Fire and Ice - 4K UHD SteelBook (MVD Shop Exclusive)

Film collaborations can be tricky endeavors among the variety of creative personalities. Sometimes, what you’d think would be the perfect pairing of creative minds can be a disastrous clash of egos. Other times it’s pure kismet; certain people were simply born to work together, and the fruit of their labors lives on at 24 frames per second. Thus, we have the iconic pairing of fantasy artist Frank Frazetta and animator Ralph Bakshi for the grand fantasy epic Fire and Ice. 

A war is brewing across the land. From the treacherous castle Icepeak, the evil lord Nekron and his mother, Queen Juliana, push their glacial empire south towards King Jarol and Firekeep. Caught in the middle, Larn, the last warrior of a primitive settlement, is on the run from Nekron’s subhuman army. When Nekron’s beasts kidnap Jarol’s daughter Teegra, Larn and the mysterious barbarian warrior Darkwolf will be the only ones capable of rescuing her and stopping Nekron's reign of magic and evil. 

That is about as brief as I can get without getting into the obnoxious flow of “and this happens, and then this happens, oh, and then this badass part happens!” There are only a few movies that turn me into a poor-man’s Chris Farley from his hilarious “Chris Farley Show” SNL skit, but Fire and Ice is one of them. “Did you see that part where that thing happened with the lizard? Cool. If you could have starred in Fire and Ice, would you? Cool!” 

To back up a tad, I love Fire and Ice because I grew up in the ‘80s loving that boom of sword-and-sorcerer films. If I found a stick in the woods that looked even remotely cool, it became my sword for the day. I devoured Conan: The Barbarian, Conan: The Destroyer, and the genre films that cropped up in its wake. I also started grabbing the Marvel Conan magazine comics, drawn in by the incredible cover artwork and the detailed pages within. It wasn’t long before I discovered the vivid art of Frank Frazetta and his contributions to Conan lore and fantasy storytelling as a whole. I may not have known who Frazetta was at the time, but I recognized the art instantly. Then the other piece of my childhood fell into place with Ralph Bakshi and his fluid, exciting rotoscope animation (it’s a lot more complicated than that, I know, but that’s the base). I was very young when I first saw Rankin/Bass’ The Hobbit and, by extension, Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings animated films, and I loved them. 

So, as a wee lad, when I discovered Fire and Ice on tape, I was 100 percent in my element (even if my mother vocally objected to Teegra’s scantily clad outfit and the violence even if it was rated PG). This film is the perfect marriage of styles from two incredibly unique artistic personalities. While it wasn’t always an easy job and the film hit a hard budget wall, their labor of love lives on. The film has a few story gaps, but nothing that you can’t overcome by imagination and faith that the story will play out. We might not get a lot of backstory between Firepeak and Icepeak beyond the opening narration, but we can imagine it’s a conflict that’s been waged for ages. We don’t know much about Larn or Darkwolf, but we can imagine their origins and the conflicts that have led them to cross paths. 

We can use our imaginations to fill in these small gaps in the story and plot because Fire and Ice is so artistically rich. Characterizations may be stripped down to their core (and not just in their costumes); we can still round them out by appreciating their intricate designs, their places within the story's world, and how they’re brought to life one cel at a time. Putting it bluntly, this is a movie I’m enthralled with every time I see it, and it immediately casts my mind into a place of wonder and amazement. As often as I’m pulled in by the story, I’m just as amazed by the artistry of the moment. Realistically, I don’t think it’s a perfect film. I do recognize that if they had some more time and a good bit more money to work with, we’d be watching a different film. However, even if they had to take shortcuts to finish the film, it’s still a moving work of art and a testament to Bakshi and Frazetta’s incredible imaginations. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
At long last, Blue Underground is able to take to their Dragon Hawks and unleash the fury of a fully restored Fire and Ice in a three-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray + CD Soundtrack in a glorious SteelBook case. The 4K is pressed on a UHD100 disc with a Region-Free BD50 serving up the bonus features with a CD delivering the amazing score. Also included is a slip with a track list for William Kraft’s score CD with a Frazettagirls add opposite. The discs come in the classic Frazetta artwork cover with a plastic slipcover adding the title. The discs load to animated main menus with standard navigation options. Currently, this set is an MVD Shop exclusive release. As of this writing, it's not available anywhere else, and then only in a SteelBook case.

