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Blazing Saddles (1974)
Blazing Saddles (1974) poster

Blazing Saddles (1974)

Western, Comedy • 1h 33m

Director: Mel Brooks

Cast: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, Mel Brooks, Burton Gilliam, Alex Karras, David Huddleston, Liam Dunn, John Hillerman, George Furth, Jack Starrett, Carol Arthur, Richard Collier, Charles McGregor, Robyn Hilton, Don Megowan, Dom DeLuise, Count Basie, John Alderson, Tom Anfinsen, David Armstrong, Denny Arnold, Benjie Bancroft, Herman Boden, Jimmie Booth, Alex Brown, Jerry Brown, Loren Brown, Eldon Burke, Stephen Burnette, David Cadiente, Patrick Campbell, Bart Carroll, Bill Catching, Ray Chabeau, Donald Chaffin, Dick Cherney, Jack R. Clinton, Aneta Corsaut, Dick Crockett, George Dockstader, Ross Dollarhide, Randy Doney, Alphonso DuBois, Ken DuMain, Hobert Durham Jr., Stewart East, Daniel Elam, Kenny Endoso, Elly Enriquez, Richard Farnsworth, Fred Fisher, Bob Folkerson, Abel Franco, Ben Frommer, John Furlong, Rick Garcia, Laura Gile, Seamon Glass, Betty Jeanne Glennie, Cecil Gold, Chuck Hayward, Bud Hazlett, Francine Henderson, George Hickman, George Holmes, Kal Isaacs, Kathryn Janssen, Rosemary Johnston, Madge Journeay, M.J. Kane, Ron Kinwald, Sally Kirkland, Patrick Labyorteaux, Richard LaMarr, Tex Lambert, Jack Lilley, Craig Littler, Jay Loft-Lynn, Karl Lukas, Bert Madrid, Ralph Manza, Jimmy Martinez, Bert May, Fred McDougall, Rod McGaughy, Bill McIntosh, Clyde McLeod, Troy Melton, Ira Miller, Jessamine Milner, Richard Monahan, Boyd 'Red' Morgan, Beans Morocco, Hal Needham, Daniel Nunez, Monty O'Grady, Harvey Parry, Jack Perkins, Alan Peterson, Tom Pittman, Anthony Redondo, Booty Reed, Tony Regan, Danny 'Big Black' Rey, Robert Ridgely, Rodney Allen Rippy, Al Roberts, Arnold Roberts, Hank Robinson, Victor Romito, Clark Ross, Darrell Sandeen, Danny Sands, George Sawaya, Fred Scheiwiller, David Sharpe, June Smaney, Eddie Smith, Roy Smith, Paul Stader, Tom Steele, Tim Sullivan, Jerry Summers, Jim Taylor, George Tracy, Jerry Trent, Frankie Van, Richard Vitagliano, Al Ward, Dick Warlock, Janice Whitby, Joe Yrigoyen, Bill Zuckert

Best English-friendly release

Updated 10 months ago

Best video release


Best audio release

UHD tiers


About the film

A town—where everyone seems to be named Johnson—stands in the way of the railroad. In order to grab their land, robber baron Hedley Lamarr sends his henchmen to make life in the town unbearable. After the sheriff is killed, the town demands a new sheriff from the Governor, so Hedley convinces him to send the town the first black sheriff in the west.

Featured Lists
National Film Registry

Year of Induction: 2006

Alternative Titles
Tex X

Featured in National Film Registry

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Director: Richard Brooks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Jonathan Demme

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Criterion Blu-ray has exclusive extras

Director: George B. Seitz

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from safety preservation elements

Director: Elaine May

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray > MoC > Olive Films. From nicolas:

The master is good but it’s not that big an upgrade from the Olive Films disc and Vinegar Syndrome’ encode has some blocky highlights. A shame that they didn’t hire David Mackenzie here.

Audio Notes:

Cinématographe has unnecessary noise gating not present on the previous releases.

