DURING THE MOVIE
1) Who are the 5 most important characters in the film? List out the names of the actors playing them.
- Hiccup by Jay Baruchel
- Stoick by Gerard Butler
- Gobber by Craig Ferguson
- Astrid by America Ferrera
- Snotlout by Jonal Hill
2) What is the story about?
3) What spoilers would ruin this movie if you told your readers about it?
4) All movies teach a lesson. What did you learn from this movie?
5) What title would you give for your review?
- Viking, dragon and friendship.
How To Train Your Dragon is about a Viking boy called Hiccup which is lives in his village, Berk. The village was attacked by dragons, who steal food mostly sheep and set things of fire. One of the dragon lands in the woods some distance from the village and no one believes that he hit anything. Hiccup discovers that the dragon, Toothless, has holed up in a steep-sided valley because it can no longer fly more than a few feet at a time. So, Hiccup makes a perfect saddle, a control mechanism for the tail fin and a safety harness. Meanwhile, Hiccup’s father, Stoick has signed him up for dragon training with Gobber, which is very different from the training he’s already doing with Toothless.
When Stoick returns from a failed search for the fabled nest of the dragons, he is surprised but thrilled to hear that his son is doing brilliantly at dragon training. But Hiccup is unable to get around his father’s expectations. He can’t explain that his success at dragon school is unlikely to lead to the slaying of any dragons. When Hiccup subdues a practice dragon, unintentionally earning the privilege of killing it before the entire village, he is horrified and decides to flee with Toothless. However Astrid, having noticed Hiccup's frequent disappearances and secretive behavior, is suspicious.
Unable to explain his relationship with the dragon, Hiccup takes her flying, and she is captivated. But they get caught up in a flock of dragons returning to their nest carrying food. The dragons fly inside a mountainous island and drop the food into a pit, which turns out to contain a huge, terrifying, and very hungry dragon that eats the smaller ones if they don't bring it enough food. Hiccup and Astrid shocked and realize that the dragons have been stealing their sheep to keep from being eaten themselves. When they get home, Hiccup convinces Astrid not to reveal the location of the dragon nest. Everything goes wrong at the dragon-killing ceremony. Hiccup discards his weapons in an attempt to show the Vikings that dragons only fight to defend themselves, but Stoick and others intervene and the dragon attacks. Toothless comes to the rescue and is on the verge of killing Stoick when Hiccup calls Toothless off.
Despite Hiccup's protests, the angry Vikings chain Toothless up. When he ineptly tries to explain, Hiccup lets it slip that Toothless took him to the nest of the dragons, and Stoick resolves to use Toothless to find the nest again. He won't listen to Hiccup's warnings about the giant dragon. He loads Toothless on his ship and the Viking fleet sails off with all the warriors in the village, disowning Hiccup and leaving him behind. At the dragons' island, the Vikings use catapults to break open the side of the mountain in which the giant dragon is trapped. When it comes out, Stoick realizes that he's made a mistake. He resolves to fight it himself. While Stoick and Gobber prepare to sacrifice themselves to distract the dragon, the kids arrive to join the battle. They do manage to distract the giant dragon a little, but it sets the Vikings' ships on fire. Hiccup tries to rescue Toothless from the burning ship, but they end up under water and Stoick rescues both of them. Then Toothless and Hiccup go after the giant dragon together. They draw it up into the clouds and away from the Vikings, trying to get it to crash on the island.
In the end Toothless releases a blast into the giant dragon's open mouth and it crashes and burns. Back at home, Hiccup wakes up and Toothless urges him out of bed. Hiccup finds that he lost his left foot in the battle with the giant dragon. However, Gobber has made him a new one, ingeniously spring-loaded. They go out into the village, which is full of swooping, frolicking dragons, the Vikings now treat them as pets.
AFTER THE MOVIE
3) What group of people would like to watch this film?
How To Train Your Dragon is suitable for all age of viewers. Especially for the kids, they like to watch cartoon movie. Kids have a very high level of imagination compare to adult. Movies such as brave would give some moral values and a bit of fairy tales where they could use as imagination. Kids can be creative by learning and watching things that happened in their daily life.
Kids are the most suitable group of people that would watch this film because the film contains a lot imagination, fairy tales, fantasy, and animation. Adult also are encourage to watch this film as they supervise their children. Other than that, doing activities such as watching movies can strengthen the bond in the family as parents spends their time with their children.
AFTER THE MOVIE
1) Do you like this movie? Why or why not?
