Asterix and the Big Fight (in French: Astérix et le Coup du Menhir; in Germany as Asterix – Operation Hinkelstein) is a 1989 French animated film directed by Philippe Grimond and produced by Yannick Piel. It is the first film based on the Asterix comic series to be produced outside France being a co-production between France and Germany. Despite sharing the same title as Asterix and the Big Fight, the film shares only minor plot elements with that story, and is primarily an adaptation of Asterix and the Soothsayer. In the film, Getafix is accidentally made insane and amnesic by Obelix, forcing Asterix to try to cure him as his village is deceived by a fraudulent soothsayer that works for the Romans.
| Astérix et le coup du menhir | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Philippe Grimond (Original) George Roubicek (English UK) David N. Weiss (English US) |
| Written by | Adolf Kabatek (Original) Yannik Voight (Original) George Roubicek (English UK) David N. Weiss (English US) |
| Based on | Asterix and the Big Fight Asterix and the Soothsayer by René Goscinny Albert Uderzo |
| Produced by | Yannick Piel Helene Blitz (English US) |
| Starring | Roger Carel Pierre Tornade Julien Guiomar Marie-Anne Chazel Henri Labussière Roger Lumont |
| Narrated by | Tony Jay (English US) |
| Music by | Michel Colombier |
| Distributed by | Gaumont (France) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 81 minutes |
| Countries | France West Germany |
| Languages | French German |
Plot summary edit
The Romans try to capture Druid Getafix, as part of their plan to deprive a rebel village of Gauls from the magic potion that gives them super-human strength. When Asterix and Obelix attempt a rescue, Obelix throws and accidentally hits Getafix with a menhir in the resulting chaos, causing him to develop amnesia and insanity. While the village comes to grip with this, Prolix, a conman posing as a soothsayer, arrives during a storm and begins deceiving some of the superstitious and credulous villagers into believing a number of his prophecies, which he predicts in exchange for food and drink (later gold).
Knowing that Romans will quickly realise that the village is in trouble without the magic potion, Asterix and Vitalstatistix desperately attempt to have Getafix brew some. His concoctions quickly prove problematic and alert one of the local Roman garrisons into sending a spy into the village. Despite being camouflaged, the legionary is captured and used as a guinea pig for some of Getafix's creations. One of these makes him lighter than air, causing him to float away back to the Roman camp, where he reports their problem. The Romans send a patrol to investigate and in the forest come across Prolix, whom they capture. Although orders from Rome state that all Gaulish soothsayers are to be arrested, the garrison's centurion is convinced of Prolix's abilities and uses him to chase away the villagers.
Returning to the village, Prolix foretells doom if the village is not abandoned. Everyone leaves for a nearby island, except for Asterix, Obelix, Dogmatix and Getafix. Shortly after the Romans move in, Getafix brews a very noxious potion whose vapors engulf the village, both restoring his memories and sanity after he accidentally drinks some and driving off the Romans in the belief that Prolix's prediction has come true. Getafix quickly brews the magic potion and convinces the villagers to test the soothsayer's abilities by having them attack the Roman camp. Because he didn't predict the Gauls storming the camp, Prolix is revealed to be a fake; during the battle (led by the women of the village, whom Prolix had deceived the most), Prolix is flattened by another menhir thrown by Obelix and loses his mind. In the aftermath of the battle, the centurion is demoted for his failure and ordered by his Optio (now in command) to clean up the damage, the demented Prolix is also ordered to leave the camp and the still-floating legionary happily flies away as the village returns to normal.
