Customer Reviews

The Twilight Saga: New Moon [DVD]

5 star:		(234)
4 star:		(65)
3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(34)

 

 

This film has divided fans, I think, as to whether they preferred Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, or prefer Chris Weitz on board as a new director. Personally, I think Twilight was better and wished they had kept the same director.

There are lots of things to enjoy in this movie. Kristen Stewart is on top form and is growing into a fine actress; Taylor surprised me as a very good Jacob; and Pattinson, of course, is as gorgeous and charismatic as ever (except for his clothes, perhaps - he is dressed like a fusty college prof at times, so I am convinced whoever designed his wardrobe was on Team Jacob! I much preferred his black T-shirts and James Deans jeans in Twilight). Also, if you are fan of the books you will be pleased as it is more loyal to the book 'New Moon' on a scene by scene basis. The soundtrack is good and there are some great scenes, such as the magical underwater scene, and the action scenes in Italy at the end.

However, I think Hardwicke did a better job at capturing the aching, love-lust crazed nature of Bella & Edward's love affair. I disagree with reviewers who say Bella is selfish or pathetic for moping about after Edward goes - the whole point of their love is that, like a modern day Romeo and Juliet, it's all-consuming and they can't live without each other. I liked the intense idealism of their love for each other and I feel it's the breathing heart of the books. That said, in Twilight, every scene between Bella/Edward was so mesmerising - the music and direction and camera angles all sought to squeeze out every drop of the sizzling magic between them. I don't think I've ever seen such amazing on-screen chemistry and I didn't feel the scenes in this film were as strong. I know Edward has a smaller role but some of the love scenes in New Moon (the novel) are the strongest in the series. The scenes at the end where Edward explains his love/reason for leaving seemed very rushed compared to the moving and rather beautiful scenes in the book. Other scenes also felt slightly rushed eg when Edward is walking Bella down the school corridor and tells her she's everything to him - such big, important lines, which almost seemed thrown away; Hardwicke would have had them standing still, with her classic, gorgeous close-ups of their faces, and she would have made those lines really resonate. I do wish they'd also kept in Bella's Lullaby and that exquisite score from Twilight, which I liked so much I bought on CD. I did find the classical music score a little cheesy in places, especially when Bella/Edward are reunited.

The new director previously directed American Pie and I think he's good at high school comedy as some of the best scenes were the comic ones - the night where Bella goes to see a movie is deliciously funny. However, he didn't seem, to me, to be a great director for a sweeping love story.

If you're on Team Jacob, however, you will adore this movie. The friendship between them gets massive screen-time and there is a great chemistry between Taylor/Kristen.

I personally feel that capturing a book on screen isn't just about being 100% loyal to it - it's about capturing the spirit, the mood, the feel of it. I preferred the feel and intensity of Twilight and this film wasn't totally there for me. I'd like to see Hardwicke come back on board for Breaking Dawn.

By True Twilight Saga fans I mean the folks who have read all the books more than once BEFORE seeing the films .... like me! I really hate to see the films berated for not being as good as the book ... a film is never ever going to be as good as the book - so stop expecting it to be so!!!

As a massive & avid fan of the books. I absolutely loved New Moon, as I did Twilight - for the simple fact that all the characters I had imagined, the world I had imagined came to life in front of me, and showed me a different perspective from my own imagination.
Of course you can never fit everything in a film that is in the book, so you must forgive this - also please forgive the fact that Edward doesn't appear as much in New Moon - he does not appear much in the book!!! That is the whole point ... the angst of Edward leaving Bella, how she deals with this and turns to her friend Jacob for comfort and in turn discovers a whole new world she knew nothing about.

The film makers have stayed very true to the story, these are films that stay very close and true to the books - admirably so! The only holes are some parts from the book, nothing major, these are due to the fact that you cannot fit everything in - it would be impossible, as I said before! They got all the most important things from the book in the film, it was portaryed so, so well!
This film is amazing, the effects are amazing, they have truly captured the raw emotion, the feeling, the pain, the confusion and the action of the book. It really has been brought to life in front of my eyes. The casting is unbelievable, Kristen Stewart & Robert Pattinson were born for these roles!
I cannot wait for Eclipse and for my favourite... Breaking Dawn!!!
I know all TRUE Twilight Saga Fans will agree with me completely and appreciate these films for what they are.

