Blazing Saddles - 4K Blu-ray Review

Movie
Comedy is one of those things that is generally very subjective, and generally time period specific. Few comedic films can rise out of the generation it was made in and stay timeless, but Blazing Saddles is one of those few films that does that. Made 50 years ago today, it stands the test of time, making people laugh for a literal half century, with no signs of ever being shelved and put away. Luckily for us Warner has gone back and given this a new remaster, added in Dolby Atmos sound and a new extra or two, and we get a lovely new 4K presentation to hold out as the crown jewel of it’s home video career.

When one says “Mel Brooks”, you generally know what you’re in for. This is the man who gave us Spaceballs, Robin Hood Men in Tights, Young Frankenstein, The Producers and of course, the best western ever made (OK, maybe I’m taking some liberties with that claim, but I digress). It’s gonna be goofy, out there, plenty of Jewish humor, and of course ABSOLUTELY irreverent in the way it mocks racial stereotypes. The film introduces us to our main protagonist Bart (Cleavon Little), a black man working the railroad post emancipation, and his “shaky” relationship with the land grabbing Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman). It turns out that Hedley is looking to snap up the land of a small town called Rock Ridge, with every attempt to procure it foiled. As a last ditch effort he decides to send in a new Sheriff to take over the law enforcement, but as an incidental Trojan Horse. Instead of sending someone to HELP them, he figures that by sending Bart in there as a black man in the racist west, he can drive them out by not wanting to be around him. Simple? Right?

Well, things don’t go exactly as planned, with the town of Rick Ridge begrudgingly accepting the new lawman after he heroically takes down one of Hedley’s goons with the help of ex gunfighter “The Waco Kid” (Gene Wilder). With time on the line the simpering psychotic land grabber takes one final attempt at stealing the town out from under the good people of Rock Ridge. Assemble an army of scumbags and wipe them out all together. That is, if Sheriff Bart and the Waco Kid don’t foil his plans once and for all.

Blazing Saddles is one of those bust up laughing films that just WORKS no matter what generation you’re from. I grew up with my formative years in the 90s, and even then I was dying of laughter when I snuck into my brother’s room to watch it on an old 13 inch Lucky Goldstar TV when my parents weren’t watching. 30 years later and I’m STILL dying of laughter every viewing. Mel Brooks was the king of slapstick Jewish comedy back in the 70s and 80s, churning out some incredible hits, but this and Spaceballs (his popular spoof on Star Wars) is easily the most relatable and popular works he’s ever done. The film uses straight up racism and sexism in the film to lampoon elements of popular culture during the 70s, and did so in a way that is both intentionally offensive, and downright hilarious at the same time. Back when I was a kid (and even as a young adult in the VERY early 2000s) I just took the blatant use of racial epithets and crude humor to be shock jock style humor, but looking back at the film as I matured I realize that Brooks was using this type of humor as a way to highlight some of the idiocracies of racism and sexism that still ran under the surface of American culture in the heyday after the civil rights movement. It’s clever, crude, and definitely low brow, but it has a point. A point that is very cleverly made and executed if you don’t know what you’re looking for. And the fact that it’s subtle enough that you don’t see it on first viewing and see just 1970s “gross out shock humor” is all the sweeter.

While Brooks is an exceptional director, I really don’t think that he could have done it without the all star cast absolutely gelling on set. Madeline Kahn, Cleavon Little, Slim Pickens (who is INSANELY hilarious as Taggart) and all the rest just work so well together spouting absolutely hilarious and insensitive material right at the viewer. I still almost die laughing at the opening 15 minutes where we introduce Bart, Taggart and Lyle with the infamous “what in the wide world of sports is going on here?” scene. Madeline steals the show with her “I’m so TIRED!” stage routine, and Harvey Korman’s mustache twirling idiot villain portrayal is about as iconic as Keenan Wynn’s Alonzo P. Hawk in The Absent Minded Professor and the Herbie films. Honestly, this is just a magical mixture of fantastic script, a great director who allowed his actors to adlib a LOT according to interviews, and actors who obviously loved working with each other.




