Review of Blazing Saddles (1974) by Tarma T — 11 Nov 2014
Mel Brooks is a funny man. He has made a lot of funny things. But in my opinion, Blazing Saddles is his best. It is gloriously perfect. So many movies (and other media) try and make racism into a joke and fail miserably by playing to old, tired tropes (an example that comes to mind from a movie I recently watched and hated: Joe Vs.
The Volcano, where an entire island is full of desperately unfunny, ragingly racist portrayals of 'natives'). Brooks takes the obvious - that it's the racists that should be made fun of - and turns it into a movie full of hilarious jokes at the expense of the racists.
One of many perfect examples is early on in the movie when a corrupt railroad employee demands a "nigger work song" out of the overworked, abused men in his employ - and is left stymied when they burst into a beautiful rendition of "I Get A Kick Out Of You".
But a movie full of running jokes can still be dismal, if it doesn't have a decent story to back it up - and this has a great story to back it up. Just the right mix of adventure and wackiness and self-referential humor.
The cast is brilliant. I could rave about each one but that would turn out long and be mostly repeating myself, so just fill in the blank: "_____ did a tremendous job and every moment they were on screen was a pleasure to watch.
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This review of Blazing Saddles (1974) was written by Tarma T on 11 November 2014.
Blazing Saddles has generally received very positive reviews.
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