This film is based on the book by Cressida Cowell.
Hiccup is not your typical Viking. While his father Stoick is big and tough, Hiccup is small and wimpy. While other Vikings are battling their archenemies, the dragons, with swords and catapults, Hiccup is designing mechanical devices to protect the village from the reptiles. While the other Viking kids fight fires in the village when attacked by dragons, Hiccup is stuck manning the blacksmith shop. In short, he doesn't fit in.
When Hiccup tests one of his dragon fighting devices in battle, he manages to take down one of the most deadly and rare dragons known to the Vikings. But when faced with the option of killing the wounded creature, he finds himself unable to do so. Not only that, he starts studying and helping the creature survive and regain flight. Hiccup soon learns that everything they thought about dragons was completely wrong. But when the world of the Vikings and the dragons collide again, which side will Hiccup take?
"How to Train Your Dragon" is rated PG for sequences of intense action and some scary images, and brief mild language.
Simply put, I was blown away by "How to Train Your Dragon." I wasn't expecting much from it, but as it played on the big screen I found myself quickly drawn into the story. As it progressed, I kept thinking, "Surely they're going to screw this up somehow." But the movie just kept on doing everything right up until the end.
First up is the animation. I saw this film in 3D and was quite impressed by it. This is a case of 3D done right. When the dragons take flight, it's absolutely breathtaking and as impressive as any of the flying scenes in "Avatar." As Hiccup and Toothless dive toward the ocean and fly around rocks, it's like an amusement park ride. There are also some incredible scenes like when a cave is opened up and we see hundreds of dragons on the walls inside like bees. Or we see Vikings enter a cloud of fog and then the shape of a dragon attack them. But even when you have a Viking simply standing there talking, you can't help but marvel at all the hairs on his coat, his bushy beard, and horned helmet. The 3D takes your appreciation of the animation to a whole new level. That animation is complimented by fantastic creature and set design. All of the dragons look amazing. (I noted that Toothless looked quite a bit different design-wise from all the other dragons. I actually thought he looked a little like Stitch from "Lilo & Stitch." Sure enough, director Chris Sanders was writer, director, and voice of Stitch.) Combine them with the incredibly cool Viking houses and longboats and you have a visually impressive film.
The story is also good. It's a pretty basic tale told over and over again. You could compare it to everything from "The Black Stallion" to "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial." But it's told in a way that makes it seem fresh. You see Hiccup torn between two worlds. You see him try and win the affection of his father. You see him go from hating the dragons to loving them. It's a predictable but fun journey. I was also particularly impressed with the grand finale. It's a dragon battle as impressive as any you've ever seen.
The voice cast is quite good. I never would have thought of Gerard Butler when casting this film, but his voice perfectly suits Stoick. (He has a hilarious scene with Hiccup where he reveals where their Viking hats came from. I won't spoil it here.) His Scottish brogue is well complimented by Craig Ferguson as Gobber. A lot of familiar names make up the Viking kids. They include America Ferrera as Astrid, Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fishlegs, and Kristen Wiig as Ruffnut. But the most notable is Jonah Hill as Snotlout who, it feels like, does a little improvisation with his lines and that makes him stand out.
I also need to point out that the score by John Powell is first rate. It has been a long time since a movie score stood out to me, but this one did. The music as the dragon soars and does battle is just really great and perfectly compliments the story and animation.
The mark of a good family film is one that entertains both the kids and the adults. My kids loved it and so did I. Being a fan of both dragons and Vikings, it's like they made this movie for me. But this movie was fun and exciting enough that adults can go see it without the kiddies and not be ashamed. It's that much fun. Anybody that loves science fiction or fantasy should go check it out.
2) What rating would you give for this movie?
3) What spoilers would ruin this movie if you told your readers about it?
- Hiccup hurt Toothless anf work together and became friends after him treated Toothless injury and feeds him too.
- Hiccup's father finallu agreed and listened to him about dragons
- Hiccup loese his left feet after the fight with the biggest and meanest dragon that control every dragons at the island.
4) All movies teach a lesson. What did you learn from this movie?
- We have learned that, we have to built our own self esteem and be more confident in whatever we do especially things that we are like.
- we also have to have faith in peoples around us like family and friends. We have to trust each other.
- we have to be a very good listener.
- Friend can come in many form. Appreciate our friend despite of their looks, appearance or even disability. We have to keep completing each other.
- Viking, dragon and friendship.
