Neither fanatical terrorists nor plummeting meteors will destroy the world according to Reign of Fire. It will be long dormant, fire-breathing dragons!
Rob Bowman, the director of The X Files gives us a post-apocalyptic future London, charred by these hotheaded beasts that have driven humankind into hiding in a dreary landscape scorched of all its colour.
Fifteen years earlier, Quinn (Christian Bale) was there when the first one emerged - inadvertently awakened by his construction engineer mother (Alice Krige). Now, in a fortified castle outside London, he is the leader and protector of a group of survivors, with his right-hand man, Dave Creedy (Gerard Butler).
Life changes for the community with the arrival of Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), a brash and sometimes reckless American who, with his army, plans to wipe out the creatures and rebuild the human race. Acting as the voice of reason and knowledge is Alex Jenson (Izabella Scorupco), a helicopter pilot, scientist and member of Van Zans team that also comprises a group of sky divers know as the Archangels who carry out unique - if not suicidal - missions to capture and kill the beasts.
But to truly end the dragons rule, it will be necessary for Quinn to return to the place where it all began. With Van Zan and Alex, he embarks on a do-or-die mission to London, a city in ruins, to kill the male of the species. Outstanding special effects and design have made these monsters a marvel of movement and menace - with no hint of the fairy tale about them.