Fire and Ice (1983)

People are voting emotionally.

hyped garbage

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I watched "Fire and Ice" because of its awesome looking cover that made me think about some epic fantasy sword fights and magic in battle between powers of good and evil. I got that, kind of, because it was so generic and predictable I dosed off several times. Most of the time the generic princess from the fire kingdom was just running away from the minions from the fire kingdom. That should have kept me at the edge of my seat, but when the character is both so bland and has no backstory I had not got any feelings for her being in danger. The blandness deprives almost every character of a possibly engaging persona even his/her role was still generic.The voice work was generally bad, but that again comes down to the predictability of the entire movie. I liked the ice king's voice a little when he made his slimy personality come a little more to life, but that's pretty much it. The animation was a mixed bag. I really liked the backgrounds with their classic feel of hand-drawn paintings, but the character animation was sketchy and some times felt unnatural in their movements. The music was nice, with a dramatic pounding feel to it accompagnied by trumpets and other horns to make it sound epic. With all that said, maybe hardcore fantasy fans will like it, but I would skip it in favour of pretty much anything else.

Ostensibly a pulp movie for kids, this animation has many things I like in it, and should not be judged by first impressions.Yes, it has some hopeless plot fails.  Like it seems that the Fire King can totally destroy Nekron at any time by releasing lava from the volcano.  The price is the collateral damage - all the intervening land is destroyed as well.  But hey, they can win the war anytime they want.  You could also make fun of Teegra's virtual nudity.  But maybe this is a tactical solution to a known problem?  If Dad has to take the kids to a PG movie on a Saturday morning, isn't it fair to put something in it to help the time pass nicely for him too?Normally on most movies, I have an idea what is going to happen next, but in this one, the next act is often a surprise.  Of course, it is expected that the Fire King will try sue for peace with   Nekron, and at the end, that Teegra will stop Larn from killing one of the troglodytes ... but this movie doesn't follow the 'established' script in the appalling way that Star Trek Beyond does, for example.For example, none of the baddies, not even Nekron, shows any sexual interest in Teegra.  Nekron, who speaks with a rather gay voice, is contemptuous of her, but is scarily powerful.  Indeed, all the way till the end it looks like he totally outclasses all the opposition and they don't stand a chance.  There is no finely balanced match between good and evil here: for Nekron its  a turkey shoot.  When he says of Larn "you interest me" so commands against killing him, you sense his boredom with life, and with the idiotic allies - and enemies - that he is surrounded by.I like the bit where Teegra steals some meat from Larn's fire, he then says "if you want it take it" and she replies "I am not a thief".  She then leads him flirtatiously to some red berries/cherries which he eats, then SHE stands proudly on a high rock.  There are enough interpretations of this 60 seconds alone to keep you entertained for a while.Later Teegra decides to head off home.  She doesn't invite Larn but just sets off without him!  So like a junior schoolboy, the big strong Larn has to tag along with the 100% feminine Teegra.  Its a nice demonstration of a true power play between the sexes. Feminists take note.When Larn and Teegra get dragged down by the lake monster, I expected them to fight together and even bond by it.  But Teegra swims off leaving Larn to his fate.  I don't think its cowardly and wrong, I actually think its correct, but this is not the kind of realism we are used to in children's or even adult's movies.  "Better one dies than two" is not the kind of mathematical morality we get normally, not even in Die Hard movies. Then for the rest of the movie till the end, she sadly and reluctantly assumes he is dead.Teegra is dropped off at the hut of Moleel, a lesbian witch who appears to want her as a sexual plaything.  So, Teegra is carried off by Artois, the hulking, dangerous looking monster (bad); then found to be in the hut of a kind and beautiful woman (good); then the woman wants to have sex with her (not sure what I'm supposed to be feeling right now?).  If there's one thing this movie is not, its predictable.Later, Teegra makes a bungled escape attempt.  But if it weren't for that, the rescue attempt by Larn and Darkwolf could have been successful.  As it was, it turned out to be a fiasco.  Now there's a plot twist I've never seen before.Nekron's response to Teegra's plea for a common humanity that can live in peace, is priceless.   For a while he seems genuinely baffled as to how to respond.  Is he weighing it up? Is he shocked by her openness and kindness? The normal 'bad guy' response is an instant "I spit on your kindness and humanity", but Nekron also says "I spit on you", to the beautiful and seductive Teegra.  I don't think I've seen this kind of bad guy confusion and contempt before in any fantasy or sci-fi.Nekron then tells his mother not to bring any more of her sluts to him.  Now it really looks like Nekron is gay, his mother doesn't seem to get it, and they have a relationship that Freud could have a field day with.Anyway, I've said enough.  I think this animation is a lost gem.

I loved this as a kid, but seeing it as a 19 year old I did like it but don't love it. While the animation is great, some of the effects have a choppy look to them, but the story and script were the biggest problems. The action scenes are great and I liked the sense of fantasy but overall the story is basically a very overly-simplistic good vs. evil tale. The script is very cheesy and meandering. However, the animation is great, with beautiful backgrounds, strong colours and characters that are reasonably well modelled. The characters are engaging enough, nothing extraordinary, but at least effort is done to make us care for them. The music is both rousing and mystical. The voice acting is good considering what they had to work with. Overall, good but imperfect. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The title of my review says it all. I saw the movie yesterday and I enjoyed it but...BUT...The movie was - in fact - extremely stupid. And by saying "extremely stupid" I am actually being nice. I mean, it looks like a great fantasy adventure, it is very well animated, the action scenes are absolutely great...Sadly, the screenplay is absolutely horrible. It really is. 'Fire and Ice' is probably the most terribly written animated movie that I have ever seen, and I have sen a lot. The dialogue is just horrible. I saw the movie like 13 hours ago and I can barely remember what the characters were saying, and what I do remember is a few lines that sounded like they came straight out of some gamebook like the "Fighting Fantasy" books written by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson. The characterization... Well... There is just no such thing here. All characters depend on the way they were drawn, not on the way they were written. The "I Am Blonde And Brave" hero, the "I Am Here Just Because I Am Naked" princess, the "I Have Covered My Face With A Mask For No Reason At All And I Have An Ax" masked man with the ax, the "Look How Evil I Am MUHAHAHA" villain... You would know pretty much everything about every single character in the movie as soon as you saw them.The setting certainly looks nice. Everything is perfectly drawn. BUT... Well, if you are less than 14 years old boy you are probably going to love it. There are DINOSAURS! There is A KRAKEN! There are ORCS! There are AZTEC BUILDINGS!!! What is not to like? Well... It is just absurd. It looks nice but these things just don't go well together. Actually I would love it if it was relevant to the story but it just wasn't. The kraken, for example, appeared for less than a minute and it didn't add anything to the story. The Aztec buildings were there just because they look beautiful and for no other reason at all - no one event entered any of them. Etc.Now... I am going to stop with the criticisms and I am going to write what I liked about the movie. There is really a lot to be liked, especially when it comes to the quality of the animation. At that time there was no CGI-magic and everything had to be drawn by hand. Yet the characters are very detailed and their moves are extremely smooth. One can rarely see so well animated sword battles even in the finest Japanese anime movies. They move like real, living people, and by saying that I am not exaggerating at all. The fights are masterfully choreographed, the stunts are just stunning, and combined with the beautifully looking set designs the effect is just breathtaking. If that is what you like, see the movie. But if you want good characters, story and dialogue, look somewhere else. Really.