Fire and Ice (1983)

54% of users liked it
(7,939 ratings)

Ralph Bakshi's last stab at epic fantasy takes place shortly after the Ice Age. The evil queen Juliana (voice of Eileen O'Reill) plots to conquer the world and raises her son Nekron (Sean Hannon) as a master of sorcery and arcane mental powers. Together the two conquer the Ice Kingdom, and from… More Ralph Bakshi's last stab at epic fantasy takes place shortly after the Ice Age. The evil queen Juliana (voice of Eileen O'Reill) plots to conquer the world and raises her son Nekron (Sean Hannon) as a master of sorcery and arcane mental powers. Together the two conquer the Ice Kingdom, and from their stronghold Nekron commands massive glaciers to destroy everything between them and their ultimate goal: Fire Keep, ruled by the wise and powerful King Jarol Leo Gordon. Nekron's latest advance destroys a Northern village, leaving Larn (Randy Norton) the sole survivor, bent on revenge; it also exhausts Nekron, who resorts to sending emissaries to coerce Jarol into surrendering. When words fail, they resort to kidnapping Jarol's daughter Teegra (Cynthia Leake), who escapes and accidentally hooks up with Larn. Aided by the mysterious masked warrior Darkwolf (Steve Sandor), they attempt to return to Fire Keep and mobilize their warriors to bring the fight to Nekron. ~ Emru Townsend, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 21 min.
Directed By: Ralph Bakshi
Genres: Action & Adventure, Animation, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Cult Movies

In Theaters: Aug 26, 1983 Wide
On DVD: Aug 30, 2005

Critic Reviews

Felix Gonzalez Jr., DVD Review
The Blu-ray transfer is solid, although owners of the 2-disc DVD set may want to hang on to that documentary.
Felix Gonzalez Jr., DVD Review
Its ambiguously gay villain notwithstanding, Fire and Ice just doesn't hold the weight, either visually or thematically, that its creators probably hoped it would.
Brent Simon, Now Playing Magazine
A worn if decently stitched together amalgamation of fantasy cliché... the movie's occasional visual punch is undeniable.
Mark Palermo, Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Fire and Ice plays like a longer, slower He-Man and the Masters of the Universe episode - with of course the bonus of Bakshi's dependable booty fixation.
Rob Vaux, Flipside Movie Emporium
A supremely silly (if technically adept) tribute to fantasy artist Frank Frazetta.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

I wanted more from this movie, being a fan of Bakshi's I expected something really cool looking, modern, edgy, and controversial. This is a more traditional fantasy adventure, and while it has some scary characters and a bit of nudity, it's not that good. It's not… More
I wanted more from this movie, being a fan of Bakshi's I expected something really cool looking, modern, edgy, and controversial. This is a more traditional fantasy adventure, and while it has some scary characters and a bit of nudity, it's not that good. It's not bad, the animation is good, but the story is bad.
Conner R

Very cool movie, for pure entertainment it's amazing. Sure it's not loaded with intelligence, but it's a lot more refreshing than a Disney adventure with singing and morals. This is more in the reign of Heavy Metal in that there's a ton of sexuality and violence.… More
Very cool movie, for pure entertainment it's amazing. Sure it's not loaded with intelligence, but it's a lot more refreshing than a Disney adventure with singing and morals. This is more in the reign of Heavy Metal in that there's a ton of sexuality and violence. The Frank Frazetta backdrops are utterly breath-taking, no wonder Conan is one of my favorites. Darkwolf is the best, the guy sure knows how to cut people up.
Phil H

Haven't seen this for along time but really enjoyed seeing it again :) another brilliant Bakshi rotoscope animation which looks even better and more fluid than his famous LOTR film. The plot is basic and the whole thing plays out alittle too quickly (1h 18min) but the direct and… More
Haven't seen this for along time but really enjoyed seeing it again :) another brilliant Bakshi rotoscope animation which looks even better and more fluid than his famous LOTR film. The plot is basic and the whole thing plays out alittle too quickly (1h 18min) but the direct and simple fairytale approach really seems to work well despite being silly. The look of the film is like LOTR in design and colour schemes, its vibrant in places, eerie in others and shows nice details throughout. It does feel like there could be much more to see in this world, you just wanna see it expand further with more creatures and adventures, as said the film is kinda limited and short, a sequel would of been just the ticket. Really this could be a chapter from the 'Rings' franchise with names like Fire Keep, Nekron, Darkwolf, Teegra, Larn etc....Bakshi having done LOTR obviously helped allot here but there is also a clear 'Conan' feeling running through this too thanks to writers from Marvel, its pure 80's fantasy to a tee :) Again like LOTR the voice work is great and really makes the whole thing more than just a cartoon, the rotoscoping is better than LOTR (made after LOTR) and looks more realistic (quite eerie actually) the film is much more adult in style and action, plenty of blood and killing, a real comicbook style film. This is great fun and could really be a decent adult fantasy live action film if made correctly but I stress ADULT only, Teegra must be running around in her skimpy thong and straddling a Pterodactyl if this is gonna work haha
_kelly .

bakshi's most disappointing work
Mike T

Thematically, this is very dull work for Bakshi, and it's dull in terms of most of its execution too. The animation is interesting and often quite stunning, but that is the extent of this film's appeal. The dialogue is too cliche-ridden to work, the character designs are… More
Thematically, this is very dull work for Bakshi, and it's dull in terms of most of its execution too. The animation is interesting and often quite stunning, but that is the extent of this film's appeal. The dialogue is too cliche-ridden to work, the character designs are ridiculous and the story contains nothing that couldn't be found in a superior fantasy movie.
Marion R

It was a fun watch, simple to follow. Interesting animation, sorta set in like the stone age. Same director as Wizards Ralph Bakshi.