Rating of
4/4
Fire and Ice.
TrifibianTerror - wrote on 05/28/11
An animated adventure from the minds of Ralph Bakshi, creator of sometimes maligned 1970's animated Lord of the Rings film, and Frank Frazetta, famous for his superb illustrations of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, Firce and Ice concerns the story of the ice lord Nekron and his evil mother Juliana who are intent on world domination. After Nekron sends a delegation to King Jarol of Fire Keep requesting peaceful surrender, which is refused, Jarol's daughter (the lingerie model) Teegra, is kidnapped by Nekron's subhumans. Teegra manages an escape and comes across Larn, a warrior whose village was destroyed by Nekron's forces, who escorts her back to Fire Keep. When Teegra is kidnapped again, Larn teams up with the mysterious warrior and world reknowned Conan imitator, Darkwolf, who travel to the ice lords domain and kill him, save Teegra, escape and Jarol destroys countless miles of forest, kills countless animals and people by releasing streams of lava which does indeed destroy the ice lords domain.
The film ends with Larn about to kill a beaten subhuman, but Teegra stops him, telling him 'It's over.'
Darkwolf is then seen, looking an awful lot like Frazetta's 'Death Dealer', looking down upon the pair, who kiss. Darkwolf then disappears forever (we assume).
This film is so cliched and derivative it's unfathomable to even begin thinking it was co-written by Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, brilliant and famous comic book writers for Marvel. The story is basic good vs evil to the core, with a pasty sorcerer as a villain and strapping blond warrior as it's protagonist with the scantilly clad Teegra as the love interest and walking MacGuffin.
But you kow what? I love it.
For some reason, this film works. It shouldn't, it should be awful. There's a weird sincerity to it, though, and the animation is superb, with the rotoscoping working very well, and Frazetta's animation style lending a grim and vicious sense of reality to the whole thing. The backgrounds are beautiful and it is very fun to watch. It's almost pornographic, though, and it amazes me still how this thing has a PG rating. I know I saw nipples! The action is brutal at times, and there's more than a few axes to the gut you feel. One of my favourite scenes would be the storming of the ice keep by Darkwolf and Jarol's men on the pterosaurs (just roll with it) with the subhumans throwing spears at them on the jagged ice peaks. Actually very exciting.
It's vapid, it's derivitave, but damn is it fun. Anyone looking for a fun fantasy movie that doesn't make you think, or someone looking for some truly awesome animation, look no further. I heartily reccomend this film!
