'Reign of Fire' - High-Def Digest Review

[jed]

Peter's review of 'Reign of Fire' is up. He found the film itself a bit too dour and serious given the subject matter, but as a Blu-ray release, it's yet another winner from Disney. Both the video (4.5 stars) and audio (4 stars) are quite good, and Disney gets points for retaining all of the standard-def edition's extras, even if none are particularly noteworthy.

Full review here:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/reignoffire.html

[MarkForce]

Even if the movie is kind of silly...its definitely worth watching. My favorite is that part towards the end....where Matthew McCo....whatever....where he goes running towards that dragon with just a knife? Too cool. I would put that on a list of my top 10 fav. scenes ever. If you havent seen this movie yet, definitely check it out. What have you got to lose? If you dont like it...at least you got to see some damn dragons in HD!

[MentokTheMindTaker]

4.5 stars on video and 4 stars on audio and it is "For fans only"? I thought scores like that would rate it as "Give it a rent" at least. I have not seen the film but when I see scores that high, I have trouble swallowing the "For fans only" line.

[james]

Originally Posted by MentokTheMindTaker

4.5 stars on video and 4 stars on audio and it is "For fans only"? I thought scores like that would rate it as "Give it a rent" at least. I have not seen the film but when I see scores that high, I have trouble swallowing the "For fans only" line.

I liked the movie. I definitely has it's charm. Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey) was awesome.

[MentokTheMindTaker]

Originally Posted by james

I liked the movie. I definitely has it's charm. Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey) was awesome.

Denton Van Zan huh? Possible nicknames include:

DVZ
DZ
DV
VZ
The Zananator

[jed]

Thanks for your feedback. Spoke with Peter, and in retrospect he agreed that "For Fans Only" was overly negative considering his overall review of (and ratings for) the disc. He's amended the "bottom line" on this one to "Worth a Look."

[illegalprelude]

i think ill be getting this, just cause Dragons...in 1080p....hahaha

[aryall]

I bought this on Tuesday when I came up empty handed for "The Departed" (frustrating!). It was a guilty pleasure of mine on DVD, so I thought, why not replace it? Unfortunately I don't have a receiver capable of taking advantage of the reportedly strong sound. I think the picture quality is solid, but it varies. Early on it appears a little soft, particularly during the "young Quinn" sequence that opens the movie. Some of the long shots aren't as detailed as I'd hoped. But there are plenty of scenes that look fabulous as well, and the picture is generally consistently strong in the second half of the movie. I don't think I'd be quite as kind as Peter, but I certainly wouldn't knock the PQ either.

[AndyMT]

nor any edge enhancement

there most definitely IS quite a bit of EE in this transfer. the nature of the photography brings it out quite a bit (dark objects lit up against light backdrops). can't get my head around how anyone could not notice this, let alone a reviewer. that's pretty bad.

there isn't anything in my chain that would be introducing this ringing as i have many blu-ray and hd-dvd titles that don't have ee.

this is on a 120" FP screen.

[illegalprelude]

is this movie out yet? cause ive yet to see it anywhere

[BlkLtng02]

Yes it is out. Had to buy it off EBay because BB and CC didn't have it.

[illegalprelude]

Originally Posted by BlkLtng02

Yes it is out. Had to buy it off EBay because BB and CC didn't have it.

yea. I havent seen it at BBY at all

[hstewarth]

Originally Posted by illegalprelude

is this movie out yet? cause ive yet to see it anywhere

I got it from Amazon, I love the London scene at end.

[Mark_H]

How did this get 4.5/5 for video quality? The image is 2.5/5 at best. It is riddled with edge enhancement, is artificial looking and generally unpleasant to view...

Mark

[SuperBit]

I just bought this. So, far I like the movie. Better than I thought it would be (the movie itself).

The PCM audio is prefect as usual. But the PQ is schizo. At times it looks "artificial" and others looks crystal clear.

I'm not sure it's the CGI effects used in the filming/transfer. Or the contrast is not dark enough. I would not say that this film suffers from artifacts or graininess like the first Fifth Element. But it does have "Superbit DVD (pun not intended)" look to it on certain scenes. Certainly not a bad thing. I would say that 80% of the film looks excellent high-def 1080p (perfect). Other key CGI scenes, 20%, look like a very good quality DVD. Strange.

I would have given it a 4/5. But I guess it got a 4.5/5 since most of the film look great (the non CGI parts). And be aware that there aren't many times the Dragon's are on the screen. Unusually, when they show up they just bring destruction and no one is left. So, the scenes are understandably short anytime they come around.

What surprised me about this film is that it's not really about the dragons. But more about the characters and conflicts. I love the dialog. I was expecting this film to be about dragons, dragons, dragons in CGI and neglect the characters and story. It's actually the other way around.

My equipment: PS3/Sony 46XBR4