Took the kids to see it in IMAX 3D this morning, and was very pleasantly surprised. From the trailers I thought this would be really goofy and trite, but it was a lot more entertaining than I thought it would be. If you can, spend a little extra to spring for the 3D, it was used spectacularly in this flick. It should have great appeal with kids and adults alike, and it was nice to see a Dreamworks Animation flick that didn't rely on toilet humor to get laughs like the Shrek and Madagascar movies.
Likes: The animation was great, the dragons all looked really good and the flight sequences were superb.
Dislikes: The fact all the adults had Scottish accents and sounded like Shrek, and all the kids sounded American. Probably my only gripe with the flick.
1. "Is it as good as/better than "Lilo & Stitch"" In response to Reply # 0 Sun Mar-28-10 12:10 AM by Nukkapedia
I ask because the same writer/directors - Chris Sanders & Dean DuBlois - worked on Lilo & Stitch. *coughwhichwasmadehereinorlandouncough* People weren't too pleased about them being fired from Disney.
Of course, Chris made that more than obvious by giving the dragon the same water head that Stitch had.
2. "You can't really compare the two....." In response to Reply # 1
I will just say that I enjoyed HTTYD just as much as Lilo and Stitch, but if I picked between the two, I'd go with Lilo and Stitch, just because its one of my favorite Disney movies ever.
Toothless (the dragon) did have a lot of Stitch characteristics though, except being able to talk.....
4. "Saw it this morning in IMAX 3D" In response to Reply # 0
It was good, although I think Brad Bird and the "Ratatouille" crew will cry foul when they see it. The plots are reallllly similar (and "Dragon's" plot is apparently significantly removed from its source novel).
I really, really enjoyed the film, taken on its own though. It was far more heartfelt and emotionally impactful than a typical DreamWorks picture.
i wouldn't be surprised if it picked up a bit through good word-of-mouth, but it will be an uphill battle. i wonder the merits of making a movie like this (if you're not pixar), i was reading something about how lilo and stitch cut their costs tremendously by simplifying the animation just a bit (i think it had to with freckles on one of the main characters face). as awesome as these films are too watch, all those little details that serve as background can cost a buttload, and probably don't add enough to the film to justify their cost.
8. "my college professor worked on Lilo w/ Chris & Dean" In response to Reply # 7
he was the technical director.
He showed me a lot of cost and time-saving computer techniques they use that not even I was aware of to give scenes quality while still getting things turned out. Disney's whole thing with Lilo was to make a film that was far cheaper than the movies they had been turning out at the time, which is why they went for the simplified designs, the lack of complex CGI (though there is indeed a lot in there; it's not like the stuff in Tarzan or Atlantis), lack of shadows drawn on the characters (saves time and money), etc.
The Lilo team did such a good job of saving costs that they finished the movie early and under budget, which is how they got to do those customized trailers where Stitch takes over some of the other Disney films with the leftover money. There was a lot of ink spilled at the time about traditional animation being more time consuming and more expensive than CGI, but your average Pixar or DreamWorks CGI film costs 150% of what even the most expensive 2D films costs.
Doing animation of any time is an expensive gamble for most studios not named Pixar, though. Plenty of expensive CGI films ("The Ant Bully", "Final Fantasy", "Surf's Up", "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", "Open Season") end up flopping or underperforming at the box office, but just as many end up making hundreds of millions of dollars, so there's plenty of studios willing to take that chance.
9. "I Loved this movie. I wanna see it again." In response to Reply # 0
I was with 5yr olds..lol they kept asking about everything in the movie.
Stayls aka Peaches Cochran (THE REAL STAYLS)
Yes Natty!™
Don't try to downplay Pac and get mad because MC Underground with his complicated flows and lyrics can't move a crowd even if he pointed a gun at them. -Clash Sic
12. "Saw it 3D IMAX. Solid. " In response to Reply # 0
Now I want to see Avatar 3D IMAX again. Mostly to compare the visuals because I think I liked this more. I easily thought I would watch this again when it was over. With Avatar, I was good with the one viewing at the end. Months removed, I want to see it again just to experience the art.
