How to Train Your Dragon 3D Blu-ray Review
MOVIE REVIEW
How to Train Your Dragon is a 2010 animated feature from Dreamworks which focuses on a young viking named Hiccup. Son of the village chief, there is plenty of pressure for him to live up to his dad and lead the centuries-long war between vikings and the menacing dragons. There's one problem, though: Hiccup is a bit puny and even openly admits he's unable to kill dragons. But on the night of a routine dragon raid, Hiccup ends up downing a dreaded Night Fury, the most dangerous kind of dragon there is. He tracks it down the next day with the intent to kill it. But upon looking into its eyes, he examines himself and discovers he doesn't have it in him to kill the poor thing. And after letting it go, Hiccup then takes it upon himself to aid the dragon of an injury Hiccup incurred on its tail. While doing so though, he and the Night Fury, which Hiccup has named Toothless, develop a secret bond that breaks the boundaries created by centuries of fighting between dragons and vikings. Will Hiccup eventually bring the village to realizing there's more to dragons than they originally thought, or are willing to learn, or will his and Toothless's relationship end in disaster for both kinds?
Dreamworks has always been in tough contest for Disney for years in the animated market. Sure, they've put out quite a few stinkers in their career like Shark Tale or The Boss Baby. But more often than not, they get it right. However, if you stick with the company long enough, you'll see they eventually put out something that not only resonates with audiences, but also breaks ground in storytelling and animation. And in 2010, Dreamworks struck gold with How to Train Your Dragon (it wouldn't be until almost a decade later that people would come to appreciate the underrated genius of Megamind). This is film that has so many elements that theoretically, shouldn't really elevate beyond a standard kids movie. But with high reverence for the medium of animation, an engaging, well-rounded story, and highly relatable characters, they've somehow managed to create not only an enjoyable film, but also one of the most unique and memorable animated films of the 21st century.
HTTYD was brought to us by directors Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, the directing duo behind Lilo & Stitch. Just like Lilo & Stitch, this film is about an unlikely friendship between creatures of opposing species. But don't expect it to be a rehash of that old classic. How to Train Your Dragon invents brand new characters each with different perspectives on the story at hand. The heart is truly what helps this film stand out on its own. The interactions between Toothless and Hiccup come across as organic and wholesome, helping us to feel for and root for them. They're both a couple of characters coping with how they fit into the world around them and need someone to lean on. When Hiccup states that he sees himself in Toothless, we totally believe it. We all know through our pets how even though we and our animals may not connect on an intellectual level, we can certainly do so on an emotional one. How to Train Your Dragon isn't the first movie to explore that bond, but it does so very well by involving people we grow to care about. Yes, Hiccup fits the mold of the small, slightly annoying kid who needs to overcome their struggles we've seen in stories past. But as the story continues, he tends to grow on you with his own unique charm. You see he has some genuine heart and a desire to follow in his father's footsteps, but he also knows through his friendship with Toothless that he can't just do so. What I also like about the film is that a bit like Arthur Christmas, it doesn't turn those who share opposing views of the main characters' into automatic villains. Hiccup's father Stoick is a big, frightening fellow (and rightfully played by King Leonidus himself Gerald Butler), but his passion against dragons is rooted in the right place, protecting his village from harm and stolen food. HTTYD has its message clear in mind: that diplomacy should be the first way of going about enemies. But it doesn't ignore the stance on the other side of the issue. The result is a film that knows how to let its story speak for itself so no one feels talked down to. As John Candy put it: "you know, that's a damn rare thing these days."
But aside from just the story, the world-building How to Train Your Dragon offers is exceptional. The animation, for 2010 at least, is incredibly detailed and beautiful to look at. The designs and scale of the old land of the vikings is something to behold. I'll speak more on the 3D in its own review below. But I will say this: it puts you in the film's environment in such a way where it's crucial to the experience. The score by John Powell is simply superb and probably up there with the music in Kung Fu Panda. There's also plenty of great ideas at work such as the ways they train the teenagers to become dragon-fighting warriors, how there's a huge nest of dragon's the vikings are trying to find, and how the dragons are all connected to it. And it all builds to one of the most intense climaxes captured in animation. By the time you get done watching the film, you don't feel like you've observed a movie. You feel as if you were right there right alongside the characters in this mesmerizing and clearly realized world.
