For what it’s worth, I’ve seen HTTYD in btoh regular 3D and Imax 3D, and the Imax version seems considerably more colourful. Something to think about for those people who are concerned about the colour (or lack thereof) in 3D films.
I saw Avatar in Imax 3D, but this is helpful to know that the Imax films retain more color than the regular ones.
Thanks nintendofreakgcn.
Yeah, there’s probably still some colour degradation, but it seems to be lessened as far as I can tell. HTTYD doesn’t strike me as a particularly colourful movie, though (even with some quite funky dragon designs), so I might have to wait for TS3 to really compare the two forms of 3D.
For me I think that 3D has the potential to be a new step in movie viewing, Up, Coraline, and How to Train Your Dragon were all beautiful movies that used the 3D to spectacular effect. In fact, the 3D worked so well in Coraline that I feel that I miss something when I watch it in 2D on blu-ray.
However, the biggest problem is that most studios aren’t using it for artistic reasons, they’re using it because Avatar made $2 Billion. In order for 3D to really catch on, filmmakers need to stop treating it as a gimmick and start treating it as another way to help tell the story. People talk about 3D being the next leap for cinema, like color was, but did you have to pay a $2 premium for color movies?
Right now 3D reeks of gimmick, quick post production transfers (Clash of the Titans), films that exploit 3D and sacrifice the narrative for it (Monsters vs. Aliens), and extra fees for seeing films in 3D all hold back its potential. 3D should enhance the feeling of immersion in ways that take your breath away, for instance when I saw Hiccup flying on Toothless for the first time in 3D I audibly said “wow!” 3D should not be used as a cheap tack on so that films can make $2 more per ticket. In order for 3D to mature ‘premium’ pricing needs to go away. As long as the audience has to pay more for 3D, film studious will keep exploiting it.
EDIT:
I disagree, yes, those scenes were spectacular to view in 3D, but that doesn’t mean that it’s an exploitive 3D shot. Hiccup flying with Toothless was a very important part of the story, it helped established their relationship and their trust. Toothless needed Hiccup to fly, and Hiccup needed Tootless for a lot of reasons. There are very important story reasons why those scenes are there and, while they are truly amazing in 3D, I don’t think that they were only there to show of the 3D tech. The film would have been weaker without those scenes regardless of how many dimensions you saw it in.
For example, the whole opening sequence of Toy Story 2 was very 3D oriented, however, Pixar never planned to release the film in 3D when they created that scene. I think that because 3D is around people have a bias; now any shot that uses 3D to spectacular effect is treated as a gimmick. I propose that in How to Train Your Dragon’s case the movie would have been exactly the same even if 3D wasn’t an option.
Let me break it down: if a character dramatically reaches into the audience or has a paddle ball aimed at the camera, that’s gimmicky. If a film has beautiful scenes with vast depth that are enhanced by 3D, that’s not a gimmick, that’s using the technology to good effect.
Personally, I don’t see the point of 3D; I’m perfectly fine with 2D movies, and it’s not like we’ll actually experience a movie as if we’re actually in it. 
IllusionOfLife- I hadn’t actually seen the film at the point of making that comment, it was just a stab in the dark really. Now that I’ve seen it, I agree with your points, that the flying was very essential in their relationship, and the 3D enhanced this. If only all examples of 3D used in films was like this, rather than a gimmick to make more money.
Every once in a while… if the movie has scenes that would benefit from 3D… then I’m okay with it. But seeing 3D become as popular as it is now is annoying. Especially with those 3D televisions… it’s not necessary to have 3D in your home TV!
Oh, I agree DNs24voices
3D television seems very unnecessary. I won’t be purchasing it.
3D is an awe inspiring enhancement in my opinion. While I have no problems, I do sympathize with those who get headaches and nausea from the experience.
It’s kind of tiresome to see all these movies being converted into 3D that weren’t even intended to be in the first place though. Movies designed for 3D are influenced by the principles involved in every shot. Tacking it on a 2D production is nothing but lame capitalization. Not to mention it creates more complication in movie booking for cinemas. Movies intended for 3D from the start are now having to compete for screen space with last minute conversions, talk about nonsense.
Hollywood may be shooting themselves in the feet by introducing 3D into the living room. Say the concept where to fly; people are going to be less inclined to spend the up charge at the theater, and theater attendance would once again go stale.
I vote No. I tried watching AVATAR in 3-D and it gave me a really intense migraine and I wanted to puke. No 3-D for me, I’ll take the old-fashioned movie experience, thank you. 
I enjoy watching movies in 3D. I like the new 3D tv’s also. I got to try two yesterday at Best Buy. If I had 4,000 dollars to spend, I would get one. But I do have one problem with 3D. The degradation of colors. I’ve seen How to Train You Dragon seven times as of this post. Six out of those seven times were in IMAX 3D. I would have seen it the seventh time the same way, but when I got to the theater, they were having problems with the computers, so they couldn’t sell tickets yet. The movie started in five minutes and they weren’t sure if they were going to post pone the showtimes. So I decided to go to a Pacific Theatre close by and watch it in regular 3D. I didn’t enjoy the experience at all. Most of the time, the movie looked to dark. It bothered me so much, I couldn’t get into the flim. Not even my favorite parts. Now I don’t know if that had to do with the theater, or the 3D glasses. But I was so dissapointed. But that was the only time I’ve had a bad experience when it comes to 3D when I didn’t see it in IMAX. So I wonder if it had something to do with the theater. And I have seen Up in 3D and in 2D, and there was some degradations in the colors in 3D, it was nowhere near as bad as How to Train Your Dragon.