Blazing Saddles(John)

What a classic movie this is. Mel Brooks hit this one out of the park. I find myself always laughing through this entire movie.

The actors in this film are some of the funniest people ever. Gene Wilder can do no wrong. He plays Jim(or the Waco Kid), a drunk gunfighter who befriends Bart(Cleavon Little), the new sheriff of Rock Ridge. Wilder's performance is pretty mild compared to his other roles, but I found that subtlety to be just as funny as his more bombastic roles. Cleavon Little hasn't been in many other films, but he was excellent in this movie. This may sound weird, but I think his character may have been modeled after Bugs Bunny a little bit. Bart is the smart, modern man who is trying to combat these mean, "of the times" people. I feel that this is an almost exact comparison to Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam or Elmer Fudd. But, I may be wrong :P. Mel Brooks is, of course, amazing. And the dynamic between Harvey Korman and Slim Pickens was a treat to watch.

The music was good. The one thing that stands out is the song "Blazing Saddles". I know that song as soon as it starts. I think it's been ingrained into my DNA. And, I'm glad that it got an Oscar nomination for best song back in 1974. Too bad it didn't win though.

One thing that has to be known about this movie is that it is a parody movie. It doesn't take itself seriously. Characters know things that they shouldn't know(i.e. Bart had to invent the candygram decades before it was supposed to be invented so he could defeat Mongo). Honestly, I don't think the story even matters. The point of this movie is to be vulgar and have fun I think. And it succeeds there in spades.

It's getting a 10 out of 10.

-John Murphy