The Evidence

The Twelve Chairs
The earliest film included in this collection is the 1970 comedy The Twelve Chairs, which was Brooks' second film as a director after The Producers. The Twelve Chairs has seemingly been forgotten about in recent years, which is unusual since it's by no means one of the weaker Brooks films. Brooks' screenplay is based on the Russian novel by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeni Petrov, which tells the story of a priest (Dom Deluise, An American Tail), an ex-nobleman (Ron Moody, Oliver!), and a handsome young con man (Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon) attempting to find a collection of jewels that has been stored in one of twelve chairs scattered throughout the Soviet Union. It's a silly but entertaining lark, one that is actually a good deal more focused on its plot than many Brooks films. While Brooks' films grew increasingly episodic as his career progressed, The Twelve Chairs offers a story that rarely goes off on aimless tangents. Moody and DeLuise generate the biggest laughs in the film, but it's also a pleasure to see Langella in a role as a young charmer (it's one of the only instances in which I can recall Langella looking anything resembling "youthful"). Mel Brooks also has a predictably over-the-top turn as the town drunk.

The film may be the roughest-looking of the set, but it's not bad by any means. You'll find plenty of scratches and flecks throughout in addition to a considerable deal of noise, but both background and facial detail are solid. The muted color palette is quite nice, conveying the damp, depressing atmosphere of the Soviet Union in the 1920s. Audio is a bit more problematic, particularly in terms of the music. The amusing theme song that plays over the opening credits is just plain loud in contrast to the rest of the track, forcing you to adjust the remote a bit. In addition, the music throughout sounds rather distorted. Otherwise, the track is fine. Unfortunately, the only supplement (if you can really call it that) included on this disc is a collection of trailers for other Mel Brooks films.

Blazing Saddles
There has never been a Brooks film that hasn't made me laugh at least a little, but none of his comedies have made me laugh as much as Blazing Saddles. A brilliant, subversive, broadly farcical western spoof, the film tells the story of a small western town that grows extremely disgruntled when they discover that the new sheriff is a black man (Cleavon Little, Fletch Lives). The townsfolk would love nothing better than to run their new sheriff out of town, but it turns out he just might be the only person brave enough to save them from the villainous Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman, The Carol Burnett Show). Brooks goes for laughs at every possible opportunity, and his hit-to-miss ratio is pretty astonishing. His goofy script provides plenty of memorable lines ("You use your tongue purtier than a twenty-dollar whore!") and terrific slapstick gags, but the film really works due to the plethora of terrific comic performances. Gene Wilder is quietly hilarious as the sheriff's drunken sidekick Jim, Mel Brooks is tremendously amusing as philandering governor William J. Lepetomane, and Slim Pickens has a great deal of fun satirizing his image as the thuggish Taggert. However, my favorite performances come from Harvey Korman and Madeline Kahn (Nixon). Korman has never been better than he is in this film; his furious insistence that his name is, "Hedley, HEDLEY!" somehow gets funnier every time. Meanwhile, Kahn's spot-on Marlene Dietrich impersonation was deservingly rewarded with an Oscar nomination; her performance of the song "I'm Tired" is certainly one of the film's highlights. The film also deserves recognition for being a truly bold comedy in the way it deals with the subject of racism, making some sharp points through broad satire that perhaps couldn't have been addressed as effectively at the time in a more serious film.

The disc itself is precisely the same as the previous individual Blu-ray release of Blazing Saddles, and the transfer is still somewhat disappointing. Blazing Saddles was one of the earlier Blu-ray discs, and it doesn't look as sharp as many films of its era that have been released in hi-def since. Some scenes may look a bit grubby, but it's not all bad: detail is solid, flesh tones are fairly accurate and blacks are pretty deep. The audio is solid, conveying the energetic John Morris score with clarity. By the way, is that main title song instantly memorable or what? Extras are the same as before, naturally: an audio commentary with Brooks, a half-hour making-of featurette, the horrible pilot of the never-aired "Black Bart" television show, some deleted scenes, a quick tribute to Madeline Kahn and a trailer.

