Reign of Fire (2002)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Rob Bowman

Writers (WGA):

Gregg Chabot (story) &
Kevin Peterka (story) ...

Release Date:

12 July 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Fight Fire With Fire

Plot:

A brood of fire-breathing dragons emerges from the earth and begins setting fire to everything, establishing dominance over the planet.

Plot Keywords:

Dragon | Fire Breathing Dragon | Fire | London | Post Apocalyptic

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Christian Bale	...	Quinn Abercromby
Matthew McConaughey	...	Denton Van Zan
Izabella Scorupco	...	Alex Jensen
Gerard Butler	...	Creedy
Scott Moutter	...	Jared Wilke (as Scott James Moutter)
David Kennedy	...	Eddie Stax
Alexander Siddig	...	Ajay
Ned Dennehy	...	Barlow
Rory Keenan	...	Devon
Terence Maynard	...	Gideon
Doug Cockle	...	Goosh
Randall Carlton	...	Burke (Tito)
Chris Kelly	...	Mead
Ben Thornton	...	Young Quinn
Alice Krige	...	Karen Abercromby

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense action violence.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

UK | Ireland | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Malaysia:U | Iceland:12 | South Korea:12 | New Zealand:M | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39148) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Japan:R | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:12 | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Ardmore Studios - Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Company:

Spyglass Entertainment

Trivia:

The method by which the dragons expel fire was inspired by two actual animals; the spitting cobra and bombardier beetle.

Goofs:

Plot holes: Van Sant and Alex tell Quinn that there is only one male dragon and, like fish, the females lay their eggs and the male makes a "pass" to fertilize them. Yet when Quinn discovers the egg inside the downed dragon, there is an embryo visible, which should only happen AFTER fertilization.

Quotes:

Denton Van Zan 'Dragon Slayer': [to Quinn in the castle] I lead, You follow.
Denton Van Zan 'Dragon Slayer': [to Quinn in London] You lead, I follow.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#29.11)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Fire

Takes a while to warm up (ahem!) but gets better

In 2002, London. A group of workers on a new tube tunnel unleash a dragon from it's slumber. The end result is the destruction of much of the world and massive loss of life. Twenty years later humans live in small communities trying to survive the best they can as they hope the dragons will eventually starve without human cities to feast on. Quinn leads one such group until a group of US ex-soldiers turn up, led by Van Zan, who have more of a mind to fight back.

To enjoy this film you need to get over two big obstacles. First of all the poster – it's not for this film, it's for the prequel which I hope they plan to make. The poster shows dragons over a burning London and lots of helicopters all over the place. Basically it's a summer FX movie. However the film itself jumps this destruction and goes straight to the future, only telling us what happened through cheap footage etc. This is a big step as it's a real downer to not be allowed to see what happens when the dragon is freed – when we had the `2020' caption I was like `what the…..'. However this can be got over as the second half of the film is very good and has some good effects and good action (even if it never delivers on the poster).

The second obstacle is that it's silly and doesn't make sense. Once you accept that it's full of holes then you can sit back and enjoy it more. If you watch it and complain about plot holes then you're missing the point. For example – how come the dragons don't come and attack this fortress regularly, where does all this fuel keep coming from etc etc. But then again lets not forget that dragons aren't real either!

Like I said, the plot takes a while to get going. It's hard to watch Quinn's group in a damp castle when you know you SHOULD be seeing dragons rip into the world's cities. However when Van Zan turns up it gets a lot better and the action is good. The actual climax is also logically very weak but is very exciting and has a real nice touch plot wise.

Bale is good and is not as muscley as the Americans. He actually turned up having not worked out because he assumed that the characters would all be malnourished. But when he saw McConaughey he decided to bulk up a bit. McConaughey is really good as the pumped American. He is a bit OTT but really that's what this sort of film needs. Support is pretty bland which leaves the dragons. Sadly the dragons themselves are pretty empty bad guys. Because we never see them destroy the world their power is never feared. In later scenes this is done better but they are never more than big monsters (whereas Jurassic Park's monsters had character and threat).

Overall it took time to get going and it never lives up to the marketing hype but it's still enjoyable. Once you get past the two obstacles then you're free to enjoy the second half of the film and a really enjoyable climax.