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Have you seen the Twilight film? Have you even heard about the film? Read the novel maybe? If not . . . you have missed a lot!
When the film was first released, I saw the film promo advert; I quite liked the few minutes that I had seen and decided to watch the film in the cinema as ... Read review
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Advantages: A vampire film without the HORROR, Edward. . .the forbidden love again! Disadvantages: Not much special effects . . .Erm..COLD Bella!
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'''Have you seen the Twilight film?''' '''Have you even heard about the film? Read the novel maybe?''' If not . . . you have missed a lot!
When the film was first released, I saw the film promo advert; I quite liked the few minutes that I had seen and decided to watch the film in the cinema as soon as I could. Unfortunately, where I live the film was only shown in one cinema, for only one week. I was very busy then and lost the ... ...novels by Stephenie Meyer. Twilight (both the novel and film) produced a sort of attraction in teenage girls (and grownup women as well, believe me!). It was exactly like the Harry Potter phenomenon except that this time the girls are madly in love with a vampire!
=== (Would you like to be in love with a vampire?) Personally, I wouldn’t! Well . . . I thought I wouldn’t . . . but what if it were Edward? ===
Have you seen the Twilight film?Have you even heard about the film? Read the novel maybe? If not . . . you have missed a lot!
When the film was first released, I saw the film promo advert; I quite liked the few minutes that I had seen and decided to watch the film in the cinema as soon as I could. Unfortunately, where I live the film was only shown in one cinema, for only one week. I was very busy then and lost the opportunity to see it. My friends who saw it had mixed reactions . . . some of them (mostly girls) were very impressed, while others were not very happy and criticised the film harshly. I read many reviews (again, mostly very positive) so I was eager to see it and judge for myself. After nearly a year, the film was “finally” scheduled to be on TV, so I wrote down the date, time and the channel so that I would not forget about it.
The film is based on the first one of four novels by Stephenie Meyer. Twilight (both the novel and film) produced a sort of attraction in teenage girls (and grownup women as well, believe me!). It was exactly like the Harry Potter phenomenon except that this time the girls are madly in love with a vampire!
(Would you like to be in love with a vampire?) Personally, I wouldn’t! Well . . . I thought I wouldn’t . . . but what if it were Edward?
Isabella Swan (best known as BELLA Swan by her friends and family) is a seventeen year old teenager who has just moved to live with her dad Charlie Swan (who is a Chief of the Police Department) in a small town named Forks. This was because her mum got married to a basketball player and decided to move with him. Bella is a shy, soulful person who likes to be on her own most of the time, but at the same time she is a likeable person and instantly made friends with the boys and girls at the new school.
Everything was pretty normal (and boring!) until the moment she laid her eyes on Edward Cullen, a mysterious, tall, dark and handsome student. Edward is one of five children adopted by Dr Carlisle Cullen and his wife Esme. Bella felt a sudden attraction towards Edward, who became her biology class lab partner. Strangely enough, Edward felt something about Bella as well; he tried to avoid her as much as he could!
However, when a famous moment of the film came . . . when Bella nearly was hit by a car that went out of control . . . it was very close to crashing into her but Edward was there in a flash, stopped the car with his bare hands, and even bent it! Since then Bella was aware that he is not really a normal person; there is a secret about him, something that is not exactly human . . . with very cold and pale skin; the changing colour of his eyes; his incredible speed! All these signs drove suspicious Bella to do hopeless trials with Edward! However, after a long internet search she discovered the big secret. . . Sexy Edward is the living dead . . . he is a vampire and that explains the pale icy skin!
Bella has to face the fact that her love for Edward is risky; she also must beware James, an aggressive and brutal blood-sucking beast vampire who follows her . . . will she be saved again by Edward? On the other hand, will she become James and Edward’s joint feast?
Director
Twilight the film was directed by Catherine Hardwick, an American production designer and film director. I like her way of directing the film; it was hard to combine emotional romantic moments along with blood and fight scenes. The downside was that the scenes containing special effects weren’t the best. I must say that I felt they could have been much better; there weren’t many special effects anyway apart from Edward’s super fast movement, and when he was flying around in the woods carrying Bella. It was very romantic, but it did not look genuine; it appeared awkward (unlike Harry Potter special effects, which were very realistic). In addition, there were some dark and dim locations, but it was probably because Forks is meant to be a wet and rainy place. However, the directing and the finished film were very good and matched well the action and scenes mentioned in the book. I can say that in my opinion almost 80-90% of the novel was in the film. I read that the author was involved with the film and the production process. The director and her team tried to make the film as close and true to the book as possible and people who have read the book can realize that for themselves.
Who are the Main Characters?
