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Greetings gentle readers and welcome to another installment of the Sunday Morning Movie. Today’s offering comes from esteemed reader AG, this one’s for the fantasy crowd, Fire & Ice:
and next week’s film, The Weather Report:
Reviews of Fire and Ice:
SciFiDimensions says:
One of the most consistently praised aspects of “Fire and Ice” is its visual style. The film utilizes rotoscoping, a technique where animators trace over live-action footage, giving the characters a remarkably realistic and fluid movement. Many critics acknowledge that this animation, coupled with the film’s overall aesthetic, is its most significant achievement.
Striking Visuals: Reviewers often use terms like “visually stunning,” “breathtaking,” and “imaginative” to describe the film’s appearance. The landscapes, character designs, and action sequences are lauded for their detail and vibrancy.
Frazetta’s Influence: The unmistakable influence of Frank Frazetta’s artwork is another major draw. His iconic depictions of barbarian warriors, scantily clad heroines, and monstrous creatures are faithfully translated into the animated medium. This connection to Frazetta’s art has drawn in many fans of fantasy illustration.
Unique Style: The unique animation style, while sometimes criticized for its stiffness (a consequence of early rotoscoping technology), is also recognized as a defining feature of the film. It creates a distinct visual identity that sets it apart from other animated films of the era.
and
Nerdly says:
Fire and Ice was a 1983 film, brought to us by the Fantasy union of the twin towers of director Ralph Bakshi and fantasy art icon Frank Frazetta. Bakshi might not be to everyone’s cup of tea (his take on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings seems decidedly sour), but there can be no denying that there is serious talent behind Fire and Ice. Bakshi was known to use the Rotoscope technique, that is, filming with conventional actors, but then having artists draw over the film, which creates an incredible animated style that can look breathtaking in full flow.
Frank Frazetta’s work is iconic, despite that word being devalued for the last 20 years, the man remains a legend of fantasy art and design. He created countless fantasy works (plus comics). These often let the reader drink deeply from his incredible style and imagine what world this was, who might be the heroes and who might be the villains. He got an incredible amount of information, or inspiration, across in a picture, or a few frames of the comics he worked on. The man had real talent.
Large sections of Fire and Ice work fantastically. The art and “show, don’t tell” world-building work really well. The minimal script and the way the film introduces us to this incredible fantasy world are at times very interesting.
My take: There is some really fantastic animation here. You may flinch at the boobs, butts, and Othered individuals but set that aside for an hour plus and you will have a good time with the action and amazing visuals. The final battle between the berserker and the evil wizard is awesome; the inability for the wizard to hold the berserker in place has had a direct influence on the Dungeons & Dragons concept of the barbarian berserker class, if I’m not mistaken. I give it ⭐⭐, worth a second look.
Director: Ralph Bakshi
Writers: Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas
Plot:
In a world far from our own, an evil wizard is on the move. His name is Nekron and he controls ice, specifically a giant glacier that is crushing everything in its path. He is headed for Fire Keep, where a beneficent king rules with his beautiful daughter Teegra at his side.
Larn is a young warrior whose tribe has been crushed by the glacier. His path crosses with Teegra’s when she is captured by Nekron’s evil soldier but manages to escape. They make their way across hostile terrain with foes surrounding them. Their only ally is Darkwolf, a barbarian warrior worth ten men in battle.
Things come to a head when the trio confront Nekron in his ice palace. Darkwolf and Nekron face off in the throne room. Nekron’s magic is fierce, but Darkwolf is fiercer. The wizard falls. Larn and Teegra head back to Fire Keep and Darkwolf heads off into the wild.
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Bonuses:
Terry Gilliam – Storytime (1968)
THE ART & IMAGINATION OF WINSOR McCAY
A look at one of the most significant figures in the history of both illustration and animation. And one of the reasons I wanted to be an illustrator in the first place.
