User Reviews

I watched this film late at night on Channel 4 while not being able to sleep, not knowing what on earth to expect. In fact it turned out to be a delightful film, which really made me laugh and was unashamedly silly while not being specifically aimed at kids. I ended up getting it on DVD and making my friend watch it: she also thought it was great. Neither of us can speak French and while we knew the subtitles probably weren't getting all of the humour across we still found it very enjoyable. Shame it had to be remade, although I never saw the English version I'm sure it wasn't as good. Recommended!

(P.S. We were also shown some of it in French class - the teacher and I giggled throughout and no one else in the class did! So maybe an acquired taste, but I loved it!)

Valerie Lemercier is outstanding in this farce in which the French, unusually, laugh at themselves. Jean Reno is as always a solid presence. But Lemercier is that most unusual of creatures, a female clown of genius. Her voice -A Montpellier accent- her walk and gestures as a BCBG aristocrat caught up in ridiculous adventures are perfect and endlessly funny. Lemercier is a woman of high intelligence and varied talents--always the best type for a clown

I cannot fault the first reviewer's summary of this movie. However, I would not agree that it is best enjoyed in French. I have a very basic understanding of the language but I knew where the subtle gags were... Okay, I admit not all of them but there again I miss the ones in English films too. You only have to watch the faces and the eyes to grasp what it is the characters are talking (well mostly fighting) about anyway. That is where this film stands up because the acting is absolutely brilliant. It is a true gem of a film and the relationships between the characters are immense. Firstly the relationship between Reno and Lemercier is truly a thing of beauty, especially in the future as Reno courts Lemercier and she slowly falls for his charm. Secondly the dynamic of Reno and Clavier (who is a very under-rated actor and a shame that he has not been in more films to reach English speaking audiences) Their master and servant relationship is hilariously done, Reno as the aloof nobleman and Clavier as the clumsy fool and is in all honesty a work of genius. When the two first arrive in the future and stumble upon a road they attack a postal van, thinking it to be a work of evil - I cried with laughter. All I can really say is please watch this movie and never the remake (I mean NEVER) Clavier steals the show to be honest, in both his roles. Reno is excellent and Lemercier is both beautiful and hugely talented (again, it is a shame she hasn't been in more films for English speakers).

Looking at some of the other comments, not everyone is in agreement here, but I have really liked "Les Visiteurs". The original 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.

For us that do not understand French, they have done a tremendous job with the English subtitles (translating a kind of 'medieval' French into a comparable type of old English – modern swearwords included). In fact, the job is so well done, 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.

This is meant to be slapstick and the story is a total farce, so it's hard to see why some viewers apparently expected more. 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.

The movie is a blast!

Or at least I never ran into one. All the French films I have seen so far range from very good to perfect. This one is no exception.

The medieval nobleman, under the influence of the evil witch, kills the future father in law. In order to save the wedding, he must return to the past and correct the error. But one evil never goes alone, so the court wizard makes a mistake too and sends him to our time.

The clash of cultures, divided by almost a millennium, is a perfect stage for comedy, and this movie uses it quite well. Jean Reno and Christian Clavier are excellent in leading roles, and the rest of the cast do not fall far behind. Ridiculous situations follow one another without respite and the fun is guaranteed. Still, I can not say I'm thrilled. At the time the film came out I was 14 and I loved it. Now, 25 years later, I spent a pleasant hour and a half, but even nostalgia did not help me to experience it again as hilarious. French-speaking people claim that it is necessary to know the language for a full experience and that even the best subtitles cannot translate verbal comedy in a satisfactory way. Maybe it's up to that, and maybe I just aged, so my sense of humor changed, but this time I cannot rate it higher than

7/10

When I saw the low rating on this movie, I knew I had to submit a vote because, in my opinion, it make discourage many others from watching one of the funniest movies ever. The plot is very original, a knight and his servant, who were supposed to return in the past only several hours to correct a fatal error in judgment, mistakenly get zapped to modern times. Imagine medieval eyes seeing asphalt and a horse less steel chariot (a car of course) rolling towards them. The men, used to witches and sorcerers, believe it is some sort of devil machine. When the car stops, they promptly attack it. A black man exits and the medievals yell: "A Saracen, a Saracen!". I saw this movie in its original language: French. If you can understand French, I very strongly recommend it. This is slapstick at its best. You will want to buy the movie and watch it over and over because you will always discover something else you missed. It is a jewel!

