Fire and Ice ranks as one of the more derivative fantasy films of the 1980s, and is distinguished mainly because it is fully animated, and coproduced by Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta. It also is somewhat of a disappointment to Frazetta fans, as the film fails to live up to the promise of Frazetta's classic posters and illustrations. Still, the movie is not entirely without merit, and some sequences are admittedly spellbinding. Fire and Ice is worth seeing as an introduction to the talents of Bakshi, Frazetta, and Thomas - seek out their better work elsewhere.
Fire and Ice tells of a prehistoric jungle world with overtones of Tarzan's Africa. (Frazetta briefly had a comic strip loosely based on Tarzan decades ago.) Obviously, the story borrows heavily from the Edgar Rice Burroughs tradition, and as in other Ralph Bakshi vehicles, the lead characters are almost entirely rotoscoped. This severely limits the contributions of great illustrator Frank Frazetta. Unable to include his trademark nymphlike females and lithe, muscular heroes since they are anatomically exaggerated, Frazetta seems to have had the most influence on the backdrops and overall visual dressing of the movie. Ironically, Frazetta's influence was stronger in Bakshi's Lord of the Rings, as the Ringwraiths seemed to echo Frazetta's Death Dealers directly. Rotoscoping can be used subtly, but Bakshi too often opts for overkill. It would not be surprising to learn that an entire feature film was lensed, edited, and *then* rotoscoped by Bakshi!
While most of the characters are the stock one-dimensional sort we've come to expect from sword and sorcery films (the busty princess, the young warrior, the elder warrior mentor, the evil sorceress), the film boasts a particularly impressive jungle sequence. The princess escapes her apelike captors while, simultaneously, a different group of villains pursues the hero: this lengthy sequence continues without a word of dialogue and continues for several minutes. Boasting incredibly expressive posing of characters and some gorgeous lighting effects, the sequence is one which is rarely equaled in a live action movie. Watching this sequence again, one is both amazed at how talented Bakshi truly is, and saddened at how his talent has manifested itself only sporadically and derivatively.
The screenplay was written by Roy Thomas, another gifted individual whose talent is not accurately reflected in Fire and Ice. Thomas is perhaps best known to comic book fans for his work with Marvel in the 1970s; he was closely associated with their *Conan* adaptation and wrote the initial storylines for Marvel's *Star Wars* series, perhaps the best non-Lucas contributions to the Star Wars universe. His talent doesn't seem to translate well to screenplay writing; his short *Conan* work has an intelligence and creativity lacking in Fire and Ice.
In the end, despite the occasional moment of brilliance and Bakshi's uncanny rotoscoping, Fire and Ice is not a film that you'll return to repeatedly. It is, however, far better than most live-action sword and sorcery movies. While violent, it is far less graphic and bloody than one would expect in a comparable anime film, and is arguably less sexist. (The princess is clearly *not* an improbably large-busted waif but a rather self-reliant young woman, and despite her skimpy costume there is no nudity). Fire and Ice may best speak to the preadolescent male in all of us.
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Other NonAnime Reviews Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle Review* American Pop Review* Bug's Life Review* Fantasia Review* Lord of the Rings Review |
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