Fire and Ice, movie (1983)
image © Polyc International, B. V.
The Fire and Ice (1983) is an animated fantasy adventure film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.
Product: Fire and Ice, movie (1983)
Original title: Fire and Ice
Series: -
Setting: fantasy world
Product type: Film, Genre: fantasy adventure, Style: fantasy, action, adventure, animation, magic
Release: 1983.03.25
Reviewer: Kadmon, Type: Male, 40s, Preferences: Immersive, logical story, consistent setting, prefers surprises to spoilers, prefers establishing elements before referencing them
Watched: very recent (2020.07), first time
Rating: Average (2 out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Good (2+ out of 3 points)
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This is my review of Fire and Ice, an animated fantasy adventure movie from 1983. It's about a group of heroes trying to rescue a princess an evil wizard. The Fire and Ice film is watchable, I recommend it to fans of the genre.
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Review (spoiler-free) - Fire and Ice, movie (1983)
I watched Wizards (1977) a while ago, so I got interested in Fire & Ice, made by the same creator. The movie was on my watchlist for a while, but I was afraid of disappointment, so I always postponed it for a later date. I've probably seen the trailer some time ago, and I've definitely seen some parts of the movie in reviews about fantasy movies. However, I did not have any clue about the story.
The Fire and Ice movie is about a group of heroes trying to rescue a princess an evil wizard.
The story is good, it has many twists (perhaps too many). The pacing is consistent. I don't remember character arcs. I didn't find major logical problems.
The cinematography is okay, the movie is watchable. I remembered a bit more crude look for this film, but much to my surprise, for most of the movie, the artwork looks good, and the the animation is smooth and lifelike. There are some scenes when the artwork style of the background and the characters don't match, the animations are probably drawn from imagination instead of rotoscoped models, and it shows, and the art style becomes more abstract.
Cinematically it's good and interesting. There are shots from angles that are difficult to draw properly. It's probably due to the rotoscoping that the creators used such angles boldly, and it adds to engaging the audience. The fights are well-done, and pretty violent. There are some scenes that show the budget (there's often one moving character, while the others stand completely still), but it didn't really bother me.
The characters are okay. They are not very well developed, but we get to know them through their actions.
The music (by William Kraft) is okay, but not memorable.
Fire and Ice is a watchable animated fantasy adventure, I think fans of the genre might enjoy it.
My experience
I was mostly satisfied with Fire and Ice (1983).
Rating: Average (2 out of 3 points). Fire and Ice is a watchable film.
Enjoyment: Good (2+ out of 3 points). Fire and Ice is interesting, I liked it.
Rewatchability: High. I think if you liked it for the first time, you liked the story or the art style, so you'll like to watch it multiple times.
Chance of watching it again: Unlikely. Now that I know the story, there's probably no need to watch it again.
Chance of watching a sequel: High. I'd sure watch it.
Fire and Ice, movie (1983)
image © Polyc International, B. V.
Will you enjoy this?
If you like action movies, you might like Fire and Ice.
If you like supernatural or fantasy movies, you might like Fire and Ice.
If you prefer visuals over story, this animated film looks good enough.
If you hate nudity, you should probably avoid this movie. (Or anything else from Bakshi, really.)
Watching for plot points
If you are interested in fantasy adventure stories, I think it's worth watching the Fire and Ice movie for the plot points.
Should you watch this on your own screen at home, or is it worth going to the cinema?
The visuals might look better if you watch it in cinema, but I think you'd get a similar overall experience.
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Fire and Ice, movie (1983)
image © Polyc International, B. V.
Review with spoilers - Fire and Ice, movie (1983)
I liked the Fire and Ice movie.
Cover
The cover of the movie is okay, it doesn't say much, but it doesn't spoil the movie.
The trailer
The trailer is okay. Although it spoils some minor parts of the movie, it's confusing enough that you won't really understand the details.
If you prefer spoilers, it's a great trailer for the Fire and Ice film. If you prefer to avoid spoilers, it might make the movie less fun for you.
Promise of the first scene
The first scene is exposition about the backstory of an evil wizard. I assume we'll see how he conquers the world. Or how he gets defeated in the process.
Execution: We got the latter. Although not perfect, I feel it's an acceptable fulfilment of the promise.
Plot summary / Synopsis
There is an evil queen (Juliana) and he urges his son, the evil wizard (Nekron) to conquer the world from their fortress (Icepeak). The evil wizard has the ability to create ice, so he makes glaciers that destroy his opponents.