I've only seen this in the French with English subtitles so I'm sure it loses something in translation but it's still very funny. Jean Reno is a world renowned actor but many of the other actors in this ensemble cast were not known to me before. Valerie Lemercier was particularly good, as was the vassal Christian Clavier.

This is humour along the lines of Blackadder & Baldrick, but with a time travel medieval vs modern day France twist. It does highlight the difficultly someone would have coming from the past into the modern day and like similar films the time travellers don't adjust within five minutes so it's far more convincing. It's just funny and I don't find the subtitles a distraction, and everyone's increasing hysteria makes me smile. First time I saw it, it was definitely laugh out loud humour and each time you see it there's definitely something more to see. Recommend you see the French original before the American version. Jean Reno is an awesome actor and he shines in this with comedic timing and genius; it's not many big star actors with such gravitas that will dress up in medieval undergarments and wooing "best" for a role and carry it off with so much aplomb! Funny, very very funny.

I just finished watching the movie, and it was hilarious. I was laughing outloud at many many points. However, as my title indicated, it was the original french track that made me laugh. As is always the case for biliguals, one cant help but listen to the track and read the subtitles at the same time. Unfortunately, the subtitles do not do justice to the movie.

There are just too many semantic jokes that play off names and locations that could not be translated and make sense. That is why in so many reviews there seems to be a sharp contrast in views of whether or not this was a joke-a-minute movie.

The hollywood remake is awful, in fact,it never really made any sense and and the jokes were far and few in between. This one makes much more sense, and the meeting of people and their descendants makes for many more laughs.

The other factor is the acting and casting. This is just the nature of subtitled movies - one very rarely gets the fantastic acting and language ability of actors when reading the watcher is reading a yellow line, especially in comedy. Those who listen to the movie in its original french thikn the acting was fantastic, the voice casting (something i think is terribly important in acting [say, could Ashton Kutcher play Maximus from Gladiator, no, a high pitched voice could not do it]) is brilliant, but reading a crummy translation (and it was crummy) wont do the film justice.

8/10 for francophiles 6/10 for subtitle readers

"Les visiteurs" is one of the four good films by Jean Marie Poire with "operation","Anges" and the second film of "les visiteurs".

this film show us a simple comedy about two medieval men who come to the present and they're very lose in their medieval customs.

The actors are great (better than Just Visiting!)and the main musical theme is cool.

The only mistake that this film has,is the remake,which destroy the original film.

"Les visiteurs":An entertaining film for all the family ***/4*

Les Visiteurs is a brilliant film. It makes me want to learn French so that I could enjoy the movie even more! Although the jokes are coarse, they are used correctly, WITHOUT fake laugh tracks in the background. The actors portray the characters so well I could almost believe it! Well, almost believe it. In any case, this film will bring on the giggles and laughter. It is not easily forgotten.

This was a VERY silly and often juvenile movie that is NOT, nor would it ever purport to be "high art". The acting and writing are rather slap-stick. In addition, copious amounts of profanities are sprinkled throughout the film, so the kids out there that laugh at this sort of broad humor might not be allowed to see the film due to its R-rating. However, despite it being so dopey throughout, you may find yourself laughing at the many dumb moments. And I guess whether or not you find yourself laughing is more important that if you find the film well-made. That is why I am giving it a '6'--not because of production values or great acting, but because it can be an enjoyable time-passer.

I have heard that in France, this movie was a MEGA-blockbuster. I find it very hard to believe based on what I saw (it was really ordinary).

