Fire and Ice Blu-ray delivers great video and superb audio in this fan-pleasing Blu-ray release
It began as a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between two of the greatest icons of the fantasy
genre: Controversial animator Ralph Bakshi (director of 'Fritz the Cat', 'Wizards' and the
original 'The Lord of the Rings') and legendary illustrator Frank Frazetta (creator of the iconic
Conan the Barbarian, Vampirella and Edgar Rice Burroughs book covers). It became – and
remains – one of the most startling animation epics of all time. Now experience a world unlike
any ever seen, where savage warriors, horrific monsters and luscious maidens battle for the
soul of a civilization in a time of good and evil, pleasure and pain, and Fire and Ice.
No one dared guess at the outcome of a meeting on the field of battle between fire and
ice.
The fantastical world -- the nether regions of Earth where odd beings and magical powers are as
commonplace as the sword and musclebound heroes -- is a staple of modern fiction. From
The
Lord of the Rings to The Chronicles of Narnia, from The 7th Voyage of
Sinbad to Conan the Barbarian, the heroes, villains, creatures, wizardry, and
mystical realms continue to enchant audiences with timeless tales of high adventure, might and
magic, unparalleled heroics, and disdainful villainy that make for the ultimate in escapist
entertainment. Seeing a resurgence now with the incredible popularity of the filmed adaptation
of
J.R.R. Tolkien's masterworks, the genre enjoyed another peak in the late 1970s and early 1980s
where the fantastical was to be found in stories set both eons into the past and centuries into the
future, with television programing like "He-Man" and "Buck Rogers" both incorporating genre
elements into their amazing worlds. In 1983, Ralph Bakshi, director of the controversial Fritz
the Cat, and legendary Fantasy illustrator Frank Frazetta teamed up for an animated
feature-length Fantasy original, Fire and Ice, a completely clichéd tale that stays
within the lines of genre basics and that plays out as nothing more than an
extended-length Saturday morning cartoon with virtually nothing of substance to offer that
couldn't be found on channel 4 at 8:00 AM, and at a third of the runtime.
Anyone seen a princess in a purple bikini?
The evil Juliana wants to rule the world. With the help of her son, Nekron, who has been trained
in
the dark arts, and an army of brainless subhuman minions, she has managed to extend her ice
kingdom over virtually the entire world, and only a small band of survivors remain deep inside
Firekeep. There, King Jarol receives a peace envoy from Juliana's court, but trickery is afoot; it's
but
an elaborate hoax meant to secure the kidnapping of the king's daughter, Teegra. Fortunately
for
her, she manages escape and teams up with a warrior, Larn, a sole survivor from his village
torn
apart by Juliana's ice. No sooner do they come together to return to Firekeep and make a
desperate last stand, they are again separated with Teegra once again falling into enemy hands.
Larn teams up with the mysterious Darkwolf for a chance to retrieve Teegra and stop Juliana
and
Nekron once and for all.
Fire and Ice treads all-too-familiar ground. Its animation style doesn't stray far from
the look of a typical 1980s Saturday morning cartoon. The film does incorporate the Rotoscope
technique -- a process that animates live-action footage -- and it appears as consistently
well-drawn, fluid, and
generally beautiful, and whether the action is taking place in murky swamps or an ice
castle, the animation style does well to set a tone for the picture, even if that tone seems
flip-flopped with fire representing "good" and ice "evil" (though a partway similar situation holds
true in The Chronicles of Narnia: The
Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe). No matter the film's take on fire and ice, good and
evil, light and dark, it all boils down to an incredibly basic structure with formulaic and wholly
one-dimensional characters. Fire and Ice features a scantily-clad heroine; a
musclebound
blonde hero; a mysterious sidekick; a spineless king; and singleminded villains with an army of
brainless minions at their beck and call. Motivations are tossed to the wayside here; other than
the basics of forcing an evil will on a populace and the heroic struggle to return good to its proper
place, there's nothing happening here that truly matters in the grand scheme of the plot; every
development is but a means to keep the movie going for the sake of getting it to the end.
Though the basics of the
story don't stray even a millimeter away from convention, the film does slightly up the ante for
violence. Axes to the chest, spears through the heart, and knives to the gut are commonplace
throughout Fire and Ice and are maybe a touch more aggressive than what a
five-year-old might have expected to see in the 1980s on early morning television, but the
violence stops there. There's nary a drop of blood spilled
throughout the picture, and the most "grotesque" imagery to be found lies in a scene featuring
Larn and Teegra munching on some raw meat that's still on the bone. Perhaps that's Fire
and Ice's most egregious downfall. It's too conventional, seemingly too afraid to push
boundaries, too timid to splatter the screen in blood. For a story that's so incredibly basic,
amped-up animated violence seems the perfect selling point for a movie that otherwise doesn't
have one (unless an animated princess wearing about three inches worth of clothes counts), but
alas, Fire and Ice instead plays out with a style that's barely more risky than any
Saturday cartoon.