Young Frankenstein
Blazing Saddles may very well be Brooks' funniest film, but Young Frankenstein is probably his most impressive overall. Brooks isn't really known for his technical prowess as a director, but his work in Young Frankenstein suggests that Brooks had tremendous gifts as a visual artist (it's too bad that such technical strengths weren't employed on Brooks' Hitchcock spoof High Anxiety). Brooks does a great job of satirizing the monster movies of the '30s, but his sets are every bit as spectacular as the glorious laboratories found in the films of James Whale. Gene Wilder gets one of his most iconic roles as Victor Frankenstein (that's Fronk-en-steen), and there's also terrific supporting turns from Cloris Leachman, Peter Boyle, Gene Hackman, Marty Feldman, and Teri Garr.

The transfer is somewhat disappointing, boasting more grain and scratches than you might expect for a film of this age. Audio is solid, but not exactly a knockout track. All of the supplements are the same: a picture-in-picture track, an audio commentary with Brooks, several making-of featurettes, deleted scenes, a trivia track, and a "Blucher Button."

Note: for more details on the film, transfer and supplements, check out my review of the individual Blu-ray release on this site.

Silent Movie
In my humble opinion, the third and final truly classic Brooks film is Silent Movie, a hilarious exercise in slapstick comedy and sight gags that I never grow tired of. The story is about a washed-up director named Mel (Mel Brooks) and his associates Dom (Dom DeLuise) and Marty (Marty Feldman) attempting to convince a studio boss (Sid Caesar, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World) to greenlight a silent movie. The studio boss agrees to do it if Mel, Dom, and Marty can convince some of the biggest stars in Hollywood to appear in the picture. The irony of this is that the story is being told in the form of a silent movie featuring some of the biggest stars in Hollywood (at the time, anyway). It's a laugh-a-minute festival of comic invention, and part of the fun comes from the fact that the film feels like a labor of joy. Brooks appears to be having a truly terrific time with this one; and his enthusiasm for such an unlikely project is just infectious. While many of Brooks' films (particularly the later ones) tend to age quickly due to dated pop culture references, a lot of the comedy in Silent Movie is timeless. I expect the film will be every bit as funny fifty years from now as it is today. In fact, the only dated thing about the film is its choice of "big-name" movie stars: granted, Paul Newman is timelessly cool, but Burt Reynolds, Liza Minella, and James Caan?

The transfer is solid enough, despite a handful of scratches and flecks that can be found throughout. Detail is generally strong, which is a big plus in a movie as rich with sight gags (both large and small) as this one. Flesh tones are just about perfect. As for the audio…does anyone else find it immensely funny that Silent Movie is receiving a DTS HD 5.1 Master Audio track? Large portions of the film are completely silent, though now and then we'll hear a selection from John Morris' score (arguably the best he ever wrote for Brooks, which is great considering the way it gets put in the spotlight) or some comical sound effects. There's also exactly one word of dialogue, though I would never dream of telling you what it is or who delivers it. The biggest supplement is a featurette called "Silent Laughter: The Making of Silent Movie," which runs about 24 minutes and digs into Brooks' silent-film influences. You also get a trivia track and a handful of trailers for the film.