Directed by Jean-Marie Poiré in 1993, "The Visitors" is without a doubt one of the funniest, most quotable and most emblematic of all French comedies, marking the refreshing come-back of old-school popular cinema, in the same vein than its ancestor "La Grande Vadrouille" and descendant "Asterix: Mission Cléopatre". No social commentary, no political correctness, only pure entertainment for both kids and adults, notably carried by the unforgettable buffoonery of Christian Clavier as Jacquouille la Fripouille and his immortal "OK-kay"?

Proof that the film doesn't take its comical premise for granted; it takes almost half an hour to build the set-up before the adventure can finally take off. "The Visitors" begins in an extremely convincing historical set-up, in 1123, during a thrilling fight opposing the King Louis VI "the Fat" to his English cousin. The English are defeated thanks to the intervention of Godefroy who saves his king in extremis by decapitating an English fighter; then as a reward for his bravery, Godefroy is made Count of Montmirail and is promised to marry a duke's daughter, Frenegonde de Pouille, played by Valérie Lemercier. Victim of a hallucination, he accidentally kills his to-be father in law, as a result, the marriage is canceled. "Only God can resurrect the dead", objects Jacquouille. Yes, but Eusebius, the Wizard, proposes another solution. Time is like a mountain made of underground galleries, and one of his most secret recipes can get Godefroy back to the past, one brief instant before the incident.

Naturally, it all goes wrong and both Godefroy and Jacquouille (who had to drink first, 'just in case') are ejected in 1992. After that, the comedic core of "The Visitors" depends on a simple yet realistic promise: any person who'd be accidentally put in another era would not really be like fish in water. Think of Marty McFly in "Back to the Future" who was only thirty years too early: he was naturally seen as a weird guy. Applying the same logic, it's quite understandable that the Count Godefroy the Brave and his servant Jacquouille, who were almost nine centuries too late, would be believed to be insane. And while this is already funny, it's even funnier when they are not, like Jacquouille who lives a tender romance with an exuberant trash trailer, played by his real-life wife, Marie-Anne Chazel.

The comparison with "Back to the Future" doesn't end here, like Robert Zemeckis, Jean-Marie Poiré doesn't take the comical premise of the plot for granted, to let the film go for cheap jokes begging us to laugh. The script is rich in many subplots that enrich the main story, and the performances of all the cast have the perfect dosage of over-the-top mannerisms and realistic behavior. Reno acts very naturally like a real Knight confident about his majesty, while Clavier delivers a magnificent comical performance as Jacquouille, proving that he's the worthy successor of Louis de Funes. Jacquouille la Fripouille has quickly become one of the most memorable characters of French Cinema, something that most comedies tried to achieve in an artificial way, but the public immediately loved Jacquouille, and he's now part of French Pop-Culture.

And the performance of Clavier is more impressive because he also plays another prominent character of the film, as the descendant of Jacquouille, the alliteratively named Jacques-Henri Jacquard a snobbish nouveau riche who bought the Montmirail castle. Valérie Lemercier also plays another character as the Countess Beatrice, descendant of Godefroy. Only an actress with the talent of Lemercier could have turned such a dull and bland character into an unforgettable caricature of the typical aristocrat woman, but touching in her naivety when she believes Godefroy is her cousin Hubert who mysteriously disappeared after an accidental raid. The film earned her a César for Best Supporting Actress, while it was nominated for most of the major categories. But nonetheless, it was the most popular French film at that time.

And speaking of popularity, that the film made half the success of the more uninspired "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" says a lot about the impact of Media buzz and Internet in a movie's success. Had the movie been directed 15 years later, it would have probably dethroned "La Grande Vadrouille" in the French box-office but then again, can you imagine "The Vistors" set in the 2000's, with all the movie conventions it implies: racial political correctness, special-effects overdose and all that stuff or maybe worse: excessive sentimentalism like in "Bievenue Ches les Ch'tis". I have nothing personal against Dany Boon's "Ch'tis" films but the film received so much publicity that at the end, it wasn't successful because it was popular, but quite the opposite. If only it was good enough to be forgivable, but I can't forgive a comedy that ends in an emotional note, when a punch line is required.

