History of the World: Part I

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History of the World: Part I

R

Released Jun 12, 1981

1h 33m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

61%

Tomatometer

36 Reviews

81%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Human history is traced through a series of vignettes, beginning with cavemen awestruck by their own magnificence. Then Moses (Mel Brooks) receives the tablets containing the "15" commandments, and Emperor Nero (Dom DeLuise) presides over a madcap Rome with his wife, Nympho (Madeline Kahn). Jumping ahead, the Spanish Inquisition softens repression with song and dance, and a few centuries later Madame Defarge (Cloris Leachman) is fomenting revolution in France.

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Critics Consensus

History of the World: Part I may not have enough comedic inspiration to merit a Part II, but the sporadic cleverness of these anachronistic skits are still a testament to Mel Brooks' gift for farce.

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

It’s Brooks’s audacity -- his treating cruelty and pain as a crazy joke, and doing it in a low-comedy context -- that gives History the kick that was missing from his last few films.

Sep 12, 2023

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Matthew Rozsa

Salon.com

"History of the World, Part 1" is one of the all-time great spoof comedies. Its genius can be seen right there in its title.

Rated: 4/4

Jun 14, 2021

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David Denby

New York Magazine/Vulture

What [Brooks] takes to be the glorious folk humor that modern people have repressed looks to many of us like the tired jokes that were yawned off the burlesque stage 50 years ago.

Dec 31, 2019

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

As with many of the writer/director/producer’s works, not every gag lands (a couple actually fall quite flat), with a few portions meandering a touch, but several definitely stand out, sure to endure.

Rated: 5/10

Jul 20, 2024

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JoAnn Rhetts

Charlotte Observer

History of the World: Part I is Mel Brooks at his most appealing since The Producers and Young Frankenstein... This is just the sort of harmless, frequently hilarious summer movie that will appeal to adolescents of all ages.

May 3, 2023

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Larry Vitacco

Philadelphia Gay News

As written and directed by Brooks, the movie's overreliance on sex, scat and Semitic jokes wears painfully thin halfway through the picture.

Rated: 2/4

May 26, 2020

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Mitch B

The Stone Age was the highlight for me and I wish the movie had stayed in it a bit longer. It was the most fun sketch of the film if you ask me. The Old Testament and the Roman Empire and the Spanish Inquisition were all done well, but the French Revolution causes the film's charm to taper off a bit.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

07/01/25

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Kyle M

Mel Brooks’ parodic credibility gets disastrously questioned when finally catching up with the times then as this picture shows in sporadic amusement and few laughs but mainly cringes and flattens unfunnily when his co-stars overperform rather than following his executing style. (C)

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

06/23/25

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thiago s

Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é mais ou menos, o começo do filme é bacana que faz um paródia do filme 2001 odisseia no espaço, depois depois o filme tenta ser engraçado e nao consegue muito, o filme tem poucas coisas engraçadas e interessantes no filme, o final dá um leve salvarlda com a paródia do star wars de resto meio fraco.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/20/25

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tim s

"Mel Brooks' comedic crowning achievement. The humor is brash, ingenious, and clever. You'll laugh until it hurts.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/21/25

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Rami A

It's a Mel Brooks film that shouldn't be taken seriously. Just sit back, relax and enjoy the show. If I spent time analyzing this, I would've given this a lower rating.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/24

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BJ M

In the history of the world there has never been a comedy film that was less funny.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/29/24

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Mel Brooks

Director

Mel Brooks

Moses

Dom DeLuise

Emperor Nero

Madeline Kahn

Empress Nympho

Harvey Korman

Count de Monet

Cloris Leachman

Madame Defarge

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33%

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Synopsis

Human history is traced through a series of vignettes, beginning with cavemen awestruck by their own magnificence. Then Moses (Mel Brooks) receives the tablets containing the "15" commandments, and Emperor Nero (Dom DeLuise) presides over a madcap Rome with his wife, Nympho (Madeline Kahn). Jumping ahead, the Spanish Inquisition softens repression with song and dance, and a few centuries later Madame Defarge (Cloris Leachman) is fomenting revolution in France.

Director: Mel Brooks
Producer: Mel Brooks
Screenwriter: Mel Brooks
Production Co: Brooksfilms
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 12, 1981, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 24, 2020
Runtime: 1h 33m
Sound Mix: Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Digital 2.39:1

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