When Prince Charming Drinks Blood! (Twilight [2008] (DVD))

Member Name: karenuk

Product:	Twilight [2008] (DVD)
Date:	29/04/09 (193 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent film, lots of DVD extras

Disadvantages: None

FILM REVIEW

I read the book of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer a while ago and really enjoyed it, so since then, I have wanted to watch the film version. I ordered the two-disc DVD edition from Amazon for £12.98, as it was only £1 more than the single-disc version, but this one had two hours' worth of extras!

I sat down to watch it with my 18 and 16-year-old daughters, who were also keen to see it, but haven't yet read the book. They had heard how gorgeous Robert Pattinson was though, so I'm sure that was a good reason to see the film!

For those who don't know the story, the idea is a basic High School romance with a twist - Prince Charming and Cinderella meet, but the Prince has fangs! Cinderella is Bella Swann, an Arizona girl who comes to stay with her Dad in a quiet town called Forks, where everyone knows everyone else.

The Prince is Edward Cullen, a withdrawn student who only goes round with his family members - until Bella arrives at school. She discovers he is everything a girl could want - a true romantic hero - strong, brave, good-looking, intelligent, never sleeps, runs like the wind and drinks blood. Oops. Well, even Mr. Right has to have faults. Yes, beloved Edward is a vampire.

Robert Pattinson plays Edward beautifully, with just the right amount of charm and sex appeal (It's okay to lust after him, he's 23 in May!) but a hint of menace and danger. Most of the reviews I have heard and read about Twilight concentrate on Robert being gorgeous - and understandably so - but I was impressed with all the cast, though Robert does stand out.

Bella Swann is played by 19-year-old Kristen Stewart, whose CV goes back to 2001, but I had never seen her before. (The only one of the cast I recognised was Robert, as I had seen him play Cedric Diggory in two Harry Potter films.) She is excellent in the role and I found the on-screen Bella much warmer than the written version. Kristen does well to bring out all the emotions going on in Bella's head - missing her mom, learning how to live with her father again, going to a new school, trying to make friends, her feelings for Edward and so on.

The film is beautifully shot with an ice-blue feeling throughout most of it, which is very effective in adding a touch of gothic horror to it. The film itself is rated a 12, which seems fair, but it is never too violent or too gory. It is fast-paced and builds the story and the tension well, before you get into the really exciting finale.

Twilight has it all really - heroes, drama, classic romance, the tension of a thriller, the contemporary issues of a High School film. This is Gone With the Wind meets Harry Potter, with Rhett and Scarlett flying through the air, away from bad vampires.

While I would suggest this is more of a film for the females (My daughters and I all loved it, while my husband refused to watch it and my son ignored most of it.) it could also appeal to some males and any age from twelve to forties to fifties, I would think. Harry Potter fans would like it too.

Watch it, enjoy it and drool over Rob! 


DVD EXTRAS (TWO-DISC VERSION)


AUDIO COMMENTARY

This is a commentary by Catherine Hardwicke (Director), Kristen Stewart (Bella) and Robert Pattinson (Edward). I enjoy listening to these, but I know some people don't like them.


THE ADVENTURE BEGINS - THE JOURNEY FROM PAGE TO SCREEN

This is a long documentary of almost an hour, which is split into several segments - The beginning, The partnership: a look at pre-production, the vampires, capturing the action: a look at production, vampire baseball, the final word on the final battle, and putting it all together: the magic of post production.

This does go on a bit too long, but is worth watching and I learned a lot from it. It includes interviews with lots of the cast, as well as the screen writer, director, visual effects supervisor, producer and the author Stephenie Meyer.

Some of the highlights include -

Meyer explaining how the novel came from a dream she had.
Behind-the-scenes filming on the set.
How the cold, wet weather affected the beach scenes.
Filming the wolves.
How Stephenie had a cameo part, writing on her laptop in the café.
How they filmed the vampire baseball scene.
How the fight sequence was achieved, with the stunts and effects.
How the hardest effect to achieve was Edward's golden sparkly skin in the sun.


THE COMIC CON PHENOMENON

This section concentