Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Ben Wilson (Jeff Daniels) is haunted by his wife Carolyn's freak accident. Carolyn's father Judge Caldwell still blames him for her death. He is renovating a country inn with his daughter Hillary (Ariana Richards). Before he's done, Madame Iovine comes to rent out the entire house for 3 nights avoiding the hotel in town. He gets suspicious of the group that she's leading. Mr. Quish is a late arrival covered with a layer of ash. The bus driver Oscar found them waiting in the middle of nowhere and they don't seem to have any cameras. Mr. Quish gets sideswiped by a car and the doctor finds a mysterious object in his head. Ben finds Quish's passport with stamps of disaster dates. Quish warns him to leave town with his family immediately. The judge uses his influence to take temporary custody of Hillary. That night, a meteor hits the town.It has a good sci-fi time travel idea. The style and the scale is closer to a good TV movie. The action and effects are not high standard. Jeff Daniels does a good job maintaining control of the screen. However I wish the other characters especially the time travelers are much more compelling. They could have been more interesting. This is generally a good movie but nothing spectacular.

I saw this soon after its original release and would love to see it come out on DVD for Region 2.It is a low-budget gem: well written, very well acted, with an interesting and surprising storyline. The film moves steadily without breaking into much of a sweat until the rapid build up to the revelation to the 'reason'.It is strangely engaging. I had something else to complete urgently but the 90 mins. seemed much more important.I'd love to see it again. If you get the chance, then do so as you'll enjoy it.A gem.

Now let me justify that bold summary. Sure, PITCH BLACK and CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK have a zillion bucks of special effects up there on the screen. And I did actually enjoy PITCH BLACK for what it was. But it was pretty hard for me to get involved with the characters and care much about what happened to them between all the explosions and monsters and whatever. Let's face it, balancing truck loads of creatures, spaceships and other eye candy with a script (yes, these things do have a script) - and I mean the story in that script - is a tough job. Even Spielberg lost control of his story in a couple of films.I'm really not putting down what director David Twohy has done since. I just think, in many cases, that a film can benefit from having technical limitations. It forces the director - and everyone else in the cast and crew - to focus on what really makes a great film: the story. THE GRAND TOUR has that big time. It has characters that you can care about, because they're written well in the story. Ariana Richards is just right in this pre-JURASSIC PARK role, for example. Plus we get nice performances from character actors like George Murdock. There are some fairly decent twists to the story, because, well, there is a story. Which means the actors get some decent lines and don't spend the time screaming or saying things like "gotta kill a few people", or something just as insightful. The effects shots are kept to a minimum, most likely due to budget. So they matter less here, and we get nearly all of the camera time on the characters. And that makes the film work.So what's my point? First, if you like sci-fi, especially low-key character driven sci-fi drama, then GRAND TOUR is a film worth seeing. Second, I think David Twohy the director is better when he lets David Twohy the writer really go to town. The only thing I like better of his, would be THE FUGITIVE (he wrote it but did not direct). Now GRAND TOUR is not perfect, and it's no FUGITIVE, but it's pretty entertaining and for Twohy in the director's chair, it's my favorite. I do understand the need to "give 'em what they want" with the CGI and all, but one can balance story and visuals. I hope to see a Twohy film written this well get a real budget. Who knows, maybe folks would even go see it.

I will keep this short. Grand Tour is a very enjoyable science fiction film. It relies on thinking as opposed to special effects. It is a good story with vivid characters. This film is a great, solid sci-fi story and is worth the watch.