Neil Welch This was a cheapie DVD from the supermarket checkout bin. It stars Amy Acker (Fred from Angel), Arnold Vosloo (Imhotep from the Mummy movies), John Rhys-Davies (from any fantasy movie which will stand still long enough for him to get into costume and nip in front of the camera), a chap called Tim Wisdom who I've never heard of before and never expect to hear of again given his achievements in this movie, and a couple of dozen people whose names end in -escu (which also applies to most of the crew).Intrepid princess Amy Acker gets stuck into finding a way of defending the kingdom from a fire-breathing dragon. Which involves setting an ice-breathing dragon onto it. Which, as it turns out, isn't actually that great an idea.Thing is, there's actually some potential here. Acker is OK, Vosloo is always fun, Rhys-Davies does his usual thing (Brian Blessed-lite), and the assorted -escus manage to be in the right place at the right time. More importantly, it looks good. The cinematographer plainly knows what he's up to, and the film is very attractively photographed. And despite a less than generous budget, the CGI dragons (clearly based on stingrays) are, for the most part, well animated and well integrated into the background plates, far more so than is usually the case for this sort of movie.But everything is massively let down by the script. Every plot development is either signalled well in advance or else is hugely predictable. There are constant exhortations to the princess to stay where she is, remain out of danger etc., and she takes no notice of any of them. By about the 10th time she has ignored all advice and rushed into peril, they even make a story point out of it.The -escus all swordfight by rushing at their opponent brandishing their swords over their head - clearly they all had the same swordfighting teacher, and he was crap.And regrettably the showdown scrap between the dragons is also crap - well animated, but nothing actually happens. And it doesn't happen A LOT. In fact you wonder whether it's ever going to stop not happening. And then factor in endless riding across the same hill, field, and bit of forest....In the end, though it's the script which lets it down.

nona_lexxa15 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.

fearfulofspiders I was actually quite excited to see Fire & Ice, simply because the Sci-Fi Channel rarely makes fantasy-productions, as they tend to produce more horror and natural disaster trash than anything else.The acting is okay in this, John Rhys-Davies and Arnold Vosloo were the strongest, and the rest of the cast were ho-hum. The special effects are predictably terrible, however, that only applies to the stingray-like dragons because the landscapes are quite enjoyable to look at. The dragons do not look good, and it was quite a letdown to be honest.The other flaw would have to be the cinematography and editing. I don't think there's one shot that doesn't try to be "artsy" and "flashy", as the majority of shots are all done in a sweeping-pan. Another flaw would be the mediocre story. The problem of the fire dragon is so quickly solved, that defeating it is the remaining two acts.The music is bland, and hardly worth listening to a second time. The action is dull, and poorly shot and edited.All in all, Fire & Ice has an overall okay production value, making it seem like an expensive project, but with a mediocre story, all it really adds up to is a snooze-fest. It's a good thing i recorded this, because I fell asleep the first viewing and unfortunately had to re-watch it to know how it ended... which is predictable, go figure.I highly recommend on skipping this, unless you, like me, are into Sci-Fi's lame productions.

befred8 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.