The Art of Noriyoshi Ohrai (Slideshow)
Noriyoshi Ohrai (1935 – 2015) was an incredibly prolific Japanese illustrator and painter, notable in the west for his international poster for The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and his many Godzilla posters and illustrations. At home in Japan he illustrated over 1,300 book and magazine covers, video game box art, movie posters and portraits.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF GEORGES BEUVILLE HD 1080p
Georges Beuville is yet another illustrator I was completely unaware of until a few years ago when I discovered his breathtaking work and instantly became a major admirer. Of course I featured him as an unsung hero but as with others I now feel this didn’t do him justice. So here, despite the appalling lack of meaningful information about his life, is my tribute to him and his fascinating body of distinctive images.
The Art of Philippe ‘Manchu’ Bouchet (Slideshow)
Philippe Bouchet (born 19 March 1956), better known as Manchu, is a French science-fiction illustrator with hundreds of book, magazine and comic covers to his name. He also contibuted to French / Japanese animated series Once Upon a Time… Space and Ulysses 31.
Traffic Sound – Virgin (FULL ALBUM, 1969, Peru)
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin (Remaster) [Official Full Album]
Tracklist
0:00:00 Good Times Bad Times (Remaster)
0:02:46 Babe I’m Gonna Leave You (Remaster)
0:09:28 You Shook Me (Remaster)
0:15:56 Dazed and Confused (Remaster)
0:22:24 Your Time Is Gonna Come (Remaster)
0:26:58 Black Mountain Side (Remaster)
0:29:10 Communication Breakdown (Remaster)
0:31:40 I Can’t Quit You Baby (Remaster)
0:36:22 How Many More Times (Remaster)
Cosmic Dealer – Child of Tomorrow (1971) [FULL ALBUM]
The Velvet Underground – “Live at The Boston Tea Party” (Jan. 10, 1969)
1. Heroin (0:00)
2. Move Right In (8:26)
3. I’m Set Free (13:12)
4. Run Run Run (17:49)
5. I’m Waiting For The Man (25:39)
6. What Goes On (34:35)
7. I Can’t Stand It (39:05)
8. Candy Says (45:23)
9. Beginning To See The Light (50:10)
10. White Light/White Heat (56:00)
11. Pale Blue Eyes (61:42)
12. Sister Ray (68:10)
Let’s hand the mic to Jonathan Richman, Velvets superfan, who was often in the audience: “[T]he crowd was FUN!” Wall-to-wall hippies, bikers, Harvard students, Northeastern students, fashion models, professors, drug dealers, art teachers, groupies, MIT students, photographers, local thugs, local disc jockeys, skinny-bohemian-artist girls, visiting dignitaries from the New York art scene, and the royalty of the Boston music set — the local singers and guitar-players in their mod suits strolling around with their beautiful girlfriends.” Rock And Roll, indeed.
Archive Dystopia – Under the Black Sun (Full)
01- Unwritten Parley 00:00
02- Shattered Echoes 03:30
03- Road Beneath Fading Skies 06:11
04- The Black Sun Above 08:36
05- Marsh of Stilled Time 14:29
06- The Rib-Hall 16:48
07- ELITE 19:39
08- Steal in the Flood 33:17
09- The Shadowless Scribe 36:12
10- Ink into Silence 38:41
11- The Hall Sinks 42:48
12- Paths Unchosen 46:20
13- Under the Black Sun – Storytelling(Bonus Track) 51:13
Privilege – Privilege (1969) (US, RARE Hard Rock, Heavy Psychedelia)
01 Traitor
02 It’s yesterday
03 The quiz
04 Circling
05 People
06 Going down
07 Purple dog
08 Easter
09 Taking care of you
10 Sojourn
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LINE-UP: Edward Leonetti — guitar, vocals
Paul Venturini — organ, vocals
Jack Douglas — bass
Tommy Brannick — drums
PRODUCER: Ronald Isley, O’Kelly Isley, Rudolph Isley
