Fire And Ice [DVD] [1982]

It's quite a barebones story. You have your evil guy who's evil just because. You have your good guys who you know are good because they're fighting the bad guy. The one character that has implied depth is the wolf-helm hunter guy, but it doesn't really go anywhere. I was actually expecting it to be revealed that he was the villain's father since who exactly that is was left out of the intro, if I remember correctly. It's incredibly formulaic and by the numbers, yet you get the feeling this is intentional. The title says it all really, two opposing elements. That's all it's trying to convey.There are some interesting detours into little scenes that add depth or intrigue to the world, like the short part with the witch in the cottage and her ogre-ish manservant who it turns out she is somewhat emotionally attached to. There's an implication that the fire king, effectively the leader of the last humans in this world, is willing to sacrifice his son to get his daughter back. When his son dies, he really just shrugs. A heirarchy within the "dogs of Nekron" is implied, and they seem to have their own animalistic language. Just little touches that bring some much needed depth or detail to the story.Perhaps the most interesting thing is the setting. On one hand, it's extremely simple (fire land, ice land, like an old 16-bit platformer) but there's an interesting atmosphere brought on by the fact this is really a post-apocalyptic setting more than a fantasy one (I know they're not mutually exclusive, but this really is 95% post-apocalyptic, 5% fantasy). The enemies seem more like mutated humans than orcs or goblins. Nekron is inducing an ice age across the world and there's just one holdout for humanity left. The natural low-techness of the fantasy setting feels equally at home in an post-apocalyptic world.In summary, this is sometimes bland, never particularly amazing, yet enjoyable and atmospheric all the same.

I have adored this film ever since I was a kid and I still watch it roughly once a year even though I'm now 43. Overlook the daft bits where you ask how the heroine is coping with running around the arctic in a bikini, because the rest of the story flies along at such a pace, with great characters, properly nasty, bloody spattering combat scenes and genuinely scary 'Why do the living disturb the sleep of the dead ?' moments. Also, the classical score is FANTASTIC all the way through and perfectly accentuates the action. Not sure why one of the heroes looks uncannily like Batman. Bit odd that, but easily forgiven. Just remembered the dragonhawks ! Oh, oh, and the kraken type thing and the lava and the chase through the jungle on the cliff top ! Look, just buy this !

You will not be disappointed if you're into real fantasy adventure classics, this was truly wonderful animation, this is what art is suppose to achieve, an instant classic.

Just watched this and not really sure what to make of it all. In a weird way I quite enjoyed it but a very thin plot line to put it mildly, all sorts of odd things like why is everyone in an ice realm running around practically naked. But if you're looking for a way to waste an hour or so there are worse things you could do.

i love this animation has a good solid storyline and the artwork is fabulous if you have the original lord of the rings animation then i would definitely look to adding this one to your collection if you haven't already

Though Only an Hour Long and for the time it was made I was very surprised buy how much I enjoyed this "film" well worth a watch

Avid collector of Ralf Bakshi, one of his first animated films which is quite acceptable.

This film is not as popular as Lord of the Rings, but is beautifully animated, and is as close to an anime Conan film as you are ever likely to get. No special features on discs but a must for Bakshi fans or anime fans.