Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice (1983) is an animated fantasy you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Ralph Bakshi and conceived with legendary illustrator Frank Frazetta. The two men split the world between them: Bakshi handled the storytelling, Frazetta designed the visuals, and the result looks like his oil paintings — all muscle, shadow and savage horizon — set into motion.

The sorcerer Nekron rules a fortress of ice in the north and pushes glaciers southward, crushing civilisations under their weight. The lone survivor of one such village, a young warrior named Larn, heads north to stop him. Along the way he picks up a mysterious, voiceless fighter known only as Darkwolf and gets tangled up in a mission to rescue Princess Teegra, kidnapped by Nekron's creatures. The plot is lean by design — this is pure sword-and-sorcery, built for momentum, not psychology.

The animation was achieved through rotoscoping: actors were filmed and then traced frame by frame, giving the movement an unusual physicality rare for early-1980s animation. If you came of age on Conan and heavy metal album covers, this film was made for you. Watch Fire and Ice online on iFILM.