Reign of Fire (Blu-ray) (2002)

"A thrill-a-minute!  Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"A triumph of special effects!  New York Post
"Loads of fun!  The New York Times

Editor's Note In present-day London, 10-year-old Quinn visits his construction engineer mother at her work. When he crawls into a cavern the workers have uncovered, he finds a large, fire-breathing dragon--which destroys the site and kills his mother. Fast-forward to 2020. Quinn (Christian Bale, AMERICAN PSYCHO) is living in a castle in Northumberton, the leader of survivors of the dragon plague which has wiped out a large portion of the human population. He and his colony, including dozens of orphans, eke out an existence in hopes that the human race will someday take back the planet from the gigantic, winged monsters. Enter Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), a war-mad American and his team of military trained fighters. They offer to team up with Quinn and his people, but only if they consent to the American's extreme tactics to destroy the fire-breathing beasts. Directed by Rob Bowman (X FILES), REIGN OF FIRE combines elements of ALIENS, THE ROAD WARRIOR, and 1981's DRAGONSLAYER for a potent genre cocktail that takes a traditionally medieval monster into the future and injects it into state-of-the-art action sequences. The film plays as post-apocalyptic sci-fi, but the stunningly executed dragon sequences are pure horror, especially as the menacing creatures slaughter prominent characters with extreme speed and ruthlessness.

	Christian Bale
	Gerald Butler
	Izabella Scorupco
	Matthew McConaughy
	Adrian Biddle - Cinematographer
	Brad Wagner, et. al. - Original Music By
	Declan McGrath - Editor
	Gregg Chabot, et. al. - Writer
	Ian Bailie, et. al. - Art Director
	Jonathan Glickman - Executive Producer
	Richard D. Zanuck - Producer
	Rob Bowman - Director
	Thom Noble - Editor

Los Angeles Times
"...With enormous wingspans and nasty, lizard-like bodies, able to incinerate large areas and swallow humans in a single tasty gulp, the dragons are creatures of a certain creepy elegance as well as undeniable potency..." 07/12/2002 p.C6

New York Times
"...It has a jamming B-picture buzz -- the kind of swift filmmaking and high spirits that have been missing from movies for a while..." 07/12/2002 p.E17

Entertainment Weekly
"...A rip-roaring videogame-busy, Mad Maximum entertainment....The story is enlivened by a throwaway good humor rare as dragon's eggs..." 07/26/2002 p.45

Box Office
"...A seamless merging of high concept and technology that dwarfs all previous pretenders....[With] Oscar-caliber visual effects and art direction..." 09/01/2002 p.156

ReelViews 8 of 10
For some reason, any time Hollywood tries to make a movie about a dragon (or dragons), it ends up being laughable, absurd, idiotic, or some combination of the above. Consider, for example, titles like Dragonslayer, Dragon Heart, and Dungeons and Dragons, none of which represent pinnacles of cinematic achievement. So, the fact that Reign of Fire does what it sets out to do is a cause for celebration amongst those who like special effects-laden action movies featuring fire-breathing monsters and mayhem...Reign of Fire has no pretentions (which is refreshing in a way). It's about kicking butt, killing big, ugly monsters, and saving the human race. Bowman believes in it, and, because of his conviction, so do we. - James Berardinelli

Reel.com 8 of 10
Reign of Fire pays off in spades for fans of the action genre, with plenty of pyrotechnics (real and computer-generated), impressive dragons, and genuine suspense (the scene where sky-surfing commandos take on a dragon with the help of an Apache helicopter is a standout). Where the film really shines, though, is in its intelligent script, well-developed characters and authentic-looking set design and art direction...An interesting detail is in the scene where the adults keep the kids in their underground warren amused by acting out The Empire Strikes Back's pivotal scene where Luke finds out that Darth Vader is his father, with the grownups using cardboard tubes for light sabers. In a nod to the sci-fi fans in the audience, it posits that some 100 years later, the movie's story has lived on as oral tradition, and it works. - Jerry Renshaw