22 October 2011. This serious piece of sci fi/fantasy work retains its grit and focus on the action thriller, no-nonsense presentation of a dragon plot device that is rather creative and takes the rest of the production from there. There are no really outrageous typical characters one might find it such movies as Mad Max (1979) and its various sequels, Cherry 2000 (1987),The Postman (1997) or Waterworld (1995). The dragons are really more like a stand in for the monstrous wild band of alien lifeforms or bacterial infections in this wasteland. Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey are archetypes that don't abuse their natures for obvious dramatic effect and even the sexual implications usually promoted in such movies is omitted. In many respects, Reign of Fire has strong similarities to the classic Alien (1979) in its retention of the primary interest in the resolution of the dire situation. In some ways, the disaster scene towards the end of the movie was even more true to from than the one in Aliens (1986).

Reign Of Fire is about a post apocalyptic world in which human survivors are huddled in communities trying to make it through another day. The thing that has caused the apocalypse is not atomic war, chemical war, biological war, or a natural disaster. It's the awakening of creatures thought to be mythical, but dragons turn out to be very real.

A brief prologue involving the character who grows up to be Christian Bale sets the stage as workers in the London underground accidentally awaken the beast. Young Ben Thornton survives but his mother is one of many killed by the dragon's first blast of fire.

Fast forward about thirty years and Thornton, now Christian Bale is leader of a small colony in rural Great Britain if in fact such a government still exists. The dragons have multiplied and roam the world. They breathe fire and consume the ash of what they breathe for food. Makes it real hard to kill.

Bale is just looking to survive, but a squadron of dragon killers led by Matthew McConaughey is over from across the pond. They've got a tip on how to end the dragon menace for humanity which involves their reproductive processes and are looking for help.

That's the business conflict between McConaughey and Bale. They've also got a personal thing going, a little sexual tension over McConaughey's second in command, Izabella Scoruppo. I have to say Izabella fills a flight suit out real nice.

The best things about Reign Of Fire are the sets showing the burned over world the dragons have left. So incredibly bleak, they make the sets of Mel Gibson's Mad Max films look like the Everglades. The special effects with the dragons are pretty good as well.

In fact the technical aspects of the film do overwhelm the human players somewhat. Still McConaughey, Bale, Scoruppo and the rest do get their characterizations across.

Not a bad film in general, Reign Of Fire is a must for science fiction fans.

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.