Fantasy Live Action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ (Universal)

[psylockolussus]

I thought the teaser actually looks good. I get the criticism that it looks very samey compare to the first animated movie, but this looks like a faithful adaptation. Now time will tell, if they actually elevated the source material.

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

My friend and I are betting on which will be the better adaptation, HTTYD or Lilo and Stitch. I'm going for this, but looking forward to both movies next year.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Still Wynning]

I am of two minds about this.

On the one hand, I think having a remake of an already perfect film, especially if it’s around 90% or so the same shots and dialogue, is completely unnecessary. From what I’ve heard, the books are different enough from the films so why wouldn’t you just adapt those instead?

On the other hand, out of all of the live action remakes of films that we’ve gotten thus far that are basically the same as their animated counterpart, this actually looks pretty good and the best that I’ve seen thus far. The lighting and shot composition of the cinematography is surprisingly great, and, despite some dialogue and character, moments being lifted directly from the animated film, the acting seems surprisingly naturalistic and doesn’t feel like actors just robotically going through the motions to look and sound exactly like the animated versions. I guess it helps having one of the main creatives on the anime trilogy being in charge of this. Despite being a near one to one remake, it does feel like this is being made by people who really understand what made the original work and know how to adapt it in a different medium. Even though the initial decision to make this film was done through corporate interest to make money, it does feel like the film creatives behind it really do seem to care a lot and are putting a lot effort into making it the best live action version it can be. Cash grab though it may be, it doesn’t feel souless.

TL;DR – unnecessary remake, but admittedly looks great and doesn’t feel souless because of the creatives behind-the-scenes seemingly caring and putting their all into it, despite being an obvious cash grab.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Still Wynning]

Yeah, it’s just like I said in my other post, they really do care about this.

I’ve gone from slightly apprehensive to cautiously optimistic.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Toothless literally looks like they just took the animated version and put it in a live action movies. And the effect is not good.

Was willing to give this a chance but the next trailer needs to be better for me. Still a great score though.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Going to be honest. The original film was an all time favorite of mine until the sequel got drained of all life in the editing phase to the point that I have never seen the third. So my only interest here is if they get to the second one, if they actually make the original movie intended, or if they give us that watered down mid they released in theaters.

Seriously, you promise us Empire, tease that Hiccup's mom is bat**** and he might actually have some well placed thoughts on it, and then just rip it all out because it was too "dark" and intense for the suits? Still hurting.

 

[Pennywise]

Going to be honest. The original film was an all time favorite of mine until the sequel got drained of all life in the editing phase to the point that I have never seen the third. So my only interest here is if they get to the second one, if they actually make the original movie intended, or if they give us that watered down mid they released in theaters.

Seriously, you promise us Empire, tease that Hiccup's mom is bat**** and he might actually have some well placed thoughts on it, and then just rip it all out because it was too "dark" and intense for the suits? Still hurting.

I’ve only seen the first, which I love! Never saw the other two, but that sucks. Did not know that!

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I am of two minds about this.

On the one hand, I think having a remake of an already perfect film, especially if it’s around 90% or so the same shots and dialogue, is completely unnecessary. From what I’ve heard, the books are different enough from the films so why wouldn’t you just adapt those instead?

On the other hand, out of all of the live action remakes of films that we’ve gotten thus far that are basically the same as their animated counterpart, this actually looks pretty good and the best that I’ve seen thus far. The lighting and shot composition of the cinematography is surprisingly great, and, despite some dialogue and character, moments being lifted directly from the animated film, the acting seems surprisingly naturalistic and doesn’t feel like actors just robotically going through the motions to look and sound exactly like the animated versions. I guess it helps having one of the main creatives on the anime trilogy being in charge of this. Despite being a near one to one remake, it does feel like this is being made by people who really understand what made the original work and know how to adapt it in a different medium. Even though the initial decision to make this film was done through corporate interest to make money, it does feel like the film creatives behind it really do seem to care a lot and are putting a lot effort into making it the best live action version it can be. Cash grab though it may be, it doesn’t feel souless.

TL;DR – unnecessary remake, but admittedly looks great and doesn’t feel souless because of the creatives behind-the-scenes seemingly caring and putting their all into it, despite being an obvious cash grab.

Having the same creative team behind it on principle isn't a great thing. Understanding the original work is a necessity, but being too close to the work is a massive issue. An adaptation should be looking to bring something new to the table. If the idea is it's already perfect as is, then this movie will be soulless on that simple basis.

This before we get into the logistical issues of having the director being one who is primarily a director of animation. I fear a ton of copying and pasting. Especially when they're that close to the work. It's why the best of the live action Disney remakes are Cinderella, Pete's Dragon, and Jungle Book. Similar, but overtly different.

 

[mclay18]

Yeah, it’s just like I said in my other post, they really do care about this.

I’ve gone from slightly apprehensive to cautiously optimistic.

