Reign of Fire (DVD, 2002)

Directed by Rob Bowman, the film was shot in the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland. Production was only allowed to film there under the condition that they clean up entirely after themselves, without damaging the landscape.

The film starts with a 12 year old Quinn Abercromby (Ben Thornton) accompanying his mother to work at a London tunneling project. They dig up fire-breathing dragon beast who awakens from it's hibernation and escapes out into the world and begins to multiply. After Quinn witnesses the beast kill his mother Karen (Alice Krige) in the tunnel, the film jumps twenty years ahead showing Quinn (Christian Bale), who is now the Fire Chief in the camp. Unexpectedly, Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), an American militia leader shows up at the camp with a group of men that he calls "slayers." Van Zan and Quinn engage in a power struggle, before realizing it's the dragons they should be fighting instead. If you probe too deeply into the premise you're not going to have much fun. However, great fun is what this film stands to offer, glorious mindless fun and, above all, fabulous apocalyptic visuals of twisted metal, crepuscular landscapes, dark hulking ruins, and men crawling through them to fire off weapons at the evil birds, which look very graceful as they sweep through the skies and spurt out long expanding streams of fire. Shots are so stunningly composed you want to sometime view them in freeze-frame. Within the dark end-of-the-world light there is amazing clarity. Working with Ridley Scott's cinematographer Adrian Biddle, X-Files director Rob Bowman has produced the best fantasy landscape this year next to "Lord of the Rings." When Van Zan leads a hunt in the sky, it's like a computer game, & sometimes we see the game through the eyes of the dragon and it looks like a degraded digital film. However, it's not ingenuity of conception but sheer aesthetic appeal that makes the visuals of this movie so good.

It is a bit unusual that the preview to this film claims that it is set in 2084. Yet the actual movie itself gives the date as sometime in the 20s. Alright! Let's run through a small check list here. The film is not elevated to the level of other huge science fiction classics. The marketing department as well should be answering charges of misrepresentation for that poster showing an aerial armada of helicopters battling the fire-breathing beasts over central London. That scenario just never happens, however, I have got to tell you that this film has some of the greatest set designs and cinematography I have ever seen. It is extremely interesting to speak from a technical viewpoint. The dragons themselves make the least interesting contribution to the film, & except for the final confrontation which almost gets there, they are really secondary to the film itself. If you were to document the amount of dragon screen time, I doubt it would be 18 minutes.

The film was released in Japan with the name Salamander, which was quite unusual. You might have thought it might have called something like Fire Breathing Dragon.

Characters are allowed to show their human side at times, displaying various amounts of fear, uncertainty & emotional vulnerability even at those moments when they are having to be at their most daring & heroic.

One truly clever scene of adults re-enacting the Skywalker/Vader confrontation
helps the film's perspective through the eyes of apocalyptic credibility which makes the film more distinctive.

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY AND CHRISTIAN BALE STAR IN AN EXPLOSIVE ACTION-PACKED ADVENTURE WITH BONE-CHARRING SPECIAL EFFECTS THAT WILL HAVE YOU GLUED TO YOUR SEAT! WHEN A LONDON TUNNELING PROJECT UNCOVERS AN UNEARTHLY FIRE-BREATHING BEAST FROM CENTURIES OF SLUMBER, ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE. 12 YEAR OLD QUINN(BALE) SEES HIS MOTHER, ONE OF THE WORKERS, DIE TRYING TO ESCAPE THE NEW TERROR. 20 YEARS LATER AS A "FIRE CHIEF," HE TRIES TO KEEP A GROUP OF REFUGEES ALIVE WITH FIERCE DRAGONS DOMINATING THE AIR,BURNING THE LAND, AND FEEDING ON ASH. UNEXPECTEDLY, VAN ZAN(MCCONAUGHEY), A HOTSHOT AMERICAN MILITIA LEADER,SHOWS UP WITH A RAGTAG GROUP OF SLAYERS ON A PERILOUS CRUSADE TO HUNT DOWN AND DESTROY THE BEASTS. TEMPERS FLARE WHEN THERE IS A STRUGGLE FOR LEADERSHIP-UNTIL BOTH MEN REALIZE ONLY ONE SPECIES IS GETTING OUT OF THIS ALIVE.

This is a sci-fi movie that brings to life on of man's most featured creatures, the dragon. Focusing on their fierce nature, this movie tells the "real" story of what dragons would be like in our world in which man would be brought to near exctinction because of their uncontrollable hunger. Action packed and consistent story line make this a great movie, though not for children susceptible to nightmares.

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. A deeply dug shaft uncovers a creature from our ancient past which pretty much takes over the world. There are some inconstancies here and there, but they don't matter much unless you are inclined to nit pick.

The story line is not bad, the action is great, and I especially like the air chase scenes.

Watch this movie if you have ever wondered why there are so many dragon myths around the world, and/or if you love fantasy set in almost possible reality.

This movie is science fiction and Fiction is fun. It doesn't have to be beleiveable. If I want that I watch the news. This is a guy flick supreme. Giant dragons, special effects, fights, and even a semi hot chick. Cristian Bale kicks butt in this movie also. Battman and Dirk Pitt in the same movie. I saw this for the first time on video and knew right then I was going to buy it. Ifyou like sci fi with cgi you will live this movie.