For a project that has been in development for what felt like ages, Fire and Ice is finally here in 1.85:1 2160p Dolby Vision - and it was absolutely worth the wait! Fine line details are exquisite, allowing fans to fully absorb the character animations against those beautiful Thomas Kinkade backgrounds. The action animation is just as fluid and near-flawless as ever - the action sequences are truly breathtaking. The Dolby Vision grade is right on the spot, letting the bold color scheme of the different lands and kingdoms come to life, with plenty of primary pop. It does look like a bit of effort was made to clean up quite a bit of the cel dust in the animation. There are still a few moments here and there where it’s a tad heavy, but it’s hardly distracting or problematic. Film grain is retained throughout without any signs of smoothing, nor does it look like any sort of artificial sharpening was employed. The only “problem” I can see is one that’s been obvious since the videotape days, and that’s when they had to cut corners with the animation to finish the film. It looked hurried in SD and HD, and it still looks hurried in UHD. BUT, what I love is that it’s a beautiful, warts-and-all presentation, and I’m glad no effort was made to update or “fix” anything, like the iffy lava flow animations.

On the audio side of the A/V presentation, this set comes with three excellent tracks to choose from. We have a new Dolby Atmos mix, a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track, and a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track. Ok, so for the theatrical-experience purists out there, that DTS-HD MA 2.0 track is excellent and works beautifully without sounding like a downmix of the 5.1 track. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix is a fair compliment to the older DTS-HD MA 7.1 track of the 2009 Blu-ray, without sounding quite as loud; I always thought the levels were a bit too boosted for that mix, with the bass tones punched too hard. This 5.1 still delivers a strong surround spread with nice balance for dialog, music, and sound effects.

However, being the audio magicians that they are, I think Blue Underground has delivered another fabulous Atmos upgrade. I wouldn’t doubt the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 base mix is the same as the 2009 disc (don’t know that for sure), but with the extra spacing nuance, LFE impact, and the discrete object overhead activity, this track is a blast! Whenever Nekron raises the glaciers, man, that rumble in the floorboards is a kick! The Dragon Hawk flight is a wild ride with screeching creatures overhead, arrows flying from the right and left channels, impact thuds slipping into the front/center, and into the subs - I mean, come on, that’s just awesome auditory detail! Truly, you can’t go wrong with any of the audio options; you’ve got choices, but I gotta give full marks to the Atmos, it’s a beast. All audio options are available on the 4K and 1080p Blu-ray.

Also welcome to the set are a fine offering of new and archival extras. The excellent Bakshi/Laspina commentary returns, and if you’re a fan of the film and haven’t listened to it, definitely give it a spin sometime. We also get the solid archival featurettes, including The Making of Fire and Ice, the Bakshi-on-Frazetta piece, and actor San Hannon’s diary. Fleshing out the new set is a terrific fifteen-minute sitdown with Frank Frazetta’s granddaughter, Sara - she’s got a lot of wild memories about her grandfather and Bakshi, along with some fun notes about her current works and efforts to expand the story in comic books and the Frazetta Girls. The next piece is a cool short chat with Robert Rodriguez, who owns the original Frazetta Fire and Ice painting, detailing how he got to know and work with Frank, and his efforts to revisit Fire and Ice using new animation technologies. But, for fans, the real pick up for many will be the 70-minute, 21-track soundtrack CD - I’ve been running that pretty much nonstop through writing this review. Both sets of extras are included on the 4K and 1080p Blu-ray

4K UHD/Blu-ray Discs

• Audio Commentary featuring Ralph Bakshi and moderated by Lance Laspina
• NEW The Art of Fire and Ice: The Frank Frazetta Legacy with Sara Frazetta (HD 15:13)
• NEW Frank Frazetta’s Fire and Ice with Robert Rodriguez (HD 7:20)
• The Making of Fire and Ice (SD 13:27)
• Bakshi on Frazetta (SD 8:02)
• Sean Hannon’s Diary Notes (SD 14:07)
• Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery 
• Theatrical Trailer
• NEW Poster and Still Galleries (HD 1:17)

Soundtrack CD (70:20)

Again, through the nostalgic-fueled fandom, I will concede that Fire and Ice isn’t perfect. In fact, because of the budget and time constraints, it couldn’t be everything it set out to be. You may have to imagine some of the narrative backstory details to “complete the story,” but that’s relatively easy to do. The film sticks close to fantasy genre conventions but delivers a rich visual spectacle. It’s grand fantasy storytelling, and the film remains a standout in a genre that was oversaturated in the 1980s. Now, thanks to Blue Underground, we can watch the heroic exploits of Darkwolf, Larn, and Teegra with a glorious new 2160p Dolby Vision transfer. It’s genuine art in motion, and the new transfer never falters. Coupled with the new video upgrade, we have three excellent audio options to enjoy, including a dynamite Atmos track. Add in a couple of new retrospective interviews alongside all of the archival extras from the past disc, and you’ve got a set worthy of the shelf space upgrade. Highly Recommended 

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