History of the World Part I

Reviewed by Drav3n

Format: Blu-ray

Release: May 11, 2010

Rated: R

Runtime: 92 Minutes

The Movie:

Mel Brooks returns to write/produce/direct and star in this movie. And what's a Mel Brooks movie without his returning cast of actors? Dom Deluise, Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, and Ron Carey are all involved in this movie. And Bea Arthur, Orson Welles, Hugh Hefner, and Barry Levinson all make cameos in the movie.

The movie parodies are from the historical genre and are broken down into four main stories that are the Dawn of man, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition and the French Revolution. There are several other skits tied into the main stories that reenact scenes like the Last Supper and the Ten Commandments. This movie begins almost the same way 2001: A Space Odyssey began.

All four stories have key elements added into them. During the Dawn of Man, you see the invention of fire, the first marriages, artists and attempts at music. In the Old Testament, Moses announces the Ten Commanments. In The Roman Empire, we have the infamous Last Supper scene, Which still holds as the funniest, and my favorite part of the movie.

One of the other best parts is at the end of the film, there's a "teaser" for History of the World Part II which says it will include Hitler on Ice, A Viking Funeral and Jews in Space. No sequel was ever really planned, as it was meant to be just a joke at the end of the movie. You would be surprised at how many people actually believed it was a real trailer though.

This movie shows you that anything, and more-so when Mel Brooks is involved, everything can be parodied! I've stated it in my other reviews, and Ill state it in here, there are no bad Mel Brooks movies. Even his weakest film is still going to provide a good amount of laughs and good replay value.

Presentation:

Wow, History of the World Part I is easily the best looking out of all the Mel Brooks films released on blu-ray! You would never realize this movie is just under 30 years old! Skintones are very accurate and facial shots show alot of detail. Colors are absolutely beautiful and all stand out. The overall image is very crisp and clear and provides alot of detail, especially on the robes and armor. There's very little noticeable grain. Seeing this movie on blu-ray is almost like seeing this movie for the first time. Fox and MGM delivered an absolute beauty with this transfer!

Audio:

The audio may not be as impressive as the picture quality but the disc is given a very solid 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. The music in the film sounds incredible with an excellent amount of detail. The dialogue sounds very crisp and clear for the most part, but I did notice some "static" during the Hail Caesar chant. The best sounding part of this movie is definitely during the Spanish Inquisition sequence. The movie has never sounded better!

Bonus Material:

• Musical Mel: Inventing "The Inquisition" (1080p, Runtime 10:40) - Shows how Brooks turned the Spanish Inquisition into a song-and-dance.
• Making History: Mel Brooks on Creating the World (1080p, Runtime 10:04) - A short documentary that provides an overview of the movie.
• The Real History of the World Trivia Track
• Theatrical Trailer (1080p)
• Mel Brooks Trailers (1080p) - High Anxiety, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Silent Movie, To Be or Not To Be, and Young Frankenstein.

Bottom Line:

Mel Brooks fans will not be disappointed at all with this blu-ray. One of his best movies followed by the best looking transfer of all his films released on blu-ray so far. The extras are short but interesting. Seeing this movie in HD for the first time will definitely please viewers. I'd recommend this to anyone that says they are a fan of Mel Brooks' work!