"How to Train Your Dragon" Talkback (Spoilers)

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here and now

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Anyone already watched this? It has aired on countries outside of USA.

I have, and I must say, I definitely give it a 4/5 or a 9/10. It's really another great (and probably underrated) Dreamworks movie.

The visuals were stunning. I like how the scale is done during the flight sequences - you can feel the depth and velocity of the action by just watching.

The character design was pretty much fine. I really think Hiccup's look is bleh, and Astrud (sp?) was pretty so-so, but the viking designs was pretty much great, and I like the final boss (no, no villain - conflict was more on Man vs. Society, which is again, a fresh take on animated movies) - if you've played Monster Hunter then you know the hunter in you will be gushing when you see the whole monster.

As for character themselves - they were pretty much developed. I find it even nice that the kids (who seem to be the only children in the movie) didn't follow the jerk trope. Sure they were sort of mean to Hiccup, but pretty much grew closer easily in the movie to make their relationship closer. The conflict between Hiccup and his dad was pretty believable and the way it solved was satisfying.

The plot itself was pretty fine. It was a tried-and-true coming-of-age but with twists, and that the way they handled the issue was pretty much balanced. No side was "evil", and the way how the plot progressed was pretty well-paced. The interaction between Hiccup and Toothless was also well-build. So many Chekov's Gun too.
 
Went to an early screening earlier today.

Got to admit, it's the best Dreamworks film I've seen yet. The plot was kinda predictable at times, though what happened with Hiccup at the end took be aback a little, but it progressed pretty well, and the climax was quite satisfying. Nonetheless The animation, design (especially on the part of the dragons), and most of the characters themselves more than makes up for the fine, yet semi-flawed story. The action scenes and the flight sequences were also top notch.

I'd say about an 8.5/10 seems right.
 
I saw the movie in 3D today. And I liked it a lot. I don't think it's as good as Kung Fu Panda, but it's loads better than Monsters vs. Aliens for sure.

A lot of people are going on about the flying scenes in the movie, and they're cool all right, but there's one flying scene in Astro Boy that beats every single flying scene in Dragon for beauty and excitement. And it wasn't even in 3D! So I was just a little disappointed in that part of the movie, since I heard so many comments about it.

The level of detail in the movie is amazing. Dreamworks has now officially matched Pixar in visual quality, and I say good for them, because that means more yummy eye candy for us. :chowder:
 
Well, it was expected to be a variant of child-becoming-man, but it was still pulled off well and even sometimes harsher (his dad promptly disowning him, even!).

And as expected, TvTropes entry already has judged the movie quickly and they haven't yet watched it. Hah...
 
I thought the movie was fantastic. Easily the best of the year so far and one of my favorite movies in the past few years. Dreamworks has finally created something that can rival Pixar/Disney's level of quality. (Of course it WAS from the guys behind Lilo and Stitch)

The flight scenes were really something, especially the one with Hiccup and Astrid. The 3D also truly enhanced the visuals in the movie. Unlike Avatar where I found myself focusing more on the 3D than following the movie, Dragon didn't rely on 3D to carry it, it just used it to enhance the image and gave the audience a way to see into the world in a unique way. Though the movie may have been better without it.

Hiccup's "You just gestured to all of me" lines were well timed and funny. Then you have the ending, which was shockingly sad considering he lost his leg, but since the vikings and dragons then developed a friendship, the ending was a relatively happy one.

But yeah, great movie, if you are reading this and haven't seen it, get off the internet and go see it. 10/10.
 
Man, I got back from this thing yesterday. It was awesome! You should've been there... well, I guess everyone has. :sweat: This thing is an original all its own. TS3? Shrek 4? Guys, COME ON. The relationship between this dragon and this kid rival anything that was goin' on with Donkey and Shrek. Good chemistry, don't get me wrong. Dragon has set a new standard for Pixar; of course, I did enjoy Up a lot. ;)
 
Do you have to bring up Astro Boy in every thread? We get that you like it but please don't get off-topic everytime we talk about a movie.

Anyways, I wrote a review for my school newspaper that I think is worth posting here.



