# AIRPLANE! vs. BLAZING SADDLES - Which is the funnier movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032 "2020-02-16T17:53:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/81 "2020-02-18T01:39:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I disagree. The vast majority of the humor is verbal and sight gags, with slapstick, absurdism and the such thrown in. I was born in the mid-70s, and I love the movie and think it’s funny as shit despite not recognizing any of the actors or celebs from anything else. Seconded. I first watched _Airplane!_ circa 1990, when I would have been about 9 years old, and I found it hilarious despite not recognizing any of the actors. (My Dad had to explain who Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is.) I’ve watched it many times since then and notice new funny things every time. There’s a whole lot that happens in the background that’s easy to miss. Also pretty audacious in its tasteless jokes about mental illness, suicide, wife-beating, heart surgery, Catholic nuns, Buddhist monks, etc… Nothing like that would get produced today. _Blazing Saddles_ has some hilarious scenes. It also has some scenes where the jokes fall flat. It’s a great comedy but not in the same class as _Airplane!_. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/82 "2020-02-18T02:47:54Z")
For the record, farts are not _inherently_ funny. They do, however, have great potential to be funny. Not all fart jokes meet that potential, but the scene in _Blazing Saddles_ did. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/83 "2020-02-18T02:51:27Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > …I agree with that. I also think High Anxiety is criminally underrated. I think all of them are funnier than Airplane!. And I love Airplane!. Cloris Leachman is insanely funny in that movie. I can watch it over and over. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/84 "2020-02-18T03:49:27Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > The thing that puts BS over the top for me is the last scene (not the second-to-last scene), with the two riding off on horses and leaving in a limo, while the very sincere theme song plays. Trivia note: [Frankie Laine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Laine) didn’t know the film was a sarcastic comedy. He sang the theme most seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/85 "2020-02-18T14:46:32Z")
Based on the number of times I laughed, _Airplane!_ is funnier to me. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/86 "2020-02-18T15:54:54Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > I went with Young Doct…, wait, no, Blazing Sandals since YDF isn’t in the poll. > [@smithsb](#): > > All the above and no one commented on me spelling “Saddles” as “Sandals” the first mention. I did that on purpose; nothing from the peanut gallery. Subtlety is dead. 😛 _Blazing Sandals_ would have been a brilliant sendup of Biblical epics! Way better than _History of the World Part I_. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/87 "2020-02-18T16:44:10Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Based on the number of times I laughed, _Airplane!_ is funnier to me. Roger. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/88 "2020-02-18T17:29:49Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Many things in Blazing Saddles aren’t even jokes. Like the farting scene. It’s just a bunch of guys farting. He never bothered to write an actual joke for that scene. Don’t forget there was a fart scene in _Airplane!_ [Combined with a drool scene and juxtaposed with a bouncing boobs scene.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkGR65CXaNA) There are reasons to prefer one movie over the other, but let’s face it, none of those reasons is the level of sophisticated humor in either one. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/89 "2020-02-18T18:40:49Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I disagree. The vast majority of the humor is verbal and sight gags, with slapstick, absurdism and the such thrown in. I was born in the mid-70s, and I love the movie and think it’s funny as shit despite not recognizing any of the actors or celebs from anything else. (Like, I don’t even know what juxtapositions you’re talking about. I did learn last week that Leslie Nielsen was more known as a dramatic actor before this, but my generation knows Leslie Nielsen from Zucker films, and not knowing his dramatic background does not seem to have impacted the enjoyment or humor people get from these style of movies.) > > I didn’t even realize until now that that was actually the June Cleaver actress. The movie stays funny on its own merits without knowing any kind of celebrity backstories. Sure, there are some culturual things you have to be aware of, like hare krishnas in airports and … I dunno … that’s the only thing that comes to mind. Maybe the whole “air disaster” fad of movies that inspired this spoof (and, more directly, “Zero Hour”), but you don’t really need to know that to find it hilariously funny. Nobody I knew heard of “Zero Hour,” though I vaguely remember being aware of the airplane disaster genre. When I first saw “Donde esta el Piloto?” in the original Spanish, I was: A nine year old boy From a different culture Who didn’t even know who Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was (I was too nerd for sports) I loved it, I laughed so much I couldn’t breathe. I’ saw it in English a few years ago and is still extremely funny. Blazing Saddles is probably a better movie, but Airplane is way way funnier. