179 of 199 people found the following review helpful:
Twilight the movie, an outsiders perspective
I had never read the Twilight books when I went to see the movie. I vaguely remember the hype of Breaking Dawn's release, but it didn't mean anything to me. I saw the queues for the opening of the film and it meant nothing to me, apart from about 3000 people in Dublin being stupid enough to queue for hours in the rain to see a film.
217 of 245 people found the following review helpful:
Brilliant and disappointing, both at the same time.
Yes, of course if you've read the books you should definitely go see the movie. And yes, you will probably enjoy it. BUT, that said, as a book-to-movie adaptation, of course it could also be better.
Personally, I always wonder where they find the screenwriters who're crazy enough to take on a job like this. No matter what you do, no matter how faithful you...
I had never read the Twilight books when I went to see the movie. I vaguely remember the hype of Breaking Dawn's release, but it didn't mean anything to me. I saw the queues for the opening of the film and it meant nothing to me, apart from about 3000 people in Dublin being stupid enough to queue for hours in the rain to see a film.
I love vampires and werewolves though, so, at a loose end one weekend, I convinced my boyfriend that it wasnt a horror, and there was nothing else to do. we laughed for about the first hour. it was very funny. But by the middle of the tree top scene I was hooked. we both were.
I rushed home and ordered all four books that night. I read the series straight through twice, and dragged my mom to see the film with me. (I'm in my mid 20's, she's considerably older....)I sat, completely unmoving the whole way through the move. it was like I was greeting old friends. once I knew the story, all of the humour went out of the film, and it became totally engrossing. my mom thought so too.
lots of little things were changed, obviously. the book is better. obviously. I didnt like Stewert (?) as Bella. she played her as too self assured, too graceful. it wasnt Bella for me. But Pattinson brought Edward to life in a way that was so different. I actually liked him more after seeing the film that in the books.
Kellan Lutz is missing the dimples and curls but hes still the same adorable, deep as a puddle Emmet we all love.
the film is more of a companion to the book, it makes the scenery solid. I thought that was actually a plus of the movie, I knew what the characters looked like, I was a little fuzzy on what their neighbourhood was like. the film filled that in. when midnight Sun is published the three will stand together to give a 360 view of Bella and the Cullens world.
WIll I buy the DVD? yes. WIll I watch it a million times, of course. but I'll read the books one million and one ;)
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Yes, of course if you've read the books you should definitely go see the movie. And yes, you will probably enjoy it. BUT, that said, as a book-to-movie adaptation, of course it could also be better.
Personally, I always wonder where they find the screenwriters who're crazy enough to take on a job like this. No matter what you do, no matter how faithful you are to the book, or conversely how much you change it, very, very rarely is a film version ever better than the novel that stemmed it. Twilight is no exception.
Certainly, it has it's good points. The casting, for one, I think is exceptional: while I had some qualms before I saw it, I loved all the actors, and wouldn't change a single one. They have their moments, of course, but for a young cast they're really rather impressive, particularly Robert Pattinson: I'm disappointed Catherine Hardwicke wouldn't let him play the part as 'dark' as he wanted to.
And that, I think, is where most of the problems with this film lie: with Hardwicke, its director, and Melisssa Rosenberg, it's screenwriter. For starters, I can't help but question Rosenberg's credentials. She's written a lot for TV, but only one other screenplay to date (that being 'Step Up', of all things) and sure, everyone's got to start somewhere... but with one of the biggest films of the year? Maybe not.
I can't fathom many of the changes Rosenberg made. Adding in scenes like the extra scenes with the 'bad' vampires, thus shifting the films emphasis from the 'love story' to the 'action' or 'horror' factor, or like the entirely pointless Biology trip (the conversation that took place there could easily have happened in its original setting), and shifting the order of scenes... the entire Port Angeles scene was thrown out of sync by the fact that Bella did not find out Edward was a vampire until after. And then when she planned to confront him, she went off into the forest with him, not knowing he was 'vegetarian'! In the book, I never thought of Bella as crazy... in the film, I can't help but question it. I simply do not understand the need to change things like that, which would have been so much better if left as they originally were.
Then there's the fact that both Rosenberg and Hardwicke seem greatly preoccupied with showing of the 'scenery' of the the American Northwest. Great, so there are lots of trees. We don't need to see Bella and Edward running off into the woods and climbing trees (besides the point that Edward would never let Bella do that anyway because he'd be too scared of Bella falling out of one), because its supposed to be from Bella's perspective... and Bella doesn't like the great out doors and Forks, in her opinion is far too 'green'. So, skip the theatrics, and give us the love story.
But, err... what love story? If you have not read the books, you could call Bella and Edward's romance entire non-sensical. They've barely talked to each other, and suddenly they're saying 'I'm only afraid of losing you' or 'you're my life now'. Although, never once do they say 'I love you'. And isn't that what it's really supposed to be about? The ultimate love story. Sadly, it's not.
But,all that said, i will see the film again, and I will be buying it on DVD because the essence of Stephenie Meyers work is still there. The plot is still good, the characters still similiar (though Bella is more annoying), and Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson do have good chemistry, they're just not given enough chance to prove it.
I really hope they do better with examining the love story in 'New Moon'... but seeing as there's less of it, I really doubt it.
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Absolutely fabulous. I watched the film before the the 'Extras' disc. I wish I hadn't. Having read all the Twilight Saga books first, I was initially disappointed with the film. However, I changed my mind after watching the 'Extras' disc. It explains a lot about the making of the film, why particular parts of the book weren't included, interviews with the cast and Stephenie Meyers -too much to mention here but it all enhances your enjoyment of the film. When I watched Twilight over again I thought, 'Yeh, now I understand'. It rocks. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. Just purchased New Moon - Two Disc Special Edition. I'd go for the Special Editions everytime from now on. You just get so much more from the film.
