Asterix - Operation Hinkelstein

Before I critique the actual movie I should inform you that there are in fact TWO English dubs of this movie. The first features Bill Oddie once again as Asterix and keeps the plot and story as was originally presented in French. The American dub however changes names, changes plot details, adds a pointless narration, and has all of the Gauls speak with American accents. Make no mistake, this version is dumbed-down and I implore you to avoid it. The existence of this dub forces my score down to 4/10 when it would otherwise be 7/10.

The Romans, as usual, are camped outside the village waiting for a weak link to finally invade and conquer ALL of Europe. Obelix adjacently drops a Menhir on Getafix's head, making him forget the recipe to the magic potion. Meanwhile, a soothsayer arrives and cons the more gullible villagers into rewarding him. The Romans get wind of his scams and use him to clear out the village. The actual fight of the title does not happen in the movie as that part of the plot was lost when the adaptation was crossed with elements from another Asterix book.

The animation is lovely, the plot doesn't reach its potential, and voice acting is uncertain depending on what dub you are watching. Otherwise this movie ranks as an above average Asterix adventure.

Or "above averagix" if you like.

A mixed adaptation of both Asterix and the Big Fight and Asterix and the Soothsayer. The arrival of a mysterious soothsayer test the beliefs of the village as Getafix loses his memory and more magic potion can't be made without him to stop the invading Romans.

As a fan of Asterix this ranks with Asterix in Britain, certainly in terms of the balance of good animation, story and fun. Despite the musical number it's a very good outing. Voices include Andrew Sachs, Ron Moody and Brian Brian Blessed to name a few.

Many complain about the voices of English VHS version, Bill Oddie as Asterix and Bernard Bresslaw as Obelix, I actually think they are perfect in tone, capturing the humour and rapport. They are the epitome of what I'd expect those characters to sound like. So much so I was disappointed with the release of DVD box set not containing the aforementioned. It's down to personal taste I suppose.

One of the most Asterix rounded adventures that the follow ups Asterix Conquers America (1994) and Asterix and the Vikings (2006) and have failed to equal or surpass.

Asterix and the Big Fight is fantastic family fun.

I watched the Danish dub and I added it to my favourites finally after this rewatch.

Ahh "The Big Fight" one of the best in the original 80s run of Asterix animated movies. A movie that is just solid fun and well made in terms of story and animation. A rather serious analysis of faith and what it can do and the consequences of blind faith of course not done to the extreme but a surprise that a kids movie touches upon this topic so flawlessly. This is of course a nostalgic choice for me but also just a solid animated movie from start to finish.

After the druid Getafix is hit with a rock thrown by Obelix, he loses his mind and forgets how to make the magic potion that makes the Gauls invincible. With tensions and fear high for a Roman invasion, they turn to a newly arrived profit that might be pulling their legs.

The animation here is beautiful both character and background. I have seen more beautiful Asterix animations but this one can feel a bit lacklustre when it comes to the backgrounds. But the overall characters and foreground animations are so fluid and well done. There is a crumbling tower that looks incredible and just the subtle fluid animation of the Romans running is incurable.

The voices are good and fun here and fits the characters perfectly. Some of the acting for the dub is not the best when it comes to for example the profit who has to laugh a bit too much. Same with Getafix that can be a bit too obnoxious even though that is what he is supposed to be. But overall everyone is great here.

I really liked the themes here. A movie about faith and blind faith done so well and actually impactful. After losing their normal guidance in their druid that helps them, the town don´t know where to turn. This shows how important Getafix is for the town and the profit is not just a terrible human being but utilized the fear to turn the town on its heals for him. This is a great analysis on mob mentality, how faith can be used to cheat and lie and how weak you can become when your faith and guidance shattered. While this is not taken to a higher level it is still amazing to see something like this portraited in a kids movie. Same with the frustration of Asterix and the guilt of Obelix, subtlety here but never taken to the extreme.

The humour is overall good here, maybe a little cheap and dadish at time but it works for me. I´m smiling from start to finish through this movie expect for the end at the top of the rocks, that scene always makes me sad.

The scene with the experiments of the magic potion is one of my favourites scenes ever made. So much verity in gags and ideas and just a masterclass in tonal shifts and concepts. Even a "Dune" refresh thrown in there.

The movie tires to have a duel narrative and it can feel a little lacklustre in that department with the forgetting the potion plot and profit plot not mixing that well, but they overall serve the same narrative.

You are just left with a good solid fun time from start to finish. I just keep smiling and that is all you need to have a good time. It´s fun, well-crafted and with a compelling and though provoking story.

The basic idea of mixing two Asterix stories together was not too bad at all: the Romans were a bit too pale and one-dimensional in the original big-fight story and the druid's absence and the resulting threat to the village was underexplained in the original soothsayer story.

However, the result sacrifices most of the satire of either story, aiming at a young kids market (which really isn't the traditional Asterix audience). But it is not just the story - also the animation moved a couple of furlongs towards Disney territory, especially the musical number made me cringe. How can the villagers dance to this bard's singing? It is supposed be painfully abysmal! A nauseatingly bad musical number would have been fine, but the film makers simply didn't dare.

I also could not warm to the English voices. While Brian Blessed put some oomph into his character, he overdoes it, as usual. An example of a scene which required cool understatement was when then the centurio instructed his messenger to Caesar. Blessed speaks it with too much excitement, though 70% of the blame has to go towards the director as the animation is similarly hyperactive at this point.

The English title of the film still sticks with "big fight" which is misleading as the actual fight (the one between Gallic chiefs) is not in the film.

When Getafix loses his memory the village loses it's defence in the magic potion. The arrival of a mysterious soothsayer further endangers the village as the Romans prepare to invade. There are several attempts to make Asterix films and none of them are very successful. This is a mix of stories - it is an adaptation of Asterix and the Big Fight and Asterix and the Soothsayer. However the two stories are not complete and in fact some of the situations contradict each other, the plot is such a mess that the big fight of the title that ends the book is not in the film at all! The main problem is that this could be any cartoon, there is none of the humour and wit of the books. It even ropes in a terrible musical number - something that would never happen in the books! The voices are mainly all miscast, Bill Oddie is a terrible, terrible choice for Asterix - too mousy and squeaky. Getafix, Obelix and the women characters are all miscast. The only good voice is Brian Blessed - but his presence begs the question why was he involved in this? Overall this is very boring with a terrible mixed up story, unlikeable versions of the characters and a total lack of comedy present in the books.