|
|
|
The Grand Tour
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Unearthed Films Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (20th March 2023). |
|
The Film
 Saturn Award (Best Science Fiction Film): The Grand Tour (nominated) - Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, 1992 Grand Prize: David Twohy (nominated) - Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival, 1992 Golden Raven: David Twohy (won) - Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film (BIFFF), 1992 International Fantasy Film Award (Best Actor): Jeff Daniels (won) and Best Film: David Twohy (nominated) - Fantasporto, 1992 Ever since the car accident that killed his wife Carolyn (Swamp Thing's Mimi Craven), Ben Wilson (Something Wild's Jeff Daniels) has been living on booze and the light of his life: his daughter Hillary (Tremors's Ariana Richards), keeping up with her school events while throwing himself into the renovation of a hilltop Victorian he is converting into a bed and breakfast in order to avoid the gossip of locals fostered by his father-in-law Judge Caldwell (Breaker! Breaker!'s George Murdock) who blames him for Carolyn's death. Arriving well-ahead of opening day is a tour bus lead by the eccentric Madame Iovine (In Praise of Older Women's Marilyn Lightstone) who offers him five thousand dollars for accommodations, however unfinished, for her equally-eccentric guests: Reeve (Nine Deaths of the Ninja's Emilia Crow), Spall (National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation's Nicholas Guest), Omerie (Addams Family Values' Francis Coady), Jana (Adele Taylor), Chiron (Victoria Wanberg), Andar (Gus Castaneda), Tod (Slumber Party Massacre III's Garon Grigsby), and Kleph (Dead Space's Lori Lively), along with frazzled latecomer Quish (Initiation: Silent Night, Deadly Night 4's David Wells). After overhearing the group discussing "the spectacle" they are in town to observe, Ben starts to become suspicious of their odd behavior; particularly after bus driver Oscar (Pretty in Pink's Jim Haynie) tells him that he picked the group up in the middle of nowhere without a booking and that none of the so-called "tourists" has a camera. When an oblivious Quish is struck by a car, Ben learns from the local doctor (Evolution's Steven Gilborn) of a strange anomaly in the man's skull X-rays and comes across his passport which lists not places but dates; that is, dates that correspond to major calamaties from the Hindenberg disaster of 1937 to the San Francisco fire of 1906 leading Ben to suspect that his home town is about to be the location of a massive "spectacle" of a disaster. The directorial debut of David Twohy (A Perfect Getaway), The Grand Tour (released on VHS as "Grand Tour: Disaster in Time" and overseas as "Timescape") is an odd combination of old-fashioned science fiction story – no surprise as it is based on the novella "Vintage Season" by writing team Henry Kuttner and C.I. Moore whose stories have been adapted for The Twilight Zone, Thriller, and Out of the Unknown along with the more recent The Last Mimzy, and the presence of The Time Tunnel's Robert Colbert as the benignly sinister exposition-providing "Undersecretary" – and Spielbergian "spectacle" on a modest budget (especially with Daniels coming off of Arachnaphobia and Richards just before Jurassic Park). While there are some proficiently-executed visual effects by Apogee Productions (Big, Spaceballs, Child's Play) and some melodrama – the custody battle between Ben and his father-in-law and the various "corrupt" cronies – the film's more stimulating aspects are conceptual. Rather than pondering whether the visitors merely observe or create the cataclyms, the film presents them as something worse: "disaster groupies" who treat massive losses of life as "spectacle" to alleviate their boredom and that they have no interest in preventing not because of some drastic repercussions – the sinisterly benign undersecretary observes to Ben that time is "resilient" – but because they have no interest in upsetting their own timescape. Daniels (in an unexpected "dual role") and Richards as the emotional core of the film hold our interest even if the resolution is a bit swift (including a final twist that which is too ambiguous for the viewer to decide if it is happy or bittersweet). While it is a surprise to discover that the film was shot mostly on location in Oregon at a time in the nineties when a lot of Hollywood production started utilizing Canada, it is no surprise that Twohy would go on to helm The Arrival and Pitch Black on the strength of this film; although he had already been established as a screenwriter, penning Critters 2: The Main Course for New Line and the cult classic Warlock before, as well as The Fugitive, Waterworld, Terminal Velocity, and G.I. Jane in between directorial efforts throughout the nineties. 
Video
Released theatrically and the on home video by Academy Entertainment and laserdisc by Image Entertainment as Grand Tour: Disaster in Time, The Grand Tour (as the title appears here onscreen) made its DVD debut in ? from Platinum Disc Corporation utilizing Academy's video master (as they did with other titles from the company) but was soon followed by a barebones but anamorphic widescreen DVD from Anchor Bay – both promoting the film as being from the director of Pitch Black. Unearthed Films – purveyors of the Guinea Pig and American Guinea Pig series – has resurrected this undeservedly forgotten title as part of the family-friendly bent of their Unearthed Classics line alongside the unrated and R-rated likes of The Unnamable and Nightwish (both also worthy of seeking out for horror fans). The 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray transfer – also available in standard definition – does not appear to be a brand new master but it also seems to be free of egregious noise reduction and sharpening, retaining sometimes heavy grain as well as some fine textures. The color scheme seems to have been deliberately sedate rather than the image faded as saturated colors pop when intended like the red glow from the meteor crater while some diffusion in scenes featuring the undersecretary causes slight blooming in the wardrobe whites. Some blockiness is evident in smoke-heavy scenes after the meteor crash but it is overall a decent presentation given the source in keeping with Unearthed's presentations of its older pickups. 
Audio
The sole audio option is an LPCM 2.0 rendering of the Dolby Stereo track which sports relatively clear dialogue, some good directional activity (particularly during "the spectacle"), while the surrounds have spares atmospherics while giving greater spread to the score of Gerald Gouriet (Philadelphia Experiment II). Optional English SDH subtitles are included. 
Extras
Extras start off with the "Timescape" title sequence (4:50) from the Overseas Filmgroup's international handling of the film – followed by "Lost to Time: The Cannes Promo" (18:23) in which video editor Ed McNichol (Sightings) who did not work on the actual film but got the job through an EPSN colleague supervising visual effects on location in Oregon ahead of production for a Cannes promotional piece depicting Daniels introducing the concept of the film while moving through various locations with the snap of a finger, utilizing a live video switcher to help Daniels cue up his dialogue to the scene changes in-camera with no visual effects. He recalls Daniels' professionalism on the long single-day shoot in which the actor spent as much time as possible with his family in a trailer between shots, gives his assessment of the finished film, but can only speculate on why Daniels does not like to talk about the film. Unfortunately, the promo itself is not included on the disc.  The disc also includes a production stills gallery (3:56), a poster mock-up & artwork gallery (1:23), the film's theatrical trailer (1:43), and trailers for three other Unearthed Classics titles.
Packaging
The disc is housed in a slipcover with a reversible cover.
Overall
An odd combination of old-fashioned science fiction story and Spielbergian "spectacle" on a modest budget, The Grand Tour has been undeservedly obscure and hopefully its newfound status as one of the "Unearthed Classics" will garner a wider audience.
|
|||||
|