Asterix in America

Plot synopsis:
Upon learning that his army has once again been defeated by the one remaining village in Gaul that has yet to be conquered by the Romans, Julius Caesar, angry at how embarrassing this makes him appear before Rome's senators, begins thinking up of a new plan to defeat them once and for all. Knowing that the village's strength lies in the magic potion it uses, brewed by Druid Getafix, Caesar assigns Lucullus, a loyal patrician, to the task of capturing Getafix and throwing him off the edge of the world, in the hopes of weakening the village.
In Gaul, an accident during another fight over the state of Unhygienix's fish, leaves the village with barely enough magic potion to protect them. Realising he will need to brew more, Getafix sends Asterix and Obelix out to sea to catch fresh fish, a vital ingredient of the potion, while he and Dogmatix head out into the nearby forest to gather the necessary herbs for it. However, Lucullus takes advantage of the situation, capturing the pair and transporting them to a Roman galley bound for the "world's edge". When Asterix and Obelix spot the galley and the captured druid on it, they quickly go in pursuit, sinking a pirate ship in the process, before losing sight of the Romans when a violent storm blows them off course. However, their hope of rescuing Getafix are restored, when a dolphin appears to guide them back to the Romans, after reuniting them with Dogmatix shortly after he had been dropped overboard by Lucullus. As evening begins to approach, the galley arrives before the North American coastline which the Romans mistakenly believe to be the world's edge. Discovering that the Gauls are back on their tail, Lucullus has Getafix launched quickly by catapult towards the coast, and is amused when Asterix and Obelix wreck their boat while making landfall. Returning to Rome with the good news, Caesar quickly begins moving men to Gaul to lay siege to the village, until its remaining magic potion runs out.
Unbeknown to Caesar and Lucullus, Asterix and Obelix find themselves venturing out into North America, whereupon they begin to explore the land for Getafix. However, night soon falls, and the pair decide to make camp until the morning, whereupon Obelix manages to capture some of the indigenous turkeys (which he refers to as a "gobble-gobble"). The next morning, while Obelix is out of the camp hunting for breakfast, Asterix is captured by Native Americans and taken to their village, where he soon finds himself tied to a pole alongside Getafix and menaced by the Natives and their Medicine Man. Obelix, whose hunt saw him catching a Native American and mistakenly thinking he is a disguised Roman, quickly learns his friend is missing after finding his discarded helmet, and quickly begins searching for him with Dogmatix's help. During his search, Obelix manages to save Minihooha, the daughter of the Native American's chief, from a stampede of bison, who bring him back to her village just in the nick of time to save his friends from harm. After impressing the chief with his strength by besting his champion, Asterix and Getafix are released and the group are welcomed into the village, much to the annoyance of the Medicine Man, who is further humiliated when Getafix proves to be a superior magician. That night, after a party, the medicine man pretends to offer peace, but instead gives all three hallucinogens in a pipe, which knocks them all out.
In the morning, Asterix finds Obelix suffering from hallucinations after inhaling too much of the drug, along with discovering that Getafix was taken prisoner by the Medicine Man. In the Medicine Man's cave, Getafix refuses to hand over the recipe of the magic potion, before lying about the ingredients used in it. When the Medicine Man painfully discovers the deception, he quickly prepares to punish him, before releasing a grizzly bear against Asterix, after he had been guided to the cave by Dogmatix. Defeating the bear and its keeper, Asterix returns to the village, where Minihooha helps to cure Obelix of his condition with a huge meal. The natives soon give the group a canoe to return home, which Obelix paddles tirelessly across the ocean. Returning to Gaul, they quickly find their village devastated, and all but Cacofonix gone, the village's bard left tied up. Learning from him that Caesar has captured the villagers and plans to take them back to Rome, Asterix and Obelix — disguised as legionaries — take gourds of fresh potion to their friends imprisoned at the nearby camp of Compendium. Thus empowered, the Gauls free themselves, and begin trashing the camp. While Caesar escapes disguised as a wine barrel and returns to Rome, Lucullus is consumed alive by Caesar's pet panther. The Gauls, victorious, return to their village and soon listen to Obelix tell them of their adventures as they hold a feast to celebrate.

Tags: romantic, historical fiction

Review:
Good animation but has no wit or character of the books.
Knowing that the Druid Getafix is only one of the mighty Gauls capable of brewing the magic potion, the Romans plan to kidnap him and throw him over the edge of the world (the world, of course being flat).
The Romans carry out their plan but are pursued by Asterix and Obelix.
However when the edge of the world comes Asterix and Obelix don't find death  they find America and must search for Getafix before their village runs low on potion and is overrun.In terms of story, this film takes one of the weak Asterix books and deviates from it  big mistake!
