This is Mel Brooks look on history and it's narrated by Orson Wells, the film has many different segments so I'm going to review the film by its segments.
THE STONE AGE
After their parody of the "Dawn Of Men" from "2001: A Space Odyssey". We learn about the Stone Age through the point of view of a Caveman leader (Sid Caesar). You'll learn about fire being made, what they did for fun, how death was treated, the first artist, first marriage and how music was invented. This sequence is so hilarious that I won't give any jokes away.
THE OLD TESTAMENT
This is a joke that's so funny and brief on Moses (Mel Brooks) that I won't spoil it for you either.
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
This is a mockery of the "Roman Empire" and we're seeing it through the point of view of Mel Brook's character Comicus. Mel Brooks is funny and this is indeed one of his funniest performances. The supporting cast Ron Carey, Mary-Margaret Humes, Gregory Hines, and Madeline Kahn are all laughed out loud funny and are likable characters. I also adore and hysterically laugh at the cameos of Bea Arthur, John Hurt as Jesus, the return of the Moses character, Art Metrano as Leonardo da Vinci and Dom DeLuise as the Roman Emperor. The dialogue, the mockery on the Roman culture, Roman and Gladiator movies and religious icons, the anachronism jokes, sexual humor, and cartoonish effects are over the top funny and never get old.
THE SPANISH INQUISITION
When I saw the beginning of this segment I started to wonder how Mel Brooks was going to make fun of an event when millions of Jews were killed in a very gruesome way. It'd be like making fun of the Holocaust, it's playing with fire by fuel. Well, once Mel Brooks showed up as Torquemada, they wordplay on his name which made me chuckle. And I immediately gave in with thousands of laughs when they started singing and turning this serious event into a Busby Berkeley musical number. Everything is so comical, and upbeat that I just had to laugh and sing along to it. I won't tell you anymore but be on the lookout for a cameo of Jackie Mason and Ronny Graham.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
The peasants plan to kill the King (Mel Brooks), so he goes off to hide and uses his Royal Piss Boy (Mel Brooks) as his double. Mel Brooks is once again hilarious as these two characters and just like all the characters in the film that he plays, they're one of his best performances and who could forget his catchphrase "It's To Be The King". The supporting cast played by Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman (with a wordplay name again), Andreas Voutsinas, Pamela Stephenson and Spike Milligan are all memorable and funny. Once again the dialogue, it's a parody on history, vulgar humor and ending with a fourth wall joke still keep the laughs coming.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
After the film, we see a fake coming attraction for the sequel which I won't spoil the jokes except maybe one. Sadly he's never made a Part 2 but he made something close to this film that sort of involves "Jews In Space" and it's...
"SPACEBALLS"!
This movie is one of Mel Brooks best and I'm rewarding it a great rating.
RATING 5/5
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