Product Details

• Actors: Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Izabella Scorupco, Gerard Butler, Scott Moutter
• Directors: Rob Bowman
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Video
• VHS Release Date: April 8, 2003
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (306 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00008DDJT
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #30,290 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The Road Warrior meets Dragonslayer in the briskly entertaining post-apocalyptic action thriller Reign of Fire. Reign of Fire exists primarily to give us a bigger and better dragon than the Vermithrax Pejorative of 1981's classic Dragonslayer, and in that regard, the special effects are mightily impressive; the reptilian fire-breathers are stupendously convincing. While the earlier film offers a richer, more whimsical medieval adventure, Reign of Fire is a fast-moving tale of man versus dragon that takes place in the charred England of 2020, after Earth has been scorched by rapidly multiplying dragons and the aftermath of a futile nuclear counterstrike. Mixing high-tech gadgetry with primitive survivalism, X-Files alumnus Rob Bowman makes the most of his midlevel budget, establishing a lavish castle base for the rugged, adversarial teaming of Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey as dragonslayers on the brink of extinction. With a steady supply of crowd-pleasing highlights, Reign of Fire is a pyrotechnical treat. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker
Fire-breathing dragons menace postapocalyptic society in the director Rob Bowman's fantasy-adventure romp. The film stars a buff-beyond-belief Matthew McConaughey and the hunky Christian Bale, who participate in some spectacular lizard-slaying stunts. The sets and costumes recall the "Road Warrior" series, and Bowman shamelessly encourages a scenery-chewing hysteria in his leads. Mesmerizing junk. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pyrotechnical B-movie masterpiece, December 2, 2002

By	N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Reign of Fire (DVD)

I honestly do not understand all the bad reviews that Reign of Fire received when it opened. Most people expected an Independence Day style brainless special effects vehicle and instead they got a slow paced character driven sci-fi flick. I guess these are the same people who thought XXX was a masterpiece. Anyway, I love Reign of Fire for everything it is and isn't. Matthew McConaughey (who it is great to see in another great movie without Hollywood gloss, see Frailty to see what I mean) brings to life one of his best roles in the dragonslaying Van Zan, while Christian Bale proves once again that he isn't just female eye candy (for another example see American Psycho). Both actors are fantastic, while X-Files film director Rob Bowman moves the film at a purposely slow pace so that every time we get a glimpse of a dragon it leaves the viewer wanting more and eventually getting it. The dragons themselves must be seen to be believed, they breathe, move, and stalk like one would imagine a dragon would in real life. All in all, Reign of Fire is a masterful high grade B-movie that shines without the Hollywood gloss, and is a true treat of a film.

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Truth About Dragons, July 12, 2005

By	Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Reign of Fire (DVD)

A London construction project uncovers a horrible secret and a young boy loses his mother at the same time. A tunnel project has awakened a dragon. Soon they breed like rats and proceed to burn civilization and all life into oblivion. They have been here before but we did not recognize the signs. Their attack is so quick that years later humanity is all but completely wiped out.

The young boy is now a young man and in charge of a group of refugees trying to reestablish themselves. Dragons are getting desperate as their food supply is almost completely gone. But internal and external forces combine to bring great change. Some residents are losing faith and want to go against the community's plan. A group of American military arrive and they specialize in killing dragons. They also have a crazy plan for getting rid of the dragons for good but they need more men.

This tale of survivors facing impossible odds with an iron will to survive is well crafted and easily rewatchable. The acting is good while the effects are excellent. but this is not a movie about dragons, it is a movie about people and how they deal with adversity. Although the movie is really about people, the dragons are wonderful and full of menace. Definitely worth watching.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure adrenalin!, July 8, 2005

By	M. A. Bechaz "bookaholic" (Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I won't beat about the bush: I LOVED THIS MOVIE! It was so exciting, I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through. At times, I even began to cheer!

I've been stuck in bed sick these last few days and I've had to endure watching some dreadful movies in that time. But this was a great change from those. Out of all the movies I've watched lately, this was far and away the best one.

The storyline of this movie is not entirely original--it definitely borrows elements from Mad Max, George A. Romero's Day of the Dead, and John Wyndham's book The Day of the Triffids. But all three of those were absolutely brilliant, and so is this.

I noticed that one Amazon reviewer complained that they could not understand the accents in this movie. Well, I would advise that reviewer to get their hearing checked because I didn't have a problem with the accents at all. If you can't understand the occasional very mild Scottish accent, you really need to get a life. FYI, though, most of the characters in this speak with an English or American accent, neither of which should be too hard for persons of average intelligence to understand.

I also read reviews that claimed there were too few dragons and not enough drama in this movie. Jeeze, those reviewers so didn't get it. As I saw it, there was a good reason why the dragons weren't onscreen the whole time and it had to do with building drama: the drama was actually in the 'when will the dragons come, will they find us, oh God, is that just the wind outside or the sound of a dragon coming to get us, aaargh!' type suspense. Silence of the Lambs didn't just feature Hannibal Lector and the other serial killer slaughtering people all the way through it--it relied on the suspense factor, the 'what will happen next?' feeling, the build up, the psychology. Suspense = drama, and in this movie, if the dragons were on screen the whole time, you'd lose that. (Be assured, though, that plenty of dragons do appear, and when they do, they're awesome!) Also, the reviewers seemed to miss the scintillating psychological drama of the 'enemy within' component of the story. The people living in the fortress were unsure about whether the well-armed and scary looking American soldiers they were letting into their midst were friends or foe. Were these new humans in fact more dangerous to them than the dragons outside? That was the same thing I loved about Romero's 'Day of the Dead', and I thought it worked well in this movie too. Let's face it, some people are scarier than the worst of Hollywood monsters, and the military certainly has its fair share of these people.

I could go on for hours pointing out the flaws in some of the other reviews, but I won't bother. If people want to be dumb, let 'em. There are some logic gaps in this movie's script, sure, but not nearly as many as the other reviewers say. Watch this for the entertainment value, not just to nitpick, and you won't be disappointed.

I loved the sense of humour in this movie--it may be set in a grim 'end of the world' scenario where the few survivors are forced to live in almost medieval conditions, but the people prove that they can still have a laugh and keep themselves entertained. (You MUST check out the 'Star Wars' panto they put on, it's an absolute hoot.)

The cast is top notch. Matthew McConaughy is awesome, and such an over-the-top gung-ho army guy that he's almost scarier than the dragons. Christian Bale is inspiring--he's strong, but at the same time very human and vulnerable, a good guy caught in a very bad situation. And Gerard Butler is as lovely as he always is in movies, and yet, very tough and heroic--girls, as if you needed another reason to watch this, there it is!

There was never a slow moment in this movie. The action was brilliant, the fiery explosions were good and big and loud, and the special effect that allows us to see the world through a dragon's eyes was pretty cool. But the coolest part was when you get to see the world through the eyes of guys who are falling from a helicopter without a parachute whilst trying to hunt a dragon--I've got a fear of heights, but even I couldn't look away, it was so compelling.

Watch this, I urge you, but be warned--you might wear out the edge of your seat! And your lungs, too, as you cheer the heroes on.