Plot: What’s it about?
Mel Brooks, who in my book has got to be one of the funniest men alive, has created some truly classic movies in his time. From “Young Frankenstein” to “‘Blazing Saddles” to “Spaceballs”. While most are parodies of more successful movies, that doesn’t make them any less funny. History of the World Part I is more of a take off on several different movies. You might imagine that it does cover a wide range of subjects, though not in the detail that a teacher might agree with! From The Dawn of Man (in one of the funniest opening scenes…ever) to The French Revolution, this movie does it’s best to fracture what history that you know. And don’t do like me and use this as some sort of “Cliff Notes” to study for a test…trust me, it doesn’t work. In addition to the material, and there’s a lot to cover when you have a title like “History of the World…” in it, Brooks has also got a great supporting cast. While most of them are old friends that have been used in other movies (Madeline Khan and Harvey Korman come to mind) they are no less funny that anyone else would be in their parts.
So let’s start, shall we, at the beginning…History of the World dives right in and shows us the cavemen and how they discovered art and fire (in a most humorous way, of course). They move right into The Old Testament with Mel Brooks playing Moses, who even talks to God. Interestingly enough, there were actually 15 commandments and not ten. However upon hearing the words of God, Moses accidently drops one of the tablets…so it’s written, so it shall be told. We then head on to the Roman Empire. The sections with the Roman Empire and The French Revolution are the longest, as was their ‘reign’ in actual history (or at least that’s what I’ve always thought, anyway). With Brooks playing different characters, he meets Josephius (Gregory Hines) who is about to be fed to the lions, but instead they all end up fleeing the Roman’s after Brooks’ improv has upset the Emperor (Don Deluise). Next is my favorite scene, The Spanish Inquisition, and if you’ve never seen a song and dance of The Spanish Inquisition, well then…you’ve never lived!
Eventually The French Revoluion caps off the movie with Brooks playing a “piss boy” and King Louis. They replace the king with the “other” Brooks in an attempt to outsmart the masses who are on the edge of revolution. And, in a nutshell, that’s it. I can’t really say as how many times I’ve seen the movie, but it still makes me laugh almost as hard as the first time I saw it. In the spirt of movies like “Caddyshack” “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein” this is a classic comedy that I’l enjoy many more times on DVD. The humor can be a bit rough, so it’s not something to show your little ones, but then again it does carry an “R” rating, so it’s pretty self-explainatory. Treat yourself to a little History!
Video: How does it look?
Presented in a non-anamorphic widescreen ratio of 2.35:1, the colors look a bit muted. The film is nearly twenty years old and the transfer shows it’s age. Still, it’s by far the best looking transfer out there, short of the Laser Disc it’s the only widescreen version out there as well. Personally, when it comes to this movie, image is a second thought. I’ve seen this so many times in so many formats that this looks positively spectacular when ever I watch it on DVD. Probably the only time I’ll “say” this, but I could care less if it’s 16:9 enhanced or not.
Audio: How does it sound?
The original mono track is used and it suits the movie well. While I’m sure they could do a new 5.1 mix, it would sound kind of awkward. I mean really, how many channels do you need to hear from when Mel Brooks is on screen singing about the Spanish Inquistion?!?
Supplements: What are the extras?
A trailer. Another intersting feature is the main menu changes backgrounds whenever you come to it. So you aren’t losing your mind if you see one of three different menus. If you’re curious, the different backgrounds are:
A coin with Mel Brooks’ head on it saying “In Mel we Trust”
A picture of the Emperor with the appropriate links on it and,
A picture of one of the extras from The French Revolution with a “Dead Rats” sign.
Clever, now why couldn’t they come up with some more extras?
