Skip to main content

Movie review - Reign of Fire

Captain's Log, Stardate 06.10.2008

I just saw the movie Reign of Fire. Originally I wanted to see it because:

(a) dragons
(b) Matthew McConaughey
(c) Gerard Butler
(d) Christian Bale

See, I have my priorities straight. :)

It’s an Apocalyptic speculative fiction movie, and I was very surprised at how solid the storyline was. It had a great premise—dragons are real, and in fact feed on the ash from burnt organic material. They are the ones who destroyed the dinosaurs and caused the first ice age. When they started to starve from burning the earth up, they went into hibernation under the ground until the earth recovered.

The movie opens in present day London, where a boy’s mother is in charge of an underground tunneling project. They hit a pocket and awaken the first dragon. Over the years, the dragons overran humanity until only a few small communities live scattered over the world, trying to survive.

Then Matthew McConaughey comes, an American ex-military leader, who knows how to kill the dragons.

The story is a little complex and I had to listen carefully to figure out what was going on at times. The British accents of some of the cast were also hard to follow at some points. But on a whole, I really liked the story, the actors, and the special effects.

Has anyone else seen this? What did you think? I can’t possibly be the only one who likes dragons. And Matthew. And Gerard. And Christian. :)

Comments

Deborah said…
Dragons over Christian Bale? Boo!!
Leslie said…
Camy it took you this long to see it?! I used to have the DVD poster for it (I also used to work at Blockbuster).

I actually have it in my netflix queue because its been so long since I've seen it that I wanted to see it again.

What I always thought was funny is how "butch" Matthew McCanoaughey looked in the movie - he's still pretty to look at - but not quite as pretty.

As for Gerard Butler - I don't remember him being in it - it must have been one of his first movies (that or I didn't know who he was at the time).
Danielle said…
Yessss!! I found this one languishing on the shelves at Blockbuster and I was like, "Wha? How come I've never heard of this movie??"

I was totally impressed with it and loved the whole storyline. I am a big fan of Christian Bale and sometimes like Matthew McConnaughey... he was good in this one. And Gerard Butler didn't have quite a huge enough part for my liking... :)

Awesome movie.
Karen said…
All very good reasons to like this movie! I haven't seen in it a very long time; sounds like I need to put it back in my Blockbuster.com queue. I know my boys would like it.
Anonymous said…
Camy, I think your reasoning for seeing this movie are very sound. I've added Reign of Fire to my Netflix queue.

Regarding thick accents that make some movies hard to understand, I have learned to turn on the English captioning when I get a movie like that. Makes a huge difference in my enjoyment of the movie.

Robin
Danica Favorite said…
I guess I 'll have to add this to the must-see list.
Camy Tang said…
Deborah, do I get kudos that they're on the same list? ;)

This is definitely a movie worth watching and re-watching.

Oh, and Captain Caffeine just rolled his eyes when he saw the DVD come from Netflix. LOL

Camy
Camy Tang said…
Robin, I tried that but got annoyed with it. So I turn it off, but if someone says something I totally don't understand, I go back into the menu, turn it on, and watch the segment with it on, then turn it off again.

Camy
Melissa said…
I vaguely remember watching it, but I had to go back to Netflix to see what I rated it (2 stars). I remember finding myself very distracted by MM with no shirt on, but couldn't really follow the plot (if there was one)
catslady said…
I've not heard of it but it sounds like something I'd like - I'm going to try to remember to look for it!
Anonymous said…
That's our "traditional" Thanksgiving movie around here. We love it!
Anonymous said…
SOOOO have to see this movie!!!! Matthew, Gerard, AND Christian all in the same movie!!! (drooling).

Diane

Popular Posts

Brainstorm - character occupation

Captain's Log, Stardate 03.23.2009 Hey guys, I could use some help. In my current manuscript, The Year of the Dog , which is a humorous contemporary romance, I have a minor character, Eddie. He’s my heroine’s ex-boyfriend, and they’re on good terms with each other. He’s a bit irresponsible, but not so much so that he’s a complete loser. He’s got a very easy going attitude, he forgets to pay his bills sometimes, he’s friendly and charming. He’s adventurous and fun to be around, but he’s a little forgetful sometimes, and he tends to spend a little outside his income. I need an occupation for him. What would a charming, easy going, slightly irresponsible guy do for a living? He’s not too irresponsible, because otherwise readers will wonder what in the world my heroine saw in him to date him in the first place. She was attracted to his charm, his easy going attitude (her family’s uptight, and he was a nice contrast), and his adventurousness. But his forgetfulness and irresponsibility ...

Lavender hand lotion

Captain's Log, Stardate 11.05.2009 I have to tell you, I LOVE Etsy.com ! Etsy is dedicated to providing a marketplace for people who like to make handmade products and people who appreciate them (and buy them). It has everything from handmade gifts (like my mom’s Bucilla Christmas stockings and ornaments and tree skirts and wall hangings and … well, just click here to see what she has! ) to soaps and lotions and jewelry and knitted items and hand-painted yarn and ... I could surf that website for DAYS. Anyway, lately I’ve been concerned about the lead content in my lotions, especially since I’m using them more now that it’s turned colder and drier here in California. I have to use lotion on my hands everytime after I wash them. So I went onto Etsy and searched for organic hand lotions, and bought this lavender lotion from Lue Cosmetics . What was really nice is that the owner, Jane, sent me a direct message via Etsy right after I made the purchase to ask if I’d received it yet and ...

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th...

Chinese Take-Out and Sushi for One

Captain’s Log, Supplemental My agent sent me an article from Publisher’s Weekly that discussed this incident: Chinese Take-Out Spawns Christian Controversy And here’s also a blog post that talks about it in more detail: The Fighting 44s This is Soong-Chan Rah’s blog: The PCS blog In sum: Apparently Zondervan (yes, my publisher), who has partnered with Youth Specialties, had put out a youth leaders skit that had stereotypical Asian dialogue, which offended many Christian Asian Americans. In response to the outcry, Zondervan/Youth Specialities put out a sincere apology and is not only freezing the remaining stock of the book, but also reprinting it and replacing the copies people have already bought. I am very proud of my publisher for how they have handled this situation. The skit writers have also issued a public apology . (I feel sorry for them, because they were only trying to write a funny skit, not stir up this maelstrom of internet controversy. I’ve been in youth work long enou...

I got my cover!

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. Eyes of Elisha by Brandilyn Collins Tangerine by Marilynn Griffith I GOT MY COVER!!!! What do you guys think?