Review of Blazing Saddles (1974) by Nathan C — 10 Sep 2011

The funniest movie since Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Hell, it's an hour and a half of nonstop hilarity! Mel Brooks' best film.

In chaotic spirit, this is the tale of Black Bart, a slave who becomes the first black sheriff. He gains an unlikely ally and must save the town from an evil plot, which involves scaring away the townspeople.

Winning direction from Brooks and a fun spin on the usual Western story are the first thing that glues one to this movie. The second is that it assembles a great cast and plays off of their strengths. Thirdly, there's... Yes, humor! You cannot forget the humor! It has variety, with gags being racial, crude, lewd, anachronistic, or just plain funny. Plus, it's so frequent that it's hard (incredibly difficult, actually) not to burst out laughing. Kudos to the opening song and the inspired (and over-the-top in a terrific way) last 15 minutes, which keep this film good-natured.

A slight detraction is Madeline Kahn being the weak link here, and also the movie bides its time, sometimes feeling like it won't end. Actually very minor flaws for such a hysterical film.

With mad-cap energy and great wackiness, the film takes off and never lets up. Now, this is the funniest comedy I've ever seen!