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Blazing Saddles

Blazing Saddles

Western · Comedy · 1974

Crafty railroad worker Bart becomes the first Black sheriff of Rock Ridge, a frontier town about to be destroyed in order to make way for a new railroad. Initially, the citizens of Rock Ridge harbor a racial bias toward their new protector. However, they warm to him after realizing that Bart and his perpetually drunk gunfighter friend Jim are their only defense against a wave of thugs sent to rid the town of its population.

Movie details

Blazing Saddles

“...or never give a saga an even break!”

1974 Western · Comedy 1h 33m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

Crafty railroad worker Bart becomes the first Black sheriff of Rock Ridge, a frontier town about to be destroyed in order to make way for a new railroad. Initially, the citizens of Rock Ridge harbor a racial bias toward their new protector. However, they warm to him after realizing that Bart and his perpetually drunk gunfighter friend Jim are their only defense against a wave of thugs sent to rid the town of its population.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Blazing Saddles?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

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The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean

Western · 1972

Outlaw and self-appointed lawmaker Judge Roy Bean rules over an empty stretch of the West that gradually grows, under his iron fist, into a thriving town, while dispensing his his own quirky brand of frontier justice upon strangers passing by.

Death of a Gunfighter

Death of a Gunfighter

Western · 1969

In the turn-of-the century Texas town of Cottonwood Springs, marshal Frank Patch is an old-style lawman in a town determined to become modern. When he kills drunken Luke Mills in self-defense, the town leaders decide it's time for a change. That ask for Patch's resignation, but he refuses on the basis that the town, on hiring him, had promised him the job for as long as he wanted it. Afraid for the town's future and even more afraid of the fact that Marshal Patch knows all the town's dark secrets, the city fathers decide that old-style violence is the only way to rid themselves of the unwanted lawman.

Firecreek

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Western · 1968

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Cat Ballou

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Western · 1965

A woman seeking revenge for her murdered father hires a famous gunman, but he's very different from what she expects.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Mel Brooks

Written by

Andrew Bergman · Norman Steinberg · Richard Pryor · Mel Brooks

Cleavon Little

Cleavon Little

Bart

Gene Wilder

Gene Wilder

Jim

Slim Pickens

Slim Pickens

Taggart

Harvey Korman

Harvey Korman

Hedley Lamarr

Madeline Kahn

Madeline Kahn

Lili Von Shtupp

Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks

William Le Petomane / Indian Chief

Burton Gilliam

Burton Gilliam

Lyle

Court is in session

Put Blazing Saddles on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.