How to Train Your Dragon is a simple enough movie with a simple enough premise that could've easily been something run-of-the-mill. But instead, the folks at Dreamworks decided to go the extra mile and create an experience you won't soon forget. It not only engages your eyes with its wondrous world, but also your heart with characters who have their own stories to tell. Gone are the typical talking animals and black-and-white world views most films like these are known for carrying. Instead, we're treated to a fairly nuanced story about a boy and his dragon discovering they're not so different in a world that tries to pit them as such. And even the stuff you would expect from a movie like this such as the humor and the animated designs are pulled off well and in a way that doesn't distract from the film's surprisingly, and refreshingly, serious core. I would probably hesitate to say it holds the same level of perfection that something like the Spider-Verse films have. But a lot like Kung Fu Panda, it soars above your expectations and delivers something that kids and adults will easily find worthwhile. What more can I say? It must be seen to be believed.
OVERALL FILM RATING: 4.5/5
3D REVIEW
How to Train Your Dragon was Dreamworks's second foray into 3D right behind Monsters vs. Aliens from the previous year. While it wasn't the first film to prove Dreamworks knows what they're doing in terms of 3D (I haven't watched Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D yet, but I've heard great things about its 3D effects), it's the first that got people talking seriously about it, and for good reason. A lot like Gravity and Avatar, this is one of those few films where people who talk about it also give good mention to its usage of 3D, especially if they caught it in IMAX 3D. Unfortunately, I wasn't lucky enough to catch it in IMAX 3D on its first run. But the good news, even at home, the 3D Blu-ray of this film still provides an incredible experience and remains one of the best titles you can buy on that format. And considering I've seen almost a hundred 3D Blu-ray titles in just the past few years, that's saying a lot.
What How to Train Your Dragon does so effectively, more so than around 90% of 3D movies I view, is that it actively uses the 3D effects rather than letting the 3D work on whatever's there, and it does so in such a way that's subtle enough it doesn't distract from the story but obvious enough that you can tell the 3D is quite clearly the definitive version of the film. For starters, the depth in-screen is simply staggering, looking like you can walk in for miles. Views out onto the ocean are vast, the village and the buildings in it have large shape and size, and even the forests and mountains feel huge. Even indoors, such as in an arena (with a 3D-ready roof made of chains) or a tavern, the parallax does the large locations justice.
But of course, like any great 3D movie, intense depth is only the tip of the iceberg. This'd be a great time to bring up the primary reason the 3D is as praised as it is: that would be the flight sequences. The flight scenes are not only some of the greatest utilizations of 3D ever animated, but also some of the most stunning and exhilarating. The sweeping camera shots, the distance between the characters and the ground, the large environment, it all comes together to make you feel like you're flying right alongside Hiccup and Toothless through the clouds and over the sea, even though your just sitting down in a stationary seat (I bet this film would've really been something in 4DX). I remember the flight scenes from Migration just a few days ago and despite how good they looked, they paled in comparison to the thrill rides that How to Train Your Dragon brought us 10 years prior. I could give you detail on the imagery during these scenes that make the 3D fun to watch, but it's primarily the motions which really makes the experience immersive, something that would be better shown than described. These scenes by themselves are immediately worth the price of admission.
But fortunately, the 3D in the rest of the film, while maybe not quite as memorable, is still just as good. Right from the start, we're lunged into a raid where dragons are flying in packs, shooting fire on the local homes, getting into fights with the human folks below, and all around causing destruction, all making for some great 3D composition. It even includes a decent shot of Hiccup looking through a scope trying to find the Night Fury. This whole scene is a lot of fun and sets the tone for the 3D throughout the movie. There's many highlights to cover, and I'll try to be careful with describing them because many of them overlap with my upcoming paragraph describing the pop outs. But some of the main ones include the dragon training scenes (not training of Toothless, but the training of the teenagers to become warriors) that include everything from mazes to fog to flying dragons to shooting fire. Fog is especially used well 3D-wise in this film. In an important story moment where Toothless is flying through fog, a swarm of dragon start coming up and they appear in their own 3D space as the fog starts to lift. There's another interesting shot where a group of ships enter a thick cloud of fog and disappear right before a silhouette of a dragon in the distance lights up. Part of the final battle even takes place in the clouds. And speaking of the final battle, it features destruction on such a large scale that the 3D only enhances greatly. I'll try not to spoil anything for you, but I will say there's a humungous dragon involved, fire is shot out all over the place, and there are a few times the characters have to go underwater, which of course, is 3D's best friend.