Edward Cullen (Robert Patterson) our protagonist!
When I first saw him, his face looked very familiar to me. When I found out his name I recognised him! Robert Patterson is an English actor and musician who is well known for his role as Cedric Diggory in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”
I liked his acting in this film. It was as if the role was specially tailored for him. He managed to get us to love him in spite of his typical vampire looks (with cold pale skin, bronze-coppery hair and the occasional golden eyes)! He has the ability to read people’s thoughts and minds except Bella’s mind. He was the dark and mysterious character that everyone was dying to date. He carried on those changeable but passionate and emotional moods that add an extra mystery to his character.
The moment we hear about a vampire, the classic image comes to mind of a beast, a bloodsucker creature with dead skin and heart with his mouth stained by the victim’s blood! But Edward gives us a new vision of a vampire; behind his stony look there is a lovable, caring person (not a creature with no feelings). He is so protective and very romantic!
His acting was brilliant; I enjoyed watching HIM as a person and his acting as well. The downside was his slowness in some scenes; he was a bit sluggish, and he lacked smiling. I can’t remember seeing him smiling often (maybe a tiny smile but definitely no fangs shown) although he has the most attractive smile and perfect teeth!
I guess Edward (Robert Patterson) could be every girl’s perfect dream! Very romantic, protective, drop dead gorgeous and can fly! But I think he is a bit bony and very flat chested.
Bella (Kristen Stewart)
I don’t know why, but I found Bella a very depressing character; every time I saw her I felt miserable! She was not a vampire, but she had the palest skin I had ever seen, nearly matching Edward’s dead skin! The actress herself is a multi talented actress; I have seen her in a few films but never noticed her! In the film Twilight, she was a simple girl . . . the usual coy teenager torn between living with her mum (and her mum’s new husband) or to give her some privacy! She left Phoenix (Arizona) to live with her dad in a very tiny town. Bella was a shy, quiet, new student, very dull and gloomy sometimes . . . even in the most romantic moments with Edward she appeared as cold as ice!
She is a kind and thoughtful girl, always friendly, nice and selfless and to top that she was very clumsy as well . . . which makes her a vulnerable person and easy to take advantage of. All these things together may pull her towards Edward who was obviously attracted to her in the first place even though he was moody with her sometimes and looked like as if he was disgusted and utterly repulsed by her at the very beginning!
The rest of the cast:
Charlie Swan - Billy Burke Dr. Carlisle Cullen - Peter Facinelli Esme Cullen - Elizabeth Reaser James/Nomad Vampire - Cam Gigandet Alice Cullen - Ashley Greene
Film certification: UK – 12; US – 13.
There are only a few passionate kisses between Edward and Bella, some minor violence and fight scenes.
Genre: Romance-drama
Duration: A good 122 minutes.
Film budget: The film budget was a whopping US$37 million but in return, it grossed well over $7 million in ticket sales from midnight opening alone on November 21, 2008 and the total gross was a massive US$384,997,808 worldwide!
My opinion
In Twilight, we see the same old classic tale about the unreachable love; it is an obscure love, taken from a different point of view. Unlike usual horror stories about a killer vampire we found ourselves in love with the vampire and probably jealous of Bella!
The film started with Bella’s voice, which I found to be quite dull to a certain extent, and to be frank with you, the first 10-15 minutes of the film was even rather dreary. Then when Edward appeared, the story started to take shape and I was totally hooked!
Twilight had nearly everything for a perfect romantic-drama film and what I liked about it was the balance in the story. There was no excessive romance making you disgustingly off and no extreme horror and that is why it was given the 12 rating. The acting was all right although I can’t say it was 100% believable. They have tried hard but just missed, maybe because there were such thorny and complex characters. Even Edward (our hero vampire) was very slow and dull at times . . . Bella (our human heroine) was simply lifeless! However, at the end of the day they were all competent and managed to get us charmed!
The lack of special effects was a bit disappointing, compared with the ‘Harry Potter’ films, but I think I prefer Twilight because it’s more romantic and less childish. I would like to watch it again; it made my heart beat faster . . . I became emotionally attached to the couple; I saw how to be selfless, sacrificing your life for your lover’s life; the prohibited love and how to fight to make this love survive.
Does the pure love really exist?
Good points
• Edward! (What else?) Erm . . . Edward! It’s true! He is the hero of the film and the magnet who attracts all the film viewers and makes the millions!
• It’s a vampire film but without the horror
• Very romantic, emotional and moving film
• A new vision for a vampire, different than the usual picture we had in our minds.
• Unlike most romantic-science fiction films, Twilight wasn’t predictable
• Very true to the book so if you are not into reading long 500 page novels you can simply relax and watch it!
