Reign of Fire is a 2002 post-apocalyptic action fantasy film directed by Rob Bowman and starring Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale. Set in 2020 England after the reawakening of dragons, the film grossed $82 million on a $60 million budget.
Shortly after the dawn of the new millennium, during construction on theLondon Underground, workers penetrate an underground cave. A hugedragon emerges from hibernation, incinerating the workers with its flaming breath. The only survivor is a boy, Quinn Abercromby (Ben Thornton), whose mother Karen (Alice Krige) is the construction crew chief; Karen is crushed to death while protecting Quinn as the dragon climbs to the surface. It flies out of the Underground and more dragons appear, multiplying rapidly. Shown in newspaper clippings and a voiceover, scientists discover that dragons are a lost species responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs by incinerating them and eating their ash, as well as ice ages. The dragons are speculated to hibernate after destroying most of the Earth's creatures until the planet repopulates. After the dragons' awakening humanity resists militarily, including a 2010 use of nuclear weapons; this, however, hastens the destruction and within a few years humans are nearly extinct.
In 2020, Quinn (Christian Bale) leads a community of survivors in aNorthumberland castle who are starving while their crops ripen. Although most trust him, some are restless and defiant. Eddie (David Kennedy) steals a truck to harvest tomatoes with his group, although picking them too soon will destroy next season's seeds. They are attacked by a dragon; one is killed, and the rest are surrounded by fire. Quinn, Creedy (Gerard Butler) and Jared (Scott Moutter) rescue them with old fire engines and firesuits. As they escape, the dragon kills Eddie's son. Quinn begins to lose faith in himself.
The Kentucky Irregulars, an American group led by Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), arrives with a Chieftain tankand an Agusta A109 helicopter piloted by Alex Jensen (Izabella Scorupco). Van Zan and his soldiers have a system to hunt dragons, they are able to snare dragons with nets, and he knows their weakness: poor vision before sunset. Initially distrustful, Quinn is surprised that dragons can be killed. Van Zan convinces him, and they kill the dragon who destroyed the crops.
The celebration is muted by Van Zan, who lost three men. He later tells Quinn that all the dragons they have found are female, with unfertilized eggs and a metabolism so high that they live only a few months. The Americans believe there is only one male; if they kill it, reproduction will cease. Although Quinn knows about the male dragon (who killed his mother), he refuses to help since the male has destroyed all pursuers.
Van Zan orders his soldiers to enlist the castle's best men. After losing a fight with him, Quinn says that if Van Zan's group finds the male it will kill them and find the castle. Ignoring him, Van Zan's group leaves for London. In the ruins of a town 66 miles (106 km) from the city, the dragon attacks, killing most of the soldiers before finding the castle and killing most of its residents. When Quinn tries to get the survivors to safety in a bunker, Creedy stops him and is killed when the dragon again attacks.
Van Zan and Jensen return to the castle and free those in the bunker. Quinn tells Van Zan he will help them hunt the male in London; its nest is near the construction site where his mother was killed. When they fly to London they find hundreds of dragons, the smaller ones cannibalized by the larger male. Van Zan, seeing Quinn flash back to his mother's death, tells him about his plan to shoot an explosive down the dragon's throat with a crossbow when it inhales. Van Zan fires, but the male destroys the arrow. In a last act of defiance, he jumps off the roof and attacks the dragon with a large axe, where he is eaten. Quinn and Alex lure the dragon to ground level and Quinn fires his explosive into the dragon's mouth, killing it.
While Quinn and Alex are later building a radio tower on a hill overlooking the North Sea, he says there have been no dragon sightings for over three months. Jared arrives, telling them they have contacted another group of survivors in France who want to speak to their leader. Quinn tells Jared he is now their leader, dedicating himself to rebuilding since he sees little chance that the dragons will return.
Cast
Christian Bale as Quinn Abercromby
Matthew McConaughey as Denton Van Zan
Izabella Scorupco as Alex Jensen
Gerard Butler as Creedy
Scott Moutter as Jared Wilke
David Kennedy as Eddie Stax
Alexander Siddig as Ajay
Ned Dennehy as Barlow
Rory Keenan as Devon
Terence Maynard as Gideon
Doug Cockle as Goosh
Randall Carlton as Burke
Chris Kelly as Mead
Ben Thornton as Young Quinn
Alice Krige as Karen Abercromby
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