Director Rob Bowman's newest big-screen offering, REIGN OF FIRE, is being touted as the fusion of a medieval past with a kill-or-be-killed post-apocalyptic future. The film tells the story of what happens to the world when a young boy, Quinn, inadvertently wakes a dragon from its slumber. Within 20 years, the world as we know it has been reduced to ash and rubble, with humans barely managing to stay alive. Today we continue our chat with Bowman.
The concept was intriguing enough to hook Matthew McConaughey, who plays the dragon slayer Van Zan, and with a little additional work Christian Bale, who plays responsible fire chief Quinn (yes, the one who woke the dragons to begin with).
"Matthew kicked down my door for this role," says Bowman. "He had never done anything like it, wanted to explore that side of his acting skills, and he thought that he was atypical. Mostly it was me keeping Matthew on a leash. He was so gung-ho. He felt that he was like the ultimate dragon slayer. He was like Patton [and] we used Patton as a model for this character. Patton believed that there was no bullet with his name on it, this character had to believe that there was no dragon with his name on it. He had to believe they were afraid of him. Was he afraid of them? Yes. They were dangerous. But they were also afraid of him."
McConaughey's enthusiasm for the part didn't end once he was given the role of Van Zan. He completely immersed himself into his character and was even willing to shave his head for the role.
Izabella Scorupco and Matthew McConaughey hunt dragons in REIGN OF FIRE.
© 2002 Touchstone Pictures
"Matthew's version of Van Zan was so much broader than mine," admits Bowman. "He asked me if going bald was a good idea, and I said, 'Logically in a fire-driven world not having hair is good because that's one less thing that can burn. Why don't you come over to my house tonight and we'll talk about it.' When he [showed up] he's bald. I said, 'Well, I guess we've spoken about it.' [He added] the tattoos [because] he wanted something to make himself a dragon slayer. That's why I think he's got such a tremendous presence, because he's got so much working on the inside. I had to keep going, 'Less, less, less, less!'"
On the other hand, Bale was initially less than enthusiastic about taking on the role of Quinn. But Bowman was drawn to Bale for the simple fact that he has never been seen in a movie like this before, and the director was willing to woo his star.
"Of the choices I had, he was by far the most interesting and the most skilled actor," says Bowman. "I had to fly to Berlin to convince him to do it, because he read the script and it wasn't really in shape. So I go to Berlin and eat breakfast with him at the Four Seasons and say, 'What do you think of the script?' He just looked up and me and didn't say anything. I promised him I would fix [the script] and he's thanked me a few times, including the last day of shooting, for keeping my promise. I knew that it was such an absurd idea that if I wasn't extraordinarily strict about the tone of the movie that it would fall apart. It would be a joke."
Creating a world that has been scarred by fire-breathing dragons was no easy feat and Bowman is very proud of the way the sets portrayed life in a world that is on fire.
"I built them myself," says Bowman with a laugh. "Originally all the photos that we put up on the wall for research were of bombed-out London. I wanted the sets to look as gritty as possible. No flash. I liked the idea of a jalopy castle if I was a kid that would be a fun place to play. There used to be a hide-and-go-seek scene that I took out, it was more about what the kids did from day to day."
"[Production designer Wolfe Kroeger] had just come off ENEMY AT THE GATES, and those sets were like exactly what I wanted," continues Bowman. "And honestly, because he had done DAS BOOT, he had the job. He's a master at making sets that convey the story. Sets that reflect the tone and texture of the story without putting himself on the stage and saying, 'Ta-da, here I am. I'm Wolfe Kroeger!'"
Rob Bowman at the Saturn Awards (Copyright 2002 Sue Schneider)
© 2002 Sue Schneider
While the sets might have been a little on the messy side, Bowman felt that it was necessary to create a world that was absolutely believable and he made sure that every facet of production reflected this belief.
"It was messy," says Bowman. "It's very ashy and very dusty and it's monochromatic like when Mount St. Helens erupted. Everything's the same color and then the eyes will pop out and any color will stand out. [It's] the same with the cinematography. Don't make it too slick. Just shoot it straight. Because I felt if I used slick camera moves or stylized lighting the audience will think, 'See, the filmmakers don't believe it either, so they have to put sugar on it.' This is raw. [In] the 'archangel' sequence, there's no music. Every time I saw it with the music it looked too dressed up. You had to hear the sound of the clothes and the sounds of the artillery to make it work. The composer would say, 'Where's the music?' But I was all about stripping it down."
With all of the care that Bowman has placed into REIGN OF FIRE, one would think that it would be a given that he would sign on again for sequel. Think again.
"I chose this version of REIGN OF FIRE to have the maximum amount of action and realism and humanity," says Bowman. "I never designed this thing for sequels, so if anyone gives me lip about the ending, it's just the ending I had for this movie."
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