| Reign of Fire | | Cast : | Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey | | Director : | Rob Bowman | | Studio : | Buena Vista Home Vid | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | July 12, 2002 | | DVD Released Date : | January 25, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 07, 2005 | | Summary | Great Concept,....... Yet Lacking!!! | Content
 | I'm not saying it is a bad movie, it is a good movie.... it's just not great or a masterpiece!!! I was personaly disappointed, they had the perfect story, actors, concept, along with dragons... in a post armagedon adventure. You may ask where they may have gone, wrong!!! The movie just didn't have enough depth or action... with some plot holes and unsolved mysteries!!!
The basic story is during a construction in a London subway, they awake a slumbering beast, of course a dragon!!! Only a single boy survives the incident(Christian Bale/ Batman Begins), who becomes leader of survivors resisting the dragons!!! The question were always the same how did they populate so fast and swarm, why didn't they see the signs!!! Then the american milita arives with their hotshot leader Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), or the "Dragon Slayers" reveal the truth about their being 1 male dragon, and that they breed like fish in a fertilization process!!! They have tracked the beast to London!!! They fight about who is in charge until a seris of events help them, realize only one of the 2 species is going to survive the conflict!!! They then must bypass the heart of the dragon infested London for the ultimate showdown: man vs. dragon!!!
Hey, it's a good movie but I have some questions/comments:
-Killing the male dragon, would only stop them from populating, so what is the whole victory thing about when a few scenes ago their were about almost 1,000 dragons above the skies of London!!!
-After, killing the male dragon do you think that the other dragons would hear it or do they have a problem hearing!!!
-If the Dragons could breath fire they could just blow the helicopter out of the sky, during dragon encounter!!!
-With, as many dragons as they are how does the community just sit ther barely being bothered until late in the movie!!!
-They should have had more action and fight scenes with dragons and more depth to the story!!!
-Why do the dragons eat each other while their is a community right down the road!!!
-What was Van Zan thinking when he went jumping right at the dragon , all he became was a snack smashed between it's teeth and slowly digested... um... yeah I talk , well I mean type too much don't I!!!
I can, look past some of the flaws, asuming that the dragons aren't that bright, but the movie itself is laking in the story with unanswered questions and wanting more action!!! Overall, it is a great adventure film, with some great eye candy and is a movie most people will find some enjoyment in, but it is nothing compared to similar stories like Lord of the Rings or anything!!!
Things I thought were cool:
-The milita had cool assault vechiles!!!
-The movie was visually genius, simply mind blowing!!!
-The Dragons were awesome!!!
-The part when they were acting out a part of "Star Wars"
-Great adventure, excitment, plainly "Loads of Fun"
-Plainly Great concept for a movie.
-Some excellent acting, with Christian Bale(new Batman) and Matthew McConaughey!!!
I give this movie a 3/5!!! It's visually amazing, but lacks in story and could of used some more action!!! I enjoyed it though and loved the concept!!! |
| Rating | | | Date | August 04, 2005 | | Summary | Outlandish, far-fetched yet believable and entertaining! | Content
| Rapid character and story development leads directly into action in this futuristic journey through hell on earth. Dragon's fill the skies, feed on ash (that's a little odd), and...you guessed it...destroy everything on their way to total domination. Enter our heros from many a story told before. "A rag-tag army", "a cross section of mankind", etc. Couple these struggling-to-survive men, women, and children hold up in an English castle with a very different type of Matthew McConaughey and his cross-Atlantic army and you get quite the battle royale.
Some slow spots for story lines and a predictable plot but a fun ride to the end. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 19, 2005 | | Summary | The Best Dragon Movie Ever Made... | Content
| Very few movies tackle the subject of dragons due to the costly expense of making the creatures come to realistic life. However, a couple of movies have succeeded in doing this, the first movie to successfully bring a dragon to life was the somewhat campy, action-fantasy "Dragonheart", starring Dennis Quaid and Sean Connery. The second film to succeed with the subject of dragons is "Reign of Fire". "Reign of Fire" takes a more realistic, less fantastical approach to the subject matter, therefore lending a sort of credibility, and real-world feel to the film.
"Reign of Fire" is set in London, at some point in the not-so distant future. 12 years before the events that dominate the story, a dragon was awakened from its slumber, unleashing a reign of terror that has not ceased for over a decade, bringing us to the present day where a man named Quinn (Christian Bale), whom along with a group of refugees fight the dragons to stay alive. Joining them in the fight against the firebreathers, is the mysterious and hot-headed military man, Van Zan (Matthew McConaghey). As a power struggle ensues between Quinn and Van Zan, the humans must attempt to defeat the dragons, without killing each other.
Director Rob Bowman (director of Elektra) delivers what is probably the best dragon movie to this date. With stunningly realistic CGI dragons that will leave you breathless. This film has solid acting from all of the actors, the two leads in particular, and a very good story tying all of the action together. "Reign of Fire" is a non-stop, explosive thrill ride that never lets up.
