Fire and Ice [Blu-ray]

Overview

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

Product Details

Release Date:	09/01/2009
UPC:	0827058700290
Original Release:	1983
Rating:	PG
Source:	Blue Underground
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Surround EX]
Language:	English
Time:	1:21:00
Sales rank:	11,448

Special Features

Audio Commentary with Producer/Director Ralph Bakshi; ; The Making of Fire and Ice; Bakshi of Frazetta; Sean Hannon's Diary Notes; Behind-the-Scenes Photo Gallery; Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

William Ostrander	Larn/Taro,Larn / Taro
Maggie Roswell	Teegra
Steve Sandor	Darkwolf
Stephen Mendel	Nekron
Leo Gordon	Jarol
Susan Tyrrell	Juliana
Elizabeth Lloyd Shaw	Roleil
Mickey Morton	Otwa
Clare Nono	Tutor
Big Yank	Mongo
Greg Elam	Pako,Actor
Holly Frazetta	Subhuman Priestess
Alan Koss	Envoy
Hans Howes	Defender Captain
James Bridges	Subhuman,Actor
Shane Callan	Subhuman
Archie Hamilton	Subhuman
Michael Kelloff	Subhuman
Dale Park	Subhuman
Douglas Payton	Subhuman
Candy Candido	Actor
Emma Samms	Actor
Raymond Oliver	subhuman
Nathan Purdee	subhuman
Le Tari	subhuman
Cynthia Leake	Voices
Randy Norton	Voices
William Kraft	Composer

Technical Credits

Frank Frazetta

Gerry Conway

Roy Thomas

Ralph Bakshi	Director,Producer
Frank Frazetta	Producer,Screenwriter
John W. Hyde	Executive Producer,Producer
Richard R. St. Johns	Executive Producer,Producer
Tom Tataranowicz	Director
Gerry Conway	Screenwriter
Roy Thomas	Screenwriter
Steve Maslow	Sound/Sound Designer
Bill Varney	Sound/Sound Designer
Gregg Landaker	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Although known for his adult, urban-themed animated films like Heavy Traffic, Coonskin, and American Pop, Ralph Bakshi also had a soft spot for fantasy -- the most famous (or perhaps infamous) example being the 1978 Lord of the Rings. Five years after attempting to take on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic, Bakshi tackled a more conventional sword-and-sorcery tale in the bare-chested, monosyllabic vein of Conan the Barbarian. Teamed up with veteran comics writers Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas and prodigious fantasy artist Frank Frazetta, Bakshi should have made Fire and Ice into a sweeping, imaginative epic; instead, you get the feeling that this has all been done before. The trouble is, it has been. From the moment Larn and his people set up barriers against an unknown menace, you know his village will be decimated and that he'll go on a quest for revenge. You also know that as soon as he spots Princess Teegra in her barely-there outfit, he'll be doing a whole lot of rescuing until the inevitable fade-out with the two of them embracing. Despite its clichés, it's not hard to see why Fire and Ice remains a cult favorite; the story structure is solid, and never feels sluggish. And despite Bakshi's typical use of rotoscoping -- tracing over film footage of live actors -- Frazetta's designs and Bakshi's direction occasionally provide some genuinely involving imagery.

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