REIGN OF FIRE - DVD review

Why is it that in all of these postapocalyptic motion pictures when some disaster strikes the human race, it takes all the color out of their wardrobe? I mean, ever since the "Mad Max" series started way back in 1978 (or "Planet of the Apes" before that), everyone in a future apocalyptic world wears only dark blues, browns, greys, and blacks. Are worldwide destructions selective in the clothing they destroy, leaving Mankind with only drab, dreary hues? Like its predecessors in the genre, "Reign of Fire" adheres to this cinematic tradition along with all the others we've come to know, which by now must be written in stone.

When I first heard about the film, I thought, wow, a future Earth fighting off fire-breathing dragons. I love fantasy and science fiction, and that sounded like a really nifty premise. But wouldn't you have thought that a studio about to spend over $90,000,000 on a movie would have begun with a script instead of a few special effects? Disappointment reigns supreme in 2002's "Reign of Fire."

The story begins somewhere in present-day England as a young boy goes to visit his mother, who is working on a railway tunneling operation. The crew has just broken into an underground cavern, and they ask the kid to go in through a small hole they've made and take a look. He does so and finds they've awakened a nest of flying, fire-breathing dragons that have apparently been lying dormant for millions of years, ever since they "burned the dinosaurs to dust," and now they want to make a comeback.

Flash forward almost two decades to the year 2020, and the dragons have taken over the world. They've multiplied rapidly and wiped out all our cities, the remnants of Mankind lying huddled in the ruins left behind. The boy, Quinn (Christian Bale), now grown up, is the leader of a group of survivors who are trying to hang on to their lives (shades of "The Terminator"). Enter a troop of American dragon killers led by a fellow named Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey) and a beautiful woman commando named Alex (Izabella Scorupco). The English and the Americans take an immediate dislike for one another ("The only thing worse than a dragon--Americans") but eventually unite to do battle against the creatures for the common cause of the world.

The movie fails on any number of counts. It develops no human relationships; it creates zero tension or suspense; and it establishes no believability whatsoever, leaving every logical question about its actions unanswered. In its favor the CGI dragons look good, but they are given so little screen time, we'd hardly know it.

We don't usually expect much more than to be entertained by an action sci-fi or fantasy movie, certainly not to find three-dimensional characters. But we might expect at least an attempt on the part of the filmmakers to provide us with more than stock, cardboard cutouts who can outrace fireballs. The characters in "Reign of Fire" are about as devoid of personality as the dragons they're trying to slay. They're just people thrown at us. Quinn, for example, is supposed to be the sensitive male, shown by his having taken in and raised a child left parentless by the dragon holocaust. That is about the extent of his personality development. He is mainly used as the handsome good guy we're intended to root for. Van Zan is supposed to be the tough guy. We know this because McConaughey tries to get as far away from his clean-cut, all-American image as possible, sporting tattoos, a beard, and a shaven head. He appears to be imitating Woody Harrelson in "Natural Born Killers," chewing on a cigar (and the scenery) in every shot he's in. The only interaction between the two male leads is their childish, macho rivalry, culminating in a fistfight. Then there's Alex, who is simply there, existing almost in a void. You'd expect that either she'd be a romantic interest or some kind of hero, but she's neither. About the only way to explain her presence is to say she tags along.

The movie does offer a couple of moments of excitement in its several clashes of man versus monster and its shots of a dragon-infested London toward the finale, but these moments are too few and they're diluted by too much trite dialogue and too much clichéd action in the meantime. Mostly, the movie is content with showing us sights of destruction, rubble, and debris, the vestiges of the human race barely clinging to a lost civilization. Pretty bleak stuff, done without a trace of humor (unless you find the whole film laughable) and accompanied by an equally somber musical track. The trailer makes it appear that the humans play out a deadly cat-and-mouse game with the sharp-witted, ever-alert dragons, something like "Alien" or "Predator," but not so. In only one scene does a dragon hide in the mists before pouncing, and it's a brief enough scene, at that. The film is primarily a wait-and-see affair, with little resulting payoff.

Worst of all, though, is that the film gives us little or no reason to willingly suspend our disbelief and go along with its dragon premise. The director, Rob Bowman ("The X-Files" movie), tells us elsewhere on the DVD that he tried to create a fantasy world we could easily accept, but his film didn't convince me for a moment. The best science fiction and fantasy creations do, in fact, establish a plausible universe of their own, but "Reign of Fire" doesn't even attempt such a thing. That flying, fire-breathing dragons exist at all, we are meant to accept on faith. That they can defeat the combined armies, navies, and air forces of the world, we aren't even shown; we're merely told in passing. That a single arrow with an explosive tip can kill a dragon but a dozen men with high-powered rifles (not to mention jet fighters with guided missiles) can't bring one down, we're expected to brook without objection. Swallowing any of this is a pretty far stretch for a reasonable mind.

