Fire & Ice

Since I can remember that I'm a huge dragon "afficionado" and I love everything that relates to dragons. I've watched countless dragon movies and I loved every one of them (Please, take under consideration that D-War is not, in my eyes, considered even a take on movie... it was awful).

Unfortunately Fire and Ice does not fall very behind the D-War scene... Dragons look almost like giant flying stingray and are covered in their element (fire or ice) giving them a look as "undragonish" as I even dare to imagine if I tries to undermine a dragon's look.

I was aware that this is a Sci-Fi movie, but the channel's movies are quite entertaining. This has the HUGEST plot holes and STUPIDITIES I've ever seen. Really a NEVER watch. Also, note that this is my first review ever in IMDb and this is really to warn anyone that considers to watch this, mostly if you are a dragon fan. May your fangs never dry!

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.

I was interested in seeing Fire and Ice, as it did have an intriguing premise, but I was also dubious. Actually, Fire and Ice is a movie that have both been better and worse, not bad but not good. Its good points are the reasonably attractive photography, the well-done and animated dragons, good scenery/sets and charismatic performances from Arnold Vosloo and John Rhys-Davies. On the other hand, Fire and Ice also has its bad points, and they are often dull action sequences where little interesting happens and are clumsily executed in choreography, a stilted, corny script that holds few surprises, a predictable story that for a film of this genre lacks wonder and thrills, characters that generally you don't just engage with because they are either underdeveloped or on the irritating side and the remainder of the acting coming across as rather wooden. Overall, very average for me. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I watch cheesy SyFy for just that--the cheesiness. But sometimes, the movies surprise me with how good they are, this is one of them. I thought the dragons were well done and although character development was predictable, I thought Amy Acker did a great job. I've missed seeing her since Dollhouse was canceled, so this was great. And who can not enjoy Arnold Vosloo? Ever since I saw him in The Mummy and 24, I have looked for movies with him in it and he was very good in this one. Tom Wisdom was a very believable character and easy on the eyes. John Rhys-Davies was a great addition to this movie and showed me that although he tends to be typecast, he can still make his character very unique and fun to watch.

I found myself not wanting to miss any of this movie. I would recommend it to anyone, and those that are expecting a blockbuster movie like LOTR, take this for what it is, a SyFy movie, entertaining, fun and in this case, an 8 out of 10.

SyFy Saturday's rock!!

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.