After reviewing the five Mel Brooks films in the collection I had not yet viewed, it was now time to revisit some old friends.  And first up was History of the World – Part I, a movie that I had first seen long before I was old enough to understand most of the jokes.

Before watching the collection, this film fully defined what I thought a Mel Brooks film was.  A musical number, genital-oriented humor, and an overall irrelevance for its subject matter would be what I thought of when I heard the words “Mel Brooks”.  However, after watching such treats as To Be Or Not to Be, Silent Movie, and even High Anxiety, I was curious to see if I remembered the movie correctly, and if it was truly as good as I thought it was.

Film

Make no mistake, this is a funny movie.  And in many places, there are great lines, and excellent visual jokes that still make me laugh out loud.

For the uninitiated, the movie is not a long coherent story; instead it is the telling of “the history of the world” through a number of mini-movies, all of which focus on a specific period in human history.  Highlighted are the cavemen, the Old Testament, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, the French Revolution, and a teaser trailer for the never made (and never to be made) History of the World – Part II. 

Segment-wise, the caveman segment is a real treat for those who love physical humor; it had the official kids of this reviewer laughing out loud (though they missed a few jokes, which was good).  The shorter Old Testament segment has one of the funniest jokes I’ve ever seen in a movie.  And the great Hollywood-style musical segment for the Inquisition is entertaining, and humorous in an old fashioned and corny way.

However, the Roman Empire segment is quite long, and does tend to drag a fair bit.  This piece could have easily been edited down, and some of the sexual, racial, and drug humor was a bit too much.  Although there are funny bits (including Mr. Brooks playing a waiter), the segment was one of the longest, and the most uneven.

The French revolution segment was also a mixed bag, with some really, really funny bits, like using peasants as skeet, and the pee-boy.  But much like the Roman Empire segment, the humor was a bit too leering and a bit too obvious. 

As an 11 year-old, this type of humor perfectly suited my fancy.  And even as an adult, I still find some of the jokes to be extremely funny.  However, whatever charming subtlety Mr. Brooks used in his earlier films seems to have been replaced with a vaudevillian obviousness.  As a viewer, you are not allowed the joy of discovering jokes but are instead pounded over the head with them.         

Video

The overall video in this collection has been very good, and History of the World – Part I was no exception to this.  The color palette used, the variety of locations, and even Mr. Brooks’ excellent mimicry of other styles (such as those used in Kubrick’s 2001, and DeMille’s The Ten Commandments) were spot on.  Considering its era, the film did have grain present, and blacks were sometimes not as dark as desired.  However, the lower light shots in the Inquisition truly showed how well this was originally filmed and restored.

Possibly I would have been more pleased with the visuals in this film if there had not been such an excellent job done on earlier films such as Silent Movie.  However, it is difficult to punish History of the World – Part I as it has a very good presentation on its own merits. 

Audio

The audio was also nothing special, with rather sparse use of the surround and LFE channels.  Although this is realistic for a movie of this vintage, it was also exacerbated by a very narrow soundstage through the front channels.

On the positive side, audio through the centre channel was clear and concise, something that could have been a challenge with the wide variety of sets that were used for filming.

Special Features

Strangely enough, History of the World, Part I received a solo Blu-ray release, yet did not enjoy a great special feature set.  Included on the disc are the ubiquitous isolated score, trailers, and trivia track.  Also included are two short featurettes in HD, one about the musical Inquisition, and the other about the film overall.

Unfortunately, this is a very slim set for fans of the film, who likely would have preferred to hear why Gregory Hines had to step in for Richard Pryor (oh, this is in the trivia track).

Final Thoughts

Oddly enough, the official kids of this reviewer are approximately the same age as this reviewer was when I first saw this movie.  And I must say, although they thankfully missed a lot of the adult-themed jokes (like I did at their age), they seemed to find a lot more humor in the film than I did.

Possibly the best way to describe the film is: a nice looking, decent sounding film that will truly appeal to those with an 11 year-old’s refined sense of humor.