Reign of Fire [2002]

[Art Waring]

Timeshare? Isnt that just a swamp on Degobah?

Oh dear, I certainly hope not

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

It's absolutely painful to watch him on screen in The Machinist. Effective, but I'm reminded of Sir Laurence Olivier's quote when speaking to Dustin Hoffman about his method acting:

"My dear boy, why don't you just try acting?"

Yeah The Machinist was truly haunting how far Bale went into the role.

It really does have a great feeling of humanity struggling to survive, not even rebuild, just survive, in the ruins of what came before. Part of what makes the arrival of the military forces so striking is that it's something out of the old world, with technology that has been all but lost.

It's a downright post-apocalyptic fantasy in the style of the 80s. Filmed soundly and spectacularly, although it's not about entertainment - it's about the atmosphere. From the first to the last frame, the feeling of the end of the world is preserved.

 

[Art Waring]

It's absolutely painful to watch him on screen in The Machinist. Effective, but I'm reminded of Sir Laurence Olivier's quote when speaking to Dustin Hoffman about his method acting:

"My dear boy, why don't you just try acting?"

Yes indeed.

It really does have a great feeling of humanity struggling to survive, not even rebuild, just survive, in the ruins of what came before. Part of what makes the arrival of the military forces so striking is that it's something out of the old world, with technology that has been all but lost.

You certainly do get the feeling that the castle survivors are barely scraping by, then the tanks roll in and they probably can't believe what they are seeing at first.

 

[Ryujin]

You certainly do get the feeling that the castle survivors are barely scraping by, then the tanks roll in and they probably can't believe what they are seeing at first.

Must be much like how the average villager feels when a group of D&D adventurers wander into town, practically glowing with the magic items they're carrying.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

After seeing this movie, I ran my group through a scenario in which they played themselves, in our part of the world, in that setting. (I was the GM, so I had myself killed off early in a fiery inferno).

The party were holed up at a local mall as some of the only survivors and did one mission up the hill (where a young dragon was living around the ruins of some of the players' old highschool).

I don't remember much, but I remember that one player played themselves in a wheelchair, and I remember a scene where they were fleeing from a dragon while shooting at it from the back of a junky old pickup truck.

It was quite evocative to play a game where you can point out the window and say "this takes place over there, but all those trees and houses are burnt to the ground".

 

[Art Waring]

After seeing this movie, I ran my group through a scenario in which they played themselves, in our part of the world, in that setting. (I was the GM, so I had myself killed off early in a fiery inferno).

The party were holed up at a local mall as some of the only survivors and did one mission up the hill (where a young dragon was living around the ruins of some of the players' old highschool).

I don't remember much, but I remember that one player played themselves in a wheelchair, and I remember a scene where they were fleeing from a dragon while shooting at it from the back of a junky old pickup truck.

It was quite evocative to play a game where you can point out the window and say "this takes place over there, but all those trees and houses are burnt to the ground".

Yeah this sounds really fun!

A lot of people who play the Fallout ttrpg like to start using a map of their area, obviously a bit more ruined, but I imagine its strange to have memories of things you did in the game, and it was just around the corner...

 

[Ath-kethin]

It'd have to be a pretty damn bad film (from a storyline and dialogue perspective) before a movie about modern-day post-apoc dragon hunters with awesome FX and cinematography became something I couldn't enjoy watching.

I really can't express my opinion of this film any better than this quote does.

 

[Ryujin]

After seeing this movie, I ran my group through a scenario in which they played themselves, in our part of the world, in that setting. (I was the GM, so I had myself killed off early in a fiery inferno).

The party were holed up at a local mall as some of the only survivors and did one mission up the hill (where a young dragon was living around the ruins of some of the players' old highschool).

I don't remember much, but I remember that one player played themselves in a wheelchair, and I remember a scene where they were fleeing from a dragon while shooting at it from the back of a junky old pickup truck.

It was quite evocative to play a game where you can point out the window and say "this takes place over there, but all those trees and houses are burnt to the ground".

I did something similar, in Space Opera, with an alien invasion (the Korellian Empire; think six fingered Klingons, with psionic tech). They were looking for Janissaries/slaves, and captured the players. That game worked out particularly well for this because after you roll up the character, you can improve the stats via your career. Less arguing about what their 'real' stats are because they could make the idealized version of themselves, after capture.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Yeah this sounds really fun!

A lot of people who play the Fallout ttrpg like to start using a map of their area, obviously a bit more ruined, but I imagine its strange to have memories of things you did in the game, and it was just around the corner...

It is. I had a very workable RPG of my own design throughout the 90's/early oughts that you could play in any genre. We played Ourselves (as characters) in Reign of Fire, but also in an Alien Invasion, in a "magic returns to the world" game, and in a zombie apocalypse. I don't remember what order they came in, but there are a few real-world locations that I can't pass by now without imagining what happened in those games...

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I did something similar, in Space Opera, with an alien invasion (the Korellian Empire; think six fingered Klingons, with psionic tech). They were looking for Janissaries/slaves, and captured the players. That game worked out particularly well for this because after you roll up the character, you can improve the stats via your career. Less arguing about what their 'real' stats are because they could make the idealized version of themselves, after capture.

Our alien invasion game turned into something of a superhero game as players (IIRC) stole alien tech and/or got bio-enhanced after being subject to alien experiments (I can't remember all the details of how it happened, but I remember someone being able to fly, and someone being able to shoot beams from their hands...)

I also think everyone was brutally honest with themselves and each other when designing theirselves as characters. Also, we didn't sweat it too much if we disagreed. "You think you have a high CON? Sure, whatever. Let's play."