Reign of Fire R1 DVD

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Travis Willock reviews

Reign of Fire
Distributed by
Buena Vista Home Entertainment

    CoverBuy the R2 DVD from

  • Cert: PG-13
  • Cat.no: 27206
  • Running time: 102 minutes
  • Year: 2002
  • Pressing: 2002
  • Region(s): 1, NTSC
  • Chapters: 11
  • Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 (Eng only)
  • Languages: English, French
  • Subtitles: English, Spanish
  • Widescreen: 2.35:1
  • 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
  • Macrovision: Yes
  • Disc Format: DVD 9
  • Price: $29.98
  • Extras:2 Featurettes, Conversations with the Director, Theatrical Trailer.

    Director:

      Rob Bowman

Screenplay:

    Gregg Chabot, Kevin Peterka and Matt Greenberg

Cast:

    Quinn: Christian Bale
    Van Zan: Matthew McConaughey
    Alex: Izabella Scorupco
    Creedy: Gerard Butler
    Moutter: Jared Wilke
    Alvarez: Benny Nieves

It almost seems as if B-movies are on the comeback.Eight Legged Freakscame out of nowhere at the theaters, 5 days after Reign of Firepremiered.

Now anyone can tell you that these type movies enjoy moderatesuccess at best and sometimes find a better home at… well home. Butthen there’s the B-movies which dissapear quickly and gain quite the badreputation (judging by Eight Legged Freaks’ DVD sales this will likelyhappen to it). Ambitious enough as Reign of Fire is, I think the latter willoccur. Most will go in expecting an all out dragon-bashing frenzy. Theywill be sorely disappointed – I know I was after seeing it at thetheater, but DVD is notoriously known for second chances, now knowingwhat to expect and not to expect will heighten the overall effect on youor bore you to tears depending on what type of filmgoer you are.

The year is 2022 (contrary to the trailers claiming the year is 2084)and a mine in London contains a horrible secret… no it’s not anotherAustin Powers movie but it’s actually dragons. Didn’t expect that onedid you, with the fire being in the title, huh (how can you with MatthewMcConaughey’s bald melon overshadowing the dragon on the cover)? Theancient creatures of yore multiply into millions and scorch the Earth. Itis discovered that they were the cause of the dino extinction and theywere lieing dormant, waiting to be unleashed upon a new fertile world.

Cool so far, right? Most definitely. But suddenly the film takes a nosedive, not in quality, but in tone. A community of survivors led by Quinn(who we discover was the young boy from the opening who saw the firstdragon) dwells in a large guarded castle. Suddenly a group of rag-tag (Ihate that saying) American soldiers arrive at the castle gates led byVan Zan (which has to be McConaughey’s best role, seriously). Seems theyhave an idea to take down the lone male of the species in London butthey need the community’s help.

When the dragons are on screen it’s all out awesome. The CGI effects areamong the best I’ve seen for a low budget flick. Don’t worry about itbeing CGI, these look good. The actors aren’t overshadowed though asall give a suprisingly good performance. There’s something aboutMcConaughey’s performance as Van Zan that adds to the film, maybebecause he’s hilarious.

Reign of Fire works well as a post-apocalyptic film which are prettyrare anymore but not as an action movie as the ads lead. Going in youwill either love it or hate it. My only complaint is the obvious, needsmore dragons. A good movie with only a few flaws.

When looking at Reign of Fire for the first time you’ll notice how darkand dreary it is. Presented in anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen. The filmis all about the ash overtone left by the dragons giving it a grey clearlook. Blacks are a mix, sometimes they’re solid but sometimespixelization can be seen. Flesh tones and other colors are representedwell, especially the fire. But there’s just something unattractive aboutthis transfer that I don’t remember at the theater. Color moire can alsobe bothersome particularily in the eyes of actors. Overall the transferis just average, nothing here is going to rock your world.

The sound improves on the video though. Buena Vista offers both DolbyDigital 5.1 and a very agressive DTS 5.1 track. Sound on both isexcellent.

As always with Buena Vista the extras are meaningless. If they’re goingto make us pay $29.98 for a film give us something extra. I love the adsI’ve recently seen for this DVD which tout loaded with extras, yeahright. Here’s how it stacks up:

  • Breathing Life Into The Terror: Right off the bat we’re subjected tothe SAME theatrical trailer that is selectable already. After thetrailer you get 6 minutes of info how the dragons were created. Not badbut should have been more in depth as it feels rushed and slappedtogether.
  • If You Can’t Stand the Heat: Explains how the fire was created and contained. Pretty worthless but it somehowgets 14 minutes over the only 6 minute long dragon featurette.
  • Conversations with Rob Bowman: The only decent feature here. 11 minutes, features an interview with directorRob Bowman over the film and his stints on The X-Files.
  • Original Theatrical Trailer: A very deceiving trailer but still cool. Presented in non-anamorphic widescreen.The trailer touts that the film takes place in 2084.

Pretty lacklustre and leaves more to be desired. Deleted scenes, audiocommentary?

Packaging is amaray and features one of the worst posters ever createdfor home video. Buena Vista has a knack for putting cast photos on thecovers (see the Scream series, Phantoms, the soon to be released Signs,and all their other movies) and overshadowing what the film is reallyabout. In this case the dragons are overshadowed.

The theatrical posterwas very well done, if not deceiving. Remember on my review ofBig Troublewhere I hoped their low chapter count wouldn’t become a trend?It has. Big Trouble had 12 and this only has 11. Not as bad asThe Powerpuff Girls Movie‘s8 but this is ridiculous. The list just keepsgoing on. Every DVD from Buena Vista (except the special and Vistaeditions) features a solid grey disc art with words in silver. Veryboring. Buena Vista still doesn’t convince me that they take the DVDmarket that seriously.

Overall, Reign of Fire is clearly a movie you have to be in the moodfor. It’s post-apocalyptic tone will have you either engrossed or boredto tears. The DVD is pretty dissapointing in some areas but the movie isat least worth a rental.

FILM CONTENT
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS


OVERALL
Review copyright © Travis Willock, 2002.

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