"Reign of Fire" is rated PG-13 for violence and language. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 18, 2005 | | Summary | Dragons get an upgrade | Content
| Though not as great as it could've been, this is still a fine film. The story about man's struggle to survive (indeed the whole world's struggle, really) against these horrible beasts is straightforward but well-executed. The acting is solid, perhaps a little melodramatic at times, but then again, the movie takes place in melodramitic times. If you buy into the situation created, you can't help but understand the pressure these survivors must live with. Melodramatic is NOT the same as over-the-top, and in fact, I found all the characters likable and easy to empathize with because they really don't know what to do except try something and hope for the best.
Of course, the real stars are the dragons, and they are amazing. Truly impressive. And perhaps the most dangerous monsters ever to be unleashed in a film. Once you see them in action, you don't wonder how humanity ended up falling upon such hard times. These things are that formidable. It could be tricky to create such great monsters and still make any human resistance seem plausible, but the film does an excellent job by reminding us of the one advantage humans have always had over the rest of nature's arsenal: Our intellect. The final confrontation is very exciting, though just a little short.
That's my only complaint with the film. The dragons just aren't in it enough. But if they were thrown in more, it could make them seem commonplace, and even weaken their threatening appearance. And really, they are in it quite a bit. They're just so cool, I ended up wishing to see more of them.
As a fan of giant monster movies (and that's basically what this film is), I think anyone who enjoys Godzilla, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, or Them! will get a kick out of this movie. Adventure fans should be pleased too. And I think it'll age very well in the long run. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 17, 2005 | | Summary | Dumb but funny | Content
| Where do I begin? This is a movie whose basic premise is so ludicrous one wonders how the project got off the ground. Its dialogue is mostly uninspired and much of the acting is far more serious than it needs to be. And yet, despite all this it is entertaining, in a dumb sort of way, and has a strangely high rewatchability factor.
The premise is, of course, that dragons have awakened from their long sleep to attack and destroy much of Earth. And we're talking a loooong sleep here; the fiery wyrms have supposedly lain dormant but alive in the earth's bowels since the time of the dinosaurs. Why it is exactly that the construction of one particular metro station in London is enough to awaken them all, when they apparently slept through the construction of the entire Underground, is not explained. Nor is how when nuclear arsenals and weapons of mass destruction failed to destroy the beasts the far more primitive weapons of twenty years on are successful. Other concerns, such as what dragons eat and how they breed, are given a cursory treatment, but even this seems to be made up as the film goes along, and they are not at all logically satisfactory.
The pleasure of a movie like this does not rest in its logic, however, but on how much we like and are engaged by its leads. Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey both do their jobs here, though it is clear Bale is the far superior actor; even the utter stupidity of the plot cannot shake his conviction, and the film rests largely on his shoulders. His Quinn Abercromby is a man of resolution and determination, a survivor who has much faith in the idea that "he who fights and runs away can run away another day." He has successfully kept a little enclave of people alive for twenty years or so, holed up in a crumbling castle in Northumberland, England, where he has meticulously documented everything he knows and discovers about dragons.
There are moments of inspiration despite all the stupidity; one in particular, involving the two main leaders of the little enclave - given the unfortunate names Quinn and Creedy - performing a primitive version of "Star Wars" for the children, is actually quite touching. Bale conveys an air of suitable weighty responsibility, and makes keeping his people alive look like the tough job it must be.
All of this changes one fateful day when a troop of Americans - they're the only thing worse than dragons, we're informed by one British sentry - drives pell-mell into the castle grounds, demanding sanctuary and a place to use as a base while they hunt dragons. McConaughey's Denton Van Zan - one does wonder who came up with the names for these people - is a hyper-macho American military man, whose braggadocio ways are simultaneously repulsive and intriguing to Quinn, who allows Van Zan and his people a place in his castle. McConaughey swaggers about and chews up the scenery, ridiculously overacting. It works, though, particularly as he must deliver some of the innately dumbest lines in the movie, about "bringing down the beast" and how to "kill the male, kill the species." His shaved head, scraggy beard, and bizarre body art definitely make him one of the more memorable-looking movie characters to date. He is a madman to Bale's voice of totally controlled sanity, and the two play off each other nicely.
Much action and little thought ensues; the dragons are eventually taken down by means that are not necessary to explain, as they are so very stupid. Let us just say they involve the extremely problematic notion that killing the one male of the species (yes, there really is only one, though according to the dragon-slayers all the females they've ever slain have been pregnant...this also is problematic if one believes their explanation of dragon fertilization, but never mind) will result in the destruction of the whole lot of them. Despite all logic, this plan succeeds, and eventually peace and a modicum of harmony are restored to the planet, partly, one suspects, due to the absence of Van Zan. One does wonder why the last words in the picture are "thank God for evolution," though...wouldn't evolution be the very thing that made the dragons so close to indestructible? |
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