Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Reign of Fire (2002)
Director: Rob Bowman
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
'Only one species is getting out of this alive!' screams a character early in this post-apocalyptic yarn. Does he mean the flame throwing computer-generated dragons which raze the Houses of Parliament in London, England? Or Bale's plucky band of human survivors barricaded in a remote Northumberland fortress? It's a tough call. The script boils one spoon of DragonHeart fantasy spectacular with two big ladles of Mad Max action parody, with pinches of Fahrenheit 451 and other moral parables to taste. The director's general rule of thumb is to play it straight. But just as the film threatens to bog down in endless stuff about survival strategies and crop protection, the (American) cavalry arrives, headed by cigar-chewing battle tank driver McConaughey and his outrageous platoon of Kentucky 'irregulars'. The climactic SFX are well mounted and it's all too preposterous to dislike.Author: WH
Cast & crew
Director: Rob Bowman
Producer: Richard D Zanuck, Lili Fini Zanuck, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum
Cast: Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Izabella Scorupco, Gerard Butler, Scott James Moutter, David Kennedy, Alexander Siddig, Alice Krige full cast
Genre(s): Horror
Duration: 102 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing






What do you think?
Post your review now