Asterix in Britain

Of all those wonderful adventures of our brave Celtic friends Asterix and Obelix, I believe this one is the VERY best: it depicts all the... little peculiarities of the British in a hilariously funny way - a feast for the French authors, of course! At the time the 'Asterix' comics were created, there still were quite a lot of post-war animosities between the various European peoples; and so each one of those cartoons (some of them were adapted for the screen later, as animated films or 'real' movies or both) kept picking on the strange characteristics of some other people - the British, the Germans, the Swiss, the Vikings - , but without becoming malevolent or insulting - the only thing was, of course, that the Gauls were ALWAYS the strongest, the bravest, the most fearless, and the most stubborn ones...

Well, in this case, Asterix comes to the aid of his British cousin (which shows the Celtic relationship between the two peoples!) against the Romans - and along the way, Asterix and Obelix meet with about ALL the British 'traditions': tea-time (even during battles), driving on the wrong side of the road, drinking warm bear and eating stewed boar with peppermint sauce (what a SHOCK for Obelix!)...

In short, this FABULOUS animated movie will be a wonderful enjoyment for the kids - but also GREAT entertainment for the grown-ups, who understand the more subtle sides of all the humor it contains; a simply PERFECT family film!

Having seen this one many times as a kid, I wasn't sure I would still like it as an adult. To my positive surprise, however, it's filled with original ideas and jokes that may vary in subtlety, but remain at a funny level throughout. One may see this Astérix-episode as a respectful parody of British peculiarities, seen from a French perspective. The animation is quite beautiful at times.

Before the British can ask themselves what the Romans can possibly do for them they are not too terribly pleased with the bothersome invasion. Anticlimax, cousin of Asterix, sneaks off to Gaul for help. Getafix makes a barrel of magic potion and Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix courier it back to Britain. Many, many beaten, bruised, and broken Romans make the mistake of getting in their way.

The jokes and visual humor just don't stop. You'll be grinning from ear-to-ear when watching Asterix in Britain. The animation has such a detailed quality to it that the film nearly rivals vintage Disney. The music too, is also lovely. A score CD was produced in France, but it's long out of print. Bill Oddie is the voice of the little warrior this time around, while amusing English stereotypes fill out the rest of cast.

A favorite of mine since I was a kid, I first saw Asterix in Britain on BBC2 one Xmas morning. I nearly wore out the tape I recorded it on. My advice, buy the DVD. Even for kids raised on CGI it's a winner.

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.

I think this film is great with some spectacular animation, likable characters, an engaging story, it's also funny.