I remember when the movie came out, it was the phenomenon of the end of the year, everyone was talking about it with so many superlatives that I couldn't believe a movie would be that funny, especially a French one. Well, I saw it on TV the first time and I laughed, my parents laughed, the whole family laughed and never did a slower moment ever change that feeling, there was not even a slow moment, the film was funny from beginning to end, with an exquisite twist at the end, the so-called punch line that cruelly lacked at the end of Dany Boon's film. At the end, the hysterical incomprehension of you-know-who when he finds himself you-know-where was the icing on an already delicious cake served with a magnificent Gothic music. We all laughed to tears, and the fun that never deserted the film is the proof that sometimes the simplest plot premises can make the most hilarious films. I was not in love with the film but with the story and the way everything worked as a set-up for a hilarious conclusion. OK-kay?

A medieval nobleman (Jean Reno) and his squire are accidentally transported to contemporary times by a senile sorcerer. He enlists the aid of his descendant to try to find a way to return home, all the while trying to cope with the cultural and technological changes distinguishing his time from ours.

I had never heard of this film, but apparently Reno and Clavier reprised their roles in a sequel in 1998, the American remake "Just Visiting" in 2001 and a second sequel in 2016. So now I have more to see...

This film is very much a cross between "Bill and Ted" and Monty Python, but still different enough to be very much its own film. I love the concept of going hundreds of years in the future to meet your offspring. That's clever. The humor is great, and I'm told it is even funnier if you speak French and don't have to rely on subtitles. (French is unfortunately not one of my better languages.)

Some movies have the power to surprise you. You find something you didn't expect and when you're finished watching it, you find that you had a much better time than you expected to have.

This movie does surprise, but not in a good way. From the description, I was expecting to see an interesting portrayal of medieval characters put into a modern setting and having interesting reactions to all the trappings of modern life.

What we have instead is a simple farce, with two idiots bumbling through a forced plot. The protagonists act more like jumpy animals than genuine human beings, running in random directions, attacking people at random, and breaking random things.

Fine - a bit disappointing - but let's take it as an idiot farce. It's fine, in that sense, but not too funny because it's predictable and the humor is quite base. Expect to be treated to plentiful fart jokes, poop jokes, vomit jokes... jokes about stench and bodily fluids.... Was this supposed to be a children's movie?

Not only is this movie boringly simplistic in its humour, but it's ethically inconsistent and offensive. The main protagonist is a misogynist. He chastises a character for physically threatening a woman but proceeds to throw women around himself on several occasions. The descendant of a peasant is punished for... trying to rise above his station in life? I guess the creators of this film think all poor people should know their station in life and stay there.

Don't waste your time with this royalist, confused collection of potty humour skits.

Honourable Mentions: Kickin' It Old School (2007). Some kid falls into a coma in the 80's and wakes up in the 2000's or something. Same premise and equally juvenile humor, but it's not ethically offensive and it's much funnier than this.

I'm Chinese who reside in Sydney, Australia, and was fortunate to have a government operated television studio to show foreign programs in its original language with English subtitles.

More fortunate isn't because of the showing of the Hong Kong Kung-Fu films but the funniest film in anyone's language ‘Les Visiteurs'. As the English subtitles has already provided so much enjoyment to the film, I would assume most of the French would have laugh until they start coughing, to the extended of suffering from a sore throat.

OOOKAY!! – Which was frequently used in the film deliverers the impact to some the comic relief, but from my point of view, it is not a simple comedy to make. Some research was properly done to imagine someone who had lived in the middle ages, not forgetting their customs and habits from that era, then place them to the present day, you will end up witnessing similar chaos and disasters that is far worse than Mr. Bean.

My favorite is when they call the car a ‘chariot', also the subtitles is presented with Medieval English, I would imagine the same in French.

This is not doubt the funniest movie I have seen in my lifetime, the way they mess up the bathroom made me though it was stupid at first, but then I realize it actually make sense, as this is how they clean themselves back in the middle ages. This film beats my funniest English film, which is ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' directed by Yoda (i.e. Frank Oz)

Blame it on cultural things or whatever but I think European movies are the funniest of them all, and then in particular the French ones. I agree it's totally brainless but it's made for what comedies are made for : for laughing!!! Les Visiteurs is a tale about two medieval men who land in the 21th century...and what a laugh it is!!! No I won't spoil things by telling you jokes but if you just can forget your dignity (whatever that might be) I am sure you will be rolling on the floor...that's entertainment! I read through these pages that there is an American remake : naaah, don't want to see it...