Bad points
• Bella can be annoying sometimes (sorry guys)
• Dim and gloomy
• Very few special effects
• Very serious film nearly no one smiles!
• Edward was slow and dull at times
Prices and availability
Twilight is available to purchase on DVD format or Blu ray. You can buy it from media stores, supermarkets or DVD shops. You can also buy it online or rent it. Prices are between £4.98-£22.99.
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.
Not Really Like Romeo and Juliet, But Still Forbidden . . .
Advantages: A great way to fall into a story that you will keep on loving, after the credits.. Disadvantages: The sequel can't come fast enough!
...there.. So when, as a Twilight fan I heard that Catherine Hardwicke wanted to get her hands on the book and turn it into a film, I was slightly sceptical about the outcome. Like most I was dubious because books turned into films sometimes, actually more often than not fall incredibly short of the mark in quality - especially if the actors for the characters are cast wrong.. So when this film came out last Christmas I had no intention of watching ... ...my favourite books.. Since Twilight was released in December 2008, it has been up for just a few awards - twenty two awards in fact.. From the MTV Movie Awards to the Teen Choice Awards they may not be the Oscars, but still being nominated for twenty two awards and actually winning seventeen of them - just proves the film really has made an impression on the young adults of the world. The book itself was aimed at teens and young adults so there is ...
ChemicalRomance 27.10.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: exceptional Review of Twilight
Advantages: It gave me a chance to eat Aero Bubbles and Ben & Jerrys, the film had promise Disadvantages: It's all a bit unfulfilled, really: read the review!
(Please note: This is a film only review - thanks!)
Wednesday afternoons are reserved in many Universities for sports; during those few precious hours once a week, there is some serious muscle flexing, taunting and sweating going on with the majority of lectures and seminars being suspended so that students can revel in their o-so healthy exercise regime. Let's put it this way; some peoples exercise regimes are significantly better than their diet ... ...meal or two. Generalisations aside, I guess you are all wondering Mizzaholics (that's my new name for my dozens - and dozens - of fans) what the heck stereotypical images of Uni students has to do with the movie 'Twilight'. After all, vampires, revenge and threats of murder all tied together in a Romeo and Juliet type love saga sounds far more interesting than sleep deprived students stumbling their way through a hockey match, right?
In theory, ...
MizzMolko 28.01.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: exceptional Review of Twilight
Advantages: Beautiful scenery, Sexy Edward, Story and soundtrack Disadvantages: Acting, Lack of action and gore, low certificate.
~ When you can live forever what do you live for? ~ This week has been a bit boring for me as it happened to be the week before pay day me and my flat mate decided to stay in and watch some films last night. Thankfully I had received two films through the post from Love film. Out of the two I had chosen to watch Twilight, as I have been waiting to see this since it came out at the cinema’s but never had a chance to watch it. The film interested me ... ...really known what to expect but as I love science fiction and especially vampire films, I thought I couldn’t go wrong with this. I remember the trailers for the film on TV and it looked really good. It reminded me of other films including vampires such as ‘Queen of the Dammed’ and the graphics reminded me of ‘Underworld’. It looked exciting, fresh and full of action. I didn’t recognise any big stars from the adverts but knew I had to watch it. The ...
blackmagicstar4 22.07.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Twilight
Advantages: Um... I'm sure there's something Disadvantages: Pretty much everything
...is the next Harry Potter. Twilight has become a phenomenon with everyone everywhere, it started out as a book by Stephanie Meyer, there are now four books in the series, and now Twilight the first book in the series, has been made into a film. Last night was the first night that it was shown in the UK and amazingly I got to see it. I have never seen a queue like that before, all young teenagers. For all of you don't know about Twilight here is the ... ...world have fallen in love with the book. ==The Plot==
Bella Swan is a plain girl from Phoenix, Arizona and she moves in with her father who lives in Forks, a small town with a small population and everyone knows everyone. She easily makes friends, but the one person she seems drawn too seems repulsed by her. His name is Edward Cullen, a gorgeous young 17 year old boy, who also finds himself drawn to Bella and despite all of his attempts he finds ...
DixieChick10 20.12.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Twilight
Advantages: It made me laugh my socks off... Disadvantages: But that's not what it's meant to do...
