The Gaul of some people

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

It’s one of the best movie adaptations of comic book material that I’ve seen in years. And no, surprisingly enough, I’m not talking about “Spider-Man.”

No, I’m speaking of “Asterix and Obelix on a Mission for Cleopatra.” The second in a series of live action adaptations of the classic comic strip, I happened to see it–of all places–on the flight back from France. In French with American subtitles, the only actor in it whose name would mean anything to Americans is Gerard Depardieu, playing the massive Obelix.

It is laugh-out-loud hysterical. It not only contains the entirety of the particular adventure upon which it’s based, but also incorporates all manner of updates that miraculously work. Such touches as an entire dance number to “I Feel Good!” after a group of Egyptian slaves drink down the miraculous strength-inducing elixir of the Druid Getafix, to loopy new characters such as Cellularis (whose voice tends to break up for no reason) dovetail perfectly with the existing work. And certain in-jokes are inspired. At one point, for instance, Obelix knocks off the nose of the Sphinx while scaling its face and then exclaims, “A nose? Nay…’tis a rock! A cape! A peninsula!”, requiring that you both know “Cyrano De Bergerac” and also know that Depardieu played him in a memorable film version.

I’ve never seen the first film, but just picked up a DVD of it off ebay. Meantime if you have ANY opportunity to catch this film, I highly recommend it.

PAD

9 comments on “The Gaul of some people”

  1. Alan Davis was recommending the first movie to me last year. Apparently it was released on video in the UK with no publicity at all. His wife bought it for him after finding it in the bargain section of a local store. He tried to buy another copy to send to me but all the local video stores claimed it didn’t exist. I wonder why they’re using stealth publicity on these films in the English speaking world.

    –Robin.

  2. “Asterix and Obelix” is quite popular in France and Germany. One of the most popular quotation in Germany is: “Die spinnen, die R–mer!” which means: “They are crazy, the romans.”
    Before the two movie adaptions there have been several animated movies in our cinemas. Here you can have a look at one:
    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6301720695/qid=1023428542/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/002-0040319-6060879
    (You can search yourself on http://www.amazon.com for “Asterix”)
    You can find the first movie and some of the animated under http://www.amazon.co.uk too. But I don’t know if they deliver to USA. Other address is http://www.amazon.de. They have english Asterix Video/DVD too. But again I don’t know if they deliver to USA.
    Another possibility is to search under http://www.bol.com. This is a UK shop but they send also in other countries (payment: credit card). I found the first movie I think (Asterix and Obelix Take on Caesar). Just search under DVD/Video for Asterix.
    The second movie is not yet released as DVD/VHS.
    Here are some links I found in a search engine:
    http://www.asterix-international.de/
    http://lcg-www.uia.ac.be/~erikt/asterix/welcome.shtml
    http://www.parcasterix.com
    http://www.wi.leidenuniv.nl/home/hoogeboo/asterix.html
    But I am sure you will find more if you search yourself.
    By the way: PAD, I have not seen the second movie, but isn’t the druids name Miraculix?

  3. Robin,
    maybe because it is a french movie. Sure you know about the history of England and France.

  4. Maja, the druid s name, in French, at least, is Panoramix. All names in these comics are play on words (that s why i LOVE them :)) So, the names changes from languages to languages. Panoramix don t mean anything in english…and USA and England people don t have the same sense of humor, so that may be why they changed it too 😉

    I didn t want to see that movie, I liked the first one a litle, but I am not a big fan of French movies (I am from Quebec, not France ;)) But now, I think I ll give it a shot…a tuesday, half price 😉 I just liked the animated movies and the comics so much since I was young, I am just afraid it won t be as funny…but hey, I was afraid about spider-man too 😉

  5. Asterix is awesome! It was one of the first comics I have ever read. Here in Portugal (where I’m from) it’s very popular. I have the entire colection of Asterix published in portuguese (but I heard that there are some published in english).
    The first movie is really cool,but I liked this one more (specially because the “Asterix & Cleopatra” is my favourite Asterix book). The only problem with the first movie is that it takes elements from several books and that makes it a bit overwhelming. But still, it’s a good movie, well worth your time,PAD (especially because of Roberto Benigni’s performance, an italian actor that also entered in “La vita e bela”).

  7. I saw the first one a few years ago, coincidentally enough, on a flight from europe to the states (just a leg in the 22 hour trip back to New Zealand). I really enjoyed it. Had to restrain myself, because a)my laugh is near hysterical normally, and b) I was on a plane and didn’t really want to embarrass myself too much.

    I can’t find it anywhere over here however which is terribly unfortunate, but I’m sure I’ll find both of them one day.

  8. Both Asterix movies are scheduled to be released in the US, though oddly enough, in reverse order. Whether or not they will be subbed or dubbed, I have no idea, But Cleopatra will come out first followed by the original film “…vs Caesar”

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