Who would have believed that the most financially successful Western ever made would be--roll over, John Ford--a pastiche of clichés, parody, musical numbers, and flatulence jokes? That, in a nutshell, sums up Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks' 1974 comedy about a black sheriff (Cleavon Little, riding a white horse with a Gucci-imprinted saddle) and an ex-gunfighter (Gene Wilder) who team up to save the town of Rock Ridge from nasty land grabber Governor LePetomane, played by Brooks himself (the character name is a Brooks in-joke: Le Petomane was an actual turn of the century French performer whose act consisted of creative ways of breaking wind--an activity that reaches symphonic proportions here in the famed butt-trumpets-round-the-campfire scene). Co-starring Harvey Korman as an unscrupulous attorney general, Oscar-nominated Madeline Kahn channeling Marlene Dietrich, and featuring an appearance by Count Basie (as himself), Blazing Saddles makes its second appearance on DVD in this “30th Anniversary Special Edition” with a sparkling new digital widescreen transfer, a full-bodied Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and a handful of notable extras, including a rambling (but interesting) commentary track by Brooks, the new 29-minute retrospective documentary “Back in the Saddle,” the TV pilot for the knock-off Black Bart (starring Lou Gossett as the sheriff), 10 minutes of added/extended scenes, and a brief tribute to Kahn. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)
Blazing Saddles
Warner, 93 min., R, DVD: $19.98 Volume 19, Issue 5
Blazing Saddles
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