People are voting emotionally.

Great Film overall

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

RELEASED IN 1974 and directed by Mel Brooks, "Blazing Saddles" is a Western parody starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder as the newly appointed black sheriff of Rock Ridge and his deputy, the Waco Kid. Rather than chasing away the inhabitants they corral them against the corrupt politicians who threaten their town. Mel Brooks plays the Governor (as well as an Indian Chief) and Harvey Korman the conniving State Attorney General. Slim Pickens and a gazillion others guest star. Little got the lead role of Sheriff Bart over Richard Pryor, who co-wrote the screenplay and was intended for the part himself. Producers, however, were reluctant due to Pryor's racy repute and so opted for the safer choice of Little, who's great in the role.Pansy, over-sensitive liberals rail against the movie due to its political incorrectness, but that's like complaining that water is wet. The humor is intentionally offensive, stupid, juvenile, crude, vulgar and silly. Some of it's funny while some of it falls flat or is too dumb or dated for modern viewers; it just depends on the person watching. I laughed enough and enjoyed the classic cast to give the flick a marginal 'thumbs up.' Some say a movie like this would never be made by Hollywood today. Really? I guess they've never seen "Django Unchained" (2012) or "The Hateful Eight" (2015). On the female front, ravishing honey-voiced Robyn Hilton has a too-brief part as the governor's "secretary" and Madeline Kahn, in her prime at 31, has a more significant role as a Marlene Dietrich-like saloon entertainer. More shoulda been done with both of 'em. THE FILM RUNS 93 minutes and was shot at Burbank Studios, Santa Clarita & Vasquez Rocks, California. GRADE: B-

Even though this is one of Mel Brooks' more acclaimed and respected movies, I felt like he found his beat more later in Spaceballs and Men in Tights. There were parts of this that made me smile, but very few that actually made me laugh. I wasn't surprised that there was some off color humor, because it wouldn't be a Mel Brooks movie if it weren't. But I was surprised that he did as many racial jokes as he did. Some of it is making fun of racism itself, but some of it actually is racist. So that was another tick down. On the upside, it gives a lot of attention to a lot of characters, which added some variety to the style of comedy. I can see how some people might love it, but it just didn't work for me. Overall Rating: 6.6/10.

"Blazing Saddles" is an all out parody of the Hollywood western, and a satire of the old west itself, and all of the racism and unnecessary violence that comes along without. Don't get me wrong though, this isn't a dark film. In fact, this is a monumentally ridiculous film, filled to the brim with meta jokes and insanely over exaggerated stereotypes. It is a subversion of the classic western tale of a sheriff taking on a group of bandits, because it is a tale about a politician working for a governor who devises a plan to appoint the first black sheriff for a town in danger, hoping that the sheriff will fail and the town will be destroyed, making it possible to build the railroad through that town and giving the governor a chance at becoming president since he made history by appointing the first black sheriff. Of course, his plan goes terribly wrong when Bart, the black sheriff, is actually competent, and manages to turn the town's opinion of him around. It often laughs in the face of racism and the barbaric nature of the wild west, with the racist whites often being the butt of many jokes. The irony is that this addresses the real injustices of that time more directly than any of those real classic Westerns.It is a fun movie with some hilarious moments, most notably the wild, unpredictable, self-referential ending which takes a sharp left turn and goes way farther in that direction than I expected it would. There are plenty more very clever jokes, and it uses everything at its disposal to create punchline after punchline, whether it be physical, visual, verbal, or in a song. However, some jokes did fall flat for me, such as the frog in the bathtub, the beans dinner scene, and most of the "I'm Tired" song, which goes on for far too long, clocking in at 5 minutes and 30 seconds worth of a joke that wasn't very funny to begin with.Regardless, it has some hilarious writing and performances throughout, with Mel Brooks himself even making an appearance as the idiotic and inept governor. There is humor that is in your face, there is more subtle humor, and there are plenty of obscure references used to craft jokes that you would need to research to understand. It can get a laugh out of a cut, a line, or an action.

They got me on the floor when Slim Pickens came riding up to that toll booth and turned around so he could get a load of quarters. Sometimes, this is a hit and miss movie, but when it's on, it is incredibly funny. Harvey Korman could make me laugh by looking at me. The fact that his name was Henley Lamar is enough right there. And there is Gabby Johnson speaking typical Western gibberish. Cleavon Little and that little old lady (Up yours). While the ending totally disappointed me, it really doesn't matter because there never was a coherent whole to it anyway. Mel Brooks continues to be insane. Where else do you have person who has the cred to do the insanity that he does? Oh, Gene Wilder and Mongo and whatever other stuff you can strut on the screen.