From The Director Of The Original Animated LORD OF THE RINGS And The Illustrator Of CONAN THE BARBARIAN
It began as a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between two of the greatest icons of the fantasy genre: Controversial animator Ralph Bakshi (director of FRITZ THE CAT, WIZARDS and the original THE LORD OF THE RINGS) and legendary illustrator Frank Frazetta (creator of the iconic CONAN THE BARBARIAN, VAMPIRELLA and Edgar Rice Burroughs book covers). It became – and remains – one of the most startling animation epics of all time. Now experience a world unlike any ever seen, where savage warriors, horrific monsters and luscious maidens battle for the soul of a civilization in a time of good and evil, pleasure and pain, and FIRE & ICE
This long-unavailable cult favorite has been remastered in High Definition from the original vault materials, remixed in stunning 6.1 DTS-ES and 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX, and loaded with exciting Extras.
Disc 2 contains FRAZETTA: PAINTING WITH FIRE, the acclaimed 93 minute documentary that explores the remarkable life and career of the man who changed fantasy art forever.
Archer Winsten, NEW YORK POST
“Fantastic Monsters, Nightmarish Visions And Gobs Of Action!”The mighty-muscled heroes and big-bottomed babes of fantasy artist Frank Frazetta inspired animator Ralph Bakshi (Fritz the Cat, Wizards) to create the swords-and-sorcery epic Fire and Ice. Bakshi uses a technique called rotoscoping, which uses live-action film of actors as the template for animation, allowing him to put realistic action into fantastic environments. The verisimilitude of movement in a cartoon can be startling, but that’s about all Fire and Ice has to offer; the wafer-thin story, overwrought characters, and clumsy dialogue are vapid cliches. Of much greater interest are the extras in this two-disc set, including a making-of feature that demonstrates the painstaking process of rotoscoping; enthusiastic commentary from Bakshi, who’s a jovial, down-to-earth guy with a thick Brooklyn accent; deliriously fatuous diary notes from one of the actors; and a feature-length documentary called Frazetta: Painting with Fire, which reveals the artist to be more intriguing than any of the barbarians he’s famous for. The effusive praise of other fantasy artists and “Frazetta historians” occasionally veers into Spinal Tap territory, but it’s fascinating watching Frazetta turn from a 1950s James-Dean-style tough guy into the king of fantasy art. Though his work is often dismissed as adolescent kitsch, the documentary persuasively argues that Frazetta deservedly dominates his corner of the art world. –Bret Fetzer
Buy “Fire and Ice “ For Only $18.05
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March 12, 2010
#1
Well, chances are if you stumbled upon this DVD it is because you are a fan already. Fire and Ice has existed for years now on VHS and poor-quality, bootleg DVD. Finally it has arrived officialy on DVD and hopefully it will boast great quality. From the looks of the description and sound it will…
But for a while now I have been deciding whether or not to buy the Frank Frazetta: Painting with Fire DVD which runs over twenty dollars. Since it is included with this movie, on the surface it seems like a great deal. The problem is, from what I can tell of the description, the second disc only contains the actual biography portion of the Frazetta DVD and not the bonus features. So basically, if you buy this Fire and Ice DVD, from what I can tell, you will be missing the bonus features found on the Frank Frazetta: Painting with Fire DVD…a minor strike, but a strike none the less.
March 13, 2010
#2
I bought Frazzetta: Painting with Fire a few months a go. The second disc was awful. The extra features were not that great. It was not worth $25. Now it comes out with Fire and Ice for free. I feel cheated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 13, 2010
#3
He is awesome. Anyone who dobuts the Rotoscope, see this movie.
Know what’s cooler? If you are an illustrator/animator, you could do that movie today? (Hopefully something original along those lines)
Just get Poser 5 or higher, a good animation software package (ToonBoom seems to be leading) and work out a storyboard. Then, have the 3D figs act out the basic moves and trace over them, using the computer to extend your art style.
A literal “Animated Movie” would still be a labor of Hercules, but 3-10 minute shorts would be quite doable;-)
March 13, 2010
#4
I saw this movie in the theater as a kid and absolutely LOVED it. I had a VHS copy of it quite a few years ago, but I probably only watched it once. It’s a shame when you remember a movie so fondly, but when you revisit it, you wonder to yourself, “why did I like this movie?” The animation that was so good way back when this was made looks pretty silly now. But the worst part is how dirty the film is. It looks like the source film was stored on the floor of a garage in the Sahara. There is so much dirt on just about EVERY frame of the film that it becomes VERY distracting. Did they not even try to clean up the original print?
There is a 15 minute “making of” documentary that is even more laughable. Before the documentary starts, there is a screen that explains that they could not find any of the original “making of” material. So they resorted to transferring the personal VHS copy of Ralph Baskshi. I guess it’s better than nothing, but the quality is so bad that it’s pretty hard to watch.
Overall I was EXTREMELY disappointed in this movie. I would say only people that are HUGE fans of this movie should bother buying this. Even then, I’m pretty sure you’ll be disappointed.
March 13, 2010
#5
I saw this movie in the theater when I was a kid and loved it. When it was released on to VHS I was probably one of the first people to buy it. Loved it still. Finally, i got off my wallet and bought it on DVD thinking it was going to be a great entertainment investment. Sadly, my VHS copy looks better. the producers didnt digitally remaster a single cell in this version. I’m not asking to remake it in CGI or anything, but cleaning it up a bit would have been nice.