I was more attached to the story of Dragon than Avatar.
14. "I read this is as How to DRAIN your Dragon ... lol " In response to Reply # 0
>Took the kids to see it in IMAX 3D this morning, and was very >pleasantly surprised. From the trailers I thought this would >be really goofy and trite, but it was a lot more entertaining >than I thought it would be. If you can, spend a little extra >to spring for the 3D, it was used spectacularly in this flick. > It should have great appeal with kids and adults alike, and >it was nice to see a Dreamworks Animation flick that didn't >rely on toilet humor to get laughs like the Shrek and >Madagascar movies. > >Likes: The animation was great, the dragons all looked really >good and the flight sequences were superb. > >Dislikes: The fact all the adults had Scottish accents and >sounded like Shrek, and all the kids sounded American. >Probably my only gripe with the flick. > >3 1/2 out of 4 stars
15. "Saw it. Twas awesome, but story/plot progression was a little commonplac..." In response to Reply # 0
And that Canadian guy mos def could've done better not to sound like his role in that shitty romantic comedy he did. This dude better not turn into Michael Cera 2.0.
And characters definietly could've been more developed, but I'm glad they made the setting and story a little darker and deeper than the usual kid movie trying to be appreciated by all demographics.
"Jesus died at age 33. But what he didn't do is forget his niggas." (c) Sir Bumpy of Knuckles
"DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc (DWA.O) posted a lower quarterly profit but beat Wall Street expectations and said it would release a sequel in 2013 to "How To Train Your Dragon," which has grossed nearly $375 million at the global box office since late March."
21. "there are 8 books (so far) in the series" In response to Reply # 20
plenty of room for a movie franchise
1. How to Train Your Dragon 2. How to Be a Pirate 3. How to Speak Dragonese 4. How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse 5. How To Twist a Dragon's Tale 6. A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons 7. How to Ride a Dragon's Storm 8. How to Break a Dragon's Heart
28. "long as Chris & Dean are on it, I'm sure it'll be a decent film" In response to Reply # 20
Just...for fuck's sake, wait a little bit before announcing the sequel! People already look at DreamWorks Animation out the corner of their eye as it is...
24. "look on the bright side, you have something new to rail against!" In response to Reply # 18
jebus h jehosephat, you guys have to bitch about SOMETHING or your world just isn't right, is it?
OMG A SEQUEL!!! HOW DARE THEY!!!! wow, they are launching a successful movie into a franchise! god forbid! never mind the hoards of people who would enjoy and embrace a sequel, NO, dammit, they need to NOT make one to satisfy a handful of message board posters who could simply just, you know, NOT go see it.
but again, this is GREAT for you because without these movies actually making money and becoming franchises, what oh what would you have to bitch about then? business will be great for you going forward.
-Sig-
“Why didn’t you do this in your own god damn country?"
-All Stah's view on undocumented immigrants wanting to be treated like human beings.
26. "it's not that serious; just that Katzenberg has a bad habit of taking wh..." In response to Reply # 24
works and running it into the ground (see also: Shrek).
It's nothing that requires the comic level of bullshit in your reply or anything that can be caricatured as such. But they could have at least held off on the announcement until the film was closer to finishing its run so it didn't look quite so shameless.
27. "please, there's already another post bitching about the sequel" In response to Reply # 26
whine, whine, whine, point blank is you have an issue with the sequel even existing. playing it off as if "oh it's just that the announcement is so soon" is even worse because now you're just looking to pick at anything you can find. so now you're bitching about the "timing"? FOH with that nonsense.
you also bitched about popeye, i mean this is a pattern at this point.
-Sig-
“Why didn’t you do this in your own god damn country?"
-All Stah's view on undocumented immigrants wanting to be treated like human beings.
Everybody's got opinions on the way you're living but see they can't fill your shoes... Life is made of half-illusions... forty percent confusion, whatever's left I'm using... to keep myself from losing, yeah.
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