Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
An uproarious version of history that proves nothing is sacred – not even the Roman Empire, the French Revolution and the Spanish Inquisition.
Mel Brooks's anthology romp through history is energetically performed and delivers memorable set pieces—the Spanish Inquisition musical number and 'It's Good to Be the King' are genuine comedy highlights—but the sketch format means the film is wildly uneven, with some segments dragging badly. The acting is loose and broad in the Brooks tradition, which suits the material but limits real craft. Cinematographically it's functional studio fare with little visual ambition. Novelty is moderate: the satirical-anthology approach was Brooks's signature but not wholly original even by 1981, though the specific targets and comic voice give it some distinctiveness. The ending is notoriously weak, essentially a fake trailer for 'Part II' that never came, which disappoints as a conclusion.