How to Train Your Dragon Blu-ray Movie 
Blu-ray + Digital CopyUniversal Studios | 2010 | 98 min | Rated PG | Jun 05, 2018
Movie rating
|
| 8.2 | / 10 |
Blu-ray rating
| Users |  | 0.0 |
| Reviewer |  | 4.5 |
| Overall | | 4.5 |
Overview click to collapse contents
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
A young Viking named Hiccup lives on the windswept island of Berk, where his father Stoic the Vast is the tribe's feared chief, and fighting dragons is part of every young warrior's training. But Hiccup's destiny of becoming a prized dragon fighter takes an unexpected diversion when he saves and befriends an injured dragon, Toothless. Hiccup now embarks on a mission of his own to convince his tribe to abandon its barbaric tradition of ruthless dragon-slaying and try out some new methods.
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah HillDirector: Chris Sanders (III), Dean DeBlois
| Adventure | Uncertain |
| Family | Uncertain |
| Animation | Uncertain |
| Fantasy | Uncertain |
| Comedy | Uncertain |
| Teen | Uncertain |
Specifications click to expand contents
Video
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Subtitles
English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Discs
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Bonus View (PiP)
BD-Live
Packaging
Slipcover in original pressing
Playback
Region A (B, C untested)
Review click to expand contents
Rating summary
| Movie | | 4.5 |
| Video |  | 5.0 |
| Audio | | 5.0 |
| Extras |  | 3.5 |
| Overall | | 4.5 |
How to Train Your Dragon Blu-ray Movie Review
Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 19, 2019With its acquisition of DreamWorks, Universal has re-released many of that studio's properties to Blu-ray, including the highly regarded 'How to Train Your Dragon.' Universal's disc is not entirely dissimilar from the old Paramount disc, carrying over nearly the same menu screen and video presentations but offering a slightly different soundtrack and playing around with the supplemental package: adding some, removing some, and carrying some over. For further coverage of what's new, old, and the same, see below.
In the time of the Vikings and on the fictional island of Berk lives a scrawny teenager named Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel, 'She's Out of My League') who wants nothing more than to fit in and kill his first dragon. The island is under nearly constant siege by powerful dragons, and the resistance is led by Hiccup's father, a stout warrior named Stoick (Gerard Butler, 'Law Abiding Citizen'). The island's denizens have learned to fend off each of the many species of dragons that aim to lay waste to the Vikings' humble abodes; except, that is, for the powerful and rarely-seen Night Fury, a ferocious beast capable of attacking with great precision from vast distances. Hiccup, a burgeoning blacksmith and an inventor of various gadgets, constructs a weapon he hopes will prove capable of bringing down a Night Fury, which he hopes will earn him the respect of his father and maybe even land him a date with the best-looking girl on the island, the young warrior-in-training Astrid (America Ferrera, 'Our family Wedding'). Hiccup, to his own surprise, actually manages to knock the feared beast out of the sky -- but nobody believes him. He sets out to find his prize but when he stumbles upon the frightened and injured beast, he can't bring himself to finish it off. Instead, he builds an amicable relationship with the dragon that turns into a full-blown friendship between man and beast. Hiccup is forced to keep his new friend a secret, but when he's not mending the dragon's wounds, feeding it fish, or learning how to fly on its back, he's forced into dragon-fighting classes under his father's orders. As Hiccup grows closer to his new friend he's named "Toothless," he comes to learn that dragons aren't so bad after all. He just needs to convince his blood-thirsty father and rowdy fellow Vikings of the same.
For a full film review, please click here.
How to Train Your Dragon Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality
The included 1080p Blu-ray transfer appears to be unchanged from the 2010 Paramount Blu-ray. For a full video quality review, please click here.
How to Train Your Dragon Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality
Universal's release of How to Train Your Dragon swoops onto Blu-ray with a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless soundtrack, adding two additional back channels to the previous Paramount release's 5.1 track, also of the TrueHD variety. The differences are not dramatic, obviously; the tracks seem by-and-large the same in terms of dynamics, detail, etc. The added back channels allow for a little more seamless fill, whether considering large-scale battle scenes featuring swooping and sweeping dragons, fire breathing and explosions, or general sounds of battle din. More serene natural details enjoy slightly more envelopment as well. Essentials like musical clarity and dialogue prioritization and positioning remain fine. This is not a game-changing track; the previous 5.1 mix was wonderful, and so too is this one. It's obviously the superior presentation by-the-numbers but probably not worth the upgrade cost alone.
How to Train Your Dragon Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras
Universal's How to Train Your Dragon Blu-ray release is not a straight port of the old Paramount disc, supplementally. It contains some new
features, removes some others, and brings several back. Below is a list of what's included, followed by a list of what's been removed. A Movies
Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. The release ships with a slipcover.
Note: some readers are reporting that the supplements marked as "new" below were actually on a previously released Fox disc, which I do not
have access to and was not reviewed on this site.
- NEW! Frozen (1080p, Dolby Digital 5.1, 22:41): An episode of the television show DreamWorks Dragons titled "Frozen." The episode is season two's (Defenders of Berk) fourteenth.
- NEW! Book of Dragons (1080p, Dolby TrueHD 7.1, 17:38): A short film that was previously released to Blu-ray as part of a two-pack with Gift of the Night Fury.
- NEW! The Ultimate Book of Dragons (1080p): An interactive extra in which users can choose one of several dragons they wish to learn about, opening up opportunities to discover secrets, watch the dragon come to life, view flip book animations, dig through statistics, and look at image galleries. The dragons available for selection include Monstrous Nightmare, Terrible Terror, Whispering Death, Gronckle, Hideous Zippleback, Snaptrapper, Deadly Nadder, Timberjack, Scauldron, Thunderdrum, Boneknapper, Changewing, Skrill, and Night Fury.
- The Animators' Corner
- Trivia Track
- Audio Commentary: With Directors/Co-Writers Chris Sanders & Dean DeBlois and Producer Bonnie Arnold.
- Viking-Sized Cast (1080i, 11:44)
- How to Draw a Dragon (1080i, 10:57)
- The Story Behind the Story (1080i, 7:40)
- The Technical Artistry of Dragon (1080i, 10:13)
- NEW! Gobber's Training Secrets (1080p, 2:10 total runtime): A six-part feature that offers comically brief scenes with tips on how to train various species of dragon. Included are Lesson 1: Deadly Nadder, Lesson 2: Gronckle, Lesson 3: Monstrous Nightmare, Lesson 4: Hideous Zipplebnack, Lesson 5: Night Fury, and Lesson 6: Terrible Terror.
- Previews (1080p): Trailers for How to Train Your Dragon 2, DreamWorks Dragons: Defenders of Berk, and Mr. Peabody & Sherman.
The following supplements have been removed:
- Legend of the Bonekeeper Dragon
- Racing for the Gold
- Your Viking Profile
- Keep Out!
How to Train Your Dragon Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation
Universal's Blu-ray release of How to Train Your Dragon carries over the previous issues 2010 1080p transfer, introduces two new channels to the audio mix, and adds several new extras, takes a few away, and carries over most of the key supplements from the Paramount release. It's a mix-and-match disc that isn't worth upgrading in isolation, but those who do, which will probably be for the new extras, do have incentive to hang on to the old disc as well for the missing extras. Recommended for newcomers, and more than likely a pass for all but the most hardcore fans and collectors.
