Support NeoGAF

[SpeedySwaf]

Just got back from watching this. Definitely one of Dreamwork's best movies, maybe even one of the best animated movies I've ever seen.

The visuals were great, as were the characters, and Toothless is one of the best animal characters they've made. But then, they had the guy who created Stitch helping them.

Spoiler

Final fight was also awesome, but poor Hiccup Liked how they showed his missing foot and Toothless' missing fin in the same shot, and how the mount was now made for the artificial foot.

 

[Stage On]

This movie was fantastic!

After awhile I got so caught up in it I almost forgot it was even a cartoon in the first place. Too bad to see Dreamworks take a step foward with this only to fall 2 steps back already with Megamind and Shrek 4

Btw consdering how god afoul Shrek 3 was it wouldn't be hard for the newest Shrek to be better

 

[aznpxdd]

WTF, 97% on Rotten Tomatoes?

 

[Bit-Bit]

I just saw it today. My brothers and I didn't think it would be any good. Boy were we wrong. Gladly wrong. It is a very fun movie. Very Pixar esque in it's portrayal of non talking animals and reliance on emotions to carry the narrative. Very exhilarating in IMAX 3D.

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

Holy cow at the reviews! :O

 

[senahorse]

Saw it with my gf a couple of days ago. What a great movie, this is easily the best dreamworks animation I have seen and up there with Pixar's best imo. Toothless was so well done.

edit: we saw it in 3D and it's definitely the best use of 3D I have seen in a movie yet.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

man, it's a shame the marketing for this is so damn terrible.

I would never had seen this if it weren't for all the good buzz surrounding it. I mean, seriously, I'm still hesitant.

 

[senahorse]

Rez I would have never seen it if my gf didn't drag me along to it (she saw an advance screening last week), well worth it, the dragon's personality is incredibly done, it's like they have kidnapped some staff from Pixar.

 

[Rorschach]

Looks ok from the trailers. Looked like shit when they were showing clips on Comedy Central all weekend. I would take my nephew, but he wants to see Alice and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. -_- Probably have to wait to see it.

 

[Dabookerman]

Right. Well I'm calling it. This will win Oscar for best animation. Toy Story 3 will be the perfect film not to give it to, regardless of whether it's better or worse.
Also.. isn't Shrek 4 coming out fairly soon? Somehow I think a completely different crew worked on this one.

 

[J2 Cool]

Right. Well I'm calling it. This will win Oscar for best animation. Toy Story 3 will be the perfect film not to give it to, regardless of whether it's better or worse.

I thought about this last night actually. TS3 will have to be the perfect film to take it from this. The buzz is great on that too, but we'll see. I want to see it again, but don't have any money to really. I hope it does well in the box office, but I'm not too worried.

ohn Powell's score for this film is quite good.

Yeah, I thought it was terrific, really outstanding at parts.

 

[Bentendo]

Right. Well I'm calling it. This will win Oscar for best animation. Toy Story 3 will be the perfect film not to give it to, regardless of whether it's better or worse.
Also.. isn't Shrek 4 coming out fairly soon? Somehow I think a completely different crew worked on this one.

Indeed. Companies as big as them usually have several different teams working on movies, and even if some of the people like animators and obviously executive producers work on both films, the main people (or I should probably say creative people, because EPs are pretty important) like writers and directors will work on one film and not another.

It really says something about Disney's ability to hire talented people when arguably the greatest (I haven't actually seen it yet, but I'm saying this because of the reviews) Dreamworks movie was directed by two former employees of the company!

I'm going to be seeing it tonight at the theater with my family. I'm REALLY excited! Which is a first for a Dreamworks movie.

 

[7Th]

The movie was ADORABLE and easily DreamWorks best.

Spoiler

I actually enjoyed it more than Up and Wall-E's second half.

 

[Expendable.]

Nice, this will win the weekend by a good amount! Est. 45mil

 

[JB1981]

Really surprised by the unanimous critical praise. I probably won't get around to seeing this in theaters unfortunately, but I will definitely watch the blu-ray.

