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Reign of Fire

Reign of Fire

List Price: $14.99
Your Price: $11.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: It had some good scenes but sadly wasn't what I expected.
Review: Okay the film has a wonderful idea. So dragons are real, terminated the dinosaurs and now they're alive and kicking. So why does this turn out to be a kind of Mad Max with only a few survivors running for their lives? Wouldn't it be a lot more exciting to see the fight of civilization against a new original of threat? Wouldn't it be great to see dogfights of copters vs. dragons? This turns the poster into the biggest bluff of the movie. It could use a kind of Independence Day formula and be original with it but sadly it falls into the easy formula of the cliché and the result is almost two hours of fire and more fire, action sequence after action sequence. Thus, I award it a 5, it wasn't at all disappointing - Christian Bale gives this much-needed class, and his head-to-head with a souped-up McConaughey's Van Zan provides more tension than the occasional dragon threat. But it doesn't really make the viewer feel totally satisfied. And please: no sequels!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Matthew McConaughey lights up 'Reign of Fire' in his
Review: Matthew McConaughey lights up 'Reign of Fire' in his best performance since 'U-571'! Which if you've seen 'U-571' you would find unbelieveable, inless of course you saw 'Reign of Fire' in theatres as I did. But besides Mr. McConaughey the dragons look as terrifing as ever but at the same time dazzling. So from the extordinary acting (Christian Bale,Matthew McConaughey) to the spectacular special effects and graphics (dragons, sky divers, castles etc.) 'Reign of Fire' is HOTT!!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A scorchingly good time!
Review: Need a dollup of fantasy coupled with excellent special effects? Then this little movie is just right. Rob Bowman has put together a strong cast, adroitly built a convincing set and atmosphere that successfully gives us a credible (though dismal) look into the future when the golbe has been destroyed by, no, not nuclear weaponry, but the halitosis of a breed of heretofore hibernating dragons. Coming out of this state of terrorist bondage, living beneath the ground to survive the demonic holocaust of flying dragons, is the journey we're on, led ably by a very buff Matthew McConaughey and and even buffer Christian Bale. The only actor who flies like the dragons (albeit in a helicopter sans fiery breath) is the beautiful Isabella Scorupco. Abetting the trials of Bale is a very fine actor by the name of Gerard Butler. The supporting cast, while not given much to say, are all convincing, especially the Male Dominant Dragon who is created with such sophisticated animation graphics that he is truly threatening. Peeks at London pre and post dragon-attack are beautifully rendered. Not a whole lot of plot here, but hey, what fairy tales concentrate on plot? You've got to like these gladiators - they, with the director's help - give us a sizzingly good time. Relax your philosophical brain parts and just go for the ride.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A mediocure, senseless modern version of Dragonslayer...
Review: Not much makes sense in this film, and fifty-foot flying, fire-breathing dragons are the least senseless. The film starts with a bunch of killer dragons being awakened after ages of sleep. The creatures quickly start multiplying and flying around the globe, burning mankind out of existence. Within twenty years, the whole Earth has been charred a gloomy grey, and the small groups of humans that have survied barely get by under the wings of the starving dragons. The only "hope" they have is to kill the father of the species, a huge male dragon who makes his home in the ruins of London.

Watching this film leaves you wondering about the same things viewers do with Water World, the Fifth Element, and Godzilla. Rob Bowman's dragons appear semi-believeable and realistic, without destroying traditional ideas and myths about the beasts (the dragons look very much like the dragon from the 1981 film Dragonslayer). Unfortuantly, too many loose ends in the film are left untied. For instance, no on explains how the dragons survive for thousands of years in hibernation. Nor is it made clear how one male dragon can fly around and father an entire species big enough to take over the world. Reign of Fire is one of those films where you ask no questions to be told no lies: enjoy the effects and shut your brain off for the time you will fritter away watching this flick.

If you enjoyed Dragonslayer and want to see an updated vesion of Vermithrax, check out this film. If you want a film with a plot that actually makes sense, forget it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Could have been better but still a worthy film!!
Review: REIGN OF FIRE is a dragon movie set in a MAD MAX post apocolyptic future. It's a great concept. However, I beleiev that there's more the writers and director could have given us. But I refuse to be another person who gives this a negative review. It is A GOOD MOVIE!! Minus a few slow spots, I enjoyed myself throughout and I've seen it three times.

Matthew McConauhey delivers a one of a kind performance that I haven't seen in a film for a long time. He's kind of like Quint from JAWS only meaner and more complex. McConauhey's role in this film made me wish he would do more genre films. He's a good actor why waste talent in things like THE WEDDING PLANNER or THIRTEEN CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING?

Check this out! While it is in no way a perfect film, the effects are spectacular and the film WILL entertain!! Just take it for what it is, a big budget popcorn flick.

