# Reign of Fire (2002)



## Tabitha (Jun 22, 2002)

*Reign of Fire*

Anyone seen the trailers for this film?  I can't decide whether it looks B-movie bad, or like 90 minutes of hokey fun.

Plot summary from www.imdb.com


> In present-day London, twelve-year-old Quinn watches as his mother, a construction engineer, inadvertently wakes an enormous fire-breathing beast from its century-long slumber. Twenty years later, much of the world has been scarred by the beast and its offspring. As a fire chief, Quinn (Christian Bales) is responsable for warding off the beasts and keeping a community alive as they eke out a meager existence. Into their midst come a hotshot American, Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), who says he has a way to kill the beasts and save mankind - a way Quinn's never seen done. Directed by Rob Bowman ("The X-Files"), "Reign Of Fire" fuses a medieval past with a post-apocalyptic future in this exciting tale of adventure and survival.


Well, I will probably go and see it anyway - Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey are two of my favourite actors.

One of the adverts I saw had some technobabble that was aiming at a biological (rather than magical or mystical) explanation for animals that could breathe fire.  If they can manage to make that sound convincing then maybe it will be worth it.


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## Dave (Jun 22, 2002)

I've not heard of this sorry, but I'll give you a forum for it.

Is it due this year?

(PS. the link that you posted needs changing  )


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## Dave (Jun 22, 2002)

Opens 12 July 2002.

I found some more info:



> 'Reign of Fire' will be directed by acclaimed director Rob Bowman whose films have included 'The X-Files', starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson and 'Airborne'.
> 
> Principal photography on 'Reign of Fire' began in February 2001. Filming is scheduled to take place in various locations in Dublin, Wicklow and Northern Ireland.
> 
> ...


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## Tabitha (Jun 23, 2002)

Great info dave, thanks

I knew that I recognized the scientist-lady in the previews from something - and her name sounded familiar too - it was Goldeneye I now realise.

According to imdb the movie is due out here in North America on July 12, In the UK you will see it on August 16, and various other dates for the rest of Europe.
I am surprised they haven't been advertising it over there in the UK, it has been attached to movies over here for at the least one month, probably longer.  I think I have seen three different versions of the preview now, and a few spots on the telly about the 'making of...'

Christian Bale seems to be sporting a cockney accent though - not too sure whether I will be able to deal with that!

In a Star Trek related note, Dr Bashir aka Alexander Siddig is listed in the cast and crew section.  I wonder what his role will be like?





ps. link fixed - what _was_ I thinking!?


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## Tabitha (Jun 23, 2002)

*News from www.scifi.com/scifiwire*



> Bowman Touts Reign Men
> 
> Rob Bowman, director of the upcoming SF dragon movie Reign of Fire, told SCI FI Wire that he was as impressed with the humanity of stars Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale as with the film's digital dragons. McConaughey portrays Van Zan, a brash American with brash ideas about ridding a British community of dragons; Bale plays Quinn, a local just trying to keep everyone alive. "It's perfect casting for the roles," Bowman said in an interview. "McConaughey is not Van Zan, and Christian is not Quinn, but they're actors who were very well suited for the roles."
> 
> ...


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## Tabitha (Jun 23, 2002)

You can see the trailer I have mentioned above here:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/touchstone/reign_of_fire.html

Official site: http://bventertainment.go.com/movies/reignoffire/index.html


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## Tabitha (Jun 23, 2002)

Aint it Cool news posts a postive review (with spoilers - you've been warned), here ---> http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=12421


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## Dave (Jun 23, 2002)

If its not out until August in the UK, it is probably too early the promotion to have begun in a major way here.


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## Dave (Jun 26, 2002)

There are detailed interviews with Christian Bale and Rob Bowman about this film here: CHUD - cinematic happenings under development


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## Tabitha (Jun 27, 2002)

*Some words from Alexander Siddig*

From www.countingdown.com:


> Alexander Siddig had some things to say about filming Reign of Fire at LondonExpo recently, but beware! Major spoilers about the fate of his character await you.
> 
> Q: What about the film youâ€™re doing now? Reign of Fire?
> 
> ...


