Search - Grand Tour - Disaster in Time on DVD

Exellent but not well known film .

Vlad | russianwriter.net | 12/20/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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 ."

Let Bygoners Be Bygoners

Charly Wood's English 101 Class | Owensboro, KY, USA | 10/29/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"--a "communal review" by Charly Wood's English 101 class Owensboro Community CollegeOften 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."

Pretty good little time travel movie

John Hardt | Montgomery, AL USA | 04/09/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Grand Tour - Disaster in Time is a decent movie with above average acting and writing. Jeff Daniels is the "name" actor in the cast, and does a respectable job of carrying the story and fleshing out his character. He plays Ben Wilson, a widower with terrible guilt feelings about his wife's accidental death and his less than noble reaction to the accident (he fled the scene).

Our story picks up on his life with his daughter Hillary as they struggle to finish their bed and breakfast inn. They are confronted with a tour bus full of people (time travelers from the future on a Grand Tour of history's great disasters, thus the title of the film) that want to rent his unfinished inn and won't take no for an answer. Turns out his inn is perfectly positioned for the group to witness a devastating meteor strike on the small town where Ben and his daughter live. After the meteor strike, Ben catches on to the group, and he follows them to an abandoned plant where they are preparing to witness a second ancillary disaster in the emergency shelter for the survivors that is set up at a school. When Ben sees what they are training their tourist interest upon, he realizes that daughter Hillary is volunteering in the school, and races to rescue her, arriving just seconds too late as the school explodes from a gas leak, killing her and everyone else.

In the concluding act of the movie, Ben acquires one of the traveler's time passports, allowing him to go back in time and prevent most of the deaths in the town from the meteor strike and prevent the gas explosion at the school, saving his daughter's life.

One of the nicer plot twists in this movie is the fact that the future time travelers found a bit more than they bargained for when they encountered this particular "bygoner" named Ben Wilson, who wasn't content to let them get away with their detached voyeurism but challenged them to regain their humanity and feel for the victims that they encountered on their tour. Like all good science fiction, this story touched upon the larger themes of what it means to go through this life and to truly be human in spite of the shortcomings of those around us.

All told, this is a very satisfying story. The effects are a little cheesy, and the supporting cast is weak, but the strength of the screenplay and the acting of Jeff Daniels help to make this a worthwhile movie. I recommend it, and give it 4 stars!"

Enjoyable low budget and imaginative science fiction film 3

Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 01/29/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

""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."