How To Train Your Dragon (Review Thread)

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

They undermarketed this. And the trailer does NOT show any of the good stuff, which is actually a good thing. I understand your reasons for waiting, and thay make sense. For me, any movie that has strong visuals as a main focus warrants a trip to the theater (about 6 per year).

That makes perfect sense as well. Visual movies such as this, Avatar, Iron Man 2, etc. would be movies I would see in the theater if things were different. Avatar was an exception though because I wanted to see that in 3D once. I'll go see Toy Story 3 in the theater as well, but that's because of the $8.50 included with the Toy Story movies.

They had a lot of marketing during the Olympics for this.

[GreenScar]

Originally Posted by killowertz

They had a lot of marketing during the Olympics for this.

Those were great shorts. None of which were in the movie. I'm sure they'll be on the blu-ray. It's not like Ice Age where the shorts you see to market the film are sequences in the movie.

This movie was very clever and creative. If you like animation it's a must see. I saw it in 2D and loved it

[SGRSBSKIER]

Originally Posted by tommyboy81

you know what sucks about this. Even though it opened up on 7000 screens if the theater can't provide a 3-D screen they wouldn't get the 2-D. I think thats so stupid. They're people out there that probably went to the theater to see and found out that its not showong in there city because they have no 3-D screens. Wonder what's going to happen with Clash of the Titans next week.

On Friday, How to Train Your Dragon landed on top with an estimated $12.2 million on approximately 7,000 screens at 4,055 theaters,

How to Train Your Dragon had 2,178 sites presenting the picture in 3D, which carried a hefty price hike in many markets starting Friday.

http://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2653&p=.htm

I don't know how many of those 2,178 sites had multiple screens showing it in3D.

My theater has 4 3D screens but we only had it on 1 screen.

4,055 is the most theaters any movie that has come out this year and would have been 7th last year.

Clash of the Titans even explains on the TV trailers that its also in 2D.

Now every 3D movie that has come out we have shown in 3D until we get rid of it. We got rid of Avatar which we probably would have kept if one of our smallest screens had 3D.

Our 3D screens are in our 2 biggest screens which are also THX certified, 1 of the next size, and 1 of the next size smaller. (12 screens, 6 different sizes).

I don't know how many theaters do it the same way we do. But there are currently no plans to make any of our other screens 3D and next summer there are many 3D movies that should do very well and get multiple screens:

6/3 ----- Kung Fu Panda 2
6/17 ---- Green Lantern
6/24 ---- Cars 2
7/1 ----- they are talking about it Transformers 3
7/15 ---- Harry Potter 7 part2


Potter and Transformers previous movies got 3 screens each.

[Mat-the-Cat]

Probably already mentioned here somewhere but How to Train your Dragon is currently sitting at 97% on Rottentomatoes after 103 reviews. Most impressive.

I most likely won't see this in theates but it WILL be a day one buy from Amazon.

[Gaius Marius]

Very good movie! This is the first time I feel that Dreamworks truly reaches Pixar. They have made some great movies (Shrek, Over the Hedge, Kung-Fu Panda, and Monsters vs Aliens), but they have lacked the timelessness of Pixar's films. This one had great action and heart, superb voice acting, and some really beautiful scenery. Saw it in 2D (I don't have an interest in 3D, and 3D makes the gf sick), but still the visuals were amazing.

Highly reccomended!

[SquidPuppet]

It has been discussed in the thread already, but I just found this at the very bottom of Roger Eberts review. I never noticed it the first time I read it.

"Note: The movie is being shown in both 3-D and 2-D. The 3-D adds nothing but the opportunity to pay more to see a distracting and unnecessary additional dimension. Paramount has threatened theaters that if they don't clear screens for "Dragon" despite the current glut of 3-D films, the studio won't let them show it in 2-D. This displays real confidence in 3-D. "

[opterasis]

Saw it the other day, and I absolutely loved it. I thought it was up to par with almost everything Pixar has done to date, and I normally am not a big fan of Dreamworks movies.

[Angela Liu]

I'm still bubbling with excitement after seeing the film. It's obviously silly for me to say at this early point in time, but I'll be damned if this doesn't crop up as one of my top five movies of 2010. It's just that good.

My write-up, which I had posted on my LJ account:

---

Seeing Alice In Wonderland and How To Train Your Dragon back-to-back this weekend clearly didn't do the former any favors; Dragon was so much more enjoyable that I wished I could've gotten back the cash I'd plunked down for Alice to see the latter again.

It's no secret that Dreamworks Animation has a checkered history in terms of quality releases. Kung Fu Panda was an oyster pearl lying in a sea of disappointment; disappointments like Shrek The Third, Flushed Away, and The Bee Movie. Last year's Monsters vs Aliens didn't exactly make a whole lot of waves either, so it always comes as a genuine shock when a film as good as How To Train Your Dragon comes out from the studio.

Like Panda, Dragon feels less like a typical Dreamworks project, and quite a bit more like a Pixar one. It doesn't go the pop-culture and satirical references route, but simply aims to tell a solid coming-of-age tale, and the importance of acceptance. The twist this time is that it's not just our central character who undergoes this journey, but most of the supporting cast too. The companionship between Toothless and Hiccup (played to meek, geeky perfection by Jay Baruchel) is paced extremely well; the trailers would have you believe that they automatically end up as friends, but that isn't the case. There's a realistic sense of progression to their precarious but growing trust, their bond cultivating into a number of incredible sequences toward the latter half. The affliction between Hiccup's loyalties to his tribe and the dragons he chooses to associate with is a sharp and meaningful contrast that makes for a terrific story.

The overall look of the movie is great, if still a few notches below Pixar's best efforts. The choreography is stunning, though, especially during the exhilarating flight sequences. Avatar still remains the one to beat when it comes to 3D, but Dragon convinces me that this is the second best use I've seen of the gimmick since Coraline.

And John Powell's score is MAGIC. There are strains of Hancock's impossibly uplifting "The Moon And The Superhero" main theme, but more epic, medieval and Scottish. This is no more evident than in the opening track "This Is Berk." Most of the score works both in and out of the film, but "Romantic Flight" brings about a truly lovely sense of elegance for a sequence you simply need to see in context. It's wonderful stuff, and music storytelling at its finest.

How To Train Your Dragon sets the bar for excellent CG-animated films this year, so in addition to living up to the Toy Story legacy, Pixar's definitely got a lot to prove this time around.

[Briscogun]

Originally Posted by Gaius Marius

Very good movie! This is the first time I feel that Dreamworks truly reaches Pixar. They have made some great movies (Shrek, Over the Hedge, Kung-Fu Panda, and Monsters vs Aliens), but they have lacked the timelessness of Pixar's films. This one had great action and heart, superb voice acting, and some really beautiful scenery. Saw it in 2D (I don't have an interest in 3D, and 3D makes the gf sick), but still the visuals were amazing.

Highly reccomended!

Saw this yesterday. My 7 year old was seeing the 3D version for a birthday party, so I took my 2 year old to the 2D version (he'd never sit still with the glasses on). It was a fun movie. I like the message about kids following their heart, trying to break the cycle, listening to their feelings, all that stuff.

The end caught me a little off guard. Not your "normal" ending. My daughter said it was "sad". Dreamworks did a good job with this one, though. Should look nice on blu for the holidays!

[spidy]

I just watched this movie in the theaters with my two nephews and my sister and I thought it was great. I liked this one as much as KFP (which I liked a lot!). And IMO it's on par with some of the Pixar movies.

We saw it in 3D. I'm not sure if I'm getting used to 3D or not but the 3D didn't do as much for me this time as Avatar did. The picture isn't as bright and as sharp as what I'm accustomed to and even though I do like 3D I would have much rather seen this at home. Hours later I saw the demo of MvA at Best Buy and the picture looks much better there with 3D.

None the less, I can't wait for this to hit blu-ray!

[Sweetmeats]

If we're thinking about the same thing, it was the one thing I complained about in the test screening I saw. I thought it was unnecessary and took away from the strong climax. I've thought about it a lot since then and after seeing it again this weekend, it fits perfectly and brings the characters closer together.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Angela Liu

My write-up, which I had posted on my LJ account:

---

.

Good review.

[danman227460]

More like a money grab. 3D ticket prices are about 2-3 or more dollars than a regular movie ticket so the more screens they have showing the movie, the more money they make. I mean Avatar made THAT much more money because of 3D. I wished they actually had 2D VS 3D ticket sales numbers but 3D movies heavily inflate the sales because of the more expensive ticket.

Now with them rising the price, it means even more money.

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

It has been discussed in the thread already, but I just found this at the very bottom of Roger Eberts review. I never noticed it the first time I read it.

"Note: The movie is being shown in both 3-D and 2-D. The 3-D adds nothing but the opportunity to pay more to see a distracting and unnecessary additional dimension. Paramount has threatened theaters that if they don't clear screens for "Dragon" despite the current glut of 3-D films, the studio won't let them show it in 2-D. This displays real confidence in 3-D. "

[master_8ball]

Gave it 4 stars.

Saw it last night and thought it was great, animation looked really good and I was surprised it was a DreamWorks film. The 3D looked better than the last 3D movie I saw Alice in Wonderland.

The story was really good, I enjoyed the father son aspects of it. Only issue I had was the voice acting of the main character, thought he could have been better. I saw the movie with my wife, mom, sister and her b/f, mom had never seen a 3D movie before and was impressed.

It was funny my wife and I after the movie were talking about how the dragon reminded us of a cat, where my sister and her b/f said they thought more of a dog. I guess they made it in a way that you draw the similarities from the animal that you prefer, us being more cat people and my sister having a dog.

In the previews the animation in that movie about owls looked amazing!

[jag2007]

saw it thought the movie was great funny, gonna look great on bluray but something took away from the expierience, I don't know if it was the 3D or the screen calibration if there is such as thing. I saw this in San Antonio Santikos Silverado theater.
They were using something called xpand 3D. The expierence was not good. I saw banding all over the place so much so my son asked me "What is that red stuff on their faces?" It really gave me a headache. I was excited before the show because xtreeme d was using new glasses with some type of sensor not those regular glasses they use with lets say Toy Story. So what up with that? Any one else have a simmilar expierience?

[master_8ball]

Originally Posted by jag2007

saw it thought the movie was great funny, gonna look great on bluray but something took away from the expierience, I don't know if it was the 3D or the screen calibration if there is such as thing. I saw this in San Antonio Santikos Silverado theater.
They were using something called xpand 3D. The expierence was not good. I saw banding all over the place so much so my son asked me "What is that red stuff on their faces?" It really gave me a headache. I was excited before the show because xtreeme d was using new glasses with some type of sensor not those regular glasses they use with lets say Toy Story. So what up with that? Any one else have a simmilar expierience?

I didnt notice any colour banding like that, I saw it at an AMC with Real D. I did notice what I thought to be some kind of vertical banding but it wasn't a different colour, it looked like it was more of a seem and was there in many scenes but not all. It was just right of centre and looked like someone had say cut a photo in half then lined it back up. I figured it was just the screen though

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by master_8ball

I didnt notice any colour banding like that, I saw it at an AMC with Real D. I did notice what I thought to be some kind of vertical banding but it wasn't a different colour, it looked like it was more of a seem and was there in many scenes but not all. It was just right of centre and looked like someone had say cut a photo in half then lined it back up. I figured it was just the screen though

I saw the exact same thing in quite a few scenes at my 2D presentation. Right smack in the middle, all the way from top to bottom. Odd.

[master_8ball]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

I saw the exact same thing in quite a few scenes at my 2D presentation. Right smack in the middle, all the way from top to bottom. Odd.

Interesting, I thought it was either just an issue with the screen or maybe from the 3D, but if you saw it in 2D then I guess not. Wonder if it will be on disc?

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by master_8ball

Interesting, I thought it was either just an issue with the screen or maybe from the 3D, but if you saw it in 2D then I guess not. Wonder if it will be on disc?

I just assumed my theater received a damaged copy. Maybe there was a bad run of copies. Hmmmmm. You saw a digital copy, and I saw a film copy. I sure hope it doesnt show up on the BD. I really doubt it will though.

[Bageara]

I took my family to see this at the weekend in 3D. to be honest i didnt expect much from this but i was really pleasently suprised i loved it and so did the rest of the family. something here for everyone and it has alot more action and excitment than most animated movies 4Stars