HighDefDiscNews
06-09-07, 08:20 PM
Blazing Saddles (HD DVD) Review (http://www.highdefdiscnews.com/?p=34)
5 out of 5 - The Movie Itself (has an average rating of 7.7 on IMDb)
4 stars out of 5 - Video Quality (1080p in VC-1 on a 30gb disc)
4 stars out of 5 - Audio Quality (Dolby Digital Plus 5.1)
3 out of 5 stars - Bonus Materials (are standard def but worth watching)
Rated: - R (Restricted)
Year: - 1974
Length: - 93 minutes
Studio: - Warner Brothers
The Movie Itself stars Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder and Harvey Korman. This Mel Brooks spoof on a western takes on not only a parody of the genre but achieves as a film that totally makes fun of racism against African Americans during the late 1800’s after Lincoln freed the slaves. The whole plot of the film is that Attorney General Hedley Lamarr (played by Harvey Korman) proposes to the governor (played by the film’s director Mel Brooks) that they send the town of Rock Ridge a sheriff as requested. The only catch is the guy he wants to send as sheriff is Bart (played by Cleavon Little) whom is well to put it simply, black. The governor doesn’t at first like this idea but Heddey (no that’s Hedley) Lamarr soon talks him into it with presidential hopes for being the first governor to hire a black sheriff. The town’s people of Rock Ridge are obviously not too happy to welcome Bart into their town, let alone have him as their sheriff. Bart soon meets Jim a.k.a. “The Waco Kid” (played by Gene Wilder) who helps him start to get the towns people on his side. This film has great laughs but would nowadays be probably considered politically incorrect humor. Don’t get this movie wrong, it has great intentions as the director proves to the viewer by the end of the film. One interesting note about this film I’d like to point out. The part of Bart was originally going to be played by Richard Pryor (who co-wrote some of the script with Brooks and others) and would have been the first of many buddy films he did with friend Gene Wilder. Cleaon Little pulled the role of Bart off just fine, not as good as maybe Pryor would have but he did an amazing job. This movie is hands down one of Mel Brooks’ best films ever.
Video Quality on the transfer is extremely great for a HD DVD launch title first off and for this to be this old of a film second off it’s truly remarkable how well Warner Brothers did on this release. The contrast is simply amazing, extremely bright colors and picture clarity is almost perfect. This was the first film I watched on HD DVD and it really set a benchmark for me that alot of films from this time period haven’t achieved in their video transfers.
Audio Quality on this release is really impressive for this old of a film. The 30th Anniversary Special Edition DVD release featured a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix over the original 1997 DVD release’s Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono track. This HD DVD release features a new Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix that is obviously a lot better than sound on the previous two DVD releases of this film.
Bonus Materials are in standard defintion and taken from the 30th Anniversary Special Edition DVD release. The only thing lacking is the 55 minute interview with Mel Brooks from the original first 1997 release of the film on DVD.
— Review written by Justin Sluss
5 out of 5 - The Movie Itself (has an average rating of 7.7 on IMDb)
4 stars out of 5 - Video Quality (1080p in VC-1 on a 30gb disc)
4 stars out of 5 - Audio Quality (Dolby Digital Plus 5.1)
3 out of 5 stars - Bonus Materials (are standard def but worth watching)
Rated: - R (Restricted)
Year: - 1974
Length: - 93 minutes
Studio: - Warner Brothers
The Movie Itself stars Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder and Harvey Korman. This Mel Brooks spoof on a western takes on not only a parody of the genre but achieves as a film that totally makes fun of racism against African Americans during the late 1800’s after Lincoln freed the slaves. The whole plot of the film is that Attorney General Hedley Lamarr (played by Harvey Korman) proposes to the governor (played by the film’s director Mel Brooks) that they send the town of Rock Ridge a sheriff as requested. The only catch is the guy he wants to send as sheriff is Bart (played by Cleavon Little) whom is well to put it simply, black. The governor doesn’t at first like this idea but Heddey (no that’s Hedley) Lamarr soon talks him into it with presidential hopes for being the first governor to hire a black sheriff. The town’s people of Rock Ridge are obviously not too happy to welcome Bart into their town, let alone have him as their sheriff. Bart soon meets Jim a.k.a. “The Waco Kid” (played by Gene Wilder) who helps him start to get the towns people on his side. This film has great laughs but would nowadays be probably considered politically incorrect humor. Don’t get this movie wrong, it has great intentions as the director proves to the viewer by the end of the film. One interesting note about this film I’d like to point out. The part of Bart was originally going to be played by Richard Pryor (who co-wrote some of the script with Brooks and others) and would have been the first of many buddy films he did with friend Gene Wilder. Cleaon Little pulled the role of Bart off just fine, not as good as maybe Pryor would have but he did an amazing job. This movie is hands down one of Mel Brooks’ best films ever.
Video Quality on the transfer is extremely great for a HD DVD launch title first off and for this to be this old of a film second off it’s truly remarkable how well Warner Brothers did on this release. The contrast is simply amazing, extremely bright colors and picture clarity is almost perfect. This was the first film I watched on HD DVD and it really set a benchmark for me that alot of films from this time period haven’t achieved in their video transfers.
Audio Quality on this release is really impressive for this old of a film. The 30th Anniversary Special Edition DVD release featured a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix over the original 1997 DVD release’s Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono track. This HD DVD release features a new Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix that is obviously a lot better than sound on the previous two DVD releases of this film.
Bonus Materials are in standard defintion and taken from the 30th Anniversary Special Edition DVD release. The only thing lacking is the 55 minute interview with Mel Brooks from the original first 1997 release of the film on DVD.
— Review written by Justin Sluss