Western, Comedy  •  1974  •  93 min  •  Adults (18+)

Blazing Saddles (1974)

Blazing Saddles poster

Blazing Saddles (1974)


Rating & Dimensions

Bias Rating
Analyzing...
Progressive
Political: Strong Left
Diversity: High
Christianity: Negative

Viewer Rating
7.8

Overview

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.


Starring Cast

Cleavon Little  •   Gene Wilder  •   Slim Pickens


Where to watch

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Detailed Bias Analysis

Analyzing...
Progressive

Primary

Political: Strong Left
Confidence: High

Blazing Saddles is rated -2 (Clearly Left) due to its explicit and central critique of systemic racism and prejudice, which it satirizes and subverts through a highly anti-establishment and deconstructive narrative.

Diversity: High
Confidence: High

The movie features a Black actor in a leading role as a sheriff in a predominantly white, racist Old West town, a casting choice central to its satirical critique. The narrative explicitly lampoons traditional identities, particularly white characters, by portraying them as bigoted, corrupt, or incompetent, making a strong and explicit critique of racial prejudice central to its themes.

Secondary

Christianity: Negative
Confidence: Medium

The film satirizes the hypocrisy and bigotry of the predominantly white, ostensibly Christian townsfolk and officials. While the satire targets racism broadly, the narrative consistently portrays these adherents as foolish, hateful, and morally bankrupt, without offering any counterbalancing positive portrayal or nuance of the faith itself. The film's message reinforces a negative stereotype of nominal Christians whose actions contradict their professed values.

LGBTQ: N/A
Confidence: High

Blazing Saddles, a satirical Western, primarily targets racism, political corruption, and genre conventions. The film does not include any explicit LGBTQ+ characters or themes, nor does it engage with queer identity in any discernible way, positive or negative. Therefore, its portrayal of LGBTQ+ elements is not applicable.

Trans: N/A
Confidence: High

Blazing Saddles does not feature any identifiable transsexual characters or themes. The film's narrative and comedic elements focus on satire of racism, Western tropes, and political corruption, without engaging with gender identity in this specific context. Therefore, the film has no net impact on the portrayal of transsexual individuals.

Female Combat: N/R

The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.

Gender Swap: No
Confidence: High

Blazing Saddles is an original film from 1974, not an adaptation or reboot of pre-existing material. All characters were created for this film, meaning there is no prior canon or historical record against which a gender swap could be assessed.

Race Swap: No
Confidence: High

Blazing Saddles is an original film with characters created for the movie. There are no pre-existing source materials, historical figures, or prior adaptations from which characters' races could have been changed. Therefore, no race swaps occurred.


Viewer Rating Breakdown

7.8

Viewer Rating

Combines user and critic ratings from four sources

User Ratings

IMDB logo
7.7
The Movie Database logo
7.2

Critic Ratings

Rotten Tomatoes logo
8.9
Metacritic logo
7.3

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