Reign Of Fire
2002
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 .. Read more
| Starring | Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Izabella Scorupco, David Kennedy |
|---|---|
| Director | Rob Bowman |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Thriller |
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Reign Of Fire
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.
| Starring | Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Izabella Scorupco, David Kennedy, Gerard Butler, Alexander Siddig |
|---|---|
| Director | Rob Bowman |
| Studio | TOUCHSTONE HOME VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 38 mins Blu-ray: 1 hr 38 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Thriller |
| Language | English |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | English, Dutch, Bulgarian |
| Released | DVD: 09 Jun 2003 Blu-ray: 06 Aug 2007 Production year: 2002 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (6)
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If it weren't for the dragons, this far-fetched fantasy would have drowned in its own mediocrity. A skeletal, anti-climactic mess from Rob Bowman, director of The X-Files movie, it relies totally on its mythological flying fire-breathers to carry the film. The action is set in the near future, where these scaly monsters have overrun the world after being inadvertently unleashed by London Underground workers. While restricted to a handful of repetitious set pieces, the dragons' impressive presence is welcome relief from the laboured structure and a plot that's full of holes. In comparison, the actors are mere colourless support, with performances that range from hammy (Christian Bale) to simply wooden (Gerard Butler). The sole spark of humanity comes from Matthew McConaughey, whose gung-ho glee brings a hint of excitement and adventure to this hugely unsatisfying feature.
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"...With enormous wingspans and nasty, lizard-like bodies, able to incinerate large areas and swallow humans in a single tasty gulp, the dragons are creatures of a certain creepy elegance as well as undeniable potency..."
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Most helpful member's review
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13 out of 15 people found this review helpful
Absolute rubbish
I wasn't looking for great things from this film -- just a good no-brainer action flick. It's set in the UK, it's got dragons. Cool.
Wrong! It's terrible! the plot makes no sense, the script is awful and the acting is poor (though admittedly probably because the script is so dire). The Van Zant character is the only lively moment in the whole film, being hammed up something rotten, but otherwise it's an actionless, humourless dirge.
You'll be left wondering how they managed to waste what should have been a good opportunity for a pacy sci-fi romp.
Utter rubbish. Avoid. -
Most recent members' review
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9 out of 10 people found this review helpful
Mostly hot air
An apocalyptic world where dragons rule the skies and the humans fight desperately for their survival? If you?re thinking Mad Max vs Aliens, then think again because this ain?t it.
First off, this film has an obviously small budget which, granted, is not always a problem. When you?re attempting to create a world of the future, ravaged and destroyed by fire-breathing monsters, and you?re one main set piece is a burnt-out castle, it IS a problem. Reign of Fire lacks the kind of scale and vision that adequately conveys a sense of worldwide devastation.
And then of course there?s the dragons. Beautifully designed and convincingly animated for sure, but there just aren?t enough of them. In the opening scenes, the narrator describes them as a swarm of locusts but throughout the rest of the film we rarely see more than one of them at any time. If you watch James Cameron?s Aliens closely, you?ll notice a similar trait. The difference, however, is that Cameron directs so ferociously, you come away believing you?ve witnessed a spectacular showdown of man v. beast.
Sadly, Reign of Fire is no Aliens, despite the best efforts of Director Rob ?X-Files? Bowman. He?s competent enough and some of the sequences in this movie are inspired. Two free-fallers, attempting to bait and bag a dragon, hurtle violently towards earth as their prey follows thunderously behind. Unfortunately, the action is scarce and too much time is spent on lengthy set-ups. Furthermore, lead men McConaughey and Bale (both fine actors) spend most of their time sneering and talking through clenched teeth, to the point that they become caricatures of themselves.
Reign of Fire had great potential, but is sadly let down by a patchy script, uninspired acting and an absence of breakneck action. -
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- Reign Of Fire - BLU-RAY Version
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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 ... -
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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 ... -