How to Train Your Dragon appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc – mostly. For roughly 40 percent of the film, it opened up to an IMAX ratio of 1.90:1.
Overall sharpness appeared solid. Virtually no softness cropped up in this tight image.
The image lacked shimmering or jagged edges, and edge haloes failed to mar the presentation. I also didn’t see any print flaws.
Hello, orange/amber and teal! Dragon emphasized the modern palette, and the results seemed fine. The colors didn’t overcome their stylistic restrictions, but they appeared appropriate.
Blacks were deep and dark, while shadows seemed smooth and clear. The movie gave us a very strong transfer.
I also felt pleased with the immersive Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Dragon, as the audio accentuated the visuals well. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the audio mixed creepy atmosphere with a mix of jolts and “creature moments” from the sides/rear.
In the front, the track showed good stereo music and presented various elements in a logical and natural manner. The elements blended neatly and created a seamless sense of the environment.
From the back, aggressive violent components and various beasties added kick to the proceedings. These helped make the mix more involving.
Audio quality seemed positive. Dialogue consistently appeared natural and crisp, with no edginess or intelligibility issues on display.
Music was clear and dynamic. The score seemed broadly reproduced and complemented the mix nicely.
Effects always were distinctive and concise, and the mix boasted fine clarity for the louder moments. Bass response always seemed rich and firm. This became a pretty terrific track.
As we move to extras, we start with an audio commentary from writer/director Dean DeBlois. He delivers a running, screen-specific look at the adaptation of the source and differences between the live-action and animated versions as well as story/characters, cast and performances, music, editing, photography, sets and locations, stunts and action, and various effects.
In other words, DeBlois provides a solid overview of the production. He touches on all the right topics and turns this into an informative chat.
“Village Sneaking” (3:00) and “Beach Break” (2:09). In the first, Hiccup tries to lead Toothless past people at night, whereas in the second, we see Hiccup learn a little more about dragons.
Both seem moderately entertaining. Both also seem fairly superfluous.
The scenes includes introductions from DeBlois. He tells us about the clips and why he cut them from the final film.
A Gag Reel fills two minutes, 47 seconds and presents the standard goofs and giggles. Nothing interesting results but at least it doesn’t last too long.
Six video programs follow. Love and Legacy spans 45 minutes. 44 seconds and brings notes from DeBlois, author Cressida Cowell, producers Adam Siegel and Marc Platt, director of photography Bill Pope, visual effects supervisor Christian Manz, set decorator Daniel Birt, property master David Cheesman, animation supervisor Glen McIntosh, SFX supervisor Terry Palmer, costume designer Lindsay Pugh, head metal worker Luca Giampaoli, costume armory HOD Mark Miller, weapons master Tommy Dunne, stunt coordinator Roy Taylor, and actors Gerard Butler, Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Julian Dennison, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Gabriel Howell, Peter Serafinowicz, and Nick Frost.
The documentary covers the source and its adaptation, story/characters, DeBlois's approach to the material, cast and performances, creating Berk and designing dragons, stunts and action.
Expect a mixed bag, as we get an awful lot of happy talk here. However, "Legacy" improves as it progresses, so we find much more worthwhile content in the program's second half.
Building Berk goes for eight minutes, six seconds. It offers notes from Thames, Howell, Parker, Dennison, DeBlois, Manz, Butler, Birt, Cheesman, Dunne, Frost, Palmer, Siegel,
executive producer David Cain, and construction manager Tom Martin.
As implied by the title, "Building" looks at the design and creation of the movie's sets and props and related elements. Like "Legacy", this one mixes useful information and happy talk.
Next comes Dreaming Up the Dragons. In this eight-minute, 30-second reel, we hear from DeBlois, McIntosh, Butler, Siegel, Thames, Manz, Dennison, supervising sound designer Randy Thom, and creature puppetry supervisor Tom Wilton.
Unsurprisingly, "Dreaming" covers the methods used to bring the various dragons to life. Despite some of the usual praise, this one becomes pretty positive.
Fit for a Viking occupies five minutes, four seconds. It features DeBlois, Pugh, Thames, Parker, Butler, Dennison, James, Howell, and hair and makeup designer Alessandro Bertolazzi.
"Fit" looks at the film's clothes, hair and makeup. It follows in the footsteps of "Dreaming" to bring another generally solid piece.
After this we find Forbidden Friendship. A six-minute, 38-second piece, an introduction from DeBlois explains what we’ll see.
The reel gives us a "working version" of one particular movie scene that shows the rough footage with a puppet sub for Toothless with which Thames interacts. It offers a cool look at the processes.
Finally, Test Drive goes for three minutes, 32 seconds and also comes with an intro from DeBlois before we see a comparison between Thames 'flying" on Toothless as shot and the finished material. Like "Friendship", "Drive" brings another fun glimpse behind the scenes.
This live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon clings close to the source but nonetheless improves on it in a moderate manner. The 2025 update comes with superior action and a bit more emotion. The Blu-ray offers excellent picture and audio as well as a reasonably good collection of bonus materials. This turns into a satisfying reworking of the story.
