As Year One opens, we are introduced to two tribesmen, Zed (Jack Black) and Oh (Michael Cera), who live in prehistoric times. Zed isn't much of a hunter and Oh is a lowly gatherer, and they get no respect in their village. Oh is attracted to Eema (Juno Temple), who ignores him, and Zed likes Maya (June Diane Raphael) who wants him to fight the biggest man in the village for her. Zed becomes frustrated with their treatment and convinces Oh to leave the village. Despite the fact that Oh is convinced that the world is flat, they set off on their journey. They soon discover that there is a world beyond the mountains and continue on their way. They soon meet Cain (David Cross) and Abel (Paul Rudd), and Cain takes them back to his village where they meet Adam (Harold Ramis). From there, they cross the desert and meet Abraham (Hank Azaria). Finding him too rigid, they venture to Sodom, despite the warnings that they've heard about the city. There, they find the opportunity to be both heroes and rulers.

Going into Year One, I thought that it was going to be similar to 1981's Caveman, where it would focus on primitive man making discoveries about life and the world. But, it soon becomes evident that the movie is going to take on ideas and characters from the Bible. In this way, the movie is much more like Wholly Moses!, Monty Python's The Life of Brian, and History of the World, Part I. The film takes familiar Biblical tales, such as Cain and Abel, Abraham and Sodom, and spoofs them, taking a very modern, cynical approach to the stories. I would have to say that some working knowledge of these stories is required to get all of the jokes here. (For example, when Zed and Oh meet Cain and Abel and the two brothers begin to fight, those who know the story will have a pretty good idea of where things are going.)

Director Ramis, and his co-writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (whom Ramis presumably met when he directed a few episodes of The Office), attempt to fill every scene with as many jokes as possible. The problem is that most of them are woefully unfunny. Year One is one of those films where if someone told you the humorous ideas for the film, you would probably find them amusing. However, as they play in the movie, there are very few laughs -- and I really can't say why. Again, the movie has some funny ideas, and the jokes run the gamut from physical to gross to snide to intellectual, but they simply hit the ground with a thud. I laughed a few times, but given the man behind the camera and the funny people in the film, I had expected much, much more. The only consistently funny thing in the film is the fact that Michael Cera talks like someone from the 21st century and makes dark comments in his trademarked flat tone.

Maybe it's the tired subject matter which cripples Year One. As noted above, this isn't the first Biblical spoof film and some of the jokes seem very tired. (For example, the stoning scene here isn't as good as the one in Life of Brian.) Maybe it's the film's non-chalant approach towards the subject matter, as it acts as if everyone knows these stories and thus they need no set up. Whatever the case, the end result is a film which offers few laughs and wastes the talents of many funny people.

Year One argues about what "the tip" means on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 25 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing no grain and no defects from the source material. I watched the movie on DVD first, and I instantly noticed the improvement on Blu-ray, but it really hit home in a scene where it is raining in some shots and I hadn't noted the rain on DVD! The colors look good and the image is never overly dark or bright. The levels of detail and depth are both good. The Disc offers a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track (when did Sony start using DTS?) which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 3.8 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The track offers some nice stereo effects, which are detailed and show good separation. During some pivotal scenes, and most notably the finale, the surround sound effects are notably good and we also get some nice subwoofer action.