Sounds like they all got on famously


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## Dave (Jun 27, 2002)

*Re: Some words from Alexander Siddig*



> _Originally posted by Tabitha _
> *Sounds like they all got on famously  *


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## Tabitha (Jun 29, 2002)

*Rob Bowman & The Dragons in Reign of Fire*



> *Fire Reinvents Dragons *
> 
> Rob Bowman, director of the upcoming SF movie Reign of Fire, told SCI FI Wire that it was a challenge coming up with a dragon that audiences would respond to instinctively, while avoiding the clichÃ©s of previous movies. "The last good dragon movie was Dragonslayer," Bowman said in an interview while promoting the post-apocalyptic movie. He added, "If you invent a creatureâ€”even though I didn't invent dragonsâ€”if you put in your movie a creature, and it's so absurd that there's no built-in or innate reaction to its attitude or behaviors, the audience has too far to go to worry about it. [But] if it sounds like a cobra, and the scales are kind of like an alligator, and the crawl is kind of like a leopard, the audience has innate reactions to those things. Because ... they've either been to the zoo, they've been to Africa or they've seen National Geographic. And they know that that looks sort of organic."
> 
> ...



I wonder if they will look half as cool on-screen as they sound here?


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## Dave (Jul 2, 2002)

*Scorupco Kept Up With Fire*

*Scorupco Kept Up With Fire* 


> Izabella Scorupco, who plays helicopter pilot Alex in the upcoming SF dragon movie Reign of Fire, told SCI FI Wire that it took all she had to keep up with male co-stars Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey. "I just think it sounds so silly to talk, 'Yeah, well I did my own stunts,' but it was just a part of surviving," Scorupco (Vertical Limit) said while promoting the film. "I ... can't imagine it can get worse than this, ... being in a movie with Christian and Matthew, the most physical, athletic guys you can imagine in Hollywood, and this is like for real. These guys, they climb, and they do pushups, and it's not anything phony whatsoever, like they're pretending. If the director would say, 'OK, are you going to climb up there?' 20 meters or whatever, ... they just do it in a second. And there you are, you're like a third party, and they never ask you. ... And you felt like, 'OK, if I'm not going to do it, I'm going to destroy the scene.' ....But I felt like I was scared to death."
> 
> Scorupco, Bale and McConaughey play human survivors battling fire-breathing beasts that have decimated the Earth. At times, the Polish-born actress admitted she wondered how she got herself into such a testosterone-driven movie. "Pretty much," she said. "Pretty often. Yeah, I have to say. ... I definitely felt that it was extremely scary sometimes to have to keep up with the guys, because they never really cared. I mean, they never cared. It was crazy. They would like jump down from roofs, and if you wouldn't, they'd be like, 'What's going on, what's happening? Why?' I mean, I guess because I come across as [tough and] ... because I so wanted them to do their thing and wanted to be a part of [it], ... then you can't really, you can't afford to say, 'I need help' or 'please,' because you just don't want to mess up. You don't want to be the one, you know, destroying [it] for everyone else."


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## tokyogirl (Jul 13, 2002)

ok. movie opened today.  went to go see it.  sold out!  had to see sum of all fears instead.  (which was really good)  now i have to go back to see this one.  sucks.


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## Tabitha (Jul 15, 2002)

Going to see it this week - probably wednesday   Can't wait, hope it is better than I am expecting....


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## tokyogirl (Jul 16, 2002)

fingers crossed....


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## Tabitha (Jul 18, 2002)

As promised, I saw the movie this evening - I was quite impressed, and will be talking about it a bit more in a new thread for reviews, within this forum.


And as for a certain Mr. Siddig - I think I can understand why the others were so ticked - he barely has any lines!  He's the tiniest character, even though he has one of the most recognisable faces.  I had a bloke sitting behind me going "look, it's Dr Bashir" every time he was on the screen - don't worry it was more funny than annoying, and just goes to show just how infrequently he was on-screen!


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## Tabitha (Jul 18, 2002)

*Just saw Reign of Fire - it Rocks!*

...in a goofy sort of way 

Let's start at the beginning - I was a few minutes late into the theatre, and found to my dismay that the trailers were already running.  I caught the vast majority of The Two Towers trailer, even with the beginning missing it blew me away, boy I can't wait to see that film.  Then, I was floored by a trailer for what looks like a soon-to-be KICK ASS Trek X.  I can't wait!  I have absolutely no idea what was going on in the trailer, but by osmosis I picked up the central message (YOU MUST SEE THIS MOVIE).

