6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Ruled by King Augustin, Carpia is a peaceful kingdom in a world inhabited by dragons and knights. The land's serenity is unexpectedly shattered by a Fire Dragon that spreads almighty fear and death amongst the kingdom's innocent people.
Starring: Tom Wisdom, John Rhys-Davies, Arnold Vosloo, Amy Acker, Razvan VasilescuAdventure | 100% |
Fantasy | 87% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
English SDH
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Long before The Daily Show delighted those with a decidedly jaded sense of the universe with its piquant dose of faux news, lovers of satire had The Onion to turn to, an initially print-only take on various world events which had started as a sort of campus prank at the University of Wisconsin Madison and then become a counterculture phenomenon. If you’ve never read any of the many Onion compilations that are available, you are missing some patently laugh out loud hilarious parodies of historical events, everything from the momentous (a 275 point headline announcing the beginning of World War II, which can only fit the “WA-“ on the first page, with a “jump” subtitle indicating the headline continues on a later page) to the picayune (my all time favorite Onion heading: “Tipper Gore Jerks Arhythmically at Inaugural Ball”). A few years ago The Onion started having a video presence online and has regularly contributed some fantastic send-ups of various cultural phenomena that certainly rate right up there with the best of The Daily Show’s segments, probably the highest compliment available in the satiric universe. One of The Onion’s most fabulous outings, at least for anyone who either has a child addicted to videogames or perchance is that “child” themselves, was their “World of World of Warcraft” piece, a brilliantly subversive little “news” item which purported to show the launch of a new computer game where players played players playing World of Warcraft (got it?). As one interview subject states in the piece, “The graphics are amazing, they’re revolutionary. I mean, when you’re staring at the computer screen, you actually believe you’re in a dimly lit basement staring at a computer screen.” That “once removed” feeling is something the viewer is most definitely going to experience watching Fire and Ice: The Dragon Chronicles, a middling effort that manages to work every hoary cliché about fire breathing beasts and the valiant village folk who battle them into its hour and a half playing time.
Fire and Ice looks at times like it was shot on HD video, but if you don't mind that smooth, textureless appearance (at least some of the time), this AVC encoded 1080p transfer (in 1.78:1) is pretty nice looking, albeit purposefully soft and misty a lot of the time. Pitof goes for a desaturated look, intentionally post processing several shots with an odd sort of yellow-white ambience (think Delicatessen, though not quite so post-Apocaplyptic), with occasionally blown out contrast that does rob the image of some fine detail. Other shots, though, are absolutely amazing and actually do reveal a fair amount of natural looking grain. As Rhys-Davies emerges from an underground lair with Gabriel, the sharpness is spectacular and literally breathtaking, a true "you are there" window on the filmic world moment. In fact a lot of close-ups of faces in particular look fantastic. The CGI is OK, nothing more, and most of the dragon movements are so quick, and so quickly edited, that it ultimately doesn't matter much anyway.
Fire and Ice's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix has some very nice and rather robust moments, especially when the fire breathing dragon lets loose with a long plume of flame. The "whoosh" in this moments is wonderfully intense, and is clearly directional, helping to make the terror the townsfolk feel at least a little more realistic. But the special effects segments of this film are frankly few and far between. While there's nothing to complain about here, with excellent fidelity and an all around pleasing mix, there's just not very much to get excited about, either. Yes, the horse hooves clearly amble across the soundfield as Luisa trots through a sun dappled field. Yes, the quicksilver clash of sword hitting sword is appealingly metallic and brittle. But for a fantasy film of this ilk, this is really a pretty surprisingly staid sound mix, obviously revealing its television roots. If you don't expect too much from this lossless track, you won't be disappointed. If you come to Fire and Ice expecting Lord of the Rings magnificence, I have a World of World of Warcraft game I'd like to sell you.
A pretty standard Making Of (yes, that's what it's called) (SD; 16:43) featurette is included, which offers interviews with the principal cast and crew. Rhys-Davies is amusing, the rest are pretty forgettable.
To paraphrase The Onion's bit on World of World of Warcraft, "Fire and Ice will make you believe you're watching a screen that's showing a screen of a dragon movie you've seen before." Or something like that. This is simply too hackneyed an attempt to ever generate much traction, though Pitof certainly has a very fine visual sense. If you're a sword and sorcery nut, this will probably be an OK evening's rental, otherwise I'd stay in your dimly lit basement playing video games about video games.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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