Fire and Ice 4K 1983 Ultra HD 2160p

This full-length fantasy animated film is set in a fictional land during the rise to power of the mighty Queen Juliana, who plotted to conquer the entire world. She assembled an army and trained her son, Necron, in black magic. Together, they conquered the entire icy continent. The remnants of humanity gathered in the land of volcanoes under the leadership of King Gerald in the Castle of Fire. This wonderful animated film tells the story of the battle between the forces of fire and ice. Amid subhumans and flying hawk-dragons, the fair-haired hero Larn battles the forces of evil. The king’s sensual and gentle daughter, Tigra, has fallen into trouble after being kidnapped by the villains.

User Review

The fantasy animated film *Fire and Ice*, directed by Ralph Bakshi, is frequently mentioned in all sorts of lists and periodically pops up in various themed publications. This film, created using rotoscoping, is one of those that many have heard of, yet there is practically nothing substantial to say about it.

“Fire and Ice” is an example of heroic fantasy unburdened by excessive meaning, with a plot reduced to the black-and-white simplicity of a chessboard. The action unfolds in a world where society is at a primitive stage of development, yet features elements typical of fantasy—magic, ghosts, and monsters. Contrary to genre stereotypes, good is represented by the element of fire, and the wise king lives among lava flows. The main villain, named Necron, in turn, represents the opposing element and sits upon an icy throne. The name is not misleading—the icy king has not mastered the art of raising the dead, even though he is deathly pale. And the villain clearly hasn’t had much luck with his army either, for while the scorching south is populated entirely by learned people, only savages dwell among the glaciers. The local version of orcs is rapidly advancing on the southern lands, slitting the throats of anyone who crosses their path. Needless to say, there will be a few brave heroes, ready to overthrow the dark lord with few in number but great skill, and at the same time rescue Princess Tigr (who has nothing to do with either cats or the famous Disney character) from the villain’s captivity. Tigra, by the way, is the “highlight” of the entire film, and you can safely bet that without her, the cartoon would have faded into obscurity long ago. The fact is that this local aristocrat walks around everywhere completely naked, except for a triangular scrap of fabric covering her pubic area—definitely a memorable image. The girl makes no attempt to hide her other, rather exaggerated charms, and even skillfully uses them at times when she wants to lead the gawking savages by the nose. As a result, for a good third of the film, the viewer is treated to views of this drawn beauty from all sorts of accentuated angles, but fortunately (or unfortunately, for some), that’s where the eroticism ends.

The two main good guys are absolutely typical of heroic fantasy—that is, they’re something like noble mountains of muscle—either they dispatch enemies with Schwarzenegger-like ease, or the enemies themselves bounce off them. Moreover, the fight scenes lack spectacle and boil down to the rather banal slaughter of every enemy that crosses their path. Perhaps this is a significant drawback of rotoscoping, since, essentially, all the scenes had to be filmed with live actors, and staging is, after all, crucial here.

Conclusion: This film is unlikely to appeal to you unless you’re a passionate fan of martial fantasy or an appreciator of the purely technical aspects of animation. Fortunately, the simple dialogue about the clash of two elements, interspersed with fights set to inspiring music (the soundtrack is another modest plus for the film), fits into a relatively short runtime.

Info Video

Codec: HEVC / H.265 (85.8 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Info Audio

#English: Dolby TrueHD with Dolby Atmos 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
#English: Dolby Digital 5.1
#English: FLAC 2.0
#English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Commentary by director/co-producer/co-writer Ralph Bakshi, moderated by Lance Laspina)

Info Subtitles