Blazing Saddles(1974) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory(2005) are movies that are very unlike each other and were released over 30 years apart. Blazing Saddles is a comedy/western while Charlie and the Chocolate Factory(CATCF) is a fantasy/adventure/comedy. Both have great and successful directors, Mel Brooks and Tim Burton, who did a brilliant job on the films. I chose the Blazing Saddles because I remember my grandpa talking about it and how he said it was original compared to the movies today. As for CATCF I picked it because I slightly remember enjoying it as a kid and it’s nice to watch something from your childhood.

The Blazing Saddles is a western film and according to the Rolling Stones interview with the director, it is also the ‘funniest movie ever made’.  In the interview they talk about taking the film on the road, the actors, the language in the film, some improv, and the directors  early life. The film is about a little town, Rock Ridge, that has the first black sheriff. The town about to be destroyed in order to make way for a new railroad. The people of Rock Ridge harbor a racial bias toward their new leader. However, they warm to him after realizing he and his drunk gunfighter friend are the only defense against a wave of thugs sent to rid the town of its population.

In a NPR article it states that the film is an interracial buddy comedy, as it is also over 40 years old. The main character, Bart, befriends a local gunslinger named Jim. Together they talk about life and what came to be, and later help the little town that they are currently in. Not without a few jokes of course. The article also talks about how this movie relates to others, such as how they also have “two men, one bigoted white and one proud black, are thrown together by circumstance and forced to work together for a common goal.”

As for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, this film is about a young poor boy who finds one of the five golden tickets inviting him to a local chocolate factory. The factory has been closed to the public since some of its secrets have got out, and who ever finds the five tickets gets a personal tour of the magical factory from the owner himself, Willy Wonka. But, Wonka has a hidden motivation for the tour, one that he will reveal only after the children in the group show their true identities. In a Roger Ebert review he states that the director, Tim Burton, did an amazing job ‘where the visual invention is a wonderment.’ He also states that Johnny Depp didn’t do his best job, but it was overall a good movie.

Both movies have a type of comic relief, but I found that watching the Blazing Saddles wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be.. Mainly because I read articles/reviews saying that it was the ‘most funny movie ever’ rised my expectations for the whole film. I did like the ending, how they brought the movie into the real world, such as instead of riding into the sunset on horses they took a present day car. I enjoyed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a little more because it reminded me of my childhood and once in awhile they’d crack a small joke that would make me laugh. Overall, it was interesting watching both movies and I applaud the directors to creating something original and memorable.