High Anxiety
I was particularly looking forward to checking out High Anxiety, a Brooks film that I had heard a great deal about but never gotten around to seeing. I'm sorry to report that I was sorely disappointed by this very underwhelming Hitchcock spoof, which never quite gets off the ground despite a handful of typically genius gags. The story centers on a psychiatrist named Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke (Brooks), who has just landed a job running a mysterious mental institution. Alas, Thorndyke isn't really the one running things, as he is constantly forced to submit to the forceful manipulations of the wicked Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman) and her associate Dr. Charles Montague (Harvey Korman). In traditional Hitchcock fashion, Thorndyke soon finds himself framed for a murder that he didn't commit, and goes on the run with the aide of a beautiful blonde (Madeline Kahn). Meanwhile, Thorndyke must find a way to overcome a severe psychological condition known as "High Anxiety." The material directly mirroring Hitchcock tends to be the weakest, as Brooks seems to be running low on imagination: a spoof of The Birds features Thorndyke attempting to escape from a large group of pigeons with severe diarrhea. Brooks turns in a slightly more restrained performance, attempting to play "straight man" to the comic antics of his cast mates. Unfortunately, Korman, Leachman, and Kahn just aren't that funny, re-hashing notes from previous roles but failing to re-capture comedy gold. Kahn in particular just seems slightly lost and awkward in her role. Still, the film isn't a complete loss: the opening ten minutes in which a stressed-out Thorndyke works his way through an airport are a reminder of just how giddily entertaining Brooks can be when he puts his mind to it.

The transfer is simply okay, perhaps slightly less impressive than Silent Movie. There's an inconsistent level of grain present throughout, in addition to a number of scenes (particularly in the first half of the film) that seem awfully soft. The film has a somewhat flat, bland '70s look; standing in sharp contrast to the colorful experiences that are Blazing Saddles and Silent Movie. Perhaps Brooks was attempting to recapture the color scheme of some of the Hitchcock films he's parodying, but the movie isn't technically ambitious enough to really nail that. Audio is just fine, with Morris' predictably Herrmann-inspired score coming through with clarity and detail. Dialogue is clean and clear, while sound design is merely adequate (never approaching the nuanced work done on Hitch's The Birds, for instance). The primary extra is a 30-minute featurette called "Hitchcock and Mel: Spoofing the Master of Suspense," which is a pretty engaging if somewhat standard making-of piece. You also get a trivia track dedicated to pointing out Hitchcock references in the film, plus a "Am I Very Nervous?" test that you can take while watching the film. Finally, you get a theatrical trailer.

History of the World, Part I
Brooks is at his most wildly, painfully inconsistent in History of the World, Part I, an episodic film that take viewers through comedically-charged versions of several key points in world history. The film can be gut-bustingly funny at times, but it's also one of the strongest indicators that Mel was starting to run out of comedic steam. The movie begins on a terrific note, with a spot-on parody of 2001: A Space Odyssey (specifically, the "Dawn of Man" sequence). This segues into another amusing section, in which we see Moses receiving the 15 commandments from heaven (Moses shortens it to 10 commandments after he accidentally breaks one of the holy tablets). Later, there's a delightful, Monty Python-inspired sequence in which Brooks turns the Spanish Inquisition in a cheerful musical number. Alas, the largest chunk of the film is a rather bland story in which Brooks plays a stand-up comedian in ancient Rome. This sequence throws out tedious gag after tedious gag, as Brooks trades invention and wit for banal toilet humor (an unfortunate trend that would continue throughout Brooks' later films). The closing sequence that takes place during the time of the French Revolution isn't much better; a wheezy variation on "The Prince and the Pauper" (though in this case it's the King and the Piss-Boy). Pretentious biblical/historical epics are ripe subjects for satire, but one can't help but feel that Brooks' effort falls considerably short to the efforts of the aforementioned Monty Python troupe.

The visual leap from High Anxiety to History of the World, Part I is rather remarkable, as this film is arguably the best-looking of the set. The image is crisp, clean and gorgeous, with terrific detail, deep and inky blacks, superb flesh tones, and colors that just pop off the screen. It's not quite a reference disc, but it comes pretty close. Meanwhile, the audio is a bit better in terms of creating an immersive experience that actually takes full advantage of the rear speakers (many of the tracks tend to be awfully front-heavy). The Spanish Inquisition sequence is probably the audio knockout, but everything is solid. Extras include "Musical Mel: Inventing the Inquisition" (10 minutes), which spotlights the musical number, and "Making History: Mel Brooks on Creating the World" (10 minutes), which is a more traditional making-of piece. You also get a trivia track and some trailers.

