|
|
 
|
|
Author
|
Topic: Reign of Fire
|
|
|
Brad Miller
Administrator
Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99
|
posted 07-12-2002 06:08 PM
Let's see if I can effectively describe this flick in five words.Crap, stupid, waste of time. Yup, that pretty much sums it up. Disclaimer: I walked out of this movie in reel 2. I couldn't take it any more. I only checked in on it from time to time there after and it certainly did not appear to get any better. Further disclaimer: I have walked out of less than 10 movies in my life.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99
|
posted 07-12-2002 06:17 PM
I just wanted to add bit of clarity to Brads comments.Crap, stupid, waste of time. Ah, such an economy of words! The poise, the eloquence. Yep, pretty much sums up the film. I saw this at an exhibitor screening. The only difference between mine and Brads experience was that I drove 40 miles to the screening and I couldn't leave because I had brought guests.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
|
posted 07-21-2002 12:58 PM
I was pretty disappointed with this show. The big problem is the poorly written script. I mean, if the dragons have completely devastated human industrial infrastructure then just how exactly are those American troops able to fuel their vehicles? With fire breathing dragons, it would seem like the oil refineries would be the first to go.And then there's the problem of the film's pacing. Where's all the dragons and dragon fighting scenes? I just saw a lot of boring talking and stuff like that. Not much action. It kind of reminded me of how badly paced "Alien 3" was. My guess is this film was intended to have a far grander story, but fell victim to some massive budget cuts and just tried to get by with what they could. The film might have been more plausible if most cities and infrasture was still left standing --and therefore give people something to defend. There could have been things like fighter jet dogfight sequences with multiple dragons and other cool stuff like that. But such "more interesting" things would have cost a lot more money. I know a film is bad when I am thinking of more interesting things they could have done with the feature WHILE I am watching the film. It is just like "Twister" where the tornadoes are just out in the middle of nowhere chewing up crops and the occaisional barn. If I were going to make a big budget movie about a tornado, I would put it right through the middle of a city.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Aaron Haney
Master Film Handler
Posts: 265
From: Cupertino, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2001
|
posted 07-23-2002 03:35 AM
This movie contains the best computer animation I have ever seen, bar none. The dragons never look like anything but living, breathing animals. The story of how this came to be is very sad, however:http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=12700 That's a letter written by an employee of Dream Quest Images, which was bought by Disney and turned into The Secret Lab, the company which did the effects for this movie. Unfortunately, Disney decided to dissolve the company after making Reign of Fire. The letter explains it all in more detail. The only thing that surprises me is when the author takes a moment to kiss WETA's ass. I find that totally baffling, because WETA's creature animation can't touch what these guys did. Why would he single them out for such praise? Still, it's a very interesting and heartbreaking read. As for the movie, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It always took itself seriously; never did anything in a wink-wink or tongue-in-cheek manner. The action scene at the end was extremely tense and had me on the edge of my seat. Like Bobby, I wish there had been more action, but I was still feeling rather satisfied when I left the theatre. I've always thought that dragons could make the best movie monsters, if only they were done with the proper respect, and this movie along with the early-80s film "Dragonslayer" really shows that to be the case. Now if only there were a prequel which actually showed how the dragons took over the world!
| IP: Logged
|
|
John Daily
Film Handler
Posts: 45
From: Upstate, NY, USA
Registered: Jul 2002
|
posted 07-24-2002 10:45 PM
I certainly didn't think this was horrible. The plot had more holes in it than those dragon wings, but as a straight-forward popcorn flick, it had solid action sequences, and surprisingly strong character development. The dragons (and some of the scenery) were absolutely incredible, and the film as a whole had a nice "Road Warrior" feel to it.We pretty much know going into a film how intelligent it's going to be. We wouldn't judge "Mr. Deeds" starring Adam Sandler on the same level as "Mr. Deeds" starring Gary Cooper, for example. Having said that, comparing this with other summer films (and other fantasy films), "Reign of Fire" fares pretty well. I also don't feel it's fair to critique a film based on only having seen 1/3rd of its running time.  You should have watched just the last 2 reels, Brad!
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
|
|
Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM
6.3.1.2
The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion
and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.
|
Home
Printer-friendly view of this topic