The Asterix books are generally so good that to try and improve or change them for film is a bad move.
The story is OK for kids though  even faithful it's pretty simple  however what it loses is the wit of the books.
There are a few good lines early on, but most of this is slapstick that doesn't please anyone but young kids.The animation is great compared to other Asterix films  this uses some nice visual tricks, the best being the opening shot of the globe that turns out to be flat and only Europe!
The voices are also pretty good  Craig Charles is a pretty good Asterix once you get used to his scouse accent.
Howard Lewis is not a great Obelix  but at least he isn't playing him like a fool.
However Christopher Biggins is poor and the support characters are weak.
Surprisingly for a mid-90's film, this is full of racist stereotypes  from rubber lipped blacks, to `ging-gang-gooley' speaking Indians.The poor characterization also infects the main characters  for example the relationship between Asterix and Obelix is usually affectionate but here they bicker all the time and don't come across as friends.Overall this film gets the animation just right and the voices are pretty good.
It's just a real shame that the film then gets the characters, the story and the comedy very wrong.
Still, it's good enough for kids..
The weakest of the animated Asterix-films.
Somehow it just has never quiet worked out to translate the "Asterix"-comics to the big screen.
For one, the graphic novels always had an appeal for both young and old.
More than being your average, "funny comic-book adventures", "Asterix" contained insight and informative, valuable facts on cultural references, language and history.
Not all of those would reveal themselves to the adolescent reader, but appealed to the older crowd (generally the parents).
Indeed, I dare say that the Latin which most of kids from my times learned came straight out of "Asterix".The cartoons on the other hand, perhaps with exception of the first two films, "Asterix the Gaul" and "Asterix and Cleopatra" (that caught the essence of the first album) and the psychedelic "Twelve Tasks of Asterix", clearly catered to an adolescent audience.
Combining various story lines from the comics, the wit and cultural and political references were mostly been replaced with juvenile jokes and slapstick.Generally most of the Asterix-films are an amalgamation of various comics.
In the case of "Asterix conquers America" the story sticks pretty close to "Asterix and the Big Crossing" (but excluding the meetings between the two Gauls with the "actual" discoverers of America, namely a bunch of Danish Vikings).
The visuals are okay if you prefer computer-animations over hand-drawings (which I don't), but lack the richness in details that was typical in the graphic novels.
However, the gags and jokes are so infantile and predicable, that I doubt it will raise many laughs even during a screening of some children's channel.
If you never liked the cartoons, give it a miss and stick to the comics.
If you enjoyed the early cartoons, it still is one of the weakest of the whole series.To those who criticize that there are some genitalia visible in the film, I'll let you in on a secret: We all have them, we've all seen them and very little ill has come from this fact.
Only dirty minds think dirty things.3 from 10 points.
good movie.
i have seen it when i was 6 years old and I'm 16 now and i still love this movie also the part Astrix sings :) its real funny and good movie :) i love Asterix and Obelix and this 1 i real love bu and has allot of funny parts and animation's is very good and.this movie is soooo good u don't even now i love this movie its very funny and have's on the end a soft spot that obelix need too leave from the idians and u will see what i mean if u wachts it and its very funny movie i love the movie don't no real what too say about it but if u have the chance just watches it ;):) so i give it a 10 maybe not all of u too that but its a good funny movie about Asterix and Obelix just shame that is dost had come for comics :( so in totally good movie funny moments and a very good animation's en the songs in the movie is very very good and believe me i now it this movie is good wy it never comons on DVD don't ask wy but have fun with this movie and remebere ASTERIX AND OBELIX RULZ.
Fun!
(for a Saturday afternoon).
Well that's a film for kids, that is clear!
However, that not means that Asterix in America is boring.
The story is simple, but results convincing and entertains, which is its intention.
The quality of the draws is not very good (I didn't expect them to be good, either) but the film doesn't try to result impressive.
The only intention of the film is to make some laughs and to pass a good time, and, if you are not very exigent and you try to relax and smile, it is very possible that you enjoy this film.
Of course it is not a masterpiece, but it has any intention of being it!
Just relax and try not to be very critic, nothing more....
Fun Film.
Asterix (Craig Charles of Red Dwarf Fame) and Obelix are on a Journey to America to save their beloved druid Getafix.Along the way he encounters all kinds of trouble from Indians to Animals.
Some other great visuals, accompanied by a Great Soundtrack this is a Fun Film.
Great Stuff..
Asterix' charm killed off by a cheap attempt to copy Disney....
"Asterix Conquers America"?
Yeah right, I'm not sure that playing the Disney card will help Asterix to conquer America.
