'How to Train Your Dragon' - High-Def Digest Review

[Favelle]

The sound made the movie for me. No way on earth could I be disappointed with a movie that assaulted my system like this one...

[Punisher52]

Great movie! Blind buy worthy and is a must own. Not sure who liked it more....the kids or me.

[cooltobeyou]

sooooo you bashed the movie in a 7 paragraph post and and "typed" Drain and said Drain 50 times over the course of a week talking about the movie to your friends and you DIDN'T LIKE IT?

hahah...pretty much. Mostly the movie kept coming up in a discussion from several of my friends and family members. So, I kept giving my opinion about the movie throughout the last week, and every time I tried to give my opinion on the film I kept saying "Drain Your Dragon" instead of "Train Your Dragon." It was a weird slip that kept coming up.

Also yeah, I guess I was bashing the movie a little too much in my initial post. I tend to get carried away too much towards the positive or the negative aspects of a movie when I'm typing about it. There were definitely aspects of "How to Train Your Dragon" that were admirable. So, I apologize if my original post seemed like I was bashing it completely.

Keep in mind, I'm also the person who HATED "Cars" and I was far from being a fan of Ratatouille and Wall-E. So my taste in animated films is questionable to many people out there. I really prefer the traditional hand drawn animated films and stop motion animation to most CGI animated films.

[Elee s]

I think Im the only one that didnt like this movie all that much. Not as bad as Monsters vs. Aliens but not as good as Cloudy with a chance with Meatballs. Not even close to the best dreamworks and pixar animations.

EDIT: Yay two people thought this movie was mediocre.

[cooltobeyou]

I think Im the only one that didnt like this movie all that much. Not as bad as Monsters vs. Aliens but not as good as Cloudy with a chance with Meatballs.

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who wasn't completely won over by this movie.

[taygan315]

won't buy or rent this. waiting for the 3d edition. if i know they're coming, i'm holding off. so shrek collection, 44 bucks or no, not buying you!

I tried to hold off on this release as well until the 3D version comes out...but my daughter convinced me to get it now. I am holding off buying Shrek (at least I think I am,lol)

[ack_bak]

Saw this at the theater with the kids and we really enjoyed the movie. Picked up the Blu-Ray and cannot wait to watch it again. I don't think it is on par with Pixar, but it was a solid effort (like Kung Fu Panda) and was a fun movie.

[moviewizguy]

Although the review praises the film a lot, I still think Aaron should have given it a perfect score. This is like a notch below Toy Story 3, IMO but it's easily one of the year's best films. Watching the film in 3D in the theater was one of the best experiences I've ever had. The flying sequences was so exhilarating that I cried and the hair on my back stood up. I love this movie so much! Oh, and John Powell is guaranteed to win the Oscar for Best Original Score. I also hope it gets nominated for Best Picture. 10/10

[Gunyaga]

but if Toy Story 3 is a notch better, then how would the two be differentiated by giving this 5 stars? That makes no sense.....


Whatever the case, thanks for all the hubbub all, I definitely need to go rent or blind buy this now.

[moviewizguy]

I agree completely with the review regarding how this film still does not meet the Pixar level of quality in storytelling, but it by no means does a poor job telling some age old tale in a refreshing way.

I disagree. This is as good as the best Pixar films ever made. Just my opinion though.

but if Toy Story 3 is a notch better, then how would the two be differentiated by giving this 5 stars? That makes no sense.....


Whatever the case, thanks for all the hubbub all, I definitely need to go rent or blind buy this now.

Well, I'm sure I'm not that first person to give more than one film a perfect rating yet I still differentiate which one is better than the other.

[twonunpackmule]

This is probably my favorite of the Dreamworks films. I like that the story is basic/to the point. It isn't muddled with countless pop culture references that merely make the film enjoyable for the first 6 months. Instead, it focuses on situations within the plot and with the relationship of the characters. This is something that I see aging very well.

First rate stuff. I surprisingly enjoyed this flick. As I did not care for Kung Fu Panda (didn't HATE, just didn't like.).

[taygan315]

This is probably my favorite of the Dreamworks films. I like that the story is basic/to the point. It isn't muddled with countless pop culture references that merely make the film enjoyable for the first 6 months. Instead, it focuses on situations within the plot and with the relationship of the characters. This is something that I see aging very well.

First rate stuff. I surprisingly enjoyed this flick. As I did not care for Kung Fu Panda (didn't HATE, just didn't like.).

Same here (about Kung Fu Panda).

[HamsterDance]

Great movie. My wife and I loved it!

[Mike171979]

I purchased this movie as a blind buy.

I'm a pretty big fan of animated films, but for some reason HTTYD didn't really get me goin'. It was entertaining, but I just didn't feel connected enough with the characters to really love the film.

The last animated film I've seen prior to this was Despicable Me, and I found that film to be much more enjoyable.

That being said, HTTYD is still a keeper, and the short film did exceed my expectations.

[Darkcritic]

Like many people here I too think this is one of Dreamworks best efforts. Even if the story is fairly simple and straightforward I think it was really well executed. The movie started with a really good point of the conflict and nicely defined both sides of the story (The good and the bad). The best part of it is the second act thought, seeing how the relationship between Hiccups and his dragon evolved from a forced team work to a true relationship was truly the high point of this movie. The animation was another great aspect of it. Even thought the visual style wasn't exactly all that unique the design of the different kind of dragons truly standout. It is really incredible to see how a movie with such simple storyline and visual style can succeed the way it did just because the team who work on it hit the right spot and executed and executed the whole thing with impressive precision. I am sure I will pick this one up in the next few days and give my home setup something to really shine.