Fire and Ice features a well-done 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. Perhaps the most
noticeable trait of the image is the avalanche of white speckles that cover most every frame. They
seem inherent to the image and not a flaw of the transfer. They're clearly visible throughout but
don't necessarily represent a great distraction to the overall viewing experience. Otherwise, this is
another solid effort from Blue Underground. Colors are strong, particularly as seen in the tidal wave
of red-hot lava at the end of the film. From the murky landscapes to more polished and bright
interiors, the transfer offers a consistently solid color palette that won't be confused with a Pixar
movie but looks just fine for an animated feature that's pushing 30 years of age. Lines are smooth,
the 1080p resolution brings out the finer nuances of the animation, and there's a fine level of
clarity to be seen throughout. On the whole, Fire and Ice makes for a fine Blu-ray
presentation.
Fire and Ice debuts on Blu-ray with a pair of lossless soundtracks, one each of the DTS-HD
MA 7.1 and the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 varieties. Occasional comparisons between the two showed the
DTS track to be quite a bit louder and more bass-happy than the Dolby TrueHD offering. The bulk of
the film was screened with the DTS track, and it indeed yields impressive results. Consistently loud
and aggressive, it begins strongly with the presentation of the title music that features an
Adventure movie motif and serves up note after note of sonic delight, with strong clarity and
hefty bass in support. When the actual film gets going, the soundtrack doesn't let up. It rivals
some of the better soundtracks available on Blu-ray through its sheer force of will and aggressive
sound placement. There's a barrage of rear-channel activity and loud action across the front, but
the track never sacrifices clarity in the process. The ice that encroaches upon Larn's village sounds
(and feels) as if it's punching through the living room floor. Such sound effects are commonplace
throughout the movie and there are but few reprieves from the delightful action-adventure
soundtrack. Also featuring robust dialogue reproduction, Fire and Ice delivers another
top-notch lossless soundtrack for Blu-ray enthusiasts to enjoy.
Fire and Ice arrives on Blu-ray with several extras, beginning with a commentary track
featuring Lance Laspina and Producer/Director Ralph Bakshi. With Laspina leading the discussion
and charting the course of the commentary, Bakshi shares the rich history behind the film, his
association with Frank Frazetta, the origins of the story, the casting of the live actors that served as
the basis for the animation, and much more. Animation fans will want to give this one a listen.
The Making of 'Fire and Ice' (480p, 13:31) is a rough-looking and sounding vintage piece
from Director Ralph Bakshi's personal VHS collection that takes a look at the process of creating the
film, including the hand-drawn images and the Rotoscope process that begins with capturing the
action with live actors and the process of animating it for the film. Bakshi on
Frazetta (480p, 8:01) features the director speaking on his relationship with the famed
illustrator. Sean Hannon's Diary Notes (480p, 14:06) features the actor that played
Nekron recalling his participation in the film through a reading of his on-set memoirs. The film's
theatrical trailer (1080p, 1:15) rounds out the collection of extras. This Blu-ray release of Fire
and Ice is also D-Box enabled.
All told, Fire and Ice serves up a serious-in-tone wannabe epic adventure that makes for a
passable 80 minute time waster but doesn't hold a candle to the genre's best offerings, either
animated or live-action. It's competent, well-drawn, adequately-scripted, and voiced well enough,
but there's no spark, no life, no real purpose behind it. As a Fantasy picture, however, it works for
all that it's meant to be, a form of escapist entertainment that should satiate genre fans. Blue
Underground's Blu-ray release of Fire and Ice impresses. Featuring a solid 1080p image, an
incredibly robust lossless soundtrack, and a decent array of extras, Fire and Ice comes
recommended as a rental for casual viewers and as a purchase for genre aficionados and longtime
fans
of the film.
There is a bit of controversy with one of today's releases, so I'm just going to get this out of the way as quickly as possible to avoid any further distraction. While not a horrible presentation, the Blu-ray release of ‘Gladiator' does not live up to the promise ...
Blue Underground has announced that they with bring the 1983 animated film 'Fire and Ice' to Blu-ray on August 25th. Directed by Ralph Bakshi ('Fritz the Cat', 'Wizards', and the animated 'The Lord of the Rings') and featuring animator Frank Frazetta ('Conan the ...