To Be or Not to Be
To Be or Not to Be provides a dramatic change of pace, largely because it's the only film in this collection that wasn't actually directed by Mel Brooks. Choreographer Alan Johnson made his directorial debut with this Brooks-produced remake of the 1942 Lubitsch film starring Jack Benny. Though the film is very much a comedy, it takes a considerably more restrained approach to the material than the usual Brooks film. Brooks plays Polish actor Frederick Bronski, who performs at a local theatre along with his wife Anna (Anne Bancroft, The Graduate) every week. Unfortunately, Frederick and Anna are forced to put on an entirely different sort of performance when the Nazis invade Poland. Though much of the movie is centered around Frederick's farcical attempts to help his theatre troupe escape the bad guys, there's an emotional current running through the film that's surprisingly affecting. The husband-and-wife team of Brooks and Bancroft generate terrific chemistry throughout, and there are also tremendously enjoyable turns from Charles Durning and Christopher Lloyd as incompetent Nazis.

The movie is a step backwards visually, as it's easily the softest and least detailed film in the set. The lack of detail grew a little frustrating at times, but on the other hand, this film is hardly in need of a knockout transfer like History of the World, Part I. Much of the movie has a very stage-bound feel, so it comes across as a sort of chamber comedy. Black crush is a minor issue at times, but flesh tones look warm and natural. Audio is just fine, though the track only comes to life during the handful of musical numbers that appear throughout the film. The only extra of note is a featurette called "Brooks and Bancroft: A Perfect Pair" (14 minutes), which focuses on what it was like for the married couple to work together. You also get a vintage EPK-style featurette that runs 3 minutes, plus super-short archival interviews, a trivia track and a trailer.

Spaceballs
I really hesitate to say anything too negative about Spaceballs, as it is a film that is practically worshipped by some of Brooks' younger fans. However, for me it has always ranked as lesser Brooks. The story is a fairly predictable mash-up of Star Wars and a collection of other sci-fi flicks, as the adventurous Lone Starr (Bill Pullman, Independence Day) and his half-man/half-dog sidekick Mog (John Candy, Planes, Trains and Automobiles) attempt to help the lovely Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga, Melrose Place) and her robotic sidekick Dot Matrix (Joan Rivers, Shrek 2) rescue the planet Spaceball from the villainous Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis, Ghostbusters). It's an amusing lark at times, but there's a real sense that Brooks has pretty much just run out of ideas and is repeating himself in the hopes that he can make the exact same thing work once again. It's a very obvious if sometimes amusing sci-fi spoof, throwing in expected references to popular movies of the previous two decades (Planet of the Apes, Alien, etc.) and tossing them into a story that's really nothing more than a thin excuse to set up a variety of gags. Some work, but an awful lot don't (particularly anything involving the incredibly annoying robot voiced by Joan Rivers). For my money, the best thing about the film is Moranis, whose interpretation of Darth Vader as a childish brat is particularly entertaining.

The transfer is certainly quite strong, with deep, rich blacks and amazing detail throughout. Brooks and his team did a particularly superb job in terms of creating detailed sets for the film, and your appreciation for their work will surely be enhanced by this hi-def transfer. Flesh tones are warm and accurate. The level of grain is pretty inconsistent, but generally not bothersome. Audio is terrific; arguably the strongest mix of the set. While most of these films tend to be relatively uneventful in this department, Spaceballs stays busy with a rich mix of sound design at every possible opportunity. It's a very immersive track; and the booming John Morris score really gets to rock the room at times. Dialogue is also nice and clear. Extras are fairly generous on this disc, as you get a commentary with Brooks, a half-hour making of documentary, a 20-minute interview with Brooks and writer Thomas Meehan, a 10-minute tribute to John Candy, the entire movie in 30 seconds (no, really!), a stills gallery, trailers, and a collection of pieces pointing out "film flubs."

