million years ago, an ape-like creature inhabited the earth …” begins narrator Orson Welles, as the film shows those primordial beasts rise up and beat their chests, clearly mimicking “2001: A Space Odyssey,” before discovering their own genitals and masturbating until they collapse. Clearly, this Mel Brooks comedy isn’t afraid to pursue his escalatingly puerile, R-rated sense of humor. Here, no era is immune to a ribald send-up.

The Stone Age, the Old Testament, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, and the French Revolution are covered, highlighting major moments of societal evolution and inventions. But it’s the Julio-Claudian dynasty section wherein the most standard type of storyline takes place, with stand-up philosopher Comicus (Mel Brooks) joining forces with Swiftus Lazarus (Ron Carey), freed slave Josephus (Gregory Hines), and vestal virgin Miriam (Mary-Margaret Humes), as they encounter the hedonistic Emperor Caesar (Dom DeLuise) and Empress Nympho (Madeline Kahn), as well as Jesus and his disciples (momentarily reminding of “Life of Brian”). “Get the flunk out of here!”

Although the settings have changed, Brooks’ typical comic gimmicks return, dependable as ever in their nonsensical, juvenile, slapdash ways. With the Romans as the main target of spoofing, edgier material is abundant (harsher language is one of the most notable updates), not just utilizing anachronisms galore, the breaking of the fourth wall, plays on words, editing trickery, and slapstick, but also countless sex jokes. From eunuchs, to circumcisions, to kicks to the groin, to crude double entendres, to nudity, no level of outrageous lewdness is off the table.

“Send in the nuns!” With the section on the Spanish Inquisition, Brooks unleashes a memorable, extravagant musical number (complete with synchronized swimming!), making the most of mocking religious persecution; it’s one of the shorter sequences, but it’s one of the more striking and hilarious. Ultimately, even though some vignettes are better orchestrated or developed than others, the overall collection of historical farces is consistently ridiculous and over-the-top, with one fittingly shifting into the next, reusing cast members and emphasizing sexual foolishness.

“I do look like the pissboy!” By the end, as the film traipses through significant epochal milestones with bold disregard for accuracy or decency, Brooks regulars and bit parts by recognizable actors turn up, including Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Sid Caesar, Bea Arthur, Rudy DeLuca, John Hurt, Barry Levinson, and even Hugh Hefner, adding to the hilarity. 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 – such as Brooks’ brief embodiment as Moses, who drops one of the three stone tablets, reducing the Fifteen Commandments down to ten.

– Mike Massie