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Advanced warning - this got away from me a little bit and thus is stupidly long.
The Statement For The Prosecution:
Reign of Fire should and could have been much better. They had the money to make some very good dragon CGI but seemed to have forgotten that a film needs a coherent script as much as it needs dragons.
The largest part of the problem is that it's made of two different films that have been poorly squashed together. It begins as a reasonably realistic post-apocalyptic dragon film. Life is difficult for the survivors. There's a claustrophobic feel. It's actually a good film.
Into this is thrown an all-American action hero and action scenes, and you have the set up for a 'keep what you hold' vs 'attack is the best form of defence' argument.
Which is never resolved!
Because the film has the most unsatisfying climax ever.
( Spoilers )
The Scene Itself:
(Warning - the scene spoils part of the film)
This time I have it, if only because I recorded it off the DVD myself (yes, despite my issues with the film, I have it on DVD).
Why the Scene is so Good:
Cheating slightly, because the reason this scene works is because of a previous one right at the start of the film.
At the start of the film, Quinn and Creedy (Gerard Butler in what is still my favourite performance of his) are telling the children a bedtime story, which is a barely disguised two-man version of Star Wars (and is my favourite pop culture reference to Star Wars). At the end of the story, Quinn leads the children in a prayer, a list of instructions on what to do if a dragon attacks. And the children are about as attentive to this as we ever were to prayers at primary school.
This scene sets up a variety of things, including the fact that Quinn is perfectly happy to play the bad guy to keep the children safe because he's the one that says 'bedtime now' and makes them say their prayers, that Creedy is his best friend because he's the one he laughs and jokes with, and that Quinn will do anything to keep the children safe. It also sets up that this is some time after the apocalypse, long enough that this way of living has become normal.
All of this is important for the second prayer scene. ( Spoilers )
The Statement For The Prosecution:
Reign of Fire should and could have been much better. They had the money to make some very good dragon CGI but seemed to have forgotten that a film needs a coherent script as much as it needs dragons.
The largest part of the problem is that it's made of two different films that have been poorly squashed together. It begins as a reasonably realistic post-apocalyptic dragon film. Life is difficult for the survivors. There's a claustrophobic feel. It's actually a good film.
Into this is thrown an all-American action hero and action scenes, and you have the set up for a 'keep what you hold' vs 'attack is the best form of defence' argument.
Which is never resolved!
Because the film has the most unsatisfying climax ever.
( Spoilers )
The Scene Itself:
(Warning - the scene spoils part of the film)
This time I have it, if only because I recorded it off the DVD myself (yes, despite my issues with the film, I have it on DVD).
Why the Scene is so Good:
Cheating slightly, because the reason this scene works is because of a previous one right at the start of the film.
At the start of the film, Quinn and Creedy (Gerard Butler in what is still my favourite performance of his) are telling the children a bedtime story, which is a barely disguised two-man version of Star Wars (and is my favourite pop culture reference to Star Wars). At the end of the story, Quinn leads the children in a prayer, a list of instructions on what to do if a dragon attacks. And the children are about as attentive to this as we ever were to prayers at primary school.
This scene sets up a variety of things, including the fact that Quinn is perfectly happy to play the bad guy to keep the children safe because he's the one that says 'bedtime now' and makes them say their prayers, that Creedy is his best friend because he's the one he laughs and jokes with, and that Quinn will do anything to keep the children safe. It also sets up that this is some time after the apocalypse, long enough that this way of living has become normal.
All of this is important for the second prayer scene. ( Spoilers )
