🍿FindToWatch
Movie · Fantasy, Action · 2025 · PG

How to Train Your Dragon (2025): parents' guide

8+our pick

Best for ages 8 and up. Rated PG for sequences of intense action, and peril.

A rousing live-action adventure for families whose kids can handle big, realistic-looking dragons. The remake closely follows the 2010 animated film: Hiccup, a misfit Viking teen, befriends an injured Night Fury and challenges his village's long war on dragons. Battles look far more real than in the cartoon, and the giant dragon in the finale gets close-ups of snapping jaws. Unnamed Vikings are crushed in the fighting, a father shoves his son to the ground, and the hero ends up with a lasting injury. Language and romance are minimal. Age 8 reflects the intensity of the dragon attacks.

What's in it

Violence

Moderate

Frequent Viking-versus-dragon battles with fire, explosions and axes but no blood. Vikings are crushed by a boulder or under a giant dragon's foot, dragons are killed or swallowed, and Hiccup loses part of his leg off screen. Stoick angrily shoves his son down.

Language

Mild

Very mild: a battle cry about sending a dragon 'back to hell,' one 'bloody,' and a few exclamations invoking the gods. Reviewers note nothing stronger.

Sex and nudity

Mild

Hiccup and Astrid share a kiss on the cheek and one on the lips, another teen has an obvious crush on Astrid, and there's a joke about a breastplate being part of a matching set.

Drinking, drugs and smoking

None

Reviewers report no drinking, smoking or drug content.

Scary or intense scenes

Moderate

The lifelike dragons are more menacing than in the cartoon. A huge dragon swallows smaller dragons whole, Hiccup and Toothless crash hard while learning to fly, a dragon nearly drowns, and Hiccup's late mother is discussed.

Worth talking about

Hiccup wins Toothless over by trying to understand him instead of fighting him. Ask what it takes to change a whole community's mind about something it has always feared.

Where to stream →

On our lists

Similar picks around 8+

9+ KPop Demon HuntersMovie · Animated, music · 2025 · PG Violence: moderate, Language: mild, Sex and nudity: mild, Drinking, drugs and smoking: none, Scary or intense scenes: moderate 9+ Avatar Aang: The Last AirbenderMovie · Animated, fantasy · 2026 · PG Violence: moderate, Language: none, Sex and nudity: mild, Drinking, drugs and smoking: none, Scary or intense scenes: moderate 7+ FlowMovie · Animated, action · 2024 · PG Violence: mild, Language: none, Sex and nudity: none, Drinking, drugs and smoking: none, Scary or intense scenes: moderate 8+ Star Wars: Skeleton CrewSeries · Sci-fi, action · 2024 · TV-PG Violence: moderate, Language: mild, Sex and nudity: mild, Drinking, drugs and smoking: none, Scary or intense scenes: moderate 8+ The Wild RobotMovie · Animated, sci-fi · 2024 · PG Violence: moderate, Language: mild, Sex and nudity: none, Drinking, drugs and smoking: none, Scary or intense scenes: moderate 7+ The Mitchells vs. the MachinesMovie · Animated, comedy · 2021 · PG Violence: mild, Language: mild, Sex and nudity: mild, Drinking, drugs and smoking: none, Scary or intense scenes: moderate

Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, moviemom.com, Wikipedia, the MPA, movieguide.org. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.