MOVIE REVIEW: Reign of Fire

DATE OF RELEASE: July 12 2002

DIRECTOR: Rob Bowman

MAIN CAST; Matthew McConaughey, Christian Bale, Izabella

IMDB Storyline

It is twenty years in the future, and the planet has been devastated by vicious fire-breathing dragons. The last vestiges of humanity now struggle for survival at remote outposts. In a ruined castle in the English countryside, Quinn is desperately trying to hold together a band of frightened, restless survivors. As a boy, Quinn watched his mother die protecting him from one of the beasts, and is still haunted by the memory. One day, a group of American rogues shows up, led by a brash, tough-guy named Van Zam. He claims to have discovered a way to kill the dragons once and for all, and enlists Quinn's help. But doing so will force Quinn to confront his own frightening memories. This, and Quinn's responsibilities to those that are under his protection, results in a battle of wills between the two men. In the end, events cause them both to realize that they must work together to defeat the monsters--both without and within. Written by LOTUSB1973

WHAT I LIKED

This is like King Arthur loses his kingdom and is transported in time to a world gone wrong. Quinn is challenged by Van Zam to defend what is left of man kind against the beast. I sometimes wonder who Quinn is fighting, the beast, his people or Van Zam.  If there was ever a great movie about the challenges of leadership this is one of them. You could ask "how do you keep control of your kingdom when it's already burnt to a crisp?" But yet this is not Ahab looking for his whale. I like the feeling of being 20 years in the future but still has a feel of the deep past of King Arthur, could Van Zam be Merlin with all the tech he brings to the fight. Van Zam has more of the King Arthur or Game of Thorns look but he is the American. However when you see his magic, which is not magic but high tech you are quickly brought back to what to what the core of the movie is about.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE

The victory over the Dragons was to easy, yes they paid a price. But you would think while they where fighting the dragons for 20 years, with all the guided missile tech, someone would have aimed for the mouth with more then a C4 tipped arrow way before.

Movie was rated PG-13, very fair rating and could be a family movie

I gave the movie a 7 on IMDB

I did see this movie on the big screen and did buy it on DVD and it is on my list to upgrade to Blue Ray