In association with

Reign Of Fire [2002]
from Buena Vista Home Entertainment
starring Matthew McConaughey, Christian Bale, Izabella Scorupco, Gerard Butler, Scott Moutter
directed by Rob Bowman

Features:

• PAL

Editorial 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.

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

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0

• "There's only one thing worse than a dragon... Americans"
  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... more info

• Not Bad!
  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... more info

• NEEDED MORE DRAGON
  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
  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... more info

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