 

[FoneBone]

Nice, this will win the weekend by a good amount! Est. 45mil

When you consider how much it probably cost, not to mention the baseline of previous DreamWorks Animation films, that's not really all that good. A shame, because it deserves better.

 

[Dabookerman]

It's also nice to see the lack of huge name actors doing voice work. All I recognise (as a brit) are Gerard Butler and Jonah Hill.

CLEARLY someone photoshopped Dreamworks Animation onto the poster ;p

.. On a sidenote, Megamind looks incredibly awful.

 

[Timbuktu]

When you consider how much it probably cost, not to mention the baseline of previous DreamWorks Animation films, that's not really all that good. A shame, because it deserves better.

...yeah, $45 million would be quite a bit behind Monsters vs Aliens from this weekend last year ($59 mil). Still, it will no doubt get its $180 million budget back internationally even if it struggles a bit in the US.

 

[Mr. Spinnington]

ever since i missed an advance screening of this [with q&a featuring the director afterwards, no less!] i've resigned that i won't be paying to see it at all ;p

 

[D23]

holy shit rotten 97%.. i might need to see this

 

[y2dvd]

I thought I was done with the theaters for awhile but these critical praises is gonna bring me back. Saying this movie is up there with Pixar movies says a lot!

 

[Scribble]

ever since i missed an advance screening of this [with q&a featuring the director afterwards, no less!] i've resigned that i won't be paying to see it at all ;p

Your loss.

Anyway, this is such a pleasant surprise, as an animated film done right is my favourite kind of film. Kind of makes up for Toy Story 3's UK release being a hundred years after the US.

Also, I rewatched Shrek a few months ago somehow thinking that it was the only good Shrek before the series went downhill. Boy was I wrong -- the series was bad from the beginning.

 

[J2 Cool]

I wish more people were coming back with impressions of the movie, than impressions on the RT score and a "maybe I'll see it".

 

[Riskbreaker23]

I just got back from seeing it. It was a great movie. The best Dreamworks movie so far and better than all but the highest tier Pixar movies.

Good story, good characters, and great flying and actions scenes. Hopefully this makes money so that Dreamworks can see what their movies moving forward need to be like.

 

[ryutaro's mama]

man, it's a shame the marketing for this is so damn terrible.

Speaking of this, why do all the TV ads call it "Dreamworks' Dragons" instead of it's actual title?

Are they afraid the real title will be a detriment?

 

[Brianemone]

Watched it yesterday with the kids and Wife. Really enjoyed it. My son said it was great, so did my Wife.

Will get on DVD when it comes out.

 

[Discotheque]

Horrible marketing and title.

But the film itself was surprisingly great. Easily Dreamwork's best CG film and better than some Pixar films even.

I hope it wins the Oscar, because Toy Story 3 doesn't look too hot anyways.

 

[Defcon]

Loved it. Definitely Dreamwork's best film yet and possibly even better than Wall-E (my favorite of the Pixar films.)

The 3d during the flying scenes was amazing but it's the story that carries the film. I'm a sucker for the boy befriends alien/pet/etc. and it's done very well here. It doesn't hurt that the score is absolutely fantastic and supports a lot of the key scenes beautifully.

I'll certainly be buying the BluRay when it's released.

 

[Discotheque]

Yeah that's another thing. The score was great. This film really surprised me.

 

[raebu]

Just got back from watching this. I'm not sure if parents like to bring their kids to later shows during the weekend or what, but I was surprised at the theater only being half full.

This is definitely one of my favorite animated movies. The scenes between Hiccup and Toothless were very special and the most memorable for me. They did a great job of balancing those scenes, action, the problems of a young outcast, family life, and whatever else you can think of.

Beautiful graphics and designs, great characters and character development. The pacing was fantastic and it didn't drag for me.

I have a bad problem of not remembering a score unless it's really loud, so I can't comment on that.

I can't wait for the DVD/blu-ray.

I really hope this picks up and makes back it's budget.

 

[dmshaposv]

Yeah I saw it.

I'd agree that it is one of the better Dreamworks films, perhaps even their best. The kids going gaga over the dragon was a bit annoying, but the bugger was really cute.

 

[SteveMeister]

This movie was fantastic. I loved every minute of it and would see it again. Highly recommended!

