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Reign Of Fire [2002]
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The film consists mostly of scrabbling about in the ruins, and it rather skimps on the big dragon battles the script seems to demand. There's little here that hasn't been done before in The Day of the Triffids on television or that slew of Italian Mad Max imitations of the early 1980s. But director Rob Bowman (The X-Files) and a good cast handle themselves well, and the few times that the dragons do show up they deliver an acceptable burst of fiery horror. --Kim Newman On the DVD: Reign of Fire has a fairly perfunctory set of additional features on disc. A brief (under 10 minutes) making-of documentary consists mainly of computer geek animators obsessing about CG effects; back in the real world, "If You Can't Stand the Heat" looks at the on-set pyrotechnics. Director Rob Bowman chats affably about the project in a separate interview. Trailers for the movie and video game form the balance. The subdued (ie. gloomy) colours come up well in the anamorphic widescreen print, and the evocative soundscape is suitably full of sub-woofer-friendly rumblings, thuddings and explosions. --Mark Walker
RRP: £19.99
Our Price: £4.49 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Not quite the large-scale epic it promised to be, Reign of Fire is still an enjoyable entry in the post-catastrophe genre. It opens in present-day London with a boy witnessing the rebirth of the race of dragons, who are supposed to have wiped out the dinosaurs and now devastate the world again. Skipping the collapse of society with a montage of magazine articles about the world in flames, we jump into the future where the remnants of humanity cower in enclaves and fire-breathing raggedy-winged bat-lizards prowl the land. Christian Bale commands a castle in Northumberland, trying to preserve humanity, while Matthew McConaughey is an iron man warrior intent on tracking down and destroying the dragon king, making for a hero-against-hero clash of values which, for a change, finds the British preserver of life, rather than the Yankee animal-killer, getting the girl and the glory.
Editorial
Video Description
In present-day London, twelve-year-old Quinn watches as his mother, a construction engineer, inadvertently wakes an enormous fire-breathing beast from its centuries-long slumber. Twenty years later, much of the world has been scarred by the beast and its offspring. As a fire chief, Quinn (Christian Bale) is responsible for warding off the beasts and keeping a community alive as they eke out a meagre existence. Into their midst comes a hotshot American, Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), who says he has a way to kill the beasts and save mankind - a way Quinn's never seen done. Directed by Rob Bowman (The X-Files), Reign Of Fire fuses a medieval past with a post-apocalyptic future in this ass-kicking, dragon-slaying tale of adventure and survival.
Editorial
Special Features
Theatrical trailer(s)
"Breathing Life Into The Terror" Making-of featurette
"If You Can't Stand the Heat" Pyrotechnics featurette
Conversations with director Rob Bowman
Widescreen anamorphic format
DTS Audio
5.1 Audio
Editorial
Synopsis
In present-day London, 10 year-old Quinn visits his construction engineer mother at her work. When he crawls into a cavern the workers have uncovered, he finds a large, fire-breathing dragon--which destroys the site and kills his mother. Fast-forward to 2020. Quinn (Christian Bale, AMERICAN PSYCHO) is living in a castle in Northumberton, the leader of survivors of the dragon plague which has wiped out a large portion of the human population. He and his colony, including dozens of orphans, eke out an existence in hopes that the human race will someday take back the planet from the gigantic, winged monsters. Enter Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), a war-mad American and his team of military trained fighters. They offer to team up with Quinn and his people, but only if they consent to the American's extreme tactics to destroy the fire-breathing beasts.
Directed by Rob Bowman (X FILES), REIGN OF FIRE combines elements of ALIENS, THE ROAD WARRIOR, and 1981's DRAGONSLAYER for a potent genre cocktail that takes a traditionally medieval monster into the future and injects it into state-of-the-art action sequences. The film plays as post-apocalyptic sci-fi, but the stunningly executed dragon sequences are pure horror, especially as the menacing creatures slaughter prominent characters with extreme speed and ruthlessness.
"There's only one thing worse than a dragon... Americans"
Review date: 2008-07-24 Rating: 6 out of 10
The film starts off with great promise - the early scene at a commune with two group leaders putting on a stage show for the kids - Star Wars instead of Shakespeare! This brings humour and humanity in the very early stages. You get a sense of the warmth and the protective responsibility these people have for the children. The community `motto' about always watching the skies is a jarring reminder that there's a horror to this film.
Within minutes you care about the community and feel genuinely very concerned for them, and the arrival of gung-ho Americans upsets the balance. Unfortunately the vulnerability of the community and the feeling of concern isn't recreated throughout the rest of the film - the focus turns to big guns and action.
