The Visitors
|
Our Price: $61.49 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $21.26 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Canada
Movie Reviews of The Visitors
Movie Review: Smart comedy, slapstick with a French knack (knight?)
Summary: 5 Stars
A very funny French comedy, this movie, and its sequel, was a huge hit in France. A medieval knight (Jean Reno, of "The Professional" and "Godzilla" fame) and his servant (Christian Clavier, a famous French comic actor, unknown abroad) got magically transported forward in time to the XXth century, where he meets his descendants - and tries to adjust to our modern world, from the mysteries of running water and flushing toilets, to those of modern women and the free pursuit of life and happiness for all. The pace never slacks, the movie offers a series of sight gags, as well as a number of more tongue-in-cheek and even (gasp) intellectual jokes and double-entendres -along w/ some "profound" reflexions slickly intertwined w/in the storyline. The movie can be approached at several levels, from the basic visceral to the high-fallutin', and has appeal to different audiences - and viewers' moods. The language is precious (difference between old French and modern French) but there's enough situational and sight humour in there that even non-French speakers should find the movie enjoyable.
The U.S. remake, albeit with the same main actors, was not quite on a par, as seems to be too often the case. I felt it favored the slapstick, and neglected the more subtle undertones that the original managed to carry as well.
If I have to pick a nit, it would be that that the DVD doesn't offer more Special features <grumble grumble> - but the movie is well-worth the purchase (or rental :-) anyway. Pick a bottle of wine and some good cheese, and make an evening of it!
Movie Review: Why the difference in translations between VHS and DVD versions?
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't compete with some of the reviews written here since so many of them are worded so much better than anything I might have tried to compile.---
The one thing I will say that bothered me was not the film itself but the difference in the subtitling between the original VHS issue, in French, and the subsequent American released DVD.---I guess having owned the VHS and seen it COUNTLESS times (it's that funny-but wore out now) when the DVD was issued I just about jumped out of my pants! Then came the 1st viewing. Not even 10 mins. into the film I noticed little nuance's with the DVD translation that were different from the VHS.--- This was a little disappointing but only because of my familiarity with the tape.
For example: On VHS, in the one scene, right after the Jean Reno was given the witches potion, he says something to the effect of, "Holy Scrotums! The Castle swelleth like a [...]!"--On the DVD (which I'm sorry, I can't remember as well) he said something far more tamer, which is where it lost, to only a minor degree, some of it humorous pazazz and charm!
I sure wish they had-had the same translators when they did the DVD cause the VHS translation was much funnier. Other than this minor little quibble, "The Visitors" is one of the funniest and most touching films I've ever seen. Jean Reno is the best!! (and an honary nod to Christian C. as the side kick!)
Movie Review: fun fun and clever
Summary: 5 Stars
Hey, this movie has got it all: comic of situation, words and characters ! I just saw the recent US version of it (with, of all people, Christina Applegate) , and , oopps, what were they thinking? It just does not compare with the original! I particularly enjoyed the performance of the French actress playing Beatrice de Montmirail: the reviewer who said before me that the movie lampoons the French upper-class, nouveau or old upper, and that the medieval lexicon used throughout by the medieval escapees is part of the fun ( I am not sure it is truly medieval: it seems pretty manipulated to me to sound Rabelaisian but it actually reeks of modern obscene sonorities...) is right on the money. It is lost in the sub-titled translation as well as in the US version, but it is hilarious in the original : this poor provincial-conventional Beatrice always grasping for the hippest most vacant slang to show her relevance to this modern world, is one of the funniest thing in the plot. Non-French speakers should not shy from the film either: the plot is still full of highly original comic touches throughout and beautifully paced. I laughed my head off!Movie Review: A wonderful surprise! Highly underrated!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the most refreshing surprises I have come across in the foreign film section. Laugh-out-loud funny, well-acted, a medieval time travel adventure on a par with the best of the Monty Python absurd comedy/SF/fantasy films but treated with a realistic touch that serves to help the viewer suspend disbelief. Filled with quirky characters playing opposite a bunch who play it straight, this excellent cast deliver non-stop fun in an intelligent, if occasionally slapstick, venture into alternate realities. I agree with comments that there could and should have been more special features on the DVD, and it would be useful for many if there were an English dub track but one very quickly gets used to the subtitling, even though it isn't -- er -- exactly what's being said on the screen. Hilarious, fast paced, thoroughly enjoyable, and priced right, it's a great diversion to add to your collection if you have a taste for fun, fantastic adventures, and aren't too crititical about artistic license. Five stars! Vive le cinema du France!Movie Review: A wonderful change of pace
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie (or, film, for you students of pretense) is a pleasant blend of history, satire, and fiction. Contrary to the opinons expressed in one of the previous reviews, I believe that Valerie Lemercier, as Frenegonde, is FAR superior to Christina Applegate. Ms. Applegate was beautiful as Kelley Bundy, but seems to lack the range and tongue-in-cheek humor of Ms. Lemercier. Marie-Anne Chazel (close friend of Christian Clavier) is great in her role as the bag lady who discovers the serf of her dreams. Jean Reno expertly plays the proud but confused knight, and demonstrates a flair for humor I had not previously seen - watch the scene where he tries to discover the purpose of a toilet, or where he takes a dignified bath enhanced by a half-gallon of Chanel No. 5. I was a left a bit cold by M. Clavier's broad slapstick humor, but this was my only complaint. Les Visiteurs is, and will remain, one of my all-time favorite movies.