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45 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exellent but not well known film ., December 20, 2002
Not well known but very good and solid sci-fi film on the time travel . By director David N. Twohy ( The Arrival , Pitch Black ) and starring Jeff Daniels . Jeff Daniels playing an owner of small motel/hotel in a small town in the mid America . He cann't forgive himself for running away from the site of the accident few years back . The accident which took his wife's life . His father in law , a judge in this town , cann't forgive him eather and trying to take his granddaughter away from him . At the same time a group of very strange tourists came in town and checked in J.Daniels's hotel .They way too strange and even weard . Keep talking about some "spectical", and later we found out that they are the tourists ... in time . They travel to se all the biggest disasters of the 20th century . And the last one should come to this little town ... Cann't tell you more ... you have to se it yourself . But after slow start this film developes very fast and has more than anough twists and turns to deserve a very solid 5 stars .
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Let Bygoners Be Bygoners, October 29, 2000
--a "communal review" by Charly Wood's English 101 class Owensboro Community College Often when you think of a science-fiction movie, big hits such as INDEPENDENCE DAY and STAR WARS come to mind. Rarely though, do you see a movie that offers an original story with the absence of large scale special effects. In the movie GRAND TOUR, you are given the rare opportunity to use your imagination. This movie did a good job of not making the idea of time travel any more complicated than it had to be. The strange tourists in the story are able to travel around using special "passports" to watch certain events as they occur. They now desire to watch catastrophic events unfold as some sort of pathetic entertainment. It seems to give them back the excitement they lack in their world. There were several situations in the movie where there were ethical choices to be made. This movie gives you the opportunity to dive into yourself and explore your own moral standards. The acting quality did lack at times--the visitors went a little overboard and the daughter seemed a little too perfect to be believable. The movie, however, has a wonderful plot with some strong character building and a fresh approach to time travel. The main character, Ben Wilson (played by Jeff Daniels), is tormented throughout the movie with an unresolved inner conflict. Despite his own guilt feelings and his father-in-law's constant criticism, he has been able to develop a touching relationship with his young daughter. The movie combined the disasters, both personal and the ones the traverlers saw, very well. All things considered, we think you should take the "time" to "travel" to the video store and rent GRAND TOUR. It is one "event" that is worth watching.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable low budget and imaginative science fiction film 3 1/2 stars, January 29, 2006
"Grand Tour-Disaster in Time" came to me as a pleasant surprise. When I first saw it on home video I had read a really positive review and found it to be right on the money. Although the film suffers from a low budget (in fact director Twohy should revisit this with a nice large sizable budget)the characters are well drawn and Jeff Daniels gives a stellar performance. It's the end of the world for the citizens of a small town. When a group of odd travelers take up resident at his inn Ben Wilson (Jeff Daniels) gradually begins piecing together the real reason they are staying with him; a major disaster is about to happen. These spectators are tourists from the future who want to witness the event, human suffering and chaos that will result. Wilson determines that he, his daughter and the residents of the town must somehow survive this unknown tragedy. Wilson intends to change "the past" based on this knowledge something the visitors can't allow.
Image quality is decent for this Anchor Bay release. The film was shot on a shoe string budget overcoming these obstacles with an imaginative screenplay based on C. L. Moore's classic short story "Vintage Season". The film takes some major departures from the original story but unlike some reviews here I felt that these departures allowed the audience to identify more readily with the main characters. Director Twohy ("Below","The Arrival", "Pitch Black")does a great job of taking genre staples and turning the story on its head. "Grand Tour-Diaster in Time" is no exception to this. There aren't any extras to speak of beyond the trailer.
While "Grand Tour" isn't a perfect film it's one of those rare films that manages to overcome its limitations due to the sheer imagination of the cast and crew. "Grand Tour" is definitely worth a visit for science fiction fans.
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