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This film is a bit lame in comparison to the books! (which is usual!) Any RPatz fan would love it though! im no Jonathon Ross but lead actress is annoying, book was great, film a real disappointment as I am sure the other 3 films will be also! Its an easy watch.
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What a wonderful love story this is! Being a bit of a romantic soul myself, I was sucked into the sweet but angst ridden world of Edward ( a rather handsome and seemingly tortured 17 year old vampire) and Bella ( a shy, accident prone 17 year old human),and watched them overcome their own fear of their feelings and fall completely in love. All is not rosy in the garden though, as James, a sadistic vampire from another coven takes a shine to our Bella and decides to hunt her, this turns into a race for Edward and his vampire family, to get Bella to safety before disposing of James in their vampire fashion! This is a great movie that's completely different from the usual vampire flick, its exceedingly good to watch and its vampire cast are all excellent and if that's not enough its accompanied by a stonkingly great sound track!! Both movie and sound track were a big hit with me and my frustratingly fussy 13 year old as well. So, yeah, I would definitely recommend this movie!!
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I fell in the group that had never read the Stephanie Meyers books, but I recently needed something new to watch having worked my way through my current DVD collection for the umpteenth time, and I was told that this wasn't a sloppy love story film between Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kirsten Stewart). They were right.
I bought the single disc version and I enjoyed it regardless of all my preconceptions and started to want to know more, so I splashed out for the 2-disc version to see if that would give me anything extra - it did, but even with all the extras added, it was still unfulfilling.
After watching the film on DVD I decided to give "New Moon" on DVD a try as well, but there has always seemed to be something missing.
Finally, in desperation, I bought the books and started reading. I really shouldn't have been surprised when, suddenly Bella, stopped being the vacuous, petulant brat that she appeared to be on first viewing Twilight - on the subsequent viewings I could understand what Kirsten Stewart was trying to portray.
One thing this did prove is that the films missed so much of the important information out that it was necessary to read the books to discover the background of the characters - explanations regarding Carlisle (Peter Facinelli), Esme (Elizabeth Reaser), Alice (Ashley Greene), Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), Emmett (Kellan Lutz) and Rosalie (Nikki Reed), which were missing are now filled out and I understand them more.
Only once you've read the books and the background information (that is missing from the films) you realise the different powers that each of the vampires has, and the possible reasoning behind the way they act.
What I don't understand is why they left out all the information that James says about Alice - it seems important, but I haven't read all the books yet.
The film is still great though, and it has encouraged me to read the books which I am thoroughly enjoying - something which I never thought would have happened; but then again, I thought they were just sloppy teen romances (mainly because that was the area of the bookshop they were in).
My favourite scene has to be the Cullen family baseball game - it is fun to watch and sets up the family dynamic very nicely. Team Jacob fans will be more disappointed as this is definitely a Team Edward film, Jacob only appears in a couple of brief scenes during the film.
The film's subtitles and audio track are in English only; and there is no audio description. The movie disc contains an audio commentary with Robert Pattinson, Kirsten Stewart and Director Catherine Hardwicke.
The 2-disc is definitely worth the extra pound or two - the extras include some of the cutting floor scenes.
I hope that at sometime in the future (preferably the near future) they will release a full "director's cut" version with all the extra footage added.
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Dont get me wrong, I enjoyed watching this film being a fan of the books, but the film just doesnt deliver the way the book does. It misses things out and adds things in. Obviously this does happen during turning a book into a major movie. The soundtrack is very fitting and there are some cracking songs in there as well as some bluesy ballads that accompany the action in the film perfectly. Twilight is a must see for those who have read the books, and Robert Pattinson just makes it that little bit better.
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I must say I used to be completely addicted to Twilight, only recently deciding that there was better vampyre books out there. So when I went to see Twilight the movie, I was a little disappointed. It was a good film, but not as close to the book as I would have liked. My friends, one of whom was just a big fan as I was, all loved it. So maybe it is just my picky nature, but I really think it could have been better. Edward's car was not flashy enough, and it was supposed to be the least flashy, which doesn't say much for the others. Kristen Stewart was, to put it bluntly, terrible. She was boring, and nothing like the Bella I had in my head. She was far too obvious in her constant looks at Edward, and looked constantly nervous. Robert Pattinson was OK, but he was too pretty-boy-trying-to-be-bad-boy for him to really be bad boy enough for me. The rest of the cast was fine, but I didn't like that they removed Lauren. She was a fairly large character that wasn't vampyre or werewolf. Rosalie was too pouty, and not pretty enough. Alice was perfect, very bouncy and happy-go-lucky. Emmett wasn't big enough, but that is fine. Jasper was just plain weird. What was with his whole wide eyed scared bunny look? Carlisle was good, just perfect enough. Esme was perfect too, the exact mother figure.
Like I said, maybe it is just my picky nature, but I didn't like it enough. It kinda put me off the books a little. It was a good film, with enough special features, the actors did act well, the script was really good, and it did make sense. But I think with different actors, it could have been better. Just small things that I didn't like. I think you would enjoy it more if you hadn't read the books.
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Anyone who loved the books will also love the film!! You can tell at certain parts that this was quite low budget but it doesn't spoil anything as the story in itself is so good and i'm just happy bto be staring at Edward Cullen the whole time anyway!
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Love, love, love the book. Had heard the film is rubbish so watched this with low expectations but an open mind and was still disappointed. What made the book such a magical read does not translate well to the screen. Frankly I was bored. The film does not capture the twilight love story in a way that appealed to me.
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