Les Visiteurs Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Les Visiteurs Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 11, 2009

Jean-Marie Poiré's "The Visitors" (1993) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Gaumont. The supplemental features on the disc include theatrical trailer; deleted and extended scenes; and documentary features. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Trashing an evil chariot

Jean-Marie Poiré’s Les visiteurs a.k.a. The Visitors is a light French comedy about two time travelers that scored big in Gallic markets and generated terrible reviews in North America. The film teamed up two iconic European actors -- Jean Reno (Leon: The Professional) and Christian Clavier ( Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre) -- with long and impressive resumes. Since its release in 1993, the former has starred in a number of Hollywood-funded projects while the latter has remained active primarily on the Old Continent. In 2001, Jean-Marie Poiré shot a remake of Les Visiteurs titled Les visiteurs en Amérique a.k.a. Just Visiting.

Les visiteurs begins in the 12th century where we meet Sir Godefroy de Papincourt, Comte de Montmirail (Reno), who has just saved the King’s life. He is praised for his bravery and allowed to marry the woman he loves -- the beautiful Lady Frénégonde de Pouille (Valerie Lemercier, Vendredi soir). An evil witch, however, casts a spell on Sir Godefroy and he ends up killing his future father-in-law. Devastated, Lady Frénégonde declares that she could no longer be with his lover and enters a convent.

Heartbroken, Sir Godefroy begs a powerful wizard to help him out. The wizard agrees and tells Sir Godefroy that he would cook up a magic potion that will get him back in time so he could undo the killing of Lady Frénégonde’s father. Unfortunately, he screws up the potion and Sir Godefroy and his vassal, Jacquouille la Fripouille (Clavier), end up in present days. As expected, all hell breaks loose.

It is fairly easy to tell why North American critics lambasted Les visiteurs -- its plot is fairly predictable, there are a number of cliched scenes in it where the humor is a bit odd, and the archaic lines its protagonists occasionally utter are indeed rather difficult to appreciate by non-French speakers. Add to the mix Clavier’s never-ending grimacing, which really does get old after awhile, and I could almost agree that Les visiteurs isn’t suitable for the North American market.

However, unless many of the above-mentioned critics went to see Les visiteurs for the wrong reason, which is actually quite possible, I think that Reno’s contribution alone very effectively proves them wrong. Indeed, his improvisations are inspiring, witty and, considering the largely unoriginal script he had to work with, surprisingly fresh. Some of his sarcastic lines during the second half, which target the French upper class, are impressive as well.

Technically, Les visiteurs does not break new ground -- the special effects are good but hard to praise, while the cinematography is uninspiring. There is also a tendency to unnecessarily overemphasize some of the more obvious comedic elements, which makes some editing choices look questionable.

Ultimately, Les visiteurs will appeal to those of you who already like Reno and have experimented with some of his less impressive French films (Tais-toi! and L'enquête Corse immediately come to mind). Admittedly, this film isn’t one of his best, but contrary to what many esteemed critics have already claimed it isn't one of his worst either. Give it a chance.

Les Visiteurs Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jean-Marie Poiré's Les visiteurs arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Gaumont.

Even though it is fairly easy to tell that the master Gaumont used to produce the Blu-ray release of Les visiteurs is a bit dated, it is still a very serious upgrade over previous DVD releases (the Miramax disc in particular). Contrast is improved, detail is much better and clarity, especially during the darker scenes (the hidden chamber footage is a great example), is quite pleasing. Furthermore, edge-enhancement was a serious issue of concern on the R1 DVD, yet on this Blu-ray disc it is hardly something that would bother even the most sensitive amongst you. The color scheme is dramatically improved as well -- yellows, reds, greens, blues, blacks and whites look rich and nicely saturated. This being said, there is a bit of digital noise that interferes with the healthy film grain, but the overall quality of the transfer is indeed quite good. I noticed a few tiny specks in the very beginning of the film, but disturbing debris, scratches, stains, or dirt are nowhere to be seen. To sum it all up, if undecided whether or not to upgrade your DVD of Jean-Marie Poiré's Les visiteurs (either French, UK, or US releases), you could safely add Gaumont's Blu-ray disc to your collections -- it offers solid upgrades in a number of different areas. (Note: Even though this disc is marketed as Region-B "locked", it is in fact Region-Free. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Les Visiteurs Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English and French SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I ran a quick test between the Miramax R1 DVD, which contains only a French Dolby Digital 2.0 track and the French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and, as expected, the difference between the two is enormous. Even if you do not have a high-end audio system, if you have only seen Jean-Marie Poiré's Les visiteurswith the above mentioned Dolby Digital 2.0 track, you will immediately be able to tell how much better the French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is. Plenty of the medieval scenes reveal a full-bodied bass, good activity in the rear channels and unmanipulated high-frequencies. The contemporary footage sounds just as pleasing and nicely balanced. The dialog is exceptionally clean, crisp and very easy to follow. Finally, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hiss to report in this review.

Les Visiteurs Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Blu-ray disc contains the following supplemental features:

Original theatrical trailer – in standard-def PAL (MPEG-2) and not subtitled.

"Betisier et prises alternatives" – a collage of alternative and deleted scenes that did not make it into the final cut of the film. The majority of them are of questionable quality and not subtitled. In standard-def PAL (MPEG-2).

"Les visiteurs revisites" – an original documentary with Jean-Marie Poire, Christian Clavier, Valérie Lemercier and Jean Reno. The director and cast recall their involvement with the film, the reactions of the critics and audiences, as well as some of the difficulties the tech team had to overcome. In standard-def PAL (MPEG-2) and not subtitled. (28min).

Les Visiteurs Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A member of our site, whose name I shall not reveal, contacted me last week and asked that I recommend a few comedies to him. He also mentioned that I should lighten up a bit because, apparently, the films I have been reviewing as of late were too dark and depressing. Well, I looked through the recent titles I've covered and, to be honest, I am unsure why he thought so. Regardless, I hope he sees our review of Les visiteurs. RECOMMENDED.