Bella Swan is a clumsy girl from Arizona who relocates to the tiny town of Forks where she lives with her estranged father. There she meets the enigmatic Edward Cullen to whom she feels an immediate attraction. The two fall in love, but things aren't easy for the couple as Edward hides a dangerous secret; he and his family are vampires. They pride themselves on being 'vegetarians' who only drink the blood of animals. But a series of apparent animal ... ...group of vampires show up, putting Edward and Bella in mortal danger…
Director Catherine Hardwicke is best known for her hard-hitting teen movies such as "Thirteen" and "Dog Town and Z-Boys" but her latest film is as middle-of-the-road as they come. She certainly knows her audience; everything that happens in the movie is underscored by a feeling of mild hysteria that seemed to chime with the cinema full of mainly teenaged girls that I saw it with ...
afy9mab 02.01.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Twilight
After the craze that is Twilight mania had swept the nation, I was a bit scared as the film is a huge success just like the books but people have been talking about it non stop. I had seen the original Twilight at the cinema, and was very much looking forward to New Moon as I haven't read the books and have been anticipating the next movie instalment. I do like the Twilight cast but I am fed up of people going on about Robert Pattinson as there are more to the films than him even though he is good looking and he isn't even in this film much anyway.
The film begins with it being Bella's (Kristen Stewart) 18th birthday, this starts to make her wonder about getting older and how she never wants to be older than her boyfriend Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) who stopped getting older at 17. The Cullen's throw Bella a party but when she gets ...
Advantages: Excellent acting of Taylor Lautner Disadvantages: Some of the wolf shots are poor.
New Moon, the sequel to the exceptionally popular Twilight was eagerly anticipated by fans worldwide. Based on the best-selling novel by Stephenie Meyer the advance box-office sales were tremendous but could the film live up to expectations?
The Plot
Bella Swan, a regular 17 year old had previously fallen in love with Edward Cullen a 17 year old vampire who had been around for over a hundred years, she was desperate to become immortal but Edward refused to change her.
On the occasion of her 18th Birthday Bella reluctantly attended a party arranged for her by Edwards adopted sister Alice at the Cullen?s residence. Bella did not want to celebrate the occasion as she felt that she was growing older than Edward everyday but the charming Alice could be very persistent. Everything went well until Bella suffered ...
Contains moderate fantasy violence and horror, Contains moderate fantasy violence and h
Franchise Name
Twilight Saga
Video Category
Feature Film
Country Of Origin
United States of America
Plot
Teenage romance gets a dark, supernatural twist in this adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's bestselling novel TWILIGHT. When Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) moves from sunny Phoenix to dreary Washington State, she has trouble fitting in at her new high school. But things get better--and worse--when she meets the unearthly Edward (Robert Pattinson), a beautiful vampire who will stay 17 forever.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
CONTENDER FILMS, E1 Films; E1 ENTERTAINMENT
Languages
Main Language
English
Subtitle Language
English
Technical information
Special Features
Audio commentary by Catherine Hardwicke, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, 'The Adventure Begins: The Journey From Page To Screen': Featurette, 'Comic-Con Phenomenom': Featurette, Interview with Stephanie Meyer, 'Becoming Bella', 'Becoming Edward', 'Edward's Piano Concert', Catherine Hardwicke’s 'Bella’s Lullaby' remix, and 'Vampire Kiss' montage, Music videos: Muse 'Supermassive Black Hole', Paramore 'Decode', Deleted and extended scenes, with director introduction, 'The Heartbeat of TWILIGHT': Music Featurette, Trailers and TV spots, Audio Commentary by Catherine Hardwicke, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson
Sound
Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Professional reviews
Review
It rekindles the warmth of great Hollywood romances, where foreplay was the climax and a kiss was never just a kiss (Time Magazine, 21/11/2008)
DVD Description
High school romance is difficult enough to navigate when both people are human. But for 17-year-old Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart, INTO THE WILD) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson, HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE), Edward's life as a vampire complicates things even more. At first, when Bella moves from sunny Phoenix to the rainiest corner of Washington State, she isn't sure where she fits in at her new high school. Then she meets Edward, an ethereal beauty of a boy whose unnatural speed and strength lead Bella to the conclusion that her new crush is one of the undead. Suddenly, Bella's boring life is transformed; she's surrounded by love and danger in equal parts, thanks to the hunger of Edward and others of his kind.
TWILIGHT is based on the first book in the addictive series by author Stephenie Meyer. Director Catherine Hardwicke (THIRTEEN) certainly knows her audience, which is primarily the teenage girls who worship the book and its characters. There are plenty of swoonworthy shots of Pattinson's perfectly pale Edward, and his romance with Stewart's nicely acted Bella will cause many a sigh among the devoted fans. While TWILIGHT is primarily a love story in the ROMEO AND JULIET mold, there's also plenty of action and horror to be found. Blood flows (this is a vampire movie, after all), but the small amount of gore shouldn't be too much for the squeamish viewers. The film's record-breaking box office take alone is proof that the film's appeal isn't limited to screaming teen girls.