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/90 "2020-02-18T20:41:15Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I’m in the minority in that I don’t even think that Blazing Saddles is Mel Brooks’ funniest movie. I prefer Young Frankenstein, The Producers, and High Anxiety to Blazing Saddles. Agree with you and would throw in “History of the World Part 1” as better than Blazing Saddles ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/91 "2020-02-18T20:52:55Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Agree with you and would throw in “History of the World Part 1” as better than Blazing Saddles “Jews in spa-a-a-ace!” ---
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/92 "2020-02-18T21:01:43Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > Sorry Mods - I needed a poll so I placed if here instead of CS. > > Pretty much what the thread title asks. Between these two movies, and _only_ these two, which is the funnier movie? Yes, I know,other funny movies exist. You might even say that one or more of them are funnier if you want to …be…wrong? Those other movies are completely outside the scope of this thread though. > > Just my opinion, BLAZING SADDLES is the funnier movie because [Madeline Kahn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeline_Kahn) was three days dead and still funnier than [Julie Hagerty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Hagerty) was on her best day. > > Poll coming I couldn’t possibly choose one as funnier that the other. They are equally funny, but in different ways. This is like asking, “Who was lovelier, Barbara Eden or Elizabeth Montgomery?” ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/93 "2020-02-18T21:23:04Z")
> [@TimfromNapa](#): > > I couldn’t possibly choose one as funnier that the other. They are equally funny, but in different ways. This is like asking, “Who was lovelier, Barbara Eden or Elizabeth Montgomery?” Ooh - ooh! I know! Elizabeth Montgomery of course! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/94 "2020-02-18T22:16:26Z")
> [@TimfromNapa](#): > > I couldn’t possibly choose one as funnier that the other. They are equally funny, but in different ways. This is like asking, “Who was lovelier, Barbara Eden or Elizabeth Montgomery?” Bailey! No, Mary Ann! What was the question again? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/95 "2020-02-18T22:41:00Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > It’s a close call, but I gotta go with Blazing Saddles. Hard choice for me as well. I went _Saddles_, _BUT_ only un-edited. Start cutting it up, and it is ruined. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/96 "2020-02-19T03:11:43Z")
I’ll agree that _Blazing Saddles_ is the more ambitious film, and I love the way that Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little play off each other, but I have to give the nod to \*Airplane as the funnier of the two. Even more so if one runs it back to back with _Zero Hour_, the stolid 1957 melodrama that it inspired it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/97 "2020-02-19T04:59:10Z")
Both are funny, but _Airplane!_ is quite a bit funnier, I thought at the time and still think so now. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/98 "2020-02-19T19:30:48Z")
I’ve got to go with Airplane! It cracks me up far more than Blazing Saddles does, and the ending of Blazing Saddles really brings the movie down several notches for me. But, RTFirefly: > [@](#): > > They’re both two of the funniest movies ever, but Monty Python and the Holy Grail is THE funniest movie ever. Gotta disagree. Much as love Holy Grail, it’s not even (IMHO, of course) the funniest Python movie - Life of Brian is better and funnier. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/99 "2020-02-19T20:05:04Z")
_Airplane_ is funnier than _Blazing Saddles_. (_Young Frankenstein_ is funnier than both of them put together.) _Airplane_ just keeps hitting you with joke after joke. If one fails, wait ten seconds for the next one. In _Blazing Saddles_ you have to sit thru the whole Mongo subplot, which doesn’t work very well, and the ending is just tacked on and is a let down after the brilliant opening and the shimmering incandescence of Madeline Kahn. Regards, Ethel Merman ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032/100 "2020-02-19T20:09:24Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Much as love Holy Grail, it’s not even (IMHO, of course) the funniest Python movie - Life of Brian is better and funnier. IMO _Life of Brian_ is better, but _Holy Grail_ is funnier. Although _Holy Grail_’s ending is also anti-climatic - it feels like they just ran out of money and/or ideas. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-vs-blazing-saddles-which-is-the-funnier-movie/848032.md?page=6)