Way to go, dear writers, if that's the first Asterix movie an American watches, be sure it'll be the last, too.Indeed, you'll have more fun in any five minutes you take from "Asterix and Cleopatra" or "The Twelve Tasks" than one hour of this film.
And lacking fun, or wit, is the one weakness an Asterix film can't afford.
The most blatant case was the first "Asterix the Gaul" that took itself a bit seriously at the beginning, but give it a break, it was the first.
This one had six movies to take inspiration from, four decades of existence, characters rooted in French Pop-Culture and more than anything, 25 albums, from which to copy paste any script.And they still screwed it up, by adapting a book, but what a loose adaptation.
The film is based on an adventure written by René Goscinny where our two heroes accidentally land in America after a misleading fishing trip (when you tell Obelix to throw the net, be sure you asked him to attach it first).
The discovery of a new territory, weird but edible gobble-gobble creatures and then the first interactions (or attempts to) with the Natives was a source of countless gags and subtle anachronisms, culminating (that's the word) with a wonderful visual reference to the Statue of Liberty.
And it even had a great third act in Viking territory.
Some Asterix films borrowed plots from many books, but there was enough potential in "The Great Crossing".But somewhere the writers only took America as a setting, a plot parenthesis in a rather dull and empty plot.
Was it just because they really meant to conquer the American market?
Or they knew Disney's "Pocahontas" will create a new interest toward Native-related films and bring some extra viewers?
There's nothing substantial in the way the Natives participate to the story, which isn't saying much since the story, itself, is rather weak.
Basically, the Romans kidnap the Druid Getafix because he's the one who makes the magic potion.
If you pay attention, this is exactly the same set-up than the last Asterix "The Big Fight", the film even recycles the same characters and a few images, but that's not an issue, the problem is with the set-up.The film starts in the most incongruous way, with a view on space and a progressive close-up on Earth, shown as flat as a pizza, to illustrate how the Ancients conceived the form of our planet.
It's integral to the plot since, instead of putting the Druid in jail, they want to throw him at the end of the Earth.
But as much as the pizza joke was funny, the film insisted so much on the Italian stereotypes that it proves one thing: either the writers never read an Asterix story or the film was mostly targeted for a German audience.
After six films, never had a centurion spoke like Tony from "Lady and the Tramp" or punctuated his sentences with 'bella' and 'al dente'.
That was annoying but the worst was still the big-lipped villain.
Did they try to make a new Stromboli?
He looked nothing like a character Uderzo (of Italian background) would draw.
I don't know if I'm the only one, but the sight of that guy really turned me off.To the story now, we have the obligatory fish-fight scene to introduce the Gallic village, fish isn't fresh but Getafix needs some for the magic potion.
He sends Asterix and Obelix, gets kidnapped, but don't worry, less than ten minutes after, they'll all find themselves together in the fishing boat, landing in future America.
What follows is a series of cute moments, so dry in gags, that you really don't know where this is going.
The film turns into Disney-like stuff, Gauls meet Natives, even love, discover customs and sing together (and what songs!).
Since the film had to fill the second act, they needed a secondary villain, the Chief sorcerer filled the box, he poisons Obelix who turns crazy (and we've got to wait for him to be cured) then kidnaps the druid and asks him to make the magic potion.
The next scene is revealing of the writers' amateurship.Getafix gives the sorcerer the recipe, naturally, he fooled him, the sorcerer hits a rock and hurts his hand.
So, no growing barber or crazy effects, he didn't even think of making him sleep, he just made him angry, so angry he pulls a knife, then Getafix cries for help, well shouldn't have he anticipated that before?
Basically, he did something unfunny that didn't even make sense.
And this is symptomatic of the movie, you shouldn't try to focus on the plot very much, just follow the story and enjoy perhaps its one redeeming quality.
Thankfully, the drawers gratified our eyes with the sexiest animated Native girl, the only superlative the film deserves.
Seriously, she looks like Naomi Campbell and makes Pocahontas looks like her raccoon.This girl was like the only significant Native of female persuasion, and no one would complain, with her vertiginous cleavage and a body honored by a few subliminal shots.
Speaking of my experience, I was in my teen years when I first saw the film and I never expected a character from an Asterix film to turn me on, well, I guess that compensated for the big-lipped fatso.
The Native girl, finally cures Obelix from his brief amnesia and says our friends goodbye, during a farewell song that tries too much again, what did they expect?
An Oscar nomination?
Anyway, our heroes come back to Gaul, and basically, the third act is just the climactic sequence of "The Big Fight" a big fight.
Great.
If that adventure proved them the Earth wasn't flat, this is sure how the film fell..
Passable and bemusing seventh renditíon of the famous comic books from the imaginative Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo.
Asterix and Obelix are once more called upon to lay waste the Roman Legionnaires lifted from the wonderful drawings and sympathetic text by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo's comic books .