I admit I haven't seen more than probably 40 or 50 "foreign" films, but of those, this is still the funniest one I have watched. The major problem I had with it was that the dialog (and the humorous lines) came so fast I barely had time to read the subtitles. It gets a little tiring after awhile trying to keep up with the reading and viewing at the same time, at that pace.

As with all comedies, you get smart and stupid scenes. You get more stupid when you have more slapstick, but you also have more laugh-out-loud moments. Such is the case here, as Jean Reno and Christian Clavier portray clownish 11th-century men who suddenly find themselves in modern-day France. Time-travel films almost always are fascinating, whether it's sci-fi or comedy.

Most of the jokes center around the guys trying to figure out today's modern conveniences, such as toilets, and the problems they have trying to figure them out. Also, there are big problems with the men's relatives, who are trying to figure out who these strange-acting guys are all about!

As for family viewing: not suitable. There is no sex and no nudity, but there is rough language which is why it's rated "R."

Yes, this movie was funny. But it also contains tasteless and unfunny jokes. Jean Reno is remarkable as one of the two «Visiteurs» from the 12th century. Valérie Lemercier is also very good in the role of the cousin. I don't know if I'm going to rush to see the sequel. I gave it a 6.

Many have expressed the opinion here than "Just Visiting" is a poor remake that does not do justice to the original "Les Visiteurs". After recently seeking out Les Visiteurs on this general consensus, I was somewhat disappointed, and write this commentary in support of the American version released in 2001.

To begin, the two films have substantially different themes. Les Visiters theme is "I don't like it here and want to go home". "Just Visiting" puts the most noble theme of true love front and center. And both themes are effectively executed, in the case of Just Visiting with an impeccable "10" hottie, and in the case of Les Visiteurs, with the presence of a countess who is clearly an everyday person enjoying the escapade, but not about to abandon her quaint life with two children and a dentist to chase "nobility".

The two films also look very different. Just Visiting is a much crisper, brighter looking film. Chicago's bright lights and big city imagery does more than just take the film across the Atlantic. It shift the characters' perspective to one of ants in a land of giants. By contrast, Les Visiterus retains a provincial French countryside setting which, with cobblestone courtyards and lots of green space, relies on some very brief visual juxtapositions of the galloping night riding under a 747 and next to the TGV (a very French symbol of progress) to introduce the sense of modernity. In Just Visiting, the modern bustle is omnipresent.

But the biggest reason to give Just Visiting a chance is the improvement of the funny "out of place" encounters. The dinner scene with throwing the food to the peasant on the floor is much more funny in the fancy Chicago restaurant... with the old rich lady trying to do it too (not to mention the type of disgusting half-eaten food in play), and the scene with the toilette is also more enjoyable with the addition of some very natural mid-evil verbal observations. The new "little people in the TV" scene is great, as is the "run behind the car" scene. I did like the original "attack the devil's chariot" scene more than the "slay the red dragon" scene in Just Visiting, but the references to "a Moor" would be a little too politically incorrect for 21st century sensibilities. As would be the dumping so many catastrophes on the peasant's rather effeminate descendant, whose loss from the script is without notice.

To be fair, I found Les Visiteurs more humorous when I listened to the actual french dialog without the subtitles. The effectiveness of this type of comedy really hinges on delivery, something which a non-French speaker will not enjoy with eyes stuck to the subtitles. If you are not French, and not a "French Film" snob with preconceived bias, then you would enjoy Just Visiting as much, if not more, than this film.