On to the main feature - like I said above, Reign of Fire rocked - in a goofy kinda way, but just how realistic do you like your post-apocalyptic dragon-slaying movies to be anyway?  
I think what I liked most about this film is the fact that there weren't _too_ many cliches.  Not _too_ many corny lines or self-aware irony, no unnecessary (or, well, any) snogging.

The story has a fairly basic plot.  It wasn't an asteroid impact that wiped out the Dinosaurs, it was Dragons, they covered the earth with soot and ashes and then starved.  All but one (I think), which went into hibernation beneath London, and lay dormant until awoken by excavations for a new tube line in the present day.  The beast wakes - somehow reproduces (I think the news/narration near the beginning makes reference to other's being found, in Antartica, hence the breeding) and slowly dominates the earth.  No human response is enough to kill it and slowly man is reduced to living in small communes few and far between, digging bolt-holes deep into the ground and praying for their crops to grow unburnt.  
It is Quinn Abercromby (Bale), and his mother (played by Alice Krige - who gets a starring credit for some ten minutes and fifteen lines of dialogue) who first discover the dormant creature beneath London, the dragon wakes, Quinn's mother dies while fleeing, and the devastation begins.
Fast forward about 20 years and Bale is the leader of one of the surviving communes.  Things go from bad to worse as mutiny is threatened and Dragons burn up most of a harvest, along with those trying to collect it.  Things are not looking postive for the future of those left when Van Zant arrives with his squadron of "Kentucky Irregulars", spinning a tale of how his men are dragonslayers.  Their secret? The Dragons have imperfect vision at dusk.  Flimsy?  Youbetcha   Still, it doesn't really get in the way of a rollicking yarn.

The acting on the whole was pretty good, Christian Bale turned in a reliably wonderful performance, considering the source material wasn't exactly Shakespeare.  Matthew McConaghey was, um, interesting.  He was like a cross between the drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket and, uh, Batman.  Van Zan was a hard-as-nails SOB that it was impossible to like.  He was part of the reason this movie ducked out on the cliches - he _was_ a cliche, but he was also so grim he ended up getting a lot of his own men killed by his own arrogance and stupidity.   
Izabella Scorupco was passable - not particularly good, not particularly bad, but she didn't really have that much to do, so that's not really surprising.  It is heavily hinted that she is a love interest for Bale's Quinn character, but the movie leaves it more to your imagination - just the way I like it thank you very much.

The special effects were mostly good, although on occasion felt a bit slapdash, Van Zant's climatic battle with the big bad dragon looked fake, but Quinn's own showdown, minutes later, looked pretty durn realistic.

There were some nice touches - like Quinn and his best friend performing the "I am your father, Luke" scene from The Empire Strikes Back in improvised costumes.  Kid:  Did you make that story up yourself, Mr Quinn?  Answer:  Yes, of course I did!  
Made me laugh anyway.

Great quotes - on first sight of the Van Zant's tanks wading into town 
"Oh no, the one thing worse than the dragons... Americans"  teehee


On a completely unrelated note - this movie actually made me feel homesick!  I knew it was filmed in Ireland, and it really looks like it (no, no, Ireland doesn't look like a post-apocalyptic nightmare, honest  )...


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## Tabitha (Jul 18, 2002)

Harry Knowles over at AintitCool says Raign of Fire is the best dragon movie ever, and proceeds to drool over it at length.

Follow the link to read his review:
http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=12688


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## pkgrl (Jul 18, 2002)

*Reign of Fire and it's homage to SW!*

Finally saw ROF yesterday (YEAH!) and, while it got just a bit hokey in a couple of places, I thought they did an outstanding job with explaining dragons and in bringing them back to life.   Christian Bales did a wonderful job with his (totally believable) accent.

Strangely, I thought he looked a LOT like Matt in this movie.  Hmmmm

Regarding the SW homage I mentioned, you really have to see this film in order to appreciate the humor and honor Rob Bowman paid to the saga.  Two characters take time to not only share a bedtime story for the kids in the community, but to act it out.  And what story are they portraying?  Why the eternal struggle between the light side and the dark side of the force!  While one plays Vader and the other Luke in the Bespin lightsaber duel, the kids look on and react with earnest horror at Vader's revelation.

