Fresh and Exciting

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The film does not seem to know exactly what theme to go with because it flip-flops from a Gothic medieval look and feel to a 1980s B Action look and feel. Christian Bale's character, Quinn Abercromby, and his group in England give us the Gothic medieval vibes while Matthew McConaughey's character, Denton Van Zan, and his group give us the cheap 1980s B Action vibes. The film makers created a weird combination with this film.It's an "ok" film. I would have liked this film much better if they would have left out the Americans and their 80s B-Action military crud. Yes I wish they would have created the film with Gothic, medieval vibes - that would have been up my alleyway.The dragons look great. There is NO misuse of CGI in this film - I can give it that much credit. The story is so-so and could have been much better without the 80s action stuff in it. The acting is really good in the film - that includes the American 1980s action group of people. All actors did a fine job in this one.I got this film for free using some points I had built up - so I can't complain too badly.. but I would have chosen a different free film if I knew this movie had the 80s B-Action added to it. I would have rather watched this film online instead of having it in my DVD collection. But I have it now, I'll keep it and watch it again sometime in the future.6.5/10

This is a fairly entertaining post-apocalypse movie that sees a few huddled survivors living in squalid conditions in a Britain destroyed by fire-breathing dragons. It sounds ludicrous, but the good news is that this film never panders to kids in any way, meaning I had a chance to enjoy it. The running time is extremely short and action-focused, detailing efforts to destroy a dragon and put an end to the endless oppression faced by the human survivors. The script is nothing special, but it does the job and the scenes of spectacle it focuses on are all quite enjoyable if not anything we haven't seen before. The scenes of a destroyed London are well done and the CGI effects used to animate the dragons are very good indeed, on par with those in LORD OF THE RINGS. I also liked the climax and the only misstep was a ridiculous helicopter jump where the participants are descending through the air for about five minutes even though helicopters can't fly that far up.There are three notable cast members. The first is the hero, Christian Bale, on his ascendancy to fame after his success in American PSYCHO. He gives a typically intense performance here and one of the things I've always liked about him is the way he gives the same dedication no matter what genre of film – a light sci-fi crowd-pleaser like this or a dark-as-heck horror like American PSYCHO. He's supported by another up-and-comer, Gerard Butler, not bad in a rather limited supporting role. The American lead is an unrecognisable Matthew McConaughey who I thought was very good, playing a borderline psychopath with a real disregard for human life. While I don't pretend that this is a brilliant film – it's far too insubstantial and airy for anything beyond a popcorn flick – it mostly avoids the pitfalls of many a Hollywood blockbuster and provides a decent watch.

What happens when fire breathing dragons roam the world. Obviously, fire reign in the sky ergo Reign of Fire. Now that we had cleared that up, heh, we enter in a world of scarcity, battle, hopelessness in the eyes of some people. But there are some, who lives on to fight and regains what was lost. Some question them, what is the point? Why still fight a battle were even when fleets, armies, marines were helpless against them, completely decimated.For this two completely opposite view, we are introduced to two people of one that found a way to live with it, and one who continues to fight this ravaging merciless beasts. This is not all fight. This two people living in two opposite lives, comes to different realization. The fighter comes to helplessness and the farmer learns there is still something left to fight.Now, the graphics. Real and life like. That's all that I could say. Very believable. Motions of the dragons when landing or flying both closely resembles the birds. The way the body flexes, considers the weights and length of its neck and wings, and tails.Entertaining in a way only battles and death can give. Edgy and worldly, you know, where world is at stake.

Young Quinn Abercromby follows his mother supervising work underground on the subway and encounters dragons. His mother is killed. The dragons spread laying waste to the world. Governments helped the destruction by launching a nuclear war. In 2020, Quinn (Christian Bale) leads a group of survivors trying to wait out the dragons in a castle in Northumberland. Then a group of Americans led by Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey) show up with a plan to end the nightmare. Quinn is reluctant to let his people fight and even more reluctant to face the origin of the dragon threat.This is a lot fiery dark loud ashen angry action. The singular tone does get monotonous. There isn't any ability to lighten up before diving back into the deep end of the fire pit. The logic of the world is also a bit questionable. It is questionable that the world military couldn't stop the dragons but this ragtag group could. Van Zan doesn't have a magic gun. Both Bale and McConaughey are going rough in this movie. It's a bit too much of the same tone. The best thing about this movie is that they are fighting dragons in the modern world. I'd watch this simply for that.