Reign of Fire

2002 Action/Adventure

Medieval fantasy meets futuristic science fiction in this effects-heavy action epic from former X-Files director Rob Bowman. In present-day London, 12-year-old Quinn Abercromby witnesses the awakening of a hibernating dragon from a centuries-long slumber, the result of a construction dig supervised by his mother and an incident for which Quinn feels partially responsible. Twenty years later, the adult Quinn (Christian Bale) is the fire chief of a refortified castle community, responsible for dousing the blazes lit by the dragon's prodigious number of flame-spewing offspring, airborne juggernauts that have wreaked havoc across the globe, torching civilization and turning humans into an endangered species. Hope arrives in the form of Denton "Dragon Slayer" Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), an American known to be the only man to ever kill one of the dragons, and Alex (Izabella Scorupco), a scientist/pilot who's a member of Van Zan's army, a zealous fighting force that includes a secret weapon: the Archangels, paratroopers using themselves as bait to attract and then dispatch the deadly beasts. Reign of Fire (2002) co-stars Gerard Butler, Alice Krige, and Alexander Siddig. more..

Director: Rob Bowman

Starring: Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Izabella Scorupco, Gerard Butler, Scott Moutter

 30 Reviews  2 Awards

Reviews

  • This is quite enjoyable as creature features go, and Bale continues to demonstrate his curious under-the-radar appeal. As for McConaughey, let's just say a star is reborn. Suddenly that whole naked-bongo-playing incident makes a lot more sense.

    Ty Burr - The Boston Globe

    27 April 2013

  • It's a decent, fast-moving and visually powerful summer action romp for the teenage demographic-the dragons are deliciously evil critters, with a nice retro identity.

    - The Chicago Tribune

    27 April 2013

  • The film delivers the goods, reptile-wise. Though the computer-generated villains look a bit clumsy at ground level, they're superb in the air.

    Lawrence Toppman - Charlotte Observer

    27 April 2013

  • Stops dead the second the monsters fall out of view. It doesn't help that the movie's post-apocalyptic future is of the unimaginative backlot variety, or that the movie takes itself so seriously.

    Rene Rodriguez - Miami Herald

    27 April 2013

  • The story doesn't clarify why the dragons hibernated for hundreds of years, nor why they awakened. Clearly, however, the filmmakers might have benefited from more sleep before penning the script.

    Claudia Puig - USA Today

    27 April 2013

Awards

  • Best Fantasy Film

    Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (2003)

     

  • Richard R. Hoover

    Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival (2002)

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