How to Train Your Dragon is a good movie, but is it good enough? The short answer is “yes, yes it is.” The long answer is as follows. How to Train Your Dragon is an animated film that reaches heights (pun intended) formerly only touched by Pixar. Yes, the 3-D even beats Avatar. When Hiccup, the son of a Viking chief, captures a dragon named Toothless, he can’t bear to kill it and so lets him go. I really don’t want to tell you anything more about the plot as I went in with relatively low expectations and came out with the best DreamWorks animated movie ever. Yes, it beats the first Shrek and Kung Fu Panda!

This movie was simply the best 3-D creation that I’ve ever seen. It’s even better than Avatar’s 3-D as you actually feel like you are flying along with Hiccup and Toothless. How to Train Your Dragon is primarily an action-epic, an unusual choice for an animated film, but it works very well. However, it does have some humor in it and when it’s funny, it really is funny. One of the film’s most memorable scenes involves a joke involving Hiccup’s helmet.

However, How to Train Your Dragon is, once again, primarily an action-epic. The scenes in an arena are exciting with their minor action. However, the excitement really heats up (another pun intended) during the air final battle. And speaking of finality, How to Train Your Dragon has one of the most unusual endings I’ve ever seen. However, the ending works exceedingly in its favor and is easily my favorite part of the film as it is deliciously bittersweet and wonderfully touching. When the worst thing about a movie is sometimes distracting accents, you know it’s great.

All in all, How to Train Your Dragon is easily the best movie I’ve seen this year, even though that’s not saying enough. This may be better; Toy Story 3 may not win Best Animated Film this year. Instead, we may have a black dragon in the competition this year. It’s a must-see in 3-D but if you can't, go see it anyway.
 
I'm the first to see this? :shrug:

Anyways, I thought it was delightful. The whole "boy and his [blank]" genre is a well-trodden one for both animation and live-action, but ...Dragon is funny, charming, beautifully-designed (even if "Toothless" looks an awful lot like the animators just traced over the Stitch model sheets and added wings to it...seriously, check out those ears and the almond-shaped eyes), and has some of the best flying sequences I've seen in any animated movie not directed by Hayao Miyazaki. ;) Plus, no poop jokes, no pop-culture references, and only one pop song on the soundtrack (and over the end credits, at that). :eek: This ranks with Antz and Kung Fu Panda as one of Dreamworks' best animated features to date.
 
I understand you doing it sometimes but you seem to every thread and it's starting to tick me off. I liked Astro Boy too but you are just annoying me. Sorry for getting off-topic.

Also, has anyone here seen it in 2-D and 3-D? I'm wondering if there's a noticable difference.
 
I saw it earlier this afternoon and just didn't know how to put my thoughts into words. Luckily you've seemed to do it for me. I agree with just about everything you've said. If the rest of this year's animated films are as fun and charming as this one we're going to be in for another great year in mainstream animated cinema.
 
It did lose some 3D theatres. The other local theatre here still has it, I believe.

You should see it in 3D, if you can, but I'm sure 2D is just as good.
 
I saw it in 3-D... let me tell you, the 3-D was so worth it. The special effects were amazing. Sure, we've seen the whole "father won't accept his kid" a million times already, but in this case it still seemed fresh and new, and I liked how
at the end he lost his leg because no one could survive an attack like that in one piece. Most kids movies don't do that and make him seen perfectly fine or covered in scratches.

Even the funny parts that were in the trailer ("You're crazy, I like that!" and "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile!") actually seemed even funnier in the film.

Also, when I found out Gerard Butler was the dad, you have no idea how many "This is Sparta" jokes I wanted to make. If only I could remember the name of the place they life in.

EDIT: I just found out - it's Berk. So...

THIS.... IS... BERK!!
 
I actually liked that a lot too. It was such an unexpected thing for this kind of movie. It made me forgive a lot of the cheesier cliches that filled the third act. I also really liked how his leg was custom-built to fit and operate the stirrup mechanism on the dragon saddle.
 
I think you should be sorrier for being so rude, but no worries, I'll leave this thread now so you can keep raving about the Dragon movie in peace.
 
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