Astérix aux jeux olympiques (2008)

Astérix and Obélix compete at the Olympics in order to help their friend Lovesix marry Princess Irina. Brutus also tries to win the game with his own team and get rid of his father Julius Caesar.

Directors:

Frédéric Forestier, Thomas Langmann

Writers:

René Goscinny (comic book), Albert Uderzo (comic book)

Stars:

Gérard Depardieu, Clovis Cornillac, Benoît Poelvoorde

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gérard Depardieu	...	Obélix
Clovis Cornillac	...	Astérix
Benoît Poelvoorde	...	Brutus
Alain Delon	...	Jules Cesar
Vanessa Hessler	...	Princesse Irina
Franck Dubosc	...	Assurancetourix
José Garcia	...	Couverdepus
Stéphane Rousseau	...	Alafolix
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Panoramix
Elie Semoun	...	Omega
Alexandre Astier	...	Mordicus
Santiago Segura	...	Docteurmabus
Michael Herbig	...	Pasunmotdeplus (as Michael Bully Herbig)
Bouli Lanners	...	Samagas
Jérôme Le Banner	...	Claudius Cornedurus (as Jerôme Le Banner)

Storyline

Astérix and Obélix compete at the Olympics in order to help their friend Lovesix marry Princess Irina. Brutus also tries to win the game with his own team and get rid of his father Julius Caesar.

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Plot Keywords:

comicbook movie | based on comic book | gaul | race | character deflates | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Hungary]

Country:

France Germany Spain Italy Belgium

Language:

French Portuguese

Release Date:

30 January 2008 (France)

Also Known As:

Asteriks na Olimpijadi

Filming Locations:

Alicante, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

€78,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$999,811

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$132,856,738

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pathé Renn Productions,La Petite Reine,TF1 Films Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jean-Pierre Cassel's last film.

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Goofs

While it is stated (and shown) near the end that whoever used the tainted magic potion has a blue tongue, a few minutes earlier when Brutus has already drank the potion, his mouth is wide open when he is holding on to the reins and his tongue is clearly visible for a while. It is not blue though.

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Connections

References Le Samouraï (1967)

User Reviews

Inexplicably terrible followup to Cleopatra

I was really looking forwards to this: Whereas "Asterix & Cesar" wasn't great, they seemed to have found their stride with "Asterix et Cleopater" only to inexplicably throw it all away with this heap of rubbish. Where shall I start: The cast.

Clovis Cornillac - catastrophic. There isn't a hint of the quick wittedness and light footedness you expect of Asterix. Instead of being the mainstay of the film, he's a sideshow: Unfunny, uncharismatic. Bring back Clavier!

Alain Delon? I nearly wept! He's an all time legend. Cool, hard, dangerous. And here? A creepy buffoon. His worst role. Ever.

That's enough. Now the plot: In Asterix & Cleopatre, the writers (and director) managed to update the Goscinny original comic spirit and clever references very successfully in my opinion. That is, without sacrificing the flow of the narrative, and without over-emphasizing modern references. That is, they didn't get in the way nor did they hobble the Goscinny narrative.

These clowns seem to have completely missed the plot. The unsubtle references stick out like a sore thumb, and the things referred to will all be forgotten in a few years.

But more fatally for the plot: they've glued together episodes from different Asterix books with elaborate pastiches to try and re-establish some sort of story logic.

Then, they have seriously warped the actual olympic games narrative flow. The plot they've come up with leaves you constantly thinking "What? How ... why is this happening now? Where is such-and-such gone?" and most importantly "hmm, was that joke supposed to be ... funny?".

All in all, truly catastrophic. The only saving grace is - I supposed toddlers might find it exciting.