Reign of Fire (2002)
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense action violence
DIRECTOR: Rob Bowman
WRITERS: Gregg Chabot, Kevin Peterka, and Matt Greenberg from a story by Gregg Chabot and Kevin Peterka
PRODUCERS: Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Lili Fini Zanuck, and Richard D. Zanuck
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Adrian Biddle (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Declan McGrath and Thom Noble
COMPOSERS: Ed Shearmur and Brad Wagner
SCI-FI/FANTASY/ACTION/THRILLER
Starring: Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Izabella Scorupco, Gerard Butler, Scott James Moutter, Ben Thorton, and Alice Krige
The subject of this movie review is Reign of Fire, a 2002 post-apocalyptic, science fiction and fantasy-action film from director Rob Bowman. The film takes place in a time after fire-breathing dragons emerged from beneath Earth’s surface and began setting fire to everything, on their way to establishing their dominance over the planet.
Director Rob Bowman’s Reign of Fire is a beautiful, amped-up B-movie with the gloss and sheen of serious A-list action movie. Bowman is known for his work on the television series, “The X-Files”.
Set a few decades into the 21st Century, it’s the tale of band of humans led by two rivals Quinn Abercromby (the sexy Christian Bale) and Denton Van Zan (the sexy Matthew McConaughey) who fight a brood of dragons that have destroyed civilization and hunt what’s left of mankind. After the dragons deliver to huge setbacks to the humans, Quinn, Abercrombie, and the beautiful Alex (Izabella Scorupco), the action movie girl de rigueur, travel to London for a last stand against the mightiest of the dragons.
Bowman, who directed many episodes of “The X-Files” television series, as well as the feature film based upon the series, is very good at putting his cast and crew through the paces to create this fantastic and fun film. It doesn’t have to make much sense (and it doesn’t) to be entertaining, but Bowman takes the B-movie to new cinematic heights. Yes, I will wonder why everyone is filthy and grimy in this burnt-out world while Alex manages to look freshly washed every scene – a little thing compared to some others. However, I enjoyed Reign of Fire’s intense portrayal of humans barely holding on, yet fighting for their lives in this post-apocalyptic thriller. If you like fantasy and action, I’m sure you’ll have a good time with this tasty popcorn thriller.
7 of 10
B+
Updated: Monday, November 04, 2013
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