Robin Hood: Men in Tights
The final film included in this collection is Robin Hood: Men in Tights, which is arguably the weakest installment of the set. Its primary target is Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, a worthy target if ever there was one. While a few arrows do hit the mark, never in any other film has it felt so much like Brooks is borrowing from himself. Old jokes ("Walk this way!"), old subplots (Dot Matrix's chastity alarm is replaced by Maid Marian's chastity belt), and dated movie references (Dom DeLuise plays a version of Don Corleone) dominate the proceedings, and by the conclusion the movie becomes so self-referential ("It worked in Blazing Saddles!") that one begins to suspect Brooks is simply using the film as a vehicle to pay homage to himself. There are some laughs, but the performances are some of the least focused and well-defined ever to appear in a Brooks film. There are way too many moments in which the actors look lost, as if they're attempting to figure out what to do next. That particularly applies to Richard Lewis, whose turn as Prince John is a big misfire. A young Dave Chappelle also turns up, and he's appealing but he demonstrates little of the brilliance he would later generate in Chappelle's Show. Amy Yasbeck is also quite dull as Maid Marian, and Cary Elwe's aloof Robin Hood seems to be detached from the rest of the movie (though this may have been intentional). Though not quite the horrible stinker that some have suggested it is, Robin Hood: Men in Tights is a sad portrait of a great comic talent desperately trying and failing to relive the glories of his past.

You might expect Robin Hood: Men in Tights to be the best-looking film of the collection given that it's the newest, but that isn't necessarily the case. To be sure, the film looks pretty good. Blacks are pretty deep and flesh tones are mostly accurate, but detail is a little disappointing. This is largely due to the softness of the cinematography, but still. Once again, grain levels are pretty inconsistent, but not terribly bothersome. Audio is fine, though it's disappointing to have music from Hummie Mann rather than John Morris. While Morris typically turned in tuneful musical parodies, Mann provides a fairly generic bombastic orchestral score that you'll probably forget immediately after seeing the film. Still, it comes through with strength and clarity. Likewise, the battle sequences tend to impress in terms of audio, giving your speakers a moderate workout. Extras include the old laserdisc commentary by Brooks plus two making-of featurettes: "Robin Hood: Men in Tights—The Legend Had it Coming" (26 minutes) and "Funny Men in Tights: Three Generations of Comedy" (13 minutes). Finally, you get a trailer and an isolated score track.

The whole collection is housed in a long box that contains a 120-page hardcover book spotlighting all of the films in the collection. The book is terrific; the Blu-ray book containing the actual discs is a bit more disappointing. The discs are housed on pages with cardboard slits, and it's honestly kind of flimsy and cheap. Be careful with this book-sized case, as it's easy to imagine it getting damaged over time. Some may also be frustrated at the prospect of finding a place on the shelf for this oddly-shaped collection.

Case Number 17949

The Mel Brooks Collection (Blu-Ray)

All Rise...

Editor's Note

The Charge

Opening Statement

Facts of the Case

The Evidence

Closing Statement

The Verdict

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Genres

Scales of Justice, The Twelve Chairs

Perp Profile, The Twelve Chairs

Distinguishing Marks, The Twelve Chairs

Scales of Justice, Blazing Saddles

Perp Profile, Blazing Saddles

Distinguishing Marks, Blazing Saddles

Scales of Justice, Young Frankenstein

Perp Profile, Young Frankenstein

Distinguishing Marks, Young Frankenstein

Scales of Justice, Silent Movie

Perp Profile, Silent Movie

Distinguishing Marks, Silent Movie

Scales of Justice, High Anxiety

Perp Profile, High Anxiety

Distinguishing Marks, High Anxiety

Scales of Justice, History Of The World, Part I

Perp Profile, History Of The World, Part I

Distinguishing Marks, History Of The World, Part I

Scales of Justice, To Be Or Not To Be

Perp Profile, To Be Or Not To Be

Distinguishing Marks, To Be Or Not To Be

Scales of Justice, Spaceballs

Perp Profile, Spaceballs

Distinguishing Marks, Spaceballs

Scales of Justice, Robin Hood: Men In Tights

Perp Profile, Robin Hood: Men In Tights

Distinguishing Marks, Robin Hood: Men In Tights

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