Reign of Fire

This is an excellent dark fantasy, an adult fantasy, if you will and the acting is well up to the story. It is a good tight script and keeps a fast pace. The allegory of a post nuclear age brought on by the advent of dragons freed from a millennial dormancy, points to the problems of survival in such a world. Many of our greatest science fiction authors have speculated on this, and this film tends to bring it all together nicely.

My one complaint with this film is that it was shot so dark that it is hard to see a lot of the action. The novel idea of one male for all of the female dragons is an excellent one however. Much of the look of the dragons tends to remind one of the 1997 version of Godzilla, with the lairs of creatures underground. Christian Bale was good as Quinn, and Matthew McConaughy shines as Van Zan. Gerard Butler was wasted in the film, not because his performance was bad, by no means, but because his character needed to have more to do. Still a very watchable film.

This was a bit different than one expected. There was no nonsense, no tongue-in-cheek humor or special-effects just for the sake of it: this was simply a humans vs. dragons story taking place in the future. No laughs and nothing hokey, which is what I expected. They played it straight, simply as a fight story between the two parties.

Yes, there were credibility problems with the story but overall, it was good escapist adventure. The dragons were realistic-looking, the scenery dreary but the story interesting and intense in spots.

I wouldn't buy it, but I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for a night of adventure on film. You could do a whole lot worse, especially with two young actors who have arrived as stars: Christian Bale and Matthew McConnaughey.

As long as you're not expecting the best movie ever made, you'll enjoy this film. It's well-acted, well written, visually depressing (as a post-apocalyptic story should be), and inspiring. If you're a pop culture geek, you'll love all the faces you'll recognize from other projects such as the Dark Knight Trilogy, 300, Gotham, and Game of Thrones. You'll even spot homage to Star Wars in an old-school play! This movie was fun and moving.

What a cast this films has looking back at it now. Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Gerard Butler, Alice Krige - it's a shame that the film itself is a little underdeveloped to match that star power.

Set in a desolate future, when long-hibernating fire-breathing dragons have been awoken and have all but destroyed all forms of life on the planet. Quinn (Christian Bale) desperately hangs on with a small group of survivors, based at a castle in the North East of England. His hopes of survival seem lost when his vital crop field is discovered and destroyed - but then an American military unit, let by the brutish Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey) arrives. But are they saviours, or just another threat?

Director Rob Bowman earned his moment in Hollywood directing and producing episodes of "The X-Files", which got him this film, and then "Elektra" which seems to have consigned him back to the small screen for the rest of his career. It's a bit of a shame, as "Reign of Fire" isn't a bad film -- the visual effects are actually pretty good, for a film that's nearly 20 years old. The performances are pretty good too, particularly from our three leads - in fact it might it's those actors that elevate the film from being little more than a B-movie.

The films just a little off pacing wise and is missing a beat or two of action in the middle. There's a scene involving Bale discovering an egg in the killed Dragon that feels like it was meant to mean more to the plot, but then that doesn't go anywhere and the film doesn't cover off any of the logistical arguments such as where Van Zan's endless fuel supply comes from. Also if you have any understanding of the geography of the UK, some aspects of the film become downright baffling.

If the action was a little better and the plot a little clearer then this might be a class film, but as it is - it's just alright alright alright).

This is a movie that I've been aware of for many years but never watched because of the critical and viewer reviews. Finally, early this summer of 2018, I watched it and it's become one of those movies that, no matter what part of the movie I stumble upon, it's very hard for me not to watch it, again, until the end. Yes, it's a bit farfetched, but so is The Matrix. The acting is top notch and the dragon is very well designed and presented. It's as life-like as any other "monster" in the movies. So I say disregard what you've read or heard and give it a shot. Maybe you'll totally disagree with me. But maybe you won't and you'll actually enjoy escaping from the real world and enjoy it. Only one way to know for sure...