Nico looks cute as Astrid. Thames is perfect casting as Hiccup, but he doesn’t quite have the nebbish tone that Jay Baruchel embodied in the animated films.

Should be interesting to see how much cut and pasting John Powell will do from his 2010 score into the live action film.

 

[Drizzle]

Going to be honest. The original film was an all time favorite of mine until the sequel got drained of all life in the editing phase to the point that I have never seen the third. So my only interest here is if they get to the second one, if they actually make the original movie intended, or if they give us that watered down mid they released in theaters.

Seriously, you promise us Empire, tease that Hiccup's mom is bat**** and he might actually have some well placed thoughts on it, and then just rip it all out because it was too "dark" and intense for the suits? Still hurting.

I had no idea. I liked the sequels fine and well enough to consider them among the best of Dreamworks animated movies but they never did reach the highs of the first movie. The way I see it, if this is a hit and they get to make sequels but they don't deviate from the animated movies and take the opportunity to go in different directions then there's no point other than being a cash grab. If anything, these being live action gives them a little more carte blanche to go darker with 2 if they get around to it.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I had no idea. I liked the sequels fine and well enough to consider them among the best of Dreamworks animated movies but they never did reach the highs of the first movie. The way I see it, if this is a hit and they get to make sequels but they don't deviate from the animated movies and take the opportunity to go in different directions then there's no point other than being a cash grab. If anything, these being live action gives them a little more carte blanche to go darker with 2 if they get around to it.

After I saw the first I got deep into it. Even joined a form specifically for the universe. The film's release was quite the scandal inside the fandom. The film was originally over 2 hours, I believe without credits. But Dreamworks was never going to agree to it. Which sucks, because they apparently got well along the process before they were told no. I guess they assumed the success of the first film would by the leeway. Sadly, it didn't.

But what really got me was the mom stuff. Watching it in theaters, I progressively got more upset as the film just ignores that she abandoned her child. The resentment that should've been there was just non-existent. And they just mellowed out the mom from the original concept. What a waste of Cate.

 

[Drizzle]

After I saw the first I got deep into it. Even joined a form specifically for the universe. The film's release was quite the scandal inside the fandom. The film was originally over 2 hours, I believe without credits. But Dreamworks was never going to agree to it. Which sucks, because they apparently got well along the process before they were told no. I guess they assumed the success of the first film would by the leeway. Sadly, it didn't.

But what really got me was the mom stuff. Watching it in theaters, I progressively got more upset as the film just ignores that she abandoned her child. The resentment that should've been there was just non-existent. And they just mellowed out the mom from the original concept. What a waste of Cate.

Not gonna lie, there's a lot I don't remember about the second and third movies besides thinking they were merely satisfactory after being blown away by how good the first movie was. I really remember the major plot twists from 2 and 3 and not much else but I do recall that they could have made the whole Hiccup's mother angle more interesting. By comparison, I vividly remember basically everything about the first movie and I haven't sat down to watch it in well over ten years so I guess that sort of speaks for itself.

 

[Another_Fool]

Toothless looks great. Perfect even.

 

[Snow Queen]

 

[CB Fan]

That trailer did nothing for me. There was like no emotion from the actor when he turns away while reaching out to touch Toothless in that trailer.

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

That trailer did nothing for me. There was like no emotion from the actor when he turns away while reaching out to touch Toothless in that trailer.

To each his own; I didn't see any less emotion in that scene than I did in the animated version.

 

[Drizzle]

Now that we're getting into the territory of adapting 3D animated films into live action, we're going to be seeing a lot of this "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach to the design of CG characters like Toothless where there isn't a whole lot left to translate into live action. I'm sure we'll be seeing a similar thing with Tamatoa in the Moana remake and Olaf in the inevitable live action Frozen.

 

[Snow Queen]

 

[DarthSkywalker]

It's done. It's a wrap. This is just going to be a shot for shot remake, with no actual value. I'm sure it will be a fine film, but so inherently inferior, that it's existent will disgust me.

 

[sueb1863]

Well, that's pretty obviously BS since you're copying your animated version shot for shot and doing absolutely NOTHING different except changing up some actors' hair colors and ethnicity.

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

Well, that's pretty obviously BS since you're copying your animated version shot for shot and doing absolutely NOTHING different except changing up some actors' hair colors and ethnicity.

It's so cool how you've already been to 2025. How does Fantastic Four and Superman turn out?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

It's so cool how you've already been to 2025. How does Fantastic Four and Superman turn out?

They released a trailer that was a shot for shot remake of scenes from the original. That is literally what they're selling.

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

They released a trailer that was a shot for shot remake of scenes from the original. That is literally what they're selling.

Teaser was under 2 minutes long. How does sueb1863 know they're not doing anything different at all, unless they have seen the entire live action film? Personally, I'll wait and watch the movie before condemning it.