Reign of Fire

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Reign of Fire

PG-13

2002

1h 41m

Fantasy

Adventure

Action

Sci-Fi

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

41%

Tomatometer

172 Reviews

49%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

In present-day London, 12-year-old Quinn watches as his mother wakes an enormous fire-breathing beast from its centuries-long slumber. Twenty years later, much of the world has been scarred by the beast and its offspring. As a fire chief, Quinn (Christian Bale) is responsible for warding off the beasts and keeping a community alive as they eke out a meager existence. Into their midst comes a hotshot American, Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), who says he has a way to kill the beasts.

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Critics Consensus

Reign of Fire gains some altitude with its pyrotechnic action and a smolderingly campy Matthew McConaughey, but the feature's wings are clipped by a derivative script and visual effects that fizzle out.

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SMH Staff

Sydney Morning Herald

The characters are sketchy, the plot is full of logical holes and the story is all fight and flight. But despite its flaws, it is enjoyable if you like special effects, warriors and computer-generated dragons.

Mar 31, 2019

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Anthony Quinn

Independent (UK)

For all its silliness, Reign of Fire never bores, and may actually appeal to your inner twelve-year-old.

Mar 31, 2019

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Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

The poor dragons - on screen not nearly enough as it is - stand no chance pitted against this kind of heavyweight ham.

Mar 31, 2019

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Leah Rozen

People Magazine

Better than the trailers made it seem, but nothing to get fired up about.

Mar 31, 2019

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Malcolm Johnson

Hartford Courant

For all of its design and special-effects artistry, "Reign of Fire" is seldom convincing -- only slightly more alive than the silly 2000 "Dungeons & Dragons."

Mar 31, 2019

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John Wooley

Tulsa World

Look too closely at it, and you'll find a question or two that aren't satisfactorily answered by film's end. But it deserves high marks for not being quite like anything else -- for being, in fact, just different enough to impress.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 31, 2019

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Gregory S

It’s a fun ride. I mean there’s Matthew McConaughey, Christian Bale, and Gerard Butler fighting dragons. What else could you ask for?

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/11/25

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thiago s

Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

10/16/25

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Brian H

Bale, McConaughey, Butler all giving good performances on a script that left something to be desired. The visuals are at times intense. The action only stops to build the story. A better movie than it gets credit.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/03/25

Full Review

Hughe J

Reign of Fire was released in theatres in 2002 and stars Mathew McConaughey, Christian Bale, and Gerard Butler. The movie is set on post apocalyptic Earth where dragons have arisen and destroyed society. The movie centers around a surviving community led by Bale's character in England that is confronted by McConaughey who leads a group that arrives to destroy the only female dragon, which by killing it will stop them from breeding. Both groups must band together to fight the dragons, after a contest of wills by their leaders, to save humanity before it's too late. This is obviously a "turn off your brain" movie as the dragons can be killed so why didn't our world's military do just that. Regardless, the CGI is pretty good and I liked how the dragons were presented. The fight scenes were fun to watch, the plot moved along fine, and the set pieces were well done. Bale and McConaughey had great, if somewhat over the top, performances which were perfect for this type of movie. Overall it was a fun watch and has aged well over time.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/27/25

Full Review

Garett S

The poor rating I gave this is solely based on the fact that I want my favorite podcast “cinephobe” to do an episode about it.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

09/21/25

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Jerod S

Reign of Fire suffers from being lopsided with A-list heroes and a CG antagonist dragon that doesn't evoke the fear it should.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/12/25

Full Review

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Rob Bowman

Director

Christian Bale

Quinn

Matthew McConaughey

Van Zan

Izabella Scorupco

Alex Jensen

Gerard Butler

Dave Creedy

David Kennedy

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Synopsis

In present-day London, 12-year-old Quinn watches as his mother wakes an enormous fire-breathing beast from its centuries-long slumber. Twenty years later, much of the world has been scarred by the beast and its offspring. As a fire chief, Quinn (Christian Bale) is responsible for warding off the beasts and keeping a community alive as they eke out a meager existence. Into their midst comes a hotshot American, Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), who says he has a way to kill the beasts.

Director: Rob Bowman
Producer: Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber, Richard D. Zanuck, Lili Fini Zanuck
Screenwriter: Gregg Chabot, Gregg Chabot, Kevin Peterka, Kevin Peterka, Matt Greenberg
Distributor: Touchstone Pictures
Production Co: Spyglass Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (Intense Action Violence)
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Action, Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 12, 2002, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $43.1M
Runtime: 1h 41m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, SDDS, Dolby A, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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