I recently watched Blazing Saddles in Hi-Def on Blu-Ray. The picture was fantastic, the sound was wonderful (except for the campfire scene) and I laughed harder than I had at any movie in recent memory.
If you have never seen this Mel Brooks masterpiece rent it immediately. The movie manages to insult everyone. Blacks, Whites, Jews, Gays, Native American Indians, Rednecks, Women. The list goes on.
But as insulting as the movie could have been interpreted it comes across as an equal-opportunity lambast, a roast honoring the human condition with guffaws and belly laughs galore.
Cleavon Liitle delivers his lines with Shakespearian gusto and manages to convey so much emotion with subtle expression.
One memorable scene stands out when as the newly appointed sheriff of Rock Ridge he goes out one morning and greets an elderly woman. Her harsh response is both hilarious, insulting and sad at the same time.
Then there is the soft-spoken Gene wilder, a famous gun-slinger, The Waco Kid, who lost his nerve after a horrible misjudgment of character which is
recounted with sorrow and a punch-line by Wilder to Little.
No movie has made me miss Madeline Kahn more than this. Kahn was in her heyday in this film, pulling off a brilliant performance and an even more outstanding musical number "I'm Tired" which Brook's claims is the dirtiest song he ever penned.
Blazing Saddles is perhaps the best social commentary wrapped cleverly in laughs and perhaps could be the precursor to the likes of Chappell's Show.
Watch the
opening sequence here then go rent or buy Blazing Saddles.