Les chroniques du dragon

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 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 disagree with many of the comments on this film. I found it engrossing and the dragons were very impressive indeed. The acting was passable and the whole thing was well put together in all departments. Perhaps it was because I had read such poor reviews that I was expecting it to be worse than it actually was! But on watching it I was very pleasantly surprised! I like John Rhys Davies and enjoyed his contribution to this film. I was not expecting it to be a masterpiece of cinema, but it certainly passed 90 minutes in a pleasant manner! I think everything was just above average and so I have given the film 6 out of 10 just for the fact that it held my attention.

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

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