B-

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great DVD, Great Movie!
Review: I have to admit, I thought that this movie would ....
I thought it would just be another monster movie (with dragons).
I was surprised by the fact that it was actually good!
The plot is actually decent, the acting is good (bale and Mcconaughey are great)and direction and special effects are top notch.
Bale and McConaughey are in top physical shape,but look much grungier than their usual "pretty boy" images.
DVD is fun with cool animated windows, and decent bonus features.
over all a great movie to own.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I was impressed!
Review: In reading these other reviews, I'm guessing that these other people are looking for something other than an action film! This grabbed my attention from the beginning. No...they DIDN'T show dragons the whole way through...that's the suspense part, fellows! The special effects were great, the dragons looked awesome, the acting was very believable. In the beginning I was wondering how they were going to "get us" to the dragon part...but sure enough, we were jet propelled into dragon land! The ending was the only weak part. That's why I only gave it a four-star rating. It was an emotional thriller that was beautifully made. Great movie.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Godzilla With Dragons
Review: I am sorry to say that this was no where close to a great movie, but it's not an awful movie either. Reign Of Fire begins in London where we see a young boy (Christian Bale's character as a child) going down into a mine shaft. Now, here's where the movie gets confusing, and it never quite recovers. The boy discovers a dragon in the mine shaft and as everybody rushes to get out his mother and everyone but him for that matter, manages to get killed.
We later learn over the next decade how the human race was slowly killed off. There are only a small rag-tag team of survivors led under the now grown up boy, Christian Bale. The next notable part of the story takes place about half way through when Matthew Mcconghey and his band of American survivors role up to Christian Bale and company's hideaway and then eventually formulate a plan to go to London and take out the main dragon. When they finally get to London it only takes them 5 minutes or so (with very little difficulty) to get rid of the dragon. Way too simple. I realized when I had finished watching this movie that I knew little more about the plot then I knew just watching the preview. All in all, it's a big budget monster movie like the hideous remake of Godzilla. The best parts are seeing the great effects used to create the dragon. Aside from that, the acting is also commendable with both Christian Bale and Matthew Mcconaghey (bald but bearded, in an interesting change of role) turning in decent performances.
Other than that, Reign Of Fire is out of heat.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Weak script torches sci-fi thriller
Review: Almost every sci-fi thriller asks us to suspend disbelief. It does so because we usually have no true frame of reference in reality. For example, we can choose to believe that mankind will travel to distant galaxies in the future; however, the how, why and when of this possibility is mere speculation. In the best of sci-fi, the story takes precedent over our questions about how the events could really happen. We gloss over the technical improbabilities because they are inconsequential to a tale well told. In a bad sci-fi thriller like "Reign of Fire", a weak story causes us to take note of how ludicrous and impossible the whole movie is. Case in point: There is a scene in this movie where a band of people, who have somehow survived civilization's annihilation by a plague of fire-breathing, flying dragons, celebrate the killing of one of the creatures. Suddenly, giant spotlights come on atop the forlorn castle they live in. How can this be possible when presumably all the power companies have been destroyed? And where on earth do they get the fuel to power their tanks, helicopters and other vehicles? No attempts to explain these or any other questions are made. We are simply expected to believe. Problem is, we don't.

All of the nonsense takes place in the not-so-distant future. A crew excavating for a new subway line in London digs into a buried lair of dragons. The things escape and begin to multiply and to destroy everything in sight. In just a few years, they've burned up almost everything and everyone. As you might expect, it's finally up to a small group of survivors to save the world.

The dragons are skillfully rendered and rather impressive. By the time we get to their nest in the ruins of London, though, we don't much care.

"Reign of Fire" stars Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale, two fine actors who must have taken their roles for the paychecks.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A good idea imperfectly executed
Review: Christian Bale and a bald, beefed up Matthew McConaughey looking like the guy from Fast and Furious star in a poorly executed film about dragons taking over the planet. Other than the opening scene when the first dragon is discoved underground the story takes place twenty years from now. A combination of fire breathing dragons and the use of nuclear weapons used against the seemingly indestructable dragons leave the cities of the Earth looking like South Bronx. (The film was shot in Ireland and if Ireland looks like that it is time to quit using things that blow up.)The remaining humans - whom the dragons consider food - are living underground and not doing so hot. Matthew shows up with a raggedy army claiming to have killed a dragon and looking for volunteers. Bale is a bit sceptical about his claim to have killed a dragon until one shows up and Matthew dispatches it using a small missle and one of his soldiers as bait - sort of giving you the idea why he needs volunteers. Never-the-less, a dead dragon lying on the ground does wonders for the downtrodden humans.

The most interesting scene in the film is a skydiving sequence. Imagine sky diving while a dragon, considering you the main course in a drop-in restaurant, is trying to pick you out of the air for a snack. You have to open your chute a close to the ground as possible but you are in clouds so you can't see the ground. HooHa! Exciting! Very well done.

A little conflict between the stars, a little romance between Bale and the female helicopter pilot for interest and they set off to London Town to find the one male dragon. I am not certain how the one male dragon has any time for a skirmish with the humans as there are a lot of females about - sort of like a rooster in a big, big hen house - but skirmish he does in a big finish.

The problem with spending most of the budget on the dragon scenes is that it does not leave much for anything else. There are long drawn out dialog scenes in between the action that seem to go on forever while you are waiting for the dragons to arrive. My kids wandered off after ten minutes of nothing happening. But I think they did an okay job on the film and, as I said, the skydiving sequence is great.


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