Home :: DVD :: Comedy :: Farce  

African American Comedy
Animation
Black Comedy
British
Classic Comedies
Comic Criminals
Cult Classics
Documentaries, Real & Fake
Farce

Frighteningly Funny
Gay & Lesbian
General
Kids & Family
Military & War
Musicals
Parody & Spoof
Romantic Comedies
Satire
School Days
Screwball Comedy
Series & Sequels
Slapstick
Sports
Stand-Up
Teen
Television
Urban
The Visitors

The Visitors

List Price: $9.99
Your Price: $9.99
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: French Version Much Better
Review: The original movie "Les Visiteurs" is so good, its a pity they had to spoil with the Americanized version - "Just Visiting" - which is at best an insult on the intelligence of the American viewing public.

Although the original movie is in French with English subtitles, they have done a tremendous job with the subtitles - translating a kind of "medieval" French into a comparable type of old English (modern swearwords included). In fact, the job is done so well that we had a lot of laughs just by comparing the film's verbal antics to the translation. Even though I do not speak French myself, it is quite clear that a lot of effort had gone into this. Sometimes the conversations are fast and furious, so it's worthwhile to see the movie a second time. Even on the second pass, there was a lot to laugh at.

The original was meant to be slapstick and the story is a total farce, but I thought it was well done, and very well executed. Even though this whole thing is intended as a joke, the reactions of the medieval guys are quite believable. Both versions star Jean Reno and Christian Clavier, but unfortunately that is not enough to save "Just Visiting", which I can at best award two stars. In contrast, the original effort is a blast and worth at least 4 stars.

If you can, try to obtain the French version. It's worth the trouble!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: CHRISTIAN CLAVIER!!!
Review: The Visitors is a great film, and the reason is Christian Clavier. He's a wonderful actor: his performance is divine. Mr Clavier gives to the spectator a big smile and special emotions, creates a magic atmosphere and let the fantasy fly high. All Christian Clavier's performances are simply an enchantment!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hilarious
Review: This comedy was a big hit in France when it came out - for good reason. Be prepared that the first 5 minutes, which set out the story, are not that entertaining - do watch them for the setup and don't give up, because then it gets very very funny. Even people who hate subtitles will forget about them and find themselves laughing out loud.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Funniest comedy ever
Review: This film was not, unfortunately, strongly marketed. I heard about it from a friend in France, and the first opportunity to watch it was on cable TV. It it great, as funny as a film can be. Don't miss it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best foriegn movie i ever saw
Review: This french comedy is a hilarious movie about a medieval knight and his squire. A must see! Hooray for the ICP

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Inteligent and funny
Review: This is one of the best comedies I've ever seen. Funny from start to end. It's inteligent, it's refined, it's funny! Just imagine a medieval knight thrown into modern times by mistake of a sorcerer just to discover its castle turned into a hotel and owned by the grand-grand-son of his servant. Oh, this is comedy. Don't miss it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hilarious
Review: This is one of the funniest films I've ever seen. It is I think quite different from US movies in that the comedy does not come from a witty script but from slapstick and absurd situations executed with real flair. The actors are marvellous, Jean Reno in my opinion taking second prize to Christian Clavier who plays both his roles with jaw-dropping skill. There is so much comic detail in this film that it works best second time. And this is a great family film: the nippers will be as delighted as I trust you will be. A treasure. Please discover now.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: J'adore ce film!
Review: This is supposedly the highest grossing French movie of all time. I believe it. This movie is well-acted and supurbly scripted.

Jean Reno stars as the civilized brute, Godefroy le Hardi, living in the 1100s with his vassal, Jacquouille la Fripouille, played by Christian Clavier. Godefroy wishes to return to the past to correct a grave error, but the very old, possible senile, wizard omits the "oeufs de caille" from the recipe and Godefroy and Jacquouille find themselves in the future.

Godefroy finds his "petite-petite-petite-petite fille" Béatrice de Montmirail, played superbly by Valerie Lemercier, who has modern French aristocratic tics down pat. He is disgusted to find that his Chateau is now a hotel in the hands of a nouveau-riche commoner, Jacquard also played by Clavier. Without telling the whole story, Godefroy is, of course, trying to get back to the past to be with his beloved Dame Frenegonde, also played by Lemercier.

The acting in this movie is fantastic, the main characters, Reno, Clavier, Lemercier and Marie-Anne Chazal are all very funny. The supporting cast is just as good, with the beautiful Isabelle Nanty playing a gossipy, litiginous executive assistant and Christian Bujeau as Béatrice de Montmirail's high-strung, dentist husband.

There is a lot of word play between the medieval French spoken by Godefroy and Jacquouille and modern French. The English sub-titles leave quite a bit to be desired, as they don't do a very good job conveying this. If you don't speak French you may find that this movie relies heavily on sight gags because the complex language jokes are lost in translation. However, I have watched this with non-French speaking friends before and they have still enjoyed the movie very much. If you speak French you will enjoy this movie tremendously. I am a fluent speaker and it has taken me several watchings to get all the subtleties of language in this movie. I laugh out loud each time I watch it. It remains to this day, 10 years after I first saw it in the theater and countless movies later, one of my all-time favorites!

I give this edition of the movie a 4 out of 5 for a few reasons, none related to the movie itself, but still minor annoyances that detract from the film. For example, you cannot turn off the subtitles as far as I can tell. Additionally, the English subtitles aren't entirely faithful to what is said on screen. This doesn't detract from the film but it is still obnoxious, there are no bonus materials at all with this DVD.

Despite these minor things I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good, accessible French comedy, especially if you are a fan of Reno or Clavier.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The Most Pathetically Terrible Movie I Have EVER Seen
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A wonderful change of pace
Review: 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.


<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates