RICHARD Bryson kicks off his top ten DVDs of the year with five more to come next week....

- How to Train your Dragon

Enchanting animation about a young Viking who befriends dragons much to the dismay of his war-mongering father voiced by a growling Gerard Butler. The fire-breathing monsters are mainly cute (though there is one as big as Godzilla) and the flying sequences are like Avatar-lite.

- The Ghost

Old fashioned, measured thriller that relies on a good story rather than car chases and shoot-outs. A good cast led by Ewan MacGregor, Kim Cattrall and Pierce Brosnan.

- Robin Hood

Gritty re-telling of history’s most famous hoodie and thank goodness Russell Crowe is at the heart of this adventure rather than Orlando Bloom who director Ridley Scott used as his leading man in his previous medieval epic, Kingdom of Heaven.

Not as bloodthirsty as the exceptional Gladiator and not quite as good though it races along and concludes with a beach battles that seems to borrow from Saving Private Ryan.

- Shutter Island

Like the Sixth Sense Martin Scorsese’s horror/thriller works best when you don’t know the ending but by now many will know the twist.

But it still rewards a repeat viewing so that you can pick up on all its many twist and turns. It also shows how far Leonardo DiCaprio has come since the Titanic – he’s very good here, as is Ben Kingsley.

- The Hurt Locker

Oscar winner that sticks you in the firing line with an American bomb disposal team. Gripping action sequences but not sure the claim that it really examines the inner turmoil of these men of war stands up.