Reign of Fire (2002)
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In a world where dragons have replaced humans as the dominant species, two survivors must unite to hunt the source of the infestation.
The story
Set in England in the year 2020, eighteen years after a London Underground tunneling project inadvertently awakened dragons from centuries of slumber, the creatures have replaced humans as the dominant species on Earth. With the fate of mankind at stake, two surviving parties, led by Quinn Abercromby and Denton Van Zan, find that they must work together to hunt down and destroy the beasts in a desperate attempt to take back the world. The world's militaries failed to stop the spread, and the population of humans is nearly extinct, forcing the survivors to find ways to survive against the aggressive, hungry dragons.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 2002, Quinn Abercromby's mother is killed when a dragon emerges from a construction site. The resulting dragon invasion leads to a nuclear response, leaving humanity nearly extinct. Eighteen years later, Quinn leads a small community at Bamburgh Castle. When a dragon destroys their crops, a group of Americans led by Denton Van Zan arrives. Van Zan reveals that the dragons are mostly female and reproduce via a single male. To end the threat, they must travel to London to kill the male dragon. During the journey, the group is attacked, and many are killed. Upon reaching London, they find the male dragon. Van Zan is swallowed by the beast, but Quinn and his ally Alex manage to kill the male dragon with an explosive. Three months later, Quinn and Alex establish a radio tower, and Quinn names his ward, Jared, the new leader of the community while they begin to rebuild civilization.
- First release year
- 2002
- Runtime (minutes)
- 102
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Rob Bowman
- Cast and characters
- Matthew McConaughey · Denton Van Zan; Christian Bale · Quinn Abercromby; Izabella Scorupco; Gerard Butler
- Genres
- post-apocalyptic; science fantasy; monster; action
- Themes
- survival; humanity vs nature
- Tone and mood
- action-packed; gritty
- Premise and plot tags
- post-apocalyptic; fantasy; monster
- Content notes
- cannibalism
- Reception
- The film received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics and underperformed at the box office.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 42% · review count: 173; Metacritic · score: 39 · scale: 100 · review count: 30; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A to F
- Production trivia
- The dragon's digital effects were based on a technique used in the film Dinosaur.; Matthew McConaughey insisted on being called by his character's name on set.; The dragon's fire breath was inspired by the biology of the bombardier beetle and vipers.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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