Fire & Ice; The Dragon Chronicles

I'm giving this a 7 which I consider Average, could it have been better, well yes and yet for a Sci-Fi Saturday Night offering it could have been much worse. I've actually watched this a few times now the plot while predictable, is still enjoyable. Production values are better than a list of these movies in the Saturday Night offering from this network. The main actors are adequate and handle the material quite well without being over the top or just phoning in their performance. Some stylish camera work and lush color palette add to the Fantasy of the Film, from Director Pitoff who also helmed Catwoman, and was visual effects director on classics like Alien Resurrection, City of Lost Children. The Dragons CGI work is very good while lacking in some respects I have seen far worse on bigger budget movies, and its worth mentioning this movie had a Three Million dollar budget at the time the largest ever for a Romanian Film Production. So one lazy afternoon or late night you find this on Cable its worth a watch and if its in the bargain bin at your local entertainment store I'd pick it up. Fairly Kid Friendly too and they have far better imaginations and are much more forgiving that we. It's been 4 years since I reviewed this movie and here I sit watching it again, why? Because like wine this film gets better with age, for the fantasy dragons genre definitely better than others that have come out since it's original release.

This film seems more geared towards the younger audiences - which is fine with me - it's not a heavy or intricately detailed story... it's easy to follow. I agree with others that the film isn't as good as expected but it's certainly not a bad watch!! I had quite a relaxing time watching the film - joyful!

7/10

Right now eight people have rated this movie at 8.8. Believe me, it's nowhere near that good. I'm suspecting that, the others having seen a lot of dreck on the Sci-Fi Channel, are actually floored by mere competence.

What F&I has going for it is a coherent plot, good sets, decent photography and likable characters. What's going against it is a formula script and adequate-to-poor special effects. The dragons do their job, if not always imaginatively but the really laughable creatures are some orc-type walking bushes called the Forest People. Fortunately their two appears are brief.

Also too brief is John Rhys-Davies performance as the hero's mentor, predictably the best in the film. The reluctant hero (Tom Wisdom) and plucky heroine (Amy Acker) are adequate and easy to watch. The rest of the performances are by-the-numbers, though none outstandingly bad.

The best way to enjoy this movie would be to skip to the last half-hour, specifically to the final hero-versus-dragon battle. When that's over, you can turn it off.

Compared to the many other movies in the same genre, that have tried and failed most often horribly, then "The Dragon Chronicles: Fire & Ice" actually managed to pull it off quite nicely. As a fan of the fantasy genre for over 25 years, then it is rare that a movie comes along that really manages to impress. "The Dragon Chronicles: Fire & Ice" managed to do so. So thumbs up on that account.

The story in the movie was straight forward and rather generic for this particular genre. The story is about a kingdom that is threatened by an awakened dragon, and it is up to an unlikely hero to overcome his past and step out of his father's shadow to overcome the dragon and bring peace to the troubled kingdom.

Yeah, fairly much a straight out of the textbook plot line there, given, but still, it is so very cliché that it actually worked out and was rather enjoyable and entertaining. The characters in the movie were fairly stereotypical as well, but again, it worked out nicely.

What impressed me the most about this movie was the CGI effects. The dragons were really nicely made and quite impressive, despite the fact that they looked like manta rays in a way. The effects were nice and actually looked rather good. However, their breath weapons could have been a bit more buffed up; as I am sure a creature of such magnitude and size would pack a more potent blast of fire (or cold).

As for the acting, then they had some great actors and actresses to the cast list, and people did good jobs with their given roles. I must admit that especially John Rhys-Davies impressed me here in this movie; his grizzled appearance and distinctive voice was just so right for that role. I will say that Arnold Vosloo also did a great job with the role he was cast for.

If you enjoy a great tale of sword and sorcery (and dragons), then you should definitely check out "The Dragon Chronicles: Fire & Ice", it might just surprise you the way it did me. How this movie managed to score such a low rating is beyond my comprehension, but then again, of course, we are all different people with different likes, dislikes and tastes. I enjoyed this movie tremendously, and can warmly recommend it to fans of the fantasy genre (such as Dungeons & Dragons).

I was looking forward for this movie. It had a quite good promo... The night the movie was aired I took my high hopes and sat in front of the TV. After 10 minutes I realized that it was an average or even below average movie, lot worse than other Sci-Fi or fantasy movies I was accustomed.

The movie had good actors, both Romanians and Americans, but the acting was bad, the graphic was bad and the dragons were UGLY, they looked like some sea animals only things that differed the "dragons" from the sea animals were the ice on their skin and the fact that they breathe fire.

Fire and Ice had a lot of mistakes... To take only one for example: after someone was killed with a sword, the same sword was cleaned, no trace of blood! The villains were stabbed, but they did not bleed!!! Like some freaking aliens!!!

I guess this movie was intended for children under 12 years, or else I cannot explain a lot of things...

What I said until now was " the negative points" but even though the movie had a lot of mistakes I have to rate it 8 because it was a bold decision making this type of movie in a country that doesn't appreciate the Fantasy genre. Also the producers showed that they know how to choose a good plot, but they will have to learn how to make a better movie.

It was indeed a below average movie in an international context, but for Romania it was a step forward. Finally they proved that Media Pro can make more movies, for different genres, not only soap-operas.

I am quite proud that the Romanians took this step and even though they still have a lot to learn, I hope that some day they will make better movies, with less mistakes.

I recommend Fire and Ice to any other Romanian, sick tired with all those gypsy movies, and even to other people who wants to know how this movie looks from the perspective of a country without experience in making this type of movies. Please note: do not be harsh with Media Pro, it is their first movie made from the areas of Sci-Fi/fantasy.