 

[7Th]

:lol

 

[rexor0717]

I agree with you on Egypt, I was blown away when I saw it when I was younger. I think I watched it right before or after this, which I also liked:

I love The Road to El Dorado.

And this movie looks pretty good to me. I'm definitely going to see this sometime.

 

[Twilight Princess]

does it have enough dreamworks trademark smirk? will see if yes.

 

[Defcon]

does it have enough dreamworks trademark smirk? will see if yes.

<---

 

[Einbroch]

I really want to see this, but no one wants to see it with me. They all think it's too kiddy.

Maybe I'll take my boss's kid or something.

 

[LethaL ImpuLse]

Guys, if you're even a bit hesitant on this movie, go see it! I just came back from the theater and I loved every minute of it. Probably one of my favorite animated films of all time.

 

[Mr. Spinnington]

Your loss.

i'm not sure why but i feel like i had a personal annoyance with you for some reason unrelated to this thread

i'll probably pick this up on blu-ray when it hits, tho

 

[DonMigs85]

My buddy thinks the movie is corny and kiddy, but I'm going to try to persuade him to watch with me relentlessly.
From what I'm hearing so far Toy Story 3 could have some decent competition this year.

 

[ronito]

Was originally incredibly uninterested in this movie, but because it's gotten great word of mouth went and saw it. Man, definitely Dreamwork's best movie. Really fantastic.

 

[JCreasy]

Let me just say, I'm one of the biggest Pixar fanboys I know and one of the biggest Dreamworks haters (it started with Shrek). The only reason I even considered seeing this movie was because of Chris Sander & Dean DuBlois - Lilo and Stitch is one of my favorite movies.

How to Train Your Dragon blew me away! The wife and I went today, saw it in IMAX 3D and we absolutely loved it! I want to buy a 3D TV JUST for this when it comes out on Blu-ray. The 3D really was amazing and I was thinking that the entire time, even before I saw it mentioned in all the reviews. The animation and overall composition was sweet. The story was superbly paced. And there were all these great small moments, little details, that I really enjoyed, like tiny chunks of flavor. I don't want to give anything away but I'm so glad I stayed on media blackout for this one.

Lasseter, I got much respect for you man, but you REALLY lost-out when you let Chris Sanders go. I wish they could've found a way to make things work. Oh well. I hope Chris and Dean find their way back to Disney one day.

 

[J2 Cool]

Lasseter, I got much respect for you man, but you REALLY lost-out when you let Chris Sanders go. I wish they could've found a way to make things work. Oh well. I hope Chris and Dean find their way back to Disney one day.

If I were them, I wouldn't go back. Dreamworks is going to give them free reigns. The studio is also stacked with talent, just waiting to make great films with the right leadership.

 

[SapientWolf]

I thought the positive reviews were coming from viral marketers for awhile but I guess it's actually a good movie. I'll have to check it out.

 

[funkmasterb]

Thought it was great, with one exception:

Spoiler

Was I the only one thinking it was have been awesome for Toothless to swallow him in that final dive, and then regurgitate him when the father approaches? It was have been an awesome way to reincorporate:

- Regurgitating fish
- Peg hand smithy viking guy talking about having his hand inside a dragon

Maybe I'm just weird.

 

[Ferga]

I love The Road to El Dorado.

And this movie looks pretty good to me. I'm definitely going to see this sometime.

I loved el dorado as well but sadly it didn't do too well..

And I agree with the bad marketing of this movie. The ads look really.. childish..

 

[Adam J.]

Dreamworks animation is okay when the characters aren't smirking and being snarky for the majority of the movie (that's why I like Kung Fu Panda).

I'm going to check this out for sure sometime next week. Those big goofy viking guys in the trailer looked awesome.

 

[LethaL ImpuLse]

Anyone else take note of the OST? It was absolutely amazing. I also just found out the credits music was composed by Jónsi of Sigur Ros! So awesome.

 

[ElyrionX]

Saw it yesterday. Great movie.

 

[kaching]

Overall decent, and the characterization Hiccup and Toothless was definitely a standout, but the rest of the movie felt a little too by-the-numbers to be exceptional.