Cast edit
| Character | Original | German | United Kingdom | United States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astérix/Asterix | Roger Carel | Jürgen von der Lippe | Bill Oddie[1] | Henry Winkler[1] |
| Idéfix/Idefix/Dogmatix | Roger Carel | |||
| Obélix/Obelix | Pierre Tornade | Günter Strack | Bernard Bresslaw[1] | Rosey Grier[1] |
| Panoramix/Miraculix/Getafix/Vitamix | Henri Labussière | Leo Bardischewski | Peter Hawkins[1] | Danny Mann[1] |
| Le décurion Cétinlapsus/Optio/The decurion Totalapsus/Optione | Patrick Préjean (L'optione) | Karl Schulz | Michael Elphick (Decurion Crysus)[1] | Danny Mann (uncredited)[1] |
| Agecanonix/Methusalix/Geriatrix | Paul Bisciglia | Helmut Heyne | Ian Thompson | Danny Mann (uncredited) |
| Prolix/Lügfix | Julien Guiomar | Christian Marschall | Ron Moody[1] | Bill Martin[1] |
| Cétautomatix/Automatix/Fulliautomatix | Jean-Claude de Goros | Kurt Goldstein | Sean Barrett | Bill Martin (uncredited) |
| Abraracourcix/Majestix/Vitalstatistix/Chief Bombastix | Henri Poirier | Wolfgang Völz | Douglas Blackwell[1] | Greg Burson[1] |
| Assurancetourix/Troubadix/Cacofonix/Franksinatrix | Edgar Givry (speaking) Jean-Jacques Cramier (singing) |
Christian Rode | Tim Brooke-Taylor[1] | Greg Burson (uncredited)[1] |
| Le décurion Plutoqueprévus/Dekurio Handzumgrus/Ardeco/Sergeant Noodles | Gérard Croce | H.H. Müller | Andrew Sachs[1] | |
| Bonemine/Gutemine/Impedimenta | Marie-Anne Chazel | Ingeborg Wellmann | Sheila Hancock[1] | Lucille Bliss[1] |
| Le centurion Caius Faipalgugus/Zenturio Gaius Ausgus/The centurion Voluptuous Arteriosclerosus | Roger Lumont | Hartmut Neugebauer | Brian Blessed (General Caous)[1] | Ed Gilbert (Bossa Nova)[1] |
| Ordralfabétix/Verleihnix/Unhygienix/Fishstix | Yves Barsacq | Alexander Herzog | Kerry Shale | Ed Gilbert (uncredited) |
| Un légionnaires/Legionäre/A legionnaires | Jean-François Aupied Bruno Choël |
Unknown | Ian Thompson | Unknown |
| Mme Cétautomatix/Madame Automatix/Mrs. Fulliautomatix | Paule Emanuele | Elizabeth Proud | ||
| Caius Blocus/Claudius Handcus/Bulbus Crocus | Jean-Claude Robbe | Klaus Jepsen | Geoffrey Matthews | |
| Le narrateur/Erzähler/The narrator | N/A | Tony Jay[1] | ||
| Mme Agecanonix/Madame Methusalix/Mrs. Geriatrix | Jeanine Forney | Ute Brankatsch | Kathryn Hurlbutt | Mona Marshall |
| lélosubmarine/Jellosubmarine/Bacteria | Danièle Hazan | Vera Kluth | Elizabeth Proud | Unknown |
Release notes edit
The first English dub of Asterix and the Big Fight featured Bill Oddie, Bernard Bresslaw, Peter Hawkins, Brian Blessed, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Andrew Sachs, and Ron Moody, amongst others, and was widely seen in the UK. For the UK DVD Box Set release, rather than using the British dub, an American produced dub was included, featuring the voices of Henry Winkler as Asterix, Rosey Grier as Obelix and Lucille Bliss as Bonemine. This dub had been intended for a U.S. release which ultimately never materialized and was shelved until French distributor Gaumont acquired the rights and included it on the DVD. The American dub is considered inferior by fans of the original due to it changing parts of the script as well as character names (Getafix is changed to "Vitamix", Vitalstatistix to "Chief Bombastix", Cacofonix to "Franksinatrix," Impedimenta to "Bonemine" (her actual French name), and Unhygienix to "Fishstix"), and general dumbing-down for an audience assumed to be unfamiliar with the characters.[1][2] The American dub assigns stereotypical Italian comedy accents to the Roman characters, features a narrator (Tony Jay) explaining the plot to the audience, and makes changes to the terminology of the original story, substituting "wizard" for druid, "fortuneteller" for soothsayer, "rockets" for menhirs, and "vitamin potion" for the magic potion.
Historical inaccuracies edit
The optio wears a standard legionary's helmet in the film. In his rank, his helmet would actually have had plumes of horse hair or feathers on either side of his helmet that could be accompanied by a helmet crest. He would also carry the hastile, a special staff roughly his own size.
References edit
- ^ "Fan Opinions". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2006-08-06.
- ^ "Fan Opinions". Archived from the original on 2011-07-19.
