Twilight DVD Review

DVD REVIEW: TWILIGHT 2 Disc Special Edition

03/18/09

SYNOPSIS: High School student Bella Swan (Stewart) doesn’t expect much when she moves to the small town of Forks, Washington, until she meets mysterious classmate Edward Cullen (Pattinson)—a boy who’s hiding a dark secret. Impossibly good-looking and extremely private, Edward is unlike anyone she has ever met—in more ways than she realizes. He and his family are vampires. As their worlds and hearts collide, Edward must battle the bloodlust raging inside him as well as a coterie of undead that would make Bella their prey. Based on the #1 New York Times best-seller by Stephenie Meyer, Twilight adds a dangerous twist to the classic story of star-crossed lovers.

REVIEW: Edward Cullen: And so the lion fell in love with the lamb.
Isabella Swan: What a stupid lamb.
Edward Cullen: What a sick, masochistic lion.

A young man and young woman from feuding families fall in love with each other; forbidden love (Romeo and Juliet). A successful, rich businessman falls in love with a prostitute; unlikely love (Pretty Woman). A super sized gorilla falls in love with a beautiful blonde stage actress; impossible love (King Kong). Now we have a vampire and a regular girl that fall in love with each other. It is a forbidden, unlikely, and impossible love but they strive to keep it alive. This movie is mysterious and romantic with a dab of charming. It delves into the world of Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristen Stewart) and their awkward relationship which is both bizarre and painful. This is what gives the film its edge; the peculiarity of the story. It really is more of a romance than an action or sci-fi type picture. The focus is on the awkward relationship and less on the whole vampire concept. Because of this, it is a lot tamer than you might think. There is no gore, no horror, and no elaborate transformations when it comes to the vampires. It’s all about the mystery and the romance.

This was an enjoyable movie to watch but the fun started even before the movie began. You see, the screening I attended had about an 80% to 20% ratio of women to men, if I had to take a guess. It was like being in a Claire’s store. (Yeah, I have a teenaged daughter so I know what it’s like to be in a Claire’s). Actually it would be more accurate to describe it as being in a hot popular boy band concert. Let’s just say that the screams and shrieks from the ladies were a plenty from before the movie even started to the very end and plenty in between. It is obvious to me now as to whom this movie appeals to. Yes, you can consider this a chick flick but it has enough action and intrigue that the guys might enjoy it too. The special effects were decent but not over the top so as not to distract from the intention of the story. The cinematography and the various locations used in the film were distracting but in a good way. The bulk of the story takes place in Forks, Washington. The typical cloudiness and grey skies were more than an appropriate backdrop for the vampires but even so, the Pacific Northwest is beautiful territory and this film does a nice job of presenting it to you. The music used in this film is also pretty good. I’m a big fan of Claire de Lune by Debussy. The script was relatively simple, but direct and mature. It blended very well with the current scenario, so if the current scene was awkward and weird between the characters, so was the script. If the scene was loving and romantic, so was the script. What probably impressed me the most, besides the story itself, was the acting. Considering that no larger than life actors were cast in this film and that for the most part the cast is young with limited cinematic experience, they all did a good job. It was a very good looking cast too. I could tell by the screams from the audience. Of course the superior performances were given by the two stars of the movie, Robert and Kristen. Director Catherine Hardwicke (Nativity Story, Lords of Dogtown, Thirteen) has done some pretty good work and I think she topped them all with this latest endeavor.

Review By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com

MORE MOVIE REVIEWS >>>

DVD: The 2 Disc Special Edition has enough special features to make fans happy. The first disc includes the feature film presented in widescreen with a 2.40:1 aspect ration. The picture is complemented with a 5.1 digital sound in English and Spanish. Disc one also includes a total of five extended scenes, that fans will enjoy, plus an Audio Commentary by director Catherine Hardwicke, and stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Let me just mention that it also has three music videos from Muse, Paramore and Linkin Park. Disc two includes the most interesting special feature of this edition, which is a seven-part documentary, that takes viewers beyond the making of the film. It also includes five deleted scenes that fans may want to see. Overall the Twilight 2 Disc Special Edition is just a little bit above average in terms of special features. it seems that a collectors edition of the film with more features will be available prior to the release of the second installment.

VIDEO:
2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen

AUDIO:
English and Spanish 5.1 (Dolby Digital).
Subtitles - English Spanish - Optional

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Audio Commentary by director Catherine Hardwicke, and stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.

Five Extended Scenes with introductions by the director Fans of the film will enjoy this scenes (9:20)

Five Deleted Scenes with introductions by the director Fans of the film will enjoy this scenes (5:34)

Three Music Videos

Muse "supermassive black hole"

Paramore "decode"

Linkin Park "leave out all the rest"

The Adventure Begins: The Journey from Page to Screen

The Beginning: Stephenie Meyer talks about how she got the idea for Twilight. (2:03)

The Partnership a Look at Pre-Production: Good a information about the pre-production of the film. It includes comments from Stephenie Meyer, Catherine Hardwicke and Melissa Rosenberg (5:34)

The Vampires: A look at the vampires characters in the film. It includes comments from the cast. (5:05)

Capturing The Action a Look at Production: In this featuette fans will find all the details about the production of the film. (19:53)

Vampire Baseball: Filmmakers and the cast talk about the baseball scene. (8:08)

The Final Word on The Final Battle: A good behind the scenes about the final battle scene. It includes comments from the filmmakers and the cast.

Putting It All Together The Magic of Post Production: In this short featurette fans will find details abut the post production of the film. short, but good. (5:42)

Comic-Con Phenomenon featurette (7:59)

RATING BREAK DOWN:

FILM REVIEW
VIDEO
AUDIO
BONUS FEATURES

Submit Your Movie Review

Name: Movie: Rating:

Review:

MORE MOVIE REVIEWS >>>

DVD REVIEW: TWILIGHT 2 Disc Special Edition 03/18/09

DVD REVIEW: TWILIGHT 2 Disc Special Edition

03/18/09