Watching REIGN OF FIRE I was left with the impression that the script was originally written as a bleak post apocalyptic drama in the tradition of John Wyndham and John Christopher , where a Hollywood studio decided the script wasn't marketable enough so a studio executive decided to introduce dragons into the screenplay as a commercial gimmick
Where REIGN OF FIRE works best is in its survivalist themes . Quinn leads a band of survivors and when they hear " Edinburgh is gone " they react if it's the worst news in the world . You can believe these guys are starving to death , that all hope is gone and when they see Denton's American militia arrive you know that the undercurrents of tribalism and rivalry are going to surface . Unlike 28 DAYS LATER this movie almost works as post apocalyptic thriller
These "Shattered Earth " ideas are very convincing but as soon as the dragons are introduced the illusion falls apart because for a film marketed as featuring fire breathing dragons ( You have seen the posters right ? ) they seem to be there as an after thought and are totally underdeveloped in the script . There's no real explanation as to how or why the dragons were hibernating in the London underground and the whole concept doesn't bare up to any close scrutiny . Why weren't nuclear weapons effective against them when a dragon can be killed with a road pick ? Very little thought indeed seems to have gone into this aspect of the script and needless to say the ending is a cop out
Note to Hollywood executives - If you're going to finance a film that features a desperate band of survivors can you cut out gimmicks like zombies and dragons please ? Thank you
Where REIGN OF FIRE works best is in its survivalist themes . Quinn leads a band of survivors and when they hear " Edinburgh is gone " they react if it's the worst news in the world . You can believe these guys are starving to death , that all hope is gone and when they see Denton's American militia arrive you know that the undercurrents of tribalism and rivalry are going to surface . Unlike 28 DAYS LATER this movie almost works as post apocalyptic thriller
These "Shattered Earth " ideas are very convincing but as soon as the dragons are introduced the illusion falls apart because for a film marketed as featuring fire breathing dragons ( You have seen the posters right ? ) they seem to be there as an after thought and are totally underdeveloped in the script . There's no real explanation as to how or why the dragons were hibernating in the London underground and the whole concept doesn't bare up to any close scrutiny . Why weren't nuclear weapons effective against them when a dragon can be killed with a road pick ? Very little thought indeed seems to have gone into this aspect of the script and needless to say the ending is a cop out
Note to Hollywood executives - If you're going to finance a film that features a desperate band of survivors can you cut out gimmicks like zombies and dragons please ? Thank you