REIGN OF FIRE
Dragons with a plethora of firepower do their damnedest to torch mother
earth.
(Now in stores)
CAST: Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Izabella Scorupco, Gerard
Butler, Scott Moutter, David Kennedy, Alexander Siddig, Ned Dennehy,
Rory Keenan, Alice Krige
DIRECTOR: Rob Bowman
"What a vast enterprise has been marshaled in the service of such
a minute idea...We cannot believe what happens in the movie, and we
cannot believe that the movie was made...One prays for a flower or
a ray of sunshine as those grotty warriors clamber into their cellars
and over their slag heaps. Not since 'Battleship Earth' has there
been worse grooming." --Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"... for much of its running time, 'Fire' is loads of fun. It has
a jamming B-picture buzz--the kind of swift filmmaking and high spirits
that have been missing from movies for a while...'Fire,' which feels
like a nightmare version of 'Dungeons and Dragons,' has a quick, horror-movie
punch...But for all its sprightly touches, the picture finally runs
out of notions... the picture is as much fun as a great run at a slot
machine: even when your luck runs out, you're losing only pocket change."
--Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times
"Dragons have the best lines in 'Reign of Fire,' and they don't say
a word. All they have to do is breathe...the fire snorters in this
futuristic story are admirable creatures, way more convincing than
the puny humans arrayed against them...Though 'Reign of Fire's' concept
of a humans-versus-dragons smackdown is a good one, the way it's worked
out on screen is more silly than compelling." --Kenneth Turan, The
Los Angeles Times
"It strains belief that nuclear weapons couldn't kill off the dragons,
but three people with crossbows could. But then 'Reign of Fire' defies
logic even in the terms of the creature-feature genre. Nor does it
help matters that it's often hard to understand the dialogue--not
only because of the movie's dreadful sound quality, but because the
dragons seem to have killed everyone in Britain who doesn't have a
heavy cockney accent." --Jonathan Foreman, The New York Post
"You believe in the dragons more than you do in the people...Bale
is, once again, the most heroic performer in a hopeless cause. But
too often here, he sounds as if he's talking with his mouth full.
As for McConaughey, let's just say that, for all his experience, he
still doesn't seem quite old enough to suck on that unlit cigar his
character is compelled to carry." --Gene Seymour, Newsday
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