From a darkly hilarious take on the Rapture, to an invasion of blind aliens, to hordes of zombie outbreak films, Hollywood has ended the world in just about every way imaginable. Often two, three, or four times over. In this never-ending sea of theoretical apocalypses, there is one lone island that stands totally distinct - “apocalypse by dragon.”
To date, 2002’sReign of Fireis the only major blockbuster about fire-breathing dragons taking over the world. Adding to the film’s uniqueness is the fact that it isn’t all that fantastical. The film trades magic for pseudoscientific magical thinking, dragon slayers for crazy gun-toting American soldiers, and magic swords for high-grade explosives. What could’ve easily been a silly B-movie is instead a remarkably gritty film with some big names and even bigger performances.
RELATED:20 Best Post-Apocalyptic Movies of the 21 Century (So Far) Ranked
What is Reign of Fire About?
The film begins in 2002, when a young boy, Quinn Abercromby, visits his mother, the lead engineer overseeing construction on a new line of the London Underground. The workers dig too deep, penetrating a hidden cave and awakening a hibernating dragon. The dragon’s breath kills everyone at the site. As Quinn and his mother desperately attempt to escape through the elevator lift, the creature surfaces. Quinn’s mother is crushed to death, trying to protect him, leaving him as the only survivor.
Over the next two decades,more dragons, all significantly smaller than the first, emerge from the Earth and sweep the globe, feeding on everything in sight. Militaries around the world are hopelessly outgunned, and the war against the dragons destroys much of the planet’s surface. By 2020, the combined devastation of nuclear fallout, the dragon’s locust-like feeding habits, and general famine have reduced the human populationnearly to the point of extinction.
An adult Quinn,played by Christian Bale, now leads a small community of survivors in an abandoned castle in Northumberland with his second in command, Creedy (Gerard Butler). The survivors harvest crops and have devised a meager dragon defense system comprised of fireproof clothing, worn-down fire trucks, and stealth. Quinn’s plan is to survive long enough for the dragons to go back into hibernation. But, by the time the film begins in earnest, the community is on its last leg.
Each year, their field yields fewer and fewer crops, the soil turned from overuse and environmental corruption. With the current crop expected to be too small to feed the community and supplies incredibly scarce, one man gathers his family and leads a group to steal the crops for themselves. A dragon attacks, killing the thieves and destroying the crops, effectively sealing the survivors' fate.
At Quinn’s lowest point, a group of American soldiers led by the eccentric Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey) arrive at the castle sporting a tank, advanced tech, and a helicopter. Where Quinn’s goal has been survival above all else, Van Zan’s men are committed to killing the dragons and retaking the planet. They have slain around two hundred already, dissecting them along the way.
After a harrowing, if illogical, aerial battle that, at times, steps firmly into the realm of full-blown horror, Van Zan’s menkill the dragonthat attacked Quinn’s colony. Afterward, Alex Jensen (Izabella Scorupco), a scientist on Van Zan’s team, explains that every dragon they have killed has been female. Based on this, she has figured out that there is only one male in the entire population - the first dragon that Quinn saw as a boy. She and Van Zan believe thatthe dragonshave been around for millions of years and were the actual cause of the dinosaurs' extinction. The creatures operate on a hibernation cycle, emerging to devour the planet, then hibernating long enough for it to heal.
The theory is that killing the male will stop the cycle once and for all, causing the species to die out. Van Zan and Alex believe that the male is still in London and plan to lead a team to kill him. Quinn refuses to participate and tries to prevent anyone from his group from joining, fearful that the male with track the party back to the castle. In the end, Van Zan is too convincing, and some of Quinn’s group volunteer.
Just as Quinn feared, the male attacks the party and tracks them back to the castle, killing many of the community members,including Creedy. Enraged by the dragon’s attack and finally ready to face the boogeyman of his past, Quinn agrees to join the mission to kill the male. He is the only living person who has seen its den and thus is the only one who can lead them to it.
How does Reign of Fire End?
In the final act, Quinn, Alex, and Van Zan travel to a totally overrun London and make their way to the male’s den atop the construction site where it killed Quinn’s mother. The dragons' food supply has gotten so low that the male has taken to eating the females. It does so in front of the trio, scaring away the smaller females and clearing the team’s path.
Their initial plan to blow the male up fails, and Van Zan is eaten in a spectacular blaze of glory. Quinn and Alex recover the remaining explosives and lure the dragon to ground level, and Quinn shoots the bomb directly into the creature’s mouth, killing it. Months later, Quinn names his adoptive son the leader of the castle and decides to answer Alex’s call to travel the world and help humanity come back from the brink.
Reign of Firehas every base covered - gripping action sequences, a solid blend of practical effects and VFX, delightful Hollywood absurdness, and one ofMatthew McConaughey’s most memorable performances. There’s even a small appearance fromGame of Thrones alum Jack Gleeson. Perhaps, just like the immortal dragon wreaking havoc in the film, it’s time for audiences to wake up.