There is a fortress (Firekeep) that still fights against him. The evil wizard sends envoys to make the king (Jarol) agree to his reign, but the king refuses. The evil wizard sends his warriors to take the king's daughter (Teegra) a hostage. The princess escapes, and meets a barbarian warrior (Larn). They fall in love. When they try to get back to the king's palace, they get separated, and the princess gets captured by the wizard's warriors. The barbarian is found by a masked warrior (Darkwolf), who tries to help him free the princess, but by the time they get there, she already escaped on her own. She is found by a giant (Otwa), who takes her to her mother, a witch (Roleil). The witch tries to sell her to the evil wizard, but they just kill the witch and take the princess.
The barbarian finds the dead witch, but she rises to tell him where did they take the princess. The mother of the evil wizards asks the wizard to marry the princess, but he refuses, and asks his henchmen to push to princess into the pit.
The king sends his son (prince Taro) to the evil wizard to agree to the terms of the wizard, and get the princess back. The wizard refuses, and kills the prince and his man with his magic. As the barbarian sneaked into his palace following the prince, he also attacks the evil wizard, but he is beaten and imprisoned. The princess wakes up in the pit, and tries to free the barbarian, but she is captured. The barbarian frees himself, and flees the palace. He is found by the masked warrior, who takes him back to the king. They get some flying pterosaurs to attack the palace of the evil wizard. Only the barbarian and the masked warrior reaches the palace. The barbarian rescues the princess, while the masked warrior kills the evil wizard.
The king, tired of waiting, releases the lava from his castle, destroying the surrounding jungle, then the ice palace. (Edit: According to WikiPedia, when the evil wizard died, it unleashed a torrent of ice, that's why the king had to release the lava.) The barbarian and the princess escape on the back of the pterosaur. The masked warrior also get away somehow, as we see him later.
The setting
The story is set on a fantasy world, where magic exists.
Fire and Ice, movie (1983)
image © Polyc International, B. V.
The message of the story
I'm not sure there's one.
The structure of the story
The scenes of the Fire and Ice film are played in sequence, following the same storyline.
There is no single viewpoint character.
It has the usual arc of the dramatic structure - introduction, action, resolution.
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Things I liked
I liked that many events go against the tropes:
- By the time the heroes try to free the princess, she already got away on her own.
- When the witch tries to bargain with the subhumans, they just kill her.
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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?
From what I've seen, probably this is the director's (Ralph Bakshi) best work.
I like the works of the writer (Roy Thomas), especially in graphic novel form. However, he also is responsible for the screenplay of the Conan the Destroyer movie, that was not as good.
From the other writer (Gerry Conway), I think I've only seen Conan the Destroyer, and that was a mediocre movie.
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Fire and Ice, movie (1983)
image © Polyc International, B. V.
Analysis of the story - Fire and Ice, movie (1983)
I mostly liked the story, I didn't find problems that would have prevented me from enjoying Fire and Ice.
Problematic elements
- We don't get to learn much about the antagonist. We should see his abilities and his weaknesses, to be able to anticipate his chances against the protagonists. When he fights them, it's up to the writer to decide the fates of the combatants, so it becomes a bit more boring for the audience. We don't get to know why the barbarian warrior and the prince got beaten by the evil wizard, and why did the masked warrior beat him.
- We don't get to learn much about the protagonists, especially the masked warrior. He seems to be conveniently there where the plot needs him, and he is the one who kills the wizard. How is he able to do that? Does he have magical powers?
- The story has too many twists. I would have been satisfied with more story, and more info about the setting and the characters, instead of people constantly getting kidnapped, imprisoned, and then freed.
- Why do the wizard have the princess kidnapped, if he just sends her in the pit? (Edit: According to WikiPedia, it was his mother who planned this, but I don't remember that from the movie.)
- When the masked warrior finds the barbarian just outside of the palace, why don't they just go back to kill the evil wizard? They take a long journey, then they attack with the pterosaurs, just to reach the same goal.
Unanswered questions
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Possibilities of improvement
Recut to a more straight storyline: I'm not sure how would it be possible, but there are many story loops that do not move the story forward that could be cut away from the movie to make a more digestible film.
How it could have been better?
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Behind the scenes
Thoughts about the reviews of others
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Fire and Ice, movie (1983)
image © Polyc International, B. V.
Uses for the film - Fire and Ice, movie (1983)
Plot
- An evil antagonist wants to conquer the world.
- Heroes try to save the world from the evil antagonist.
Scenes
Designs
- The subhumans look good.
Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas
- The team is sent to capture a princess from a highly guarded castle.
- A princess is lost in the wilderness. Teams are sent to find her, by opposing factions, who have different plans for the princess.
Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas
Capture the target: The attacker wants to capture a target. The defender sets up the playing area, with closed rooms. Put a target person model in one of the rooms. Then the defender sets up their forces. Then deploy the attacker models anywhere on the edge of the playing area. The defender units are Passive guards, that can only start to act when they are alerted, or when they see an attacker. When the alert is raised, every defender model can start acting. The attacker can capture the target person with a successful close combat attack. After the target person gets attacked, the defender can use the model normally. The attacker wins if they capture the target person, and leave the playing area. The defender wins if they still have the target person, while more than half of their units are still alive.
Unknown location (easier for the defender): The defender knows the location of the target person, but the attacker doesn't. Put an objective marker in each room. On the underside, one of the objective markers indicate the target person.
Random location (harder for the players): The attacker doesn't know where is the target, but the defender doesn't know who is the target.
Find the target: Both sides are looking for a target who tries to escape from them. Set up the playing area together. Place Hiding place tokens in every area. Then both sides deploy their forces on opposing sides of the playing area. When a model is in an area with a Hiding place token, in can spend an action to remove the Hiding place token, and roll a d6. On a 1, place the target person model in the same area. The target person immediately gets an action, and starts moving towards the nearest edge of the playing area, or away from any other models. The winner is the force that captures the target, while more than half of their units are still alive.
Random creatures: While trying to search for the target, creatures appear. If they roll a 6 on the search test, place an aggressive creature model in the same area. It immediately gets an action, trying to attack the closest model, or move towards them.
Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)
Subhumans: Human-sized primitive humans, with primitive weapons.
Heroes: Human-sized archaic humans, with archaic weapons.
Nekron: Human-sized human male, with long hair, in a loincloth, armed with a sword.
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Similar stories - Fire and Ice, movie (1983)
Movies
Heavy Metal (1981): Animated anthology movie, with similar adult themes.
Krull (1983): In a futuristic fantasy setting, random people get together to save a princess, and defeat a big bad monster in his fortress.
Legend (1985): In a fantasy setting, random people get together to to save a princess, and defeat an evil wizard in his fortress.
The Lord of the Rings (1978): In a fantasy setting, random people get together to defeat an evil wizard. Animated movie, also made by Ralph Bakshi.
Star Wars Ep 4: A New Hope (1977): In a futuristic fantasy setting, random people get together to save a princess, and defeat an evil wizard in his fortress.
Willow (1988): In a fantasy setting, random people get together to defeat an evil wizard in his fortress. There's also a princess involved.
Wizards (1977): In a heroic fantasy setting, random people get together to defeat an evil wizard in his fortress. Animated movie, also made by Ralph Bakshi.
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Frequently asked questions - Fire and Ice, movie (1983)
Is the Fire and Ice film based on a book or comics?
No, Fire and Ice is not based on either books or comics.
Is the Fire and Ice film a remake or reboot?
No, the Fire and Ice film is neither a remake nor a reboot.
Is there a post credit scene in Fire and Ice? Does Fire and Ice have end credit scenes?
No, there's no post credit scene in Fire and Ice.
Where can I see Fire and Ice? What is Fire and Ice playing on? What streaming service is Fire and Ice on? Where can I watch Fire and Ice online? Is Fire and Ice available on Netflix? Is Fire and Ice on Amazon?
As of 2022.01.28, Fire and Ice is available on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube.
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Resources - Fire and Ice, movie (1983)
Official
Bakshi Studio: Fire and Ice: Official article.
Ralph Bakshi: Fire and Ice (on Archive.org): Official article.
Information
IMDB: Fire and Ice (1983): Database article.
WikiPedia: Fire and Ice (1983 film): Database article.
Letterboxd: Fire and Ice 1983: Database article.
Rotten Tomatoes: Fire and Ice 1983: Database article.
TVTropes: Western Animation / Fire and Ice: Database article.
Creation
: Concept art article.¤
Reviews with no spoilers - Fire and Ice film (1983)
: Review video about the Fire and Ice film with no spoilers.¤
Reviews with spoilers - Fire and Ice film (1983)
: Review article of the Fire and Ice movie, with spoilers. Includes a very detailed plot summary.¤
Analysis - Fire and Ice movie (1983)
: Analysis video, explaining the finale of Fire and Ice.¤
http://agentpalmer.com/2652/media/movies/rotospective-fire-and-ice-an-example-for-all-to-hold-onto-reality/
https://geekireland.com/fire-ice-1983-movie-review/
The Bottled Imp: ‘Fire and Ice’ - Fantasy Film Review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUJ3UF3N6LA
https://psychodrivein.com/dungeons-d-listers-fire-ice-and-dagger-kiss/
https://www.facebook.com/psychodrivein/posts/1521062648055521
https://twitter.com/PsychoDriveIn/status/1261401325364867073
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAOTOLHnPrN/
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Buying the product - Fire and Ice, movie (1983)
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Have you seen the Fire and Ice film? How do you like the movie? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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