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HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Blu-ray Review

by Andre Dellamorte Posted: November 13th, 2010 at 1:31 pm

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Patton Oswalt had a routine about adding ADR jokes to an animated film. He noted that it’s a virtually impossible task, but never said for what film. Since Pixar and Disney don’t seem to need that kind of punching up, the suspicions were it was for a Shrek movie. Shortly after that routine hit, he was contracted by DreamWorks to be an advisor for their animated films, and said in an interview that being involved at the beginning made it easier to fix things than after the fact. DreamWorks has always been a problematic animated studio, though recently -with films like Kung Fu Panda – they’ve shown that they can make good to great animated films. But every time they put something out, you can’t be sure if they’ve nailed it or not.

How to Train Your Dragon is one of their best. Jay Baruchel voices Hiccup, the son of Dragon-slayer Stoick (Gerald Butler), and decidedly not the aggressor his father is. He invents a catapult, and swears he nailed the rarest of dragons – the Night Fury. No one believes him, so when he finds his prey he’s enthused, but instead of seeing a villain, he sees a wounded animal. My review of How to Train Your Dragon on Blu-ray after the jump.

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300: The Complete Experience Blu-ray Review

by Andre Dellamorte Posted: July 21st, 2009 at 7:01 pm

We’re now in a different place with Zack Snyder. He’s directed three films, all on Blu-ray, and I have watched and reviewed all three for Collider. The most honest statement I can make is that Snyder is an amazing visual talent, who knows what the fuck he’s doing behind a camera. But after three films, I don’t know what’s going on inside his head. Sure, his first film was smartly hella commercial, and 300 was a blockbuster, but is also inherently a shallow but engaging visual spectacle. Watchmen is a great dense tome of a film, but much of its greatness belongs to the graphic novel. He has done little that can guess what he really has going on upstairs. There is great technique, but the voice is undefined. My review after the jump: