Is it too similar to DragonHeart?? I thought the commercials were just screaming DRAGONHEART in my face. If it’s not, then I completley misread the whole thing.
No offense, but the only similarity I see is a dude with a dragon.
in Dragonheart, the dragon wanted the guy to [spoil]kill him because he had this evil guy’s heart[/spoil] from what I could recollect…
Sorry, I just thought it looked really similar.
I saw it today, I really liked it! It’s my favorite CGI Dreamworks film, The graphics and art was amazing. Going to be a contender at the Academy Awards I believe.
Yeah, this movie is totally awesome!! My favourite CGI dreamworks film so far!!
Dude, seriously, I had a DREAM about this movie.
And I only dream about stuff I REALLY like.
Yet my parents keep ignoring my wish to see it on the big screen. D:
I’m not going to be seeing it in the cinema, due to both a lack of money and a lack of friends who actually want to see it (judging a film by a company’s previous standards is never a good thing, but it seems for people of my age Dreamworks have dug themselves into a rather large hole that’s going to be very difficult to get out of) but I am pleased to hear so many positive reviews. The concept doesn’t enthral me, but the relationship between Hiccup and the dragon does sound intriguing and if they’ve managed to handle that well, then I can see how this can be such an enjoyable film.
Especially if they’ve abandoned the popular culture jokes and songs in this one. A big hoorah if that’s the case!
I just saw it tonight and loved it. Dreamworks set some new heights for themselves. 
I loved the design and Toothless and Hiccup are some of my new favorite characters ever.
And, I teared at the end, jussayin’. There was a moment that just really got me.
Well, I saw this film shortly after it came out, but haven’t gotten around to commenting on it yet.
To cut a long story short, this is the best Dreamworks film ever, and around the quality of the lesser Pixar films. There are three basic reasons why this is the case.
-
It’s timeless. Since there are pretty much no pop culture references (the closest I could find was a single direct reference to Lilo and Stitch - more of an inside joke than anything - and the character of Fishlegs quoting dragon stats, thus making it sound like something from an RPG), the movie will be roughly as enjoyable decades from now as it is today.
-
The action is fantastic, rivalling blockbusters with ludicrously large budgets. Fights are fast and frenetic, but always easy to follow, unlike some films. Obviously, this will lose a bit of impact when seen in 2D on a smaller screen, but I don’t think it will suffer too much (no more than the action in a film like The Incredibles).
-
It’s got loads of heart. Most of this, of course, comes from the interaction between Hiccup and Toothless, but the interactions between humans is certainly above-average for this sort of movie (believe me, I’ve seen my fair share of them).
All in all, an excellent achievement from Dreamworks, and I hope they keep the directors in work for a long time to come. Meanwhile, Pixar will have to pull off something truly special with Toy Story 3 if they want to keep their run of Best Animated Picture Oscars going. Of course, it’s Pixar, so they probably will.
Well said.
Fishlegs was good at the stating. I think I was the only person in the theater who lauged at that quality.
So, I’ve finally seen it. In the cinema.
And I have to say, I loved it.
I liked it more than Up.
Sorry, but I did.
Hiccup and Toothless are so awesome ;v; They may be some of my top favourite characters now. Yup, alongside Luigi and Conker.
Congrats Dreamworks, you’ve just made a masterpiece. If all their movies’ll be like this, I can die happy. They’re FINALLY beginning to see that an animated movie needs heart and stuff… which I love…
Fwaaa, I may just draw Toothless right now. He’s just that awesome. Such a shame that there aren’t any plushies of him that I know of…
I meant to write a short description of my experience watching this on my dA journal entry, but I got caught up in the excitement that I ended up writing a full review, so I’ll just post it here. 
[size=125]"So I Heard You Liek Night Furys?[/size]
Yesterday I watched what has to be the best film produced by Dreamworks Animation ever; How To Train Your Dragon. It’s sooo good, even better than Kung Fu Panda, I must say! To be honest, I was a bit trepidated by the hype, much like for Avatar. But like the former, all those fears were unfounded when I sat down in my seat and let the adventure unfold.
It’s best you know as little as possible about the story so much of it remains a surprise. Dreamworks has, for once, left the best bits out of the trailer, instead of ruining it all like they did for Shrek The Tur… Third and Monsters Vs Aliens. So I’ll just briefly talk about the plot and characters in general.
The script is surprisingly deep and heartfelt, almost Pixar level, in fact. It is mercifully free of pop culture jokes, and save for a bra and underwear reference or two, devoid of scatological ones too, giving it a timeless and universal appeal. Without giving too much away, my favourite scenes are the ones between Hiccup and Toothless, and Hiccup and his father. The dragon training segments were entertaining, but added little to the story except as a set-up to the climax. The flight sequences are visually spectacular, and I regret watching it in 2-D, for I’m sure the effects fully deserve the 3-D/Imax treatment.
And the characters! Hiccup just appeals to you from the opening lines, because he’s pretty much the underdog who just wants to ‘fit in’ and live up to his father’s expectations, something which will no doubt appeal to many of the adolescent (and even adult) viewers out there. Stoick also has some pretty memorable scenes where he has to undergo a complete paradigm shift. Gobber is also entertaining as Hiccup’s mentor and Stoick’s confidante, and Astrid is a strong-willed female (reminding me of Colette, or Eve, or any Pixar female protagonists for that matter) who serves as Hiccup’s competitor/love interest. The rest of the supporting characters (the classmates and dragons) also have their unique and distinct personalities, and provide some of the laughs.
But the best character of all (and what I’m sure is a fan favourite) is the enigmatic and adorable Night Fury, Toothless. His scenes alone are worth the price of admission, as much like Wall-E, he conveys much of his emotions and personality not through words, but through his actions and body language. Apparently, the lead animator owned a cat, while Chris and Debois (the directors) were dog people, so his character ended up a blend of the two creatures! But lest you think of him as a subservient pet, let me tell you, ‘Stitch The Dragon’ has got enough spunk to hold his own against Hiccup. Their friendship is of the most beautiful kind, whereby each were willing to defend the other even to the death. The ‘Lassie’ sequence in particular just killed me, as well as a lot of others I won’t mention here.
Also noteworthy are the final showdown and the bittersweet ending, which nearly reduced me to ‘man tears’ (the kind where you weep because it’s so freakin’ AWESOME). 
And John Powell just blew me away again with another stellar soundtrack, with hints of Scottish and even Oriental flavour thrown in.
All in all, this is one of, if not the BEST effort to come out of a stable known for mediocrity and pandering to the lowest denominator. No doubt this is probably due in part to Chris and Deblois’ direction, as well as the enormous talent involved. If possible, try to get ahold of a copy of the ‘Art of’. Some of the artworks (especially Nico Marlet’s character designs) sadly didn’t make it into the final product, but they’re still worth having a look at for inspiration.
It’s also nothing short of a miracle that Jeffrey didn’t stick his nose in this one (or at least to a minimal level), and while this may not be a definite return to the ‘good old days’ (re: Spirit, El Dorado, Prince of Egypt), at least they would’ve learnt that sometimes it is best to leave the creative decisions to the filmmakers, and not focus on the bottom line. The most important things; story, characters, Heart, are all here and in abundant amounts, and will be an example to emulate not just for future Dreamworks productions, but even for rival studios (Pixar, you better darn well step up their game for TS3, which I’m sure you will, of course).
I wholeheartedly recommend everyone to go see this film. Like now. Seriously, this even kicks ‘Clash of the Titans’ *ss (according to my brother who has seen both). Well done, Dreamworks! It’s amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it. 
"
going to see it today- I cannot wait!! I’ve been waiting for the next Chris Sanders movie since 2003
I saw it today. I thought it was great. I absolutely loved Toothless, since he reminded me of a lot of the pets I’ve had before. I also liked the fact that Jay Baruchel was the voice of Hiccup, because ever since I’ve seen She’s Out of My League, he has to be one of my favorite actors, if not my absolute favorite.
Overall, I’d give this an 8/10
I. Adore. This. Movie.
I honestly liked it more than Up. I’m going to refrain from saying that ‘it’s good but not up to Pixar standards’ like most people have done here (I don’t blame them, this is a Pixar fansite afterall).
For me, this movie is the best I’ve seen released in the past say… 2 years (I’m pondering between Wall-E and HTTYD at the moment).
It is definately up to Pixar standards and I’d say it beats the ‘average’ Pixar film. It’s a different style of storytelling and animation but that doesn’t make it worse in my opinion (as Pixar isn’t equal to perfect, this movie isn’t either by the way). I can’t WAIT til I get hold of a physical copy of this beauty.
I’m going to have to refrain from writing a review here, because I simply don’t have the time right now, but I swear that if you like warm, emotional movies that take place in an epic fantasy world, this is your movie.
I also liked the very first and very last spoken lines of the movie, by Hiccup.
Start:
This is Berk. It’s 12 days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing-to-death. It’s located directly on the meridian of misery. My village. In a word: sturdy. It’s been here for 7 generations, but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. See, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have… Dragons.
End:
This is Berk. It snows 9 months of the year and hails the other 3. Any food that grows here is tough and tasteless. The people that grow here are even more so. The only upsides are the pets. While other places have ponies or parrots, we have… Dragons.
It portrays the development of the main character and it’s village perfectly, and are even poetic to a certain degree. Those lines really struck me in the movie and were very fitting for the moment.
I’ve seen it for the third time yesterday, and it’s still not old. I adore it, and a lot of people with me do as well.
And the people on rottentomatoes.com agree with me:
" 98 %
Tomatometer"
I’m goimg to see this today…I’m scared I’ll like a DWSKG movie at this point…HELP ME!!!
I liked but didn’t love it, it was a good film, but I totally didn’t care for the humans… and the designs of the dragons looked horrible, apart from the Stitch-one, which I really liked, probably because I love Stitch
Okay. It was good, but why did everyone say it was so good? I don’t understand. In my worthless opinion, it’s DW’s best right after The Prince of Egypt (awesome movie) but Iv’e seen soooooooo much better. Better than Up? How? This film has renewed my faith that Toy Story 3 will be the best animated feature this year. My favorite was Toothless, I didn’t like the kids at all. Good, but everyone way overreacted. 
I think it’s just shock that Dreamwork’s has made a decent animated film with no pop culture or toilet jokes.
That and toothless is so endearing. I enjoyed it but every character except Toothless and Hiccup was annoying and unnecessary. The love intetest seemed forced, [spoil]Astrid’s extremely quick turn around while flying Toothless was far fetched considering she’s been raised and took heart to being a dragon killer. The scene where she and Hiccup talk while watching the ships leave was unbearable. The final battle was a big disappointment too.[/spoil]
I saw no Lilo and Stitch reference, just by the way. What are you talking about?