And you want questions? Like, how does a small, future, defeated society living under a bombed-out city for years get food and clothing? These people dwell in poverty yet they seem to be well fed. Where are their herds of cattle or sheep, their dairy products, their leather or cotton or wool industries? Or do these commodities never get consumed or wear out? Who supplies the electricity to light their subterranean bunkers? Who works their generators or hydroelectric plants? Supplied by what fuel source? Where do they get the gasoline for their vehicles? How do they maintain clean, running water in their taps? Where do they get the seemingly continuous supply of ammunition for their guns? And where have all the world leaders, governments, scientists, and such gone? Not that I think the decimation of all politicians is such a bad idea, but could the heads of every country on Earth have been wiped out by the dragons, leaving only ragtag groups like Quinn's?

Finally, there's the simplemindedness of it all. Like, it takes almost twenty years for anybody to notice that the dragons don't see too well at twilight, so that's the best time to kill them. Or, the biggest stretch of all, that virtually all the dragons are females and there's only one male that fertilizes every egg in the whole dragon kingdom worldwide. Find and kill the one male and you save the planet, which is, naturally, what our three intrepid heroes do. It's amazingly, agonizingly, unremittingly far-fetched. But, I suppose that's the way most mediocre monster movies are, so I can't complain too much. It is what it is, and a year from now it will be forgotten.

Video:
The picture quality is exceptionally clean in this 2.13:1 ratio, widescreen anamorphic transfer. The daylight photography in the beginning of the story is bright and clear, with only some small line jags and a few halo effects noticeable. The indoor and nighttime scenes, however, along with the world of the future are purposely on the dull side, yet with blacks never seeming to reach a really deep black. Flesh tones remain realistic no matter the condition of the setting, and that's plus. The transfer itself appears to be excellent, but the director's choice of drab, muted, stereotypical postapocalyptic colors doesn't give it a lot to work with.

Audio:
One can sense the superior quality of the Dolby Digital 5.1 (or DTS 5.1) soundtrack from the very opening scenes, where the surround channels are used to good effect in reproducing the noises of fluttering birds, dripping water, and blowing winds. Bass is deep, dynamics are wide, and transient attacks are strong. When the fury of the dragons is unleashed, expect the house to rock. Expect, too, the inevitable helicopter flyovers as well as a few dragons flapping overhead.

Extras:
The bonus materials are about as ordinary as the movie itself, maybe more interesting if you're into special effects. The main items are two featurettes. The first is called "Breathing Life into Terror," about the making of the computer-generated dragons, lasting about eight minutes. The second is called "If You Can't Stand the Heat," about the pyrotechnics used throughout the film, lasting about fifteen minutes. Then there is a twelve-minute series of conversations with Rob Bowman, wherein the director tries to help us buy into his notion of the film's fantasy world. Lastly, there are "Sneak Peeks" at three other BV films and a "Reign of Fire" video game, sold separately; a measly eleven scene selections (I don't know why the folks at Buena Vista are being so stingy with their chapter stops lately); and an original, widescreen theatrical trailer. Oddly, the trailer says the film is set in the year 2084 A.D., which appears to contradict the date in the film. Oh, well. Spoken languages come in English and French, with subtitles in Spanish only and captioning in English for the hearing impaired.

Parting Shots:
"Reign of Fire" might more appropriately have been titled "The Road Warrior Meets Dragonslayer"; but without the charisma of Mel Gibson or the appeal of old-fashioned sorcery, this dull affair will barely keep you awake. Done as a parody of the postapocalyptic film genre, the movie could have worked, but instead it is serious to a fault. It's just "kill the dragons" and little more. Consequently, the disc simply smoulders in its own ashes, waiting to be put out of its misery by being removed from the DVD tray.

There is nothing in "Reign of Fire" the viewer hasn't seen or heard before, unless the viewer happens to be very young, say well under twenty, and hasn't seen any of the myriad of postapocalyptic films of the past two decades. Then, the movie might offer up a few surprises and a couple of thrills. If for no other reason the film might be enjoyed for its special effects, the dragons looking impressive in their couple of minutes of screen time. Providing that's your idea of a good time.