The two movies came in 1993 and if each one was a huge success, the two split totally in vision and production. This one is about what France does best, comedy and its long history! Usually, time travel is about going into the past and causing paradox while here it's about going into the future which is our present! A bit like "BTF", our heroes feel stuck and alien to their new environment and want to get back to their time-line. But the essential factors here are not the special effects that are rather crude but the cast and the idea to stick to country life that remains even today the real roots of France! Lemercier who isn't among the glamorous one is indeed exceptional as a catholic housewife of this rural elite! And for sure, for all who like French history, the meeting of old language and new speech is totally funny whereas we rather expected the same gap with the objects… So this comedy really embodies what's my country and is thus a must-see for all France lovers!

I am not keen to French comedies, maybe a prejudice, whenever in a slapstick comedy, the usual gentle and romantic French sounds a bit vulgar and harsh to me (I don't speak French though), also due to a cultural barrier, my understanding usually is biased or in sheer ignorance of the dialogues or local allusions.

There is a common topic why good comedies are always much more difficult to find than decent and touching dramas, suddenly the answer jumped into my mind, which is in most of people's lives, comedic element only occurs sporadically, major quantity of our time is spent in a drama way which we could feel the appeal from the motion pictures, thus, if we encounter a film totally composed of farces and gags, a sense of out of touch from the reality will slowly kill our patience, hence a usual ending is we completely lost all the interest towards the characters in the film provided its jokes and actions fall into cliché and self- regarded humor. Which is my exact feeling towards the film.

I cannot call it a bad film, it entertained me in the first half, then I wished the farce could be ended ASAP (accurately speaking, after the two visitors made a mess in the house of the youngling), Jean Reno's poker face performance is far more enjoyable than Christian Clavier's Joe Pesci-sque monkey business (I cannot squeeze any smile towards him), the last straw is Valerie Lemercier's natural and authentic charm, I cannot believe she was only 29 at that time as I can recall in LITTLE NICHOLAS (2009), she seems to hasn't aged in almost 16 years (a more plausible explanation may be premature senility), I think she is a very qualified comedian.

This movie is just one of the funniest ones I've ever seen in my entire life. I still continue to laugh out loud each time I'm seeing this hilarious farce about time traveling.

Just imagine that: 2 men from the middle ages, a French Knight hero and his raw squire, are mistakenly sent into modern France after a wizard messed up his potion. Struggling to understand what's happening to them, they met their respective descendants and transform their life into hell.

You understand now that what's making this movie so hilarious are the many misunderstandings between Godefroy and Jacquouille on one hand and their descendants, Beatrice, Jean-Pierre and Jacquard on the other hand. It's also hilarious to see Godefroy and Jacquouille discovering the subtleties of modern life like cars, toilets and phones and that Jacquard, Jacquouille's descendant, is the actual owner of Godefroy's family castle, making Godefroy very angered and Jacquouille very proud of this unexpected shift.

We can feel that the cast took a real blast during the shooting and I'm sure they burst of laughter during each scene. The good mood is contagious and it's definitely a movie to watch if you have a low day.

Quite entertaining at times, but overall rather superficial. Relationships between characters aren't explained too much and are a bit too shallow at times.

Pretends to be more serious than it ended up being. End result is rather cartoonish, but at the same time a bit of unexplainable romance, a bit of adventure, a bit of comedy; but everything just a bit.

I guess the main thing to be said about "les Visiteurs" is that it hardly makes sense for a non-French-speaking audience to watch it. I shudder to think what it sounds like dubbed, for instance. Plus the elements of French satire are probably not transposable elsewhere.

I laughed to tears when I viewed "les Visiteurs" when it was released in France 15 years ago, where it was an immediate box-office hit. Now I must admit it mostly brings a smile there and there. Of course it's me being 15 years older but the movie just hasn't aged well. The directing is mediocre at best, the cheap CGI is horrendous, and Marie-Anne Chazel's character as a tramp grates on one's nerves. There still remains the altogether funny plot, the hilarious performances by Reno, Clavier and Lemercier, as well as the (then) cult dialogs.

Watcheable if you like French comedies, but don't get your hopes too high. In the same vein "Les Bronzés" (part I & II) is far superior. And incidentally Les Visiteurs part II was embarrassingly bad.