Ranking the How to Train Your Dragon Movies from Best to Worst

With the release of the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon, I decided to finally watch through all of the animated How to Train Your Dragon films. I find the How to Train Your Dragon franchise to be one of the most consistent animated franchises out there, with each film receiving critical and audience praise while also making a lot of money. The franchise is also popular enough to have a new theme park land created. That said, here are my thoughts and ranking of the three animated films and the live-action remake.

4. How to Train Your Dragon (2025)

The live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon is one of the better live-action remakes out there. The movie is a very faithful remake of the original film. While a lot of other live-action remakes feel empty, this film still manages to capture the magic and emotion of the original film. You still get all of the same emotions that you get from the original film. Everything about the movie also feels bigger and more epic which is something that only live-action films can really do. I thought the casting here was very well done. All of the main characters feel perfectly cast. All of the younger characters feel like perfect live-action versions of their characters. I also thought that the dragons in this film looked very good. It looks like they are standing next to these characters instead of bad CGI. While it is a very faithful and safe remake, it also feels extremely unnecessary. A lot of the other remakes will flesh out a character more or add something new, whether for better or worse, to the story. This movie is just a shot-for-shot remake of the original film. In this case, I prefer to just watch the original. In the end, while this is a good and faithful movie as far as remakes go, at the end of the day, I'm just going to watch the original film.

Score: 7/10 Grade: B

3. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is the weakest of the animated movies, but it is still a very good film. This movie gives Toothless a little bit more of the spotlight as we see him develop a romantic relationship with another dragon. I also like how the movie handles the idea of the riders having to learn how to succeed as a team without their dragons. The movie also does a very good job of providing closure for the characters and brings an emotional ending to the trilogy. The thing that keeps this one down is that I didn't think the logic behind how the white night fury meets Toothless doesn't make much sense. At the beginning of the film, she is held captive by the villains, but then is just released in a plot to capture Toothless that doesn't make any sense. Overall, this is a great finale to the trilogy, with just a few details in the plot that don't totally work.

Score: 8/10 Grade: B+

2. How to Train Your Dragon 2

How to Train Your Dragon 2 takes what was great about the first film and makes it bigger. This movie has more dragons, bigger dragons, and bigger fight scenes. This sequel does a great job of expanding the world of dragons and Vikings, as the movie introduces the idea of dragon hunters as well as the dragon community having an alpha. We get to see Hiccup go on this nice arc as we see him grow into the leadership role his father knows he can do. The big battle in the third act of the film is also really epic, as we get to see a ton of dragons fighting each other, along with two giant dragons fighting each other. I also really liked the villain in this film as someone who is just evil, wanting to control the dragons. Much like the third film, this movie also packs some emotional moments in its 3rd act that develop Hiccup as a character. In the end, this is a solid sequel that brings the franchise to a more epic level.

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-

1. How to Train Your Dragon

The original How to Train Your Dragon movie is still the best in the franchise. As a fan of fantasy, I think it is so cool to have a new fantasy franchise geared towards kids. The movie does a great job with its world building as it introduces the audience to the expansive world of Berk and the dragons. I think Hiccup is a great person to lead this franchise as he slowly learns his place in the world and how to utilize his skills. The relationship between Hiccup and Toothless is fun and the movie does a great job of showing their relationship blossom and ultimately be the reason why the people of Berk change their ways. I thought both sides of the training aspects of the film were very well done, as we get to see Hiccup and Toothless learn how to work as one, as well as see the Viking training on how to kill dragons, and Hiccup using his new skills to defeat dragons in a non-lethal way. The score of this movie is also really cool and adds such an epic level to the movie. I liked this score before even seeing the movie. Overall, this is a great fantasy family film, one of the best DreamWorks films, and a great launching point for an epic franchise.

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-