Robert Rodriguez doing a live action version of Fire and Ice?

I hadn't heard about this -

Robert Rodriguez's Next Projects: Sin City 2, Heavy Metal, Frank Frazetta... and Machete in Space!

"And then there's Frank Frazetta. The legendary fantasy artist died last year at the age of 82, but Rodriguez is determined to keep Frazetta's legacy alive — so he's working with Frazetta's estate to create more ventures to promote his work. This includes a Frank Frazetta Museum in Austin, TX, where you'll be able too see Frazetta's original paintings — which the artist never sold. "This joint venture is going to allow us to generate new income so they don't have to sell the paintings," said Rodriguez.

And meanwhile, Rodriguez is working on a movie that will present Frazetta's vision in the same way that Sin City presented Frank Miller's vision: Fire and Ice. This was a 1983 Ralph Bakshi movie that Frazetta worked on, but now Rodriguez feels the technology exists to bring Frazetta's vision to life properly.

Rodriguez showed us a concept trailer, created by three artists on the project so far, that gave us a sense of what it would be like. And... basically, it's just a nonstop flood of insane images, of mostly naked barbarians fighting monsters, beheading giant squids, riding giant lizards, fighting giant lizards, grappling with ginormous tentacle monsters, standing atop the corpses of dead huge giant spiders. And snowy landscapes and crystal fortresses and huge freaking axes, and rivers of lava flooding over everything. If the final film looks even remotely like what he showed us, it could be the ultimate fantasy acid trip."


Concept art from Robert Rodriguez's upcoming Fire & Ice flick - Horror Movie News | Arrow in the Head

"Even though it was deemed an announcement at Comic-Con, we've known Robert Rodriguez plans on making a live-action FIRE & ICE film since last May, when the director first brought up his plans. No matter, now it would appear as though the ball is really rolling on this, as evidenced by some cool concept art that's popped up over at Entertainment Weekly.

Anyone familiar with the work of artist Frank Frazetta will immediately recognize his influence on these pieces of art. I must admit I haven't seen the animated 1983 Ralph Bakshi version, but based on what I have seen, it seems like Rodriguez definitely has the right idea.

“I want it to look like you just stepped into one of his paintings, where you get to see his world, and how he saw people, anatomy, and composition and color,” Rodriguez told EW. “It will feel like it’s real, but not real. It’ll be his reality. He saw things differently. He painted from his imagination. He didn’t take a photograph and just paint it.”

EW also captured an official synopsis for Rodriguez's film, which doesn't yet have a production start date: From his stronghold in Ice Peak, the evil Nekron sends forth a wave of deadly glaciers, forcing humanity to retreat to Fire Keep, a kingdom ruled by a generous king. When King Jarol’s daughter Teegra is kidnapped, young warrior Larn teams with the mysterious and legendary Dark Wolf, to rescue the princess and the realm from Nekron’s evil sorcery."

Concept art -

 

Seriously? I guess that fits what with all the remakes and such, but I'm surprised anyone would greenlight this, given the genre.

Plus, didn't the original have, like, a whopping total of 10 lines of dialogue or something? It was basically a live-action Frazetta painting as I recall. Cool to look at (and probably awesome to get baked to), but otherwise a bit of a throwaway.

 

When the wolf dude sees red, I get chills!

 

You sure you're thinking of Fire and Ice? I saw it on NetFlix a few months ago, and it had quite a bit of dialogue.

 

I recall it being rather thin on dialogue, but having a whole lot of action sequences. Visually it was like an animated Frazetta painting. Story wise, it was pretty lean.

 

I suppose if they stay faithful to Teegra's costumes that she wears throughout the film, I could be persuaded to watch it

 

Yeah, they really should have just titled the film "Teegra's *".

 

I didn't know that Rodriguez was creating a museum. That's good news for Frazetta fans. Last I heard, the original museum closed. I think a painting or two was sold as well.

 

I read that Sin City 2 is coming out in 2007.

Rodriguez has ideas aplenty.