Distributed by

Warner Bros.

Cert:

Cat.no: D 001001

Running time: 89 minutes

Year: 1974

Pressing: 1999

Region(s): 2, PAL

Chapters: 25 plus extras

Sound: Mono

Languages: English, French and Italian.

Subtitles: English for the hearing impaired, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic.

Widescreen: 2.35:1

16:9-Enhanced: Yes

Macrovision: No

Disc Format: DVD 9

Price: £12.99

Extras: Trailer, 55-Minute Audio interview with Mel Brooks, Production Notes

Director:

Mel Brooks

Producer:

Michael Hertzberg

Screenplay:

Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor and Alan Uger

Music:

John Morris

Cast:

Bart: Cleavon Little
Jim-The Waco Kid: Gene Wilder
Taggart: Slim Pickens
Hedley Lamarr: Harvey Korman
Lili Von Shtupp: Madeline Kahn
Governor: Mel Brooks
Osley Johnson: David Huddleston
Mongo: Alex Karras

Sleazy politician Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman) plans to build a railroad through the small town of Rock Ridge. But he needs to distract the townspeople. He decides to send them a black sheriff.

He chooses Bart (Cleavon Little), a railroad worker, to be the town's new lawman. The townspeople are not very happy about all this and immediately despise him.

While visiting his new office, he finds a man called Jim (Gene Wilder) who reveals himself to be The Waco Kid: the man with the fastest hands in the west. Bart is sceptical but Jim proves that he is the genuine article. They agree to join forces to convince the citizens of Rock Ridge to help stop Lamarr and his gang of criminals taking over the town.

Blazing Saddles is one of Mel Brook's best spoofs. His send-up of westerns is great although this film is not for the politically correct. There's loads of tasteless stuff here which is still funny after 27 years.

The film is presented in its original 2.35:1 ratio and looks excellent for a film of this age. There is some sparkle throughout the film but this is due to the age of the film.

The sound is presented in the original mono and is very reasoanble. It could have been remixed but the film is not a sound showcase.

Extras:

Chapters: There are 25 chapters which is very good.

Trailer: A 2 minute trailer is included and is worth a look to see how well it was edited. It seems Warners were afraid of including a single tasteless punchline!

Production Notes: There are bios for the film's main actors as well as some notes about making the film.

Audio Interview: The best thing on this disc is the 55-minute interview with Mel Brooks. This is not really a director's commentary as it doesn't last the whole film but it is still a fascinating listen. Mel reveals some interesting info including that Warner nearly cut the film to pieces! It's a miracle he was given approval for the final cut.

Menus: These are silent and static.

Overall, this is a classic comedy well presented on DVD. It could have had a 5.1 mix or a couple more extra features but this is still a great purchase. This is an essential film for comedy fans and casual viewers alike.

FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS
OVERALL

Review copyright © Adam Duncan, 2001.