Astérix chez les Bretons

Every Asterix full length animation film is fairly fun, but Asterix in Britain is undoubtedly one of the best, along with The Twelve Tasks of Asterix. While children will surely enjoy Asterix in Britain, it can also be enjoyed by adults.

The soundtrack is particularly good (even epic at times), and the animation is very funny. This film is a relatively faithful adaptation of the comic strip, with some pertinent additions, and the jokes are good. I saw it in French and much of the humor stems from the stereotypical speak of the Britons, caricatures of British people, so I don't really know how it would translate in English, but I'm told the translations of the comics tend to be pretty good in capturing the original humor. The authors admired the British very much and they show it here as the Britons are depicted as a brave people, and the little jokes are akin to "love taps" more than anything else, so British people shouldn't be offended by it. There are only little stabs about bad food, tea-drinking, sports-loving and nice lawns.

Anyway, it's a fun little animation which might look a little dated (it was released the year of my birth, in 1986), but fans of the Asterix comics will surely enjoy it.

The overall plot of this animated version of Astérix chez les Bretons is faithful to that of the book. As the latter is perhaps the best of all the Astérix volumes, this film could fare badly in the comparison. But whereas most of the Astérix films lose much in the transition to a dumbed-down, vaguely Hollywoodesque cartoon that I suppose is meant to appeal to children, Asterix in Britain manages to retain much of what made the original (written and drawn) version great. I haven't yet listened to any of the dubbed versions of the film, but the French is particularly clever in using native English speakers to play the roles of the Bretons.

The year is approximately 50 B. C , Britain is entirely occupied by the Romans commanded by Julius Caesar . Well , not entirely.. One small village of indomitable Bretons still holds out against the invaders . And the life is not easy for the Roman legionaries who garrison the fortified camps . Similarly happens on Gaul , where a small village located in Armorica live our friends , the intelligent hero Asterix , the menhir delivery and addicted to wild boar Obelix, the venerable Panoramix with his potion which gives the drinker incredible energy, the majestic,hot-tempered, brave chief of the tribe Abraracourcix... There come a Asterix's cousin asking for help against Romans. As always the perilous mission is immediately trusted to shrewd and cunning Asterix . Obelix , ready to drop everything and go off on a new adventure with Asterix ; then they set out to deliver a barrel plenty of powerful potion getting superhuman strength and brewed by druid Panoramix . His mission transport it for the Britons and vanquish the invaders Romans.

The picture brilliantly retrieves the humour , strong satire and adventures of the original story . This is a nice adventure with hilarious moments here and there , and it has Asterix and his inseparable partner fighting , as always , against stupid Romans . Full of habits critical about actual British way of life and modern anachronisms that's common thing in comic books . The cartoon movie splendidly captures the outrageous adventures , tongue-in-cheek , irony , comedy from comic book story with the same title and drawn by Albert Uderzo and writing credits by Rene Goscinny . As usual , on the finale the village people eating boars in a gargantuan lunch and the Bard Cacofonix tied a tree and being accompanied by a lively musical score by Vladimir Cosma with a catching song on the start and the ending . The film will appeal to Asterix and Obelix fans , it's an funny entertaining for kids and grown-ups and nostalgics.

This is an excellent adaptation of the Asterix comic of the same name. Its true to the book, and very fun. Some of the voices are a bit awkward trying to fit the words into the translation. Great for kids and adults both.

When the Romans invade Britain they do such ghastly things as fight outside working hours and at weekends, hence the island quickly falls. One Briton sneaks across the channel to seek help from his cousin Asterix. Asterix, Obelix and the Briton take a barrel of magic potion back across the channel in an attempt to help the British villages to fight back.

Another in the staggered animated Asterix series. This story follows the book quite closely and manages to have some of it's wit – `send us a victorious wind o gods' implores Caesar just before his map blows over his face! However much of this is the usual hitting Romans fare. The story may not be great but it's still very enjoyable for children.

The colours are a bit washed out looking at times and the animation isn't state of the art (even then!) but it's easy to overlook this. Some of the characters are very good – the British, although cliched, are very funny, however the main characters are a bit off. All the Gauls have `Allo, Allo' French accents that annoy. Worse is Obelix being played again like a buffoon crossed with a child – not very good at all.

Overall this is an acceptable addition to the Asterix stable, it doesn't totally manage to carry off the wit of the books but it's a reasonable funny and faithful version. The worst thing is the terrible Euro-pop played over the end credits.