainly stands as one
of Mel Brooks’ classic comedies of his golden age. It holds
up a lot better than other comedies of the era (including
a lot of Brooks’ later output.) ---
Image and Sound:
I’m amazed at how good Blazing Saddles looks for this
HD release. This appears to be the same master Warner utilized
for the previous special edition DVD and the HD-DVD version,
and that’s a good thing. Detail is very strong throughout
– far better than you’d expect a film from this era to look,
let alone a comedy. The grain level never spikes, aside
from a few scenes here and there, namely special effects
shots and the opening credits. Disappointingly, the disc
doesn’t include lossless audio (this was typical of many
early Warner Bros. Blu-Ray releases) but the track on the
disc isn’t exactly a disappointment either. It sounds just
fine and this track certainly gets the job done. All things
considered, this is a Blu-Ray transfer that exceeded my
expectations, particularly in the visual department.
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