Tag: Commentary

How to Train Your Dragon 2 Preview Trailer Released and Analysis

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

How to Train Your Dragon 2 Poster

The fantastic looking official trailer for the second movie in the How to Train Your Dragon series was released today. It shows that a danger is in store for the village of Berk. Years have no doubt passed since the first movie and as for how the television series fits in, the emphasis on the main hero becoming a confident warrior is very evident.

In the trailer, Hiccup meets up with a person from his past and the reveal will be a welcome to viewers’ eyes. Spoilers exist and it tells of what happened to his mother. And a terrifying force will invade the Archipelago. That will no doubt cause future ramifications for everyone living within this desolate land. Although the ideas seem far from Cressida Cowell’s books, maybe it is not. Perhaps the force that’s coming is another civilization looking to expand its borders.

In the books, Hiccup will no doubt unite all the local tribes and be crowned king. But in this movie, just who will he be facing is unknown. Writer/Director Dean DeBlois is helming this project without Chris Sanders and his ideas presented in the trailer look confidently strong. To not have the talented Sanders providing additional input should not affect the direction, but his artistic interpretation of the expanded world will be sorely missed.

By all indications, this trailer shows that the CGI will be just as good as the dynamic visuals produced in Disney’s Frozen. All the snow and ice sculptures look alive, and in high-definition resolution, the details are simply stunning. This movie looks like it will no doubt be nominated for technical awards in the 2015 awards season.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9a4PvzlqoQ&w=560&h=315]

He-Man Goes on Youtube!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

He-Man 30th Anniversary DVD

80’s cartoon fans who have missed out in buying the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Commemorative Edition or think its pricing is too much, can enjoy this seminal cartoon on Youtube! New uploads are offered every Tuesday and eventually, every episode should become available.

130 episodes were made and while it may take two and half years to post the entire series online, that’s the tradeoff between getting a product for free or buying it.

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Blast to the Past with An Adventure in Time & Space, A Review!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Poster

* Spoiler alert

Not every new fan of Doctor Who will know the full story behind the creation of popular culture’s greatest icon from Great Britain. Thankfully, the BBC has taken it upon themselves to create An Adventure in Space and Time to look at the years when this series became a success in a somewhat historical but yet fictional form. In the final day leading up to the 50th Anniversary special, this fascinating docu-drama will get further broadcasts throughout the world as it looks at how the series started.

But this movie also chronicles Verity Lambert’s (Jessica Raine) rise to being a prominent creative force behind the scenes. She helped William Hartnell (excellently played by David Bradley) become an enduring figure that later actors could not even come close to mimicking. Try as these actors might, the goal is to not be what the First Doctor or Bill represented. Instead, it was to make the Doctor Who character their own so that each’s actor’s contribution will be remembered.

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What’s Next for Sleepy Hollow?

By Ed Sum (The Supernatural Tempest)

Sleepy-Hollow-TV-image1

CW’s Supernatural and NBC’s Grimm faces stiff competition when facing off against the forces of chaos. Fox TV’s Sleepy Hollow is successful in creating a melodramatic product and it one-ups the competing products by creating a wonderful undercurrent of terror. When this series features witches, immortals, ghosts, hobgoblins and demons, the Kurgan from Highlander the movie will have something to say about it in a series of flashbacks that may persist throughout this series run.

Clancy Brown has a role as Sheriff August Corbin, who is the first to encounter the Headless Horseman in the modern day. But little does he know that the thespian ideologies from secret societies may well be at the core of taking over the world. Corbin was in the middle of investigating this global conspiracy when he finally loses his head.

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A Dragon Fan’s Commentary: Finding more than a Human in a Race to Fireworm Island

But the key defining detail in Race to Fireworm Island is in further showing what Snotlout’s relationship is like with his dad, Spitelout.

Hiccup & SnotloutNot since “Thawfest” has there been another episode that looks at the home life of Snotlout Jorgenson, Berk’s most egotistical dragon rider. In “Race to Fireworm Island,” his demeanor is explored. His rivalry and hostility towards Hiccup came to a head in the episode “Defiant One” and there were times where he tried to prove himself to be better than the boy who will one day be king. Snotlout’s candor is less than noble. Quite often, he just wants recognition for his achievements but what he gets is not quite what he’s hoping for.

For the most part, maybe his attitude is simply a show. Interestingly, he does have affection for his dragon companion. When Hookfang shows signs of being worn out, everyone immediately takes notice but him. But when he finally shows that he has a kind heart, perhaps the surprise is in what kind of sacrifices he’s willing to make to keep his comrade alive.

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A Dragon Fan’s Commentary: Breaking down the “Iron Gronckle”

The question of whether this Gronckle Iron, as its called, is the Berk equivalent to Mithril, will never get answered. But the idea that this How to Train Your Dragon series is starting to make references to familiar pop culture products is becoming very evident.

Fishlegs and two RocksThe age of scientific discovery is very evident in the second episode, “The Iron Gronckle,” of Dragons: Defenders of Berk. What that means for the astute is in how perfectly other products developed for this series is starting to tie in. The School of Dragons is an online educational game product that focuses on teaching its players scientific method, and if this episode is any indication, maybe it will pave way for more marvels to come.

But so far, nobody has noticed that Alvin and Mildew left a few dragon eggs in the caves underneath the town of Berk. When one of them happens to be a Whispering Death, what that means may not get revealed perhaps till mid-season.

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