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

Christian Clavier, who played Asterix in the first two movies, wanted his friend, Gérard Jugnot, to be hired as director for this movie. However, the plans fell through. Clavier ended up being replaced by Clovis Cornillac as Asterix, while Clavier and Jugnot instead went on to work on French Fried Vacation 3: Friends Forever (2006).

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Goofs

Pasunmotdeplus is a mute because Brutus cut out his tongue. Yet in the scene where it first looks like he's singing 'O solo mio', you can clearly see his tongue.

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Connections

References Ne réveillez pas un flic qui dort (1988)

User Reviews

Not that bad

I just watched the English translation of this movie, and I don't think it was as bad as people made it out to be.

Of the three live-action Asterix movies, none has really come close to capturing the charm of the comics (or even the animated features). "Mission Cleopatra" came closest, I think. The first movie was just miserable.

"Asterix at the Olympic Games" was a fun, if not perfect, attempt at capturing the magic of the books. My biggest complaint was that although its an Asterix and Obelix movie, it doesn't really seem to be about them. They don't even make an appearance until about 15 minutes in. It lends a certain degree of ridiculousness (and not in an amusing way) to the movie to have this enormous title screen that says "Astérix Aux Jeux Olympiques," and then have the entire opening act of the movie be about someone other than Asterix.

The CGI in the movie was also off-putting. Its used to make many of the more cartoony effects of the film, which is good, but it was really over-used in many scenes that didn't require them. Also, it wasn't really good CGI either.

The plot was nothing special, but it was amusing. It had some good jokes, and the characters were pretty fun. It was nothing like the comic ("Asterix at the Olympic Games") which it was based on, but I didn't expect it to be.

There were, apparently, tons of guest appearances by European (I think) athletes, none of whom I recognize -- being wholly ignorant on the topic of sports in this country or any other. I think these probably stuck in the throat of many people, who might have known who they were.

Anyway, I think they are starting to get the hang of how to make live-action Asterix movies, but I really do wish that the story had been more involved with Asterix, himself.