Rating:

Rated R by the MPAA




4K Video: Video:

Most of the time with these 4K Warner release the Blu-ray is an absolute train wreck by modern standards. They were originally minted in a time when Warner was using the inferior VC-1 codec and putting them on single layer discs to accommodate HD-DVD, along with using lossy audio. I still have that very first disc that DID follow that pattern. But 10 years ago for the 40th anniversary Warner put out a remastered Blu-ray that fixed most of those issues, and it looked really good. Sadly I don’t have access to that disc (I had it, but I lost it years ago when lending it to a friend..* grumble whine, kick the dog in annoyance*) but needless to say, the 4K UHD looks great.

The film has always had a bit of a rough look with a heavy layer of grain and some soft wide angle shots that really can’t be 100% fixed, but overall this is a very impressive upgrade. Word on the street is that this disc’s master came from a new scan of the negative, with some touchup work done to eliminate age related issues (speckles, dirt etc), and the results are really nice. Fine details are astounding at times, giving us fantastic closeups that made me realize just how much information I was missing on my old Blu-ray. You can actually see the freckles on Madeline Kahn’s throat and chest area when she’s wearing that infamous V-neck outfit, and the creases and smile lines on Harvey Korman’s face. Clothing really pops off the screen with the primary shades, and you can see ever fiber and stretched threads on the rough hewn jackets. Black levels are generally good, but I noticed a few scenes in Madeline Kahn’s dressing room that looked a bit milky. That being said, this is a superb and very organic look disc that had me grinning from ear to ear.






Audio:

As I mentioned in the video section, Warner used to be known for putting 640 kbps lossy Dolby Digital tracks on their catalog titles in the early days, and Blazing Saddles had that treatment up until the 2014 remaster which garnered it an upgrade to DTS-HD MA lossless. As is the case with most of these new catalog titles coming with Atmos (such as the ones from the Columbia Classics: Volume 5 set) I’m always a bit skeptical on how much Atmos is really needed on a 50 year old movie that wasn’t designed with it in mind. That being said, the end result for this new track is very pleasant. It retains much of the 5.1 Blu-ray track’s (this also includes a lossless version of the theatrical 2.0 Mono track) sound and simply expands it just a bit with the score and a few action sequences. Dialog is crisp and cleanly located up front like expected, and the surrounds get some decent activity during the musical numbers. The same with the overheads. They’re used very sparingly except with said score, as well as some of the ramblings and hubbubs of the Rock Ridge town gathering. Bass response is pretty soft, but it does come out to play during the final shootout with the dynamite, as well as the thudding of horses hooves and the like. All in all, I’m pleased with this Atmos remix, as it doesn’t try to reinvent the mix, and instead just gently massage it a tad.






Extras:

• Inappropriate Inspiration: The Blazing Saddles Effect - Featurette
• Scene-specific audio commentary by Mel Brooks
• Blaze of Glory: Mel Brooks' Wild, Wild West - Featurette
• Back in the Saddle - Featurette
• Additional Scenes










It’s not hard to ascertain from the upper portion of this review that I LOVE Blazing Saddles, and I always will. It was one of Mel Brooks’ best films (and most popular) and a film I’ve watched so many times I probably could quote 95% of it without needing a break. Warner did a great job with this remaster, giving us a much needed boost in visual clarity, and a handy Dolby Atmos track that is well appreciated. There’s a mild boost to the “middle of the road” extras that we’ve already had, but overall this is a great upgrade from fans. Highly recommended.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, Mel Brooks
Directed by: Mel Brooks
Written by: Rand Ravich, James Coyne, Jay Bonansinga
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono, French, Spanish DD 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: R
Runtime: 93 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: November 19th, 2024