i’m giving this stinker .
normally , the worst that i would ever rate a movie would be .
but the total waste of time that is blazing saddles is , compounded by the fact that this movie is incredibly offensive , helped me come to the big goose egg .
i’m not sure what the hell mel brooks was thinking when he made this thing , or if he was even thinking at all .
maybe in mel’s little mind a horse being knocked unconscious because of a punch to the face is funny .
in mine , it’s not .
or maybe mel graduated from the spike lee school of filmmaking .
because only the self-righteous lee uses the n-word more often in his films than brooks did in this one .
at least lee has the smarts to realize that nobody is going to find that term amusing .
brooks bandies it about like he figures the audience will be rolling in the aisles every time they hear it .
wrong mel !
i would call you a boob mel , but that insults breasts everywhere .
this idiotic attempt at a comedy centers on the evil lieutenant governor’s ( harvey korman ) attempts to clear out a town so he can buy up the land cheap and sell it to the railroad .
he sends his goons to run the townsfolk out .
but the town appeals to the governor ( mel brooks in one of many uninspired , and unfunny roles ) to send them a new sheriff to protect them .
the governor pawns the task off to korman’s character hedley lamarr .
( i can tell you are rolling off your chairs right now just thinking of all the humor in that name . )
lamarr decides to send the town a black sheriff ( gasp ) in the hopes that the town will be so disgusted at the prospect of a black man living among them that they will all just leave .
hold on , i’ve got to stop while these gales of laughter pass .
it’s just too funny .
racism passing as humor — gosh why didn’t anybody ever think of that one before ?
oh wait , i think somebody might have — they are called the kkk .
i’m not calling brooks a racist — but i am calling him an insensitive bastard who wouldn’t know what was funny if it hit him over the head .
but i digress .
anyway , the black sheriff rides into town amid a flurry of townsfolk using the n-word .
golly , will the hilarity just never end ?
he ends up joining forces with a drunk ( gene wilder ) , who happens to be the former fastest gun in the west .
together , they save the day from evil .
not one person in this movie gives a decent performance .
wilder looks like he is recovering from a head injury for most of the movie , and korman looks embarrassed to be a part of the movie .
ok , he really didn’t — but he should have .
the films star cleavon little goes along with the black jokes as if they were discussing the time of day .
i did not laugh once during this whole sorry experience .
i admit to starting to snicker on a couple of occasions .
actually , the end started to look as if it was going to have some promise , but alas , it ended up being as crappy as the rest of the movie .
i can say with full confidence that blazing saddles has no redeeming qualities whatsoever .
mel brooks would be doing the world a favor if he burned every last copy of this film .