If you are a Construction Engineer, and happen upon a large scaly beast ... DON'T WAKE IT. Unfortunately, this instruction was never added to the manual, and a 12 year old boy watches helplessly as his CE mother stumbles across a very big peacefully sleeping Dragon. 20 years after the beast - and it's offspring - take out their anger at mankind for the rude awakening, and the boy now adult - Quinn - played by Christian Bale (who gave a very literal meaning to American Psycho) feels a responsibility to surviving members of mankind by defending and protecting a small community from the barrage of fire raining attacks. Quinn's Castle Enforcer - Creedy - played by Gerard Butler (Dracula 2000 and Attila the Hun), provides both comic relief AND makes sure that all members of the community obey the rules.

But all is not so grim on this scorched planet, and here to save the day is half mad - half genius Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey of Contact and Amistad fame) aka Dragon Slayer ... can you guess how he got his nick??? Yes, the only human to have actually brought down and kill one of the beasts, Van Zan leads a force called the Archangels to do battle with the Dragons in the skies. His pilot, Alex - played by Izabella Scorupco (GoldenEye, Vertical Limit), provides both brains and beauty to the ragged crew of high-flying warriors.

Be sure to look for one of my favs Alice Krige (also in Attila, Dinotopia, and the upcoming Children of Dune), playing the Quinn's mommy.

Release Date: July 12th, 2002

For more info, including trailer - please visit the official web site for this ulta-cool Dragon story:

http://bventertainment.go.com/movies/reignoffire/

Review May 30th, 2003: Some brilliantly realistic dragons highlight this film, as well as a keen script and very cool performances. The entire story takes place in and just outside London, so some of the accents are rather thick. At least, until the Americans arrive (lead by a shaven headed Matthew McConaughey). And we all know that there is only one thing worse than fire breathing dragons - Americans (which Creedy expresses, at one point).

It is hard to imagine what a world might be like after thousands of dragons are born unto the world, but this film will give you one HELL of a glimpse. There is little beauty in these beasts, which will definitely spoil any romanticism you may hold for these mythical creatures. Aside from the realism, one of the most touching scenes is Creedy and Quinn acting out a bedtime story for the surviving children ... ala Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back, where Luke lightsaber duels Darth Vader, only to have his hand lopped off and finding out his enemy is really his dad. If the rest of the film happened to suck, this moment in Reign of Fire is worth the price of admission, alone.

But this film did not suck. It was a very logical story of what would happen to the world and humanity if dragons WERE real and ruled the planet. The characters were honest and gritty ... no one to fall in love with here. This is a dark, ashen earth with humanity starving in the middle of it. Great action and of course, some cool special effects will keep you on the edge of your seat on more than one occasion. A very unique fantasy film.