Excellent scene!

Details like this made this movie much better than it would have been otherwise.  The community was more real, more alive (even at the edge of death) than it would have been.  Quinn and his mates were also more real.  

Not a typical action flick,  that's for sure.  But one definately worth watching, especially on the big screen.  It'll stick with you for a while.


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## ray gower (Apr 21, 2003)

When this started I got a vivid flash back to a 1950's film., with its opening of workmen digging an underground tunnel in London and waking something they shouldn't up. 

This is not as powerful as Quatamass and the Pit, but it is a romping good yarn.

Best dragon flick?
Well they were awfully good! Not too sure about only one male throughout the world

Nice little Cameo of a play of The Empire Strikes Back as well, very entertaining, wouldn't mind seeing that as a stage play!


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## Tabitha (Apr 21, 2003)

> _Originally posted by ray gower _
> *
> 
> Nice little Cameo of a play of The Empire Strikes Back as well, very entertaining, wouldn't mind seeing that as a stage play! *




I just watched this film again a few weeks ago, and I still like it.  Not as impressive on the small screen, but still very enjoyable.  Haven't heard any sequel rumours recently, but I hope it doesn't get one.


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## Dave (Sep 8, 2005)

I also laughed at the 'Star Wars' scene, and agree with Ray about the 'Quatermass and the Pit' likeness at the start. The use of newspaper headlines to tell the story also added to that. It has also been compared to 'Q: The Winged Serpent' and to 'Lifeforce'. The other film that sprung to mind was 'Waterworld', mainly due to all the sweaty tatooed tanned skins about I think! I did think that it showed an excellent post-apocalyptic vision of Northumberland on a low budget. Waterworld probably spent five times as much and was unconvincing.

I think the poor dusk vision excuse was a believable one. A few things I did find odd were the number of children who survived compared to adults, and the height that helicopter climbed within the matter of seconds when stalking the dragon. They also didn't explain how the tanks got over here... or the diesel! Not to mention the electricity and ammunitions.

I agree with the comments Rob Bowman made about the engine that drives the movie being the debate between Matthew and Christian. I felt that too. I felt Christian was coloured by what happened to him as a child, and I felt that if there is just one male dragon Matthew made sense, then I was back to thinking Matthew was crazy and he would get them all killed again.

Van Zan was a clichÃ© as Tabitha said, but he was meant to be. It was all deliberately for show - the hip flask only ever having been filled with water just goes to prove that.

The best dragon movie ever? ...I don't think there have been enough dragon movies to decide that yet, but I could watch more like this if they had a less disappointing ending.


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## BAYLOR (Aug 15, 2021)

A post apocalyptic film caused by Dragons . This is terrific and very underrated film !


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## Vince W (Aug 15, 2021)

It had its moments. If it had come out after Game of Thrones started airing it would probably have been huge.


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## BAYLOR (Aug 31, 2021)

Vince W said:


> It had its moments. If it had come out after Game of Thrones started airing it would probably have been huge.



I liked the concept of why the Dragons existed. The film was well acted too.


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## Vince W (Aug 31, 2021)

What's not to like, really. Dragons? Check. Tanks? Check. Over the top action? Check.


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## BAYLOR (Sep 3, 2021)

Vince W said:


> What's not to like, really. Dragons? Check. Tanks? Check. Over the top action? Check.



And some over the top acting by Mathew McConaughey .  I have to admit, it was fun seeing him Christian Bale in a film together.


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## svalbard (Nov 3, 2021)

Went to the cinema to see this back in the day. Bale and McConaughey hamming it up. It was great.


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## BAYLOR (Nov 4, 2021)

Actually,  they could make this into tv series.


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## BT Jones (Dec 4, 2021)

Watched this the other day with my son.  I love this movie.  Plenty of flaws, I know, and they clearly ran out of the money they needed to make the 2 hr+ blockbuster they probably had in mind, but it scores highly for me on visuals, atmosphere, and the actors trying to transcend the concept and make us believe in this world.  It's had some very harsh criticism.


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## Droflet (Dec 4, 2021)

Dragons. How could you go wrong? What great fun it was.


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## BAYLOR (Dec 26, 2021)

Droflet said:


> Dragons. How could you go wrong? What great fun it was.



A perfect Summer movie.


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