Director: Sidney Lumet

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber US / Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K  / Capelight 4K

1.66:1: Criterion 4K

Video Notes:

1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K  / Capelight 4K

1.66:1: Criterion 4K but low pass filtered

Comparison between the 4Ks, Criterion on the AR choice

Audio Notes:

Other discs have unnecessary filtering and sound worse, the difference isn't substantial but audible

Director: Dennis Hopper

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony UK 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: F. W. Murnau

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

MoC OOP Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

Flicker Alley 4K confirmed for 2027 https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24404584&postcount=1

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the Universal release without the filtering.

Audio Notes:

DTS:X mix on Universal 4K Blu-ray most closely approximates original surround mix

Additional Info:

Criterion DVD and Universal 4K Blu-ray has additional features not found on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Sam Peckinpah

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Plaion Germany Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

4K Blu-ray said to be coming from Criterion, per Bill Hunt

Video Notes:

Includes Director's Cut and Roadshow Version

Same master as old WB Blu-ray but better encoding

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB 4K

Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.

Best Audio:

1984 MGM Hi-Fi VHS

More from Mel Brooks

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Director: Mel Brooks

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray > US Kino Lorber

Best Audio:

Original 70mm 6-track mix (4.1): Arrow 4K Blu-ray
5.1 remix: MGM Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

Arrow fixed the audio glitches found on Kino Lorber's disc.
The 5.1 remix on Arrow's disc sounds terribly tinny.

Director: Mel Brooks

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Eclair new 4k resto,
StudioCanal UK lower bitrate and yellow tint,
Kino Lorber did color correction on top of that, but maybe the old Shout! Factory/MoC 2k transfer with better color but worse details is better overall
Check caps-a-holic, and discussion https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=217927&page=7

Director: Mel Brooks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox Blu-ray

More from Warner Bros

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Director: Steve Gordon

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Director: Frank Darabont

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

2021 WB 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

2008 US Blu-ray 5.1

Audio Notes:

(the 2021 4K's 5.1 was flawed, with unnecessary bad tweaking)

Director: Sam Peckinpah

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray or Germany Plaion Blu-ray or WB DVD depending on the cut.

Best Video:

First Preview (Turner): Germany Plaion Blu-ray

Second Preview (Final Preview): Germany Plaion Blu-ray

Theatrical: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

2005 Cut: WB DVD

2024 Cut: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Directors: Ernest B. Schoedsack & Merian C. Cooper

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Director: Orson Welles

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

WB Europe 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

WB Europe 4K Blu-ray slightly better encoding than Criterion (caveat: missing Criterion extras)

Director: Sylvester Stallone

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros 2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray/ Warner Bros 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray (replacement disc)

Additional Info:

All foreign language tracks were pitched too low, replacement disc and Ultimate Knockout Collection disc fixed the error. 

The Steelbook and UK standard edition are the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection. 

Director: Sylvester Stallone

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray Box Set 

Video Notes:

2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray Box Set > 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray

2023 disc has a brief moment where the aspect ratio changes from 1.85:1 to 1.78:1, 2024 release fixed the error

Additional Info:

Both cuts of the movie are on the same disc and don’t appear to be seamlessly branched. 

The Steelbook and UK standard edition are the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection.

Director: John G. Avildsen

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros 2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray/ Warner Bros 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray (replacement disc)

Upcoming Release:

Capelight 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Original Mono: Ultimate Knockout Collection/Knockout Collection replacement disc

Audio Notes:

Original Mono: Ultimate Knockout Collection/Knockout Collection replacement disc > Knockout collection original.

The Mono mix on the initial release of the Knockout Collection is a stereo fold-down of the 5.1, it also has a missing piano cue. The replacement disc and the ultimate knockout version fixed the error. 

Additional Info:

The Steelbook and UK standard edition is the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection.

Director: Sylvester Stallone

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros 2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray/ Warner Bros 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray (replacement disc)

Additional Info:

Original Knockout Collection release had its 5.1 mix pitched too low, replacement disc and Ultimate Knockout Collection fixed the error. 

The Steelbook and UK standard edition are the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection.

Director: Michael Anderson

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release

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M_Avanshady

· last reviewed 10 months ago

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