It is 50 bc and the Roman have just invaded Gaul and Julius Caesar has beset the region .
But one little village of plucky Gauls faces off the invaders by whatever means , and especially with aid of a replete magic cauldron brewed by the powerful druid, and giving an extreme strenght .
Again our friends in action , from the Gaul wars the French Village of Asterix and Obelix is still holding out supplier Getafix's recipe for their magic potion , when he is kidnapped , catapult them over the edge of the flat Earth , straight into the pipe-smoking clutches of Native Americans.The ordinary fórmula for this seventh installment is still basically the same : the usual battles between The Gaul people and Roman military , along with a good-natured punch-up ,heavy rescue-adventure with Roman puns for adults .
Of course , there appears the unfortunate pirates in distress , as always .The animation and drawings are pretty nice and while it is low on the musical count it all rushes by too fast to notice .
There is also some marvelous scenes when Asterix , Obelix singing and dancing along with the Indian tribe .
Apart from some questionable editing and the use of slightly watered-down colors the movie stays true to original characters .
Youngsters no doubt enjoy it , but true buffs may prefer to stick with the pun-ridden booksThis aceptable outing was preceded by several cartoon movies , such as : ¨Asterix the Gaul¨ (1967) , ¨The Twelve Tasks of Asterix¨ (1976) , ¨Asterix in Britain¨ (1986) , ¨Asterix and the big fight¨(1989) ,¨Asterix in America¨(1998) , ¨Asterix and the Vikings¨(2006) .
And various live-action movies as : ¨Asterix vs.
Caesar¨ directed by Claude Zidi with Christian Clavier , Gerard Depardieu , Robert Benigni , Laetitia Casta , Arielle Dombasle .
¨Asterix and Cleopatra¨ by Alain Chabat with Monica Belucci , Jamel Debbouze , Claude Rich , Marina Fois , Gérard Darmon .
¨Asterix and the Olympic Games¨ by Frederic Forrestier with Clovis Cornillac , Santiago Segura, Monica Cruz , Jean Pierre Castaldi and Janel Debouzze .
¨Astérix and Obélix : On Her Majesty's Secret Service¨ (2012) by Laurent Tirard with Gérard Depardieu , Edouard Baer, Guillaume Gallienne , Vincent Lacoste , Catherine Deneuve , Charlotte Le Bonn.
And subsequently two 3D entries : ¨The Mansions of the Gods¨ (2014) in computer generator that dealt with a Caesar's plan to absorb the villagers into Roman culture by having an estate built next to the village to start a new Roman colony and ¨Asterix and the secret of the magic potion¨(2018) by Alexandre Astier and Louis Clichy .
The film will appeal to Asterix and Obelix fans , it's a funny entertaining for kids , grown-ups and nostalgics ..
Average Asterix.
I remember watching this flick as a kid, so last night I took a trip down memory lane by watching it on Youtube.The first two acts were great, but the third one sucks.
The finale was rushed.
Normally the climax of a film is meant to action packed and entertaining.
Here, it just flies by and you don't care.
I didn't buy the relationship between Obelix and the Indian girl.
The scene where they say goodbye is meant to be sad, but we feel nothing because we only had one scene of them together.
Maybe if they had more scenes, that goodbye scene would work properly.Craig Charles is miscast as Asterix.
When you see Asterix, do you think to yourself "Dave Lister should play him"?The guy playing Obelix works though.
But the star of the movie is Christopher Biggins' villain.
He's such a kiss ass, yet his plan works.
And Chris had fun camping it up.I liked the Oxford/Camberidge joke and the Romans forming into a pie and slicing a piece.
That joke was well done.The CGI sucks and it's not a film that'll grab you.
It doesn't leave you with the urge to watch it again.
Worth watching if you like Asterix, but its not as good as The Twelve Tasks Of Asterix which is my fave Asterix movie..
For Children?.
Although I had never heard of the character "Asterix", I decided to chance the classic cartoon.
Upon watching, and reading the synopsis of the film, I clearly understood the "effect" it reasonably portrayed.
However, I also realized that within this film, there is clearly a nude scene of male genitalia!
(The man had his pants down.
*Also noted in a recent post in the message board.*) I myself was just as surprised.
As an adult, I laugh at "hidden jokes" a lot of cartoons insinuate and even word around what should be "adult humor".
However, this is flat out unrighteous!
They may have gotten away with that in the 70s, but "new age" cartoons can only give fart jokes and bare-bum shots!
(Including their resort to subliminal messages for the older generations watching along.) Rated 2/5 due to the distasteful display of a crotch-shot, but short framed enough that most (luckily) don't catch-- sorry kids.