As for pop-outs, there's a surprisingly large number of them. Even when action isn't exactly going on, the film still loves putting stuff right in front of you, making you feel part of this film's world. There's actually one scene early on which uses this aspect of 3D as an important device to the story where Hiccup is contemplating whether to kill the Night Fury. As his internal conflict starts to come to a boil, the camera comes closer and closer in on him, and the Night Fury, allowing you to empathize with their emotions. Aside from that important moment, the 3D in general puts pretty much anything in the foreground a good ways out of the screen. For the most part, this includes people, weapons, and especially the dragons, mainly Toothless. However, when things do get going, the film lunges more at you than you would expect. We're not talking Journey to the Center of the Earth levels of pop outs, HTTYD is clearly more sophisticated than that. But the film also knows when to have fun with its 3D. Dragons come for you quite often. In fact, going back to the opening raid, there's one shot of a menacing dragon emerging from the bottom of a fiery tower that'll make you jump out of your seat. There's also instance of weapons leaving the screen whether it's someone holding a hammer or a sword or whether something is being thrown out at you. Fire and sparks of it also tends to leave the screen.
With all the good I have to say about the 3D, I should be fair and mention the one caveat holding this back from 3D perfection, that being some scenes of ample dimness. I know lack of the brightness brought on by the glasses is something that's always been a problem with 3D movies. But most films typically get around this by featuring settings so bright and vibrant that you don't really notice the dimness. Avatar is a perfect example of this. However, a bit like A Christmas Carol, there are a few scenes in How to Train Your Dragon that go quite dark and can easily bother someone who finds 3D dimness an annoyance.
A good while back, I made a list of 10 3D movies that need to be released on home media. When I got to Cyberworld, I made a brief mention of Roger Ebert calling the 3D in How To Train Your Dragon "distracting and unnecessary." It was used to show how high a bar Ebert sets for 3D movies and how Cyberworld managed to surpass that. But man, did Ebert really not know what he was talking about. I know he's known to be a bit of a snob when it comes to 3D movies in general. But talking like that to the 3D in How to Train Your Dragon is straight up incorrect. The 3D here is not only top-notch, on the contrary to what Ebert said, it's actually necessary to fully experiencing it. The people behind this film show that they know how to use the extra luxury of 3D space to the film's advantage and place you there not just in the action and the viking town setting, but also next to the characters and everything they go through. A lot like Gravity, the creators have gone the extra mile to make sure the 3D immerses you. Of course, it pays off the most during the legendary 3D flight sequences (to this day, I still see people talking about how amazing they were in IMAX 3D and how the film needs to be brought back in that format so people who didn't see it that way before can see it that way now). But even through the rest of the film, the 3D still made it that much more memorable. Dimness aside, 3D is the best way to see How to Train Your Dragon. And even if you're not someone who's out to catch every 3D movie on the market, this is a 3D experience that, if you have to the chance to see, must certainly be seen. It'll show you just how much 3D is capable of and remind you why 3D movies took off in the early 2010's to begin with.
3D RATING: EXCELLENT
OTHER SOURCES THAT REVIEW THIS MOVIE'S 3D:
High-Def Digest's Review: https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/5731/httyd_3d.html
Tommy Boy 3D's Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3KZTb8Jfck
Real Future Pictures's Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwzhHc1Hkj0
FINAL THOUGHTS
How to Train Your Dragon is a modern classic that delivers everything you want from it: heart, humor, excellent action, and engaging characters. If there's a movie you can describe as "the whole package," this is it. In some ways, it feels more like something 2010's Disney would've created rather than 2010's Dreamworks. It has the celebrity voice acting, but it's never distracting or in there for the sake of celebrity voice acting. It ditches the talking animal trope for something more grounded and serious while also never losing its warm heart. And the animation is not only fantastic, especially for 2010, but it's used to deliver some truly exhilarating sequences that are just not possible in live action. This is truly one of those rarities that pops up in Dreamworks's catalogue every once in a blue moon, proving they still have it in them to create something incredible. If you haven't seen it yet, this is one to watch as soon as you get the chance. And while you're at it, make sure to see it in 3D. While I'm still waiting for an IMAX 3D re-release sometime in the near future, 3D Blu-ray still gives you a glimpse of how incredible this film would play out on a much bigger screen. The experience is still captivating, the 3D depth mesmerizing, and the action immersive. I'd say the 3D here probably lands just a notch or two above Kung Fu Panda's 3D, which is really saying something. Like I said before, this is the rare type of film where the film itself and its 3D go hand in hand to make something great. If you have a 3D display and are looking to grow your collection, don't overlook How to Train Your Dragon. See it the way it was made to be seen and have yourself the time of your life.
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