Blu-ray Movie Reviews

I'm always on the lookout for new animated fare, regardless of what country it is from. When I saw an import HD DVD was available for Asterix and the Vikings I went ahead and picked it up. The film was getting reasonably good word of mouth and the character looked vaguely familiar from my younger days. Unfortunately this one didn't play out real well. The animation style looked good and I was impressed with the mix of 3D and cell animation, but the story was geared too much to the younger crowd and my wife and I just couldn't get into it. The film does have its funny moments, but the story moves at a pretty slow pace and the forced inclusion of "hip" culture didn't work well for it overall.

Like most animation this film looks really good in HD. But like a lot of the earlier animated features you see some persistent banding throughout, especially in skyscapes. All of the characters are drawn in traditional cell form and the quality of their dimension wavers a bit from scene to scene. Backgrounds and main objects are gorgeous though and the mix of 3D animation really works well here. Colors are all vibrant without being cartoony and contrast is excellent. While I wouldn't say it is the best animated feature in HD, it does look quite good.

The soundtrack is featured in both French DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1 and English DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1. The English dub features some good voice work from bigger name actors like Paul Giamatti, Sean Astin and Brad Garrett. Unfortunately both soundtracks have dubbing issues and there are some serious lip-synch issues that detract from the experience. Voices trail the animation by nearly a full second which can be quite annoying. Dynamic range is pretty good and like most animated feature films a lot of care has gone into the sound design. Low bass extension can be impressive at times and the overall sense of soundstage is convincing. Some of the musical selections were a bit cheesy given the time period of the film's setting, but that is what you get for trying to appeal to the younger kids I guess.

Extras include some production features, storyboards and a video for the Celine Dion song from the film. Most of the extras are in French so results vary.

This one is slated for an eventual US release but I honestly can't see it doing real well. Some of the younger age bracket (probably 6-12) may get into it, but the pacing and relative slow action may even have issues getting them interested. As for an import I would have to say steer clear of this one. The video is good enough but the lip-synch issues make for a frustrating experience overall.