I'm a real fan of the Twilight saga and did enjoy the first film. I thought New Moon wasn't bad; it felt different to Twilight (in a good way) but it wasn't a great film.

My real criticism would be that Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson only ever seem to have one expression that covers all emotions. After the birthday fiasco, there was no sense of Edward's simmering anger, upset and distancing that there was in the book - we simply went from the party to the scene in the woods. And as for that scene - my (now ex) husband sprang something similar on me and I remember those feelings of utter desolation and desertion, but I had tears pouring down my face - Kristen Stewart simply had the same expression she wore for the rest of the film - never changing. Robert Pattinson is good, looks good and it was always better when he appeared on screen, but again, fairly expressionless. The Volturi scenes were a little clinical and just weren't menacing or threatening - especially Jane who just looked cute.

Taylor Lautner on the other hand, despite me finding Jacob a bit of an irritant in the books, was probably the best thing in the film. He looks amazing - although terribly young at times - and the werewolf scenes were really good, especially the transformations. His acting was more believable and he did at least have a range of expressions.

Having said all this, they did stick fairly faithfully to the story, even using some of the same words, but I did get the impression that Kirsten Stewart seemed bored stiff by it all. Not bad, but not great.

Teen Romance = True Luv. Breaking up with your True Luv is a fate worse than death. Months-long depression and suicide are valid responses to being dumped.

At least that seems to be the underlying message of the second Twilight Saga movie, "New Moon," which is effectively a teen-angst version of "Romeo and Juliet," but with more werewolves and less suicide. It's also a flabby adaptation that leaves you wishing that something unpredictable and un-teen-angsty would happen... but it never does.

Bella's (Kristen Stewart) eighteenth birthday party is wrecked when she cuts herself. Jasper goes into a feeding frenzy, and the Cullens realize that she's too tasty to be safe around them. Edward (Robert Pattinson) dumps Bella, and the clan leaves town permanently. Cue emo music, for Bella's life is empty and worthless without Edward. Seriously. We have a fadefest in which we see how empty and lifeless life is without her Hot Rich Sparkly Coverboy.

But after Bella puts herself in danger, she hears Edward ordering her to stop -- so of course she gets a motorcycle and takes up cliff-diving. She also starts palling around with Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), an Indian lad who has a supernatural secret of his own (I'll just say it: he's a werewolf) -- and this comes in handy when some Evil Vampires come around hungry for her oh-so-tasty blood. But her daredevil antics have led Edward to believe her dead... and he's going to take drastic action unless she stops him.

"New Moon" is one of those movies that is essentially the book splattered on the big screen, and not much more. Stephenie Meyers' fans will devour it like so many sparkly vampires, but the rest of the population will probably start wishing that the Volturi would wipe out all of Forks. Where are some brief moments of action and excitement, but most of it is Bella endlessly moping about her Edwardless state, while the world's smallest violin plays.

The biggest problem with "New Moon" is that it's tediously devoid of any tension: it's pretty obvious from the start how the vampiric "damnation" angst, the clashes with the Volturi and werewolves, and even the central love triangle will turn out. Does Bella continue to mope after the brooding, tortured "goth" Edward, or does she cut her losses and go with buff, caring "jock" Jacob? But there's never a shred of doubt who she'll select... which makes the whole triangle rather pointless.

I'll give Chris Weitz credit -- he does try to spice up this bland affair with action scenes and CGI werewolf battles. Unfortunately he also doesn't seem to have cut anything from the storyline, which makes the whole movie feel flabby and overstuffed. And despite the drippy cheesiness of the script ("Bella you give me everything just by breathing!"), the movie also takes itself deadly seriously, without a trickle of humor or self-deprecation.

Playing a tragic, lovelorn heroine is difficult, but it stretches Stewart far beyond her limits -- she conveys Bella's emotional states entirely through blank staring and constipated twitches. Bella's aging wangst because she's turning eighteen (so elderly) is pretty contrived, and it's disturbing that our "heroine" deals with her post-breakup blues by almost killing herself over and over. Great message to send young girls.

Pattinson is mostly absent except for some ghostly visions Bella has, and while he's far more skilled than Stewart, he frankly seems bored by his small role. Lautner and his buff pectorals are a more vibrant presence as Jacob, and he spends most of the movie being heroic and extremely caring. Why is he supposed to be inferior to Edward again?