The dragon ravaged world isn't as implausible as you'd think - it works really well, it's the insistence that a small group with a plan to hunt down the daddy dragon (and know exactly where it is) in order to end the reign of fire that gets a bit silly.
In a nutshell: Some have complained that there are not enough dragons in this film - but it isn't necessarily a film about dragons. The film is at its strongest when it deals with the human story of survival, and the politics between commune members. If the film had maintained the viewers' interest in actual people struggling to live from day to day then this would be a corker of a film. Instead it becomes an action packed dragon-breath dodging thriller.
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Reviews
Not Bad!
Review date: 2007-11-08 Rating: 6 out of 10
Whilst I tend to disagree with a lot of people who, like myself, review films here on Amazon - I have to agree with the majority negative vote on this film....
It promised to be so much, and yet delivered so little - Albeit the special effects are bloody brilliant, and the Dragons are real bad-asses with serious attitude problems, the rest of the film is a let down!
I felt that two powerful actors such as Christian Bale & Matthew McGonahey - I think thats how its spelt! - Were both let down by a relatively poor script!
NEEDED MORE DRAGON
Review date: 2007-10-24 Rating: 6 out of 10
Good story and the special effects were good.
I wanted more action and more Dragon shots. The few they did use were well made but apart from the end scenes, they needed more.
Well worth a watch however.
Just about passable for dragon fans
Review date: 2007-05-24 Rating: 4 out of 10
Frankly this movie was nothing near what I hoped it would be, despite the intriguing concept, and ends up being a glorious waste of celluloid. The plot is basically about dragons decimating the world, after being dug up in the London Underground (believe me, you have to stretch credulity from a pretty early stage in this film). Then Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey get all macho and yell a lot. This I could forgive if the film were at all entertaining but it's not.
Despite the fact that 'Reign of Fire' is awful, it still gets two stars on merit that it has dragons in it (oh, for a good dragon movie!) and they look pretty darn impressive when they are in full flight and torching everything in sight. Unfortunately, they're actually rarely on screen, meaning we have to endure the witless banter between the characters instead (one Star Wars take-off is an amusing exception).
Should have been an awesome film but let down by a poor script and lacklustre direction.
"Dig hard, dig deep, run for shelter, never look back"
Review date: 2007-05-12 Rating: 8 out of 10
Reign of Fire should have been a great movie. On paper, the idea certainly seems exciting enough - dragons emerge from their centuries long sleep to ravage the earth and send the survivors fleeing in terror. And, in truth, the opening scenes of Reign of Fire seem very promising, when a young boy, Quinn, witnesses the emergence of one of the dragons from its underground lair. But, those of us hoping for a full scale battle between hoards of dragons and various Armed Forces will be sorely disappointed, as the next few years are simply glossed over with a series of newspaper headlines. Before we know it, it's 20 years on and Quinn, now grown, is leading a ragtag group of survivors in a Northumberland castle.
This dragon ruled world is very bleak and grey, the dragons having scorched everything to ash. And into this bleak landscape comes Van Zan, a typical American army type who thinks he is the answer to all mankind's dragon problems. Naturally, Quinn is a bit reluctant to take him in, but common sense is over-ruled for the sake of the plot and Van Zan is allowed to rest up at the castle.
It's worth noting that Van Zan says his company landed at Manchester and they are heading for London. Via Northumberland?! This guy is seriously lost!
Shortly after Van Zan's arrival, a dragon makes its appearance. To the movie's credit, the dragons are extremely impressive, with beautiful sinuous curves and a wicked line in flame-throwing. Unfortunately, for a film about dragons, the stars don't appear very often and then only singly, apart from a very brief scene near the end of the movie. This is a great shame, as the movie promises so much and then fails to deliver in one crucial element. All in all, dragons only appear in six seperate scenes and four of those appearances are made by the same dragon!
Reign of Fire could have been a great movie, but for the silly decision to skip the dragons' emerging years and set it in the post apocalyptic world. As it stands, Reign of Fire is entertaining enough if you have an interest in any of the leading actors - or indeed, in the dragons themselves! - but don't expect to be blown away. Three dragons do not a blockbuster make!
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Christian Bale
Scott Moutter
Gerard Butler
Izabella Scorupco
Matthew McConaughey
Creators:
Christian Bale (Primary Contributor)
Matthew McConaughey (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
EAN: 5017188887052
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2003-06-09
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 105 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2002-07-12
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Bulgarian (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)