Artists Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta and writers Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas teamed up to create Fire and Ice, a fantasy adventure set at the end of the last great Ice Age. Combining Frazetta’s visual style and Bakshi’s rotoscoping technique make for a visually captivating movie, which Bakshi describes on the commentary track as “a comic book adaptation of Frank Frazetta.” The 3-Disc Limited Edition from Blue Underground includes 4K UHD Blu-ray, a remastered Blu-ray, and a soundtrack CD, in collectible SteelBook packaging with clear slipcover.
Buy Fire and Ice 4K release exclusively from MVD ShopThe film opens with a prologue revealing Queen Juliana’s (performed by Eileen O’Neill / voiced by Susan Tyrrell) desire for conquest. She uses her son Nekron’s (performed by Sean Hannon / voiced by Stephen Mendel) magical powers to advance glaciers and breech a village on their way to Fire Keep. She sends emissaries to the volcanic castle of King Jarol (Leo Gordon) with terms of surrender, which is a ruse to distract as subhumans kidnap Princess Teegra (performed by Cynthia Leake / voiced by Maggie Roswell). While stopping for rest, Teegra reveals her guile and escapes the subhumans.
In the forest, Teegra encounters Larn (performed by Randy Norton / voiced by William Ostrander), the lone survivor of a village destroyed by glaciers. They come to trust one another, but are soon separated by what the lands hold. As Larn searches for her, he encounters the mysterious Darkwolf (Steve Sandor), a man wearing a panther headdress. They endeavor to rescue Teegra while at the same time Teegra’s brother Prince Taro (Ostrander) leads a team to negotiate her freedom from Ice Peak but doesn’t trust Nekron.
A brand-new restoration has been scanned in 4K 16-bit from the original negative and the video is presented in Dolby Vision HDR at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. A variety of colors appear in strong hues, particularly red and orange of fire. Blacks and inky and whites accurate. The characters are outlined in black lines. The hand-painted backgrounds evoke loose brush work of the Impressionists. The rotoscoping of actors bring a realism to the characters. The image looks clean and there’s a slight film grain.
Audio is available in Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD MA 5.1, and DTS-HD MA 2.0. Dialogue is clear. Effects are positioned and move across channels adding a sense of space to the action. Composer William Kraft’s engaging score fills the surrounds and evokes the mood of the scene. The audio was free of hiss or defect.
The Extras are:
- Audio Commentary with Co-Producer/Director Ralph Bakshi
- The Art of Fire and Ice: The Frank Frazetta Legacy with Sara Frazetta (15 min) – Granddaughter Sara, who was around at the time speaks of Frank’s working on the film and his thoughts in this new interview.
- Frank Frazetta’s Fire and Ice with Robert Rodriguez (7 min) – A new featurette with director Rodriguez, fan of both Frank and Ralph, who hired Frank to do movie poster for From Dusk Till Dawn and wanted to make a live-action Fire and Ice.
- The Making of Fire and Ice (13 min) comes from Bakshi’s personal VHS copy, no “original film and/or tape elements” were found,
- Bakshi on Frazetta (8 min)
- Sean Hannon’s Diary Notes (14 min)
- Behind-the-Scenes Photo Gallery (13 min)
- Theatrical Trailer
- Poster & Still Galleries
Fire and Ice is a thrilling adventure featuring brilliant animation and a great script filled with twists that keep the viewer as off guard as the characters as they travel lands unfamiliar to them and what they contain. This new Limited Edition set from Blue Underground should thrill fans and collectors with the quality of the high-def presentation, the extras, and especially because of the bonus inclusion of the soundtrack.