"New Moon" is one of those movies aimed at pleasing the fans of a particular book. Standing alone, it's a tepid, suspenseless affair that devotes itself to teen wangst, and left me hoping for a Volturi bloodbath.

I saw this film last week. I've read all of the Twilight Saga so was looking forward to the film of New Moon. On the whole, it was fairly good but I do agree with other reviewers, Twilight was better. I enjoyed it but found a few flaws with the film.

In this film, Edward seemed to play a much smaller role, I don't think his scenes were given enough weight and it often seemed that his actions were explained very well. Also a couple of scenes seemed truncated - perhaps they'll be in the deleted scenes section of the dvd? I hope so.

For example, when Edward tells Bella that he is leaving. Far too quick. When it shows Edward taking a photograph from Bella's bedroom, it doesn't show that he is taking all evidence of his ever existing from her - a key reason why she is so miserable afterwards. And the scene when the humans are being taken as food to the Volturi - Bella seems hardly bothered unlike the book where Edward has to force her to move on. And when Edward returns - they resume their relationship without much explanation of why he has changed his mind. No mention that he was going to come back to her anyway because he couldn't stay away.

I do think the scriptwriters must take some of the blame but presumably they were directed where to focus the film?

I did think the relationship with Bella and Jake was very well portrayed and I don't agree that the actor playing him looked too young. However, I felt that the relationship between Bella and Edward seemed to play second fiddle to this.

Watched the first film on Channel 4 a few weeks back and I personally didn't enjoy the film but thought I would watched the 2nd to see if it got any better.

No it didn't New Moon is a poor movie from every way you look at it. The acting is fairly wooden, the story is at times ropey to follow on screen, the cinematography is fiarly rubbish and the bluray transfer is not the sharpest video or audio I have heard/listened to. I don't understand the hype of this film series, I gave it a chance and it has not lured me in.

Avoid

NEW MOON is the second film in THE TWILIGHT SAGA. Like the book, it is not quite as good as TWILIGHT, but this film adaption was great! There was loads of action, romance and humour, with a lot of sad scenes too. The acting was brilliant, apart from Taylor Lautner. He's the only reason this film gets 4 stars i guess. The storyline was fantastic though and stayed true to the book. I recommend THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON. EPIC! 9/10!

****

At this price you cannot go wrong! But apart from this it is a nice box with an expensive leather look with gold imprint on the outside and red velvet furnish on the inside. Comes with the 2 disc DVD edition of New Moon which is nicely fitted into the top of the box and it can easily contain the rest of your Twilight DVD collection as well. Individually numbered and with only 5000 worldwide this makes a very special limited DVD edition. Worth you money. Good investment while stock lasts!

I have read all the books (and loved them), seen Twilight a hundred times (and loved it) and now I have just seen New Moon and loved that too - and I'm 38. This series will appeal to anyone, in my opinion, even my husband really enjoyed it.

I must admit I did wonder before seeing this film if it would have the same feel as Twilight with it having a new Director but it is every bit as good as the first. The love between Bella and Edward and also Jacob and Bella is very palpable and really well acted. The scenery and backdrops are just as gloomy and eerie and the music creates just the right atmosphere. It's over a year since I read the book, but from memory this film stays pretty faithful to the book and really did it justice.

Whether you're Team Edward or Team Jacob, I'm pretty sure that if you're a fan of the books then you'll be a fan of this too. I loved it!

I loved the first Twilight movie so was looking forward to the sequel. Unfortunately I was sorely disappointed!
The acting is terrible-when Edward dumps Bella I guess you were supposed to feel Edward's torment about having to leave Bella for her own protection, but that didn't come across at all. In the first movie Robert reminded me of a cross between Brad Pitt in Meet Joe Black (think that's what the film was called) and James Dean. This time there just wasn't anything good about his acting. As for Bella, I would expect to feel so sorry for her losing the love of her life and cry buckets, but she acted out these scenes so badly you just wanted to slap her. And what's with all the mumbling? Hated the music, it didn't fit in with the scenes at all. The Volturi could have been a bit more menacing and the fight scenes were awful.
And the scene at the end which was supposed to be such a cliffhanger?
(Shakes head).
All people responsible for this drivel should hang their head in shame and try to do better next time.