Dragons aren't a medieval throwback - they're the future. Following an evolutionary miracle, the lizard-skinned baddies in Reign of Fire dominate a post-apocalyptic Earth circa 2024, forcing Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale into battle. The movie's mechanical and CG dragons are paleontologist- and physicist-approved (and very nasty), but this sci-fi adventure is more than an f/x flameout. "I didn't set out to make Independence Day," says film and TVdirector Rob Bowman (The X-Files, Star Trek, Quantum Leap), who went so far as to program wind dynamics into the demons' flight movements. "The goal is that you'll never notice that the dragons are fake." Why such careful treatment? Bowman boasts an intellectual attraction to the creatures' mythic power. "Dragons represent the noise of our thoughts," he says. "The ability to soothe your dragon is to control your thinking, to keep certain thoughts out of your head." The Touchstone picture opens in theaters July 12.
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