Introduction:
The early ‘80s was a boom time
for fans of fantasy films. While not all the films were amazing, there was
still plenty big names that have remained fantasy classics, with Conan the Barbarian probably being the
most famous. But independent animation director Ralph Bakshi tried a second go
at the genre and joined forces with one of the most popular fantasy illustrators
of the time Frank Frazetta. Let’s see what happened…
Summary:
Lord Nekron (Stephen Mendel),
who has to be evil with a name like that, is using his magical forces to push a
ginormous glacier into the more temperate kingdoms and making a lot of enemies
to boot. Larn (William Ostrander) is the only survivor of his destroyed village
and on the run from Nekron’s legions of sub-humans. At the same time, princess
Teegra (Maggie Roswell) finds herself captured, and escaping and getting
captured again as part of a plot to get her father to surrender his kingdom.
Then there is the mysterious adventurer Darkwolf (Steve Sandor) who wears a
wolf’s head mask and wields a huge battle-axe. He’s got a score to settle with evil
ice lord. These characters will clash in an animated epic battle of Fire and Ice.
Good Points:
- Frazetta’s signature style is expertly captured in the animation
- Some of the action set pieces are excellent
- Tons and tons of animated fan service
Bad Points:
- The plot is really basic, but still manages to meander
- The stylized animation is not everyone’s cup of tea
- All the flesh on display is going to distract and disturb plenty of viewers
If you know what you’re
getting, this is a really solid sword and sorcery adventure. It’s got some
great scale to the setting, but the story is simple and straightforward, as
opposed to something like Lord of the
Rings. All the half nude bodies on display will either elevate your
enjoyment or leave you feeling dirty. But the imagination on display and the
way the whole visual experience creates a unique world makes it worth checking
out for animation fans.
Scores
(out of 5)
Visuals: 4
Sound: 4
Acting: 3
Script: 3
Music: 3
Direction: 4
Entertainment: 4
Total: 3
In Depth Review
In Depth Review
Ralph Bakshi’s take on Lord of the Rings in 1978 didn’t win
him a lot of friends. Fans of the novels hated his editing and adapting of the
story and characters. Newcomers to the story were confused as he tried to cram
a book and a half of material into a movie 132 minutes long. Fans of his
previous work like Fritz the Cat and
Wizards were left wondering where
the edgy animator went wrong.
I don’t hate his version of
Tolkien’s story. It has a lot of good points (I’ll probably do a review of it
somewhere down the line) and it introduced me to the world and got me into the
books. But I think Bakshi understood that the elements of high fantasy were not
what his style of animation was best at capturing. So it made perfect sense to
team up with Frazetta, and utilize his more physical visuals for something more
brutal and primal.
Bakshi was really into using
rotoscope animation, where actors are filmed and then animated over. This
technique has been around for ages, and was used way back for Gulliver’s Travels and the old Superman cartoons from the ‘30s. If
used correctly it lends realism to the movement of the characters, something
difficult to achieve until the advent of motion capture in the 1990s. Bakshi’s
results are decidedly mixed in Lord of
the Rings but Fire and Ice gets
it all right.
Check out the first chase
scene where Larn leads the sub-humans on a chase into a dense jungle. The
movement of the characters, the way the camera angles around to capture the
action and the tight editing keeps everything kinetic and exciting. The use of
rotoscoping really adds to the scene and helps it work. In nearly every action
scene, the same effect is captured.
One scene where rotoscoping
is not used is during the assault on Nekron’s ice fortress by the flying dragon
hawks. But the animation here is really top notch, with the beasts hurtling
through ice caverns, dodging rocks and arrows and losing riders. William
Kraft’s score kicks into overdrive here, combining the bombastic and the heroic
very well. It gets a bit corny at times, but it’s still effective.
As straightforward as the
story is, the script could have used a bit more tightening. Teegra spends most
of the movie captured or escaping. It gets so redundant it feels comical. In addition
there is a strange interlude with a couple characters who are introduced, and
then killed off about five minutes later. This scene barely moves the story
forward and gives us nothing new, except for a different half naked woman to
look at.
Yeah, the amount of skin in
this movie is pretty ridiculous. Frazetta is known for his mostly nude fantasy
babes and completely ripped sword slingers, so it all fits with the style. But
the movie makes sure to show you every last bit of beefcake and cheesecake you
can image. Teegra’s introduction is practically soft-core, and the amount of
running she does will break any jiggle counter you have handy. There’s nothing
racy in the actual film, but it is all about titillation.
