dissident320 Maybe I would be less bothered by the dated racial humour if the movie was actually funny. I think Mel Brooks had people say the N- word throughout to be shocking not thought provoking.Don't get me wrong, the leads of this movie are great. Cleavon Little is charming and is probably the most successful at squeezing any laughs out of this script. Gene Wilder fares just as well as his sidekick playing a washed-up Billy Kid-type character.But the humour in this movie is baffling. Madeline Kahn was nominated for an Oscar for literally speaking like Elmer Fudd. She even performs a song called 'I'm Tired' that its only joke is that she pronounces words funny.I guess I'm okay with having seen this movie as it helps understand why movies like Airplane are still funny whereas this feels like it doesn't have a place in cinema history at all.Also, if you're wondering if they get in a couple of Hitler jokes, they do.

writers_reign I doubt if there's much left to say about this quasi-classic either pro or con. I saw it some thirty years ago and then again last night and I laughed more or less in the same places and shrugged and sighed in more or less the same places. Brooks is similar to the early Woody Allen in that his movies are a string of one-liners a la Neil Simon also but the difference is that both Brooks and Simon are using one-liners to punctuate a plot (Simon) or plot-of-sorts (Brooks) whilst in Allen's case the early movies were a string of one-liners in search of a plot. In this case Brooks has taken every cliché in the 'western' canon and then p****d all over it and added the odd surreal touch. For example Madelein Kahn's brilliant send-up of Marlene Dietrich is authentic in all but the 'adult' lyric; it's set in a saloon, much like the one in Destry Rides Again, saloons employed singers so what's the beef. Nothing serious it's just that the sequence has little or nothing to do with what's going on. On the other hand the brilliant scene of the Count Basie orchestra playing one of their signature hits, April In Paris in the middle of East Jesus with no audience is pure surreal.It's let down a tad by the Pirandello-type ending but then how else could you end something like this. Still highly watchable.

Tweekums When the route of a new railroad is blocked by quicksand a new route is chosen; the only problem is that the town of Rock Ridge is in the way. Corrupt lawyer Hedley Lamarr sees it as an opportunity though… he will drive the people out of town, seize the land then make a tidy profit selling it to the railroad. His thugs ride into town and cause mayhem as well as killing the sheriff. The people contact the governor asking for a new sheriff but he gives the task to Lamarr… he decides to send somebody they will they will hate… a black man named Bart! Their response to him is as expected; the only person who doesn't immediately hate Bart is Jim, a former gunslinger who is now the town drunk. Opinions of Bart change when he defeats and befriends 'Mongo' a slow-witted man-mountain sent by Lamarr to kill him. That isn't Lamarr's last plan though; Bart, Jim and the townspeople will have to face a variety of thugs including ruffians, Klansmen and even a few Nazis!This highly inventive spoof western is full of laughs from start to the rather surreal finish. Not all of the gags will appeal to everybody but there are so many that if one doesn't amuse you another will be along soon. The film nicely plays with western tropes as well as having a less than subtle message about racism. That isn't to say that it is annoyingly preachy as it is done in such a funny way. Cleavon Little is great as Bart and Gene Wilder is a delight as Jim 'The Waco Kid'; the rest of the cast is pretty good too. Anybody concerned about realism will be disturbed by all the anachronisms but I think most viewers will think they add to the hilarity. Overall I'd definitely recommend this classic western spoof… it may not be politically correct but it is funny.

LakiM9 Mel Brooks found a way in 1974 to direct two of the greatest comedies of all time. And in that one year, he found a way to cram as many movie parodies, and not have any overlap, as any director can in Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles. What Young Frankenstein was to the 1930s horror movies Blazing Saddles was to the Westerns of the 1960s. But this one is of the funniest movies of all time, and for two such movies by the same director, with the same star, to come out the same year, to be on that list is quite an achievement. Now, the story, The residents of Rock Ridge (all named Johnson) need a new sheriff. They get one, Bart, played by Cleavon Little, who happens to be black. The film doesn't have much shock value anymore but it's still funny to watch and probably always will be, thanks to characterizations in here. On the negative side, especially if don't know Brooks does whatever he can to get a laugh and isn't all that political, this film might be too politically- correct with its reverse racism, bias against religion and overly crude situations. Overall, a very nice movie with the nice story.