THE GRAND TOUR

A recent Blu-Ray release featuring a movie called "The Grand Tour" caught me off-guard. I had never heard of the film before, and I'm guessing that I'm not the only one. It seemed to have been largely over-looked when it was initially released in 1992. Mind you, it came out under the title "Timescape." When it was first released to home video, the title was changed to "Grand Tour: Disaster in Time." As far as I know, this release is the first to modify that to "The Grand Tour."

This movie is a smart time travel adventure. It stars Jeff Daniels. I have to say that since I've seen him most often in "Dumb and Dumber," because it's always on TV, I really underestimated him as an actor. There is a lot of depth and emotion to his performance, and he really sells the role. 

The whole concept of the movie is a bit different from a lot of time travel films. Daniels' character, a widower raising a daughter on his own while also renovating an old home to operate as an inn, is caught up in a situation involving time travelers. I'm thinking that the central character in most time travel shows is the time traveler, rather than someone who lives where the travelers go.

The threat to Daniels' character Ben Wilson, his daughter and the whole area is revealed when  he accidentally learns that his new guests are time travelers who have a theme to their journeys. They visit places where disasters occur to watch those events transpire. 

The adventure ensues from that point forward. I can't get into a lot more of the plot without giving away any spoilers. I will say that the event causes Wilson to confront his own past regrets and his relationships with others in his community. 

There is definitely a bit of a "Back to the Future" vibe to the movie. Some non-working church bells play into the plot in a similar way that the broken clock tower does in that other movie. I actually think that might have been a small nod to the previous film. 

Speaking of small things that pay tribute to earlier time travel fiction, there is also an interesting cameo in the movie. Robert Colbert, who was in the 1960s time travel show "Time Tunnel" shows up late in the film as a person from the future. 

This movie was based on "Vintage Season," which was a 1946 novella by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore (writing as Lawrence O'Donnell). I haven't actually read the tale, but I have read a couple synopses, and I can see that they kept a lot of the story intact, but made some changes, as well. It seems to me that the alterations allow it to be more relatable to modern audiences without significantly changing things. That said, I don't think the church bells feature in the original story, strengthening my theory that the element was an acknowledgement of the influence of "Back to the Future," or at least its existence. 

All in all, I'd consider the movie to be a smart story. It has plenty of character development, danger and excitement to keep viewers interested. There are some unexpected twists and turns, too. It's a shame this movie didn't get more attention when it was released. It's a fun film. I'm just happy it's getting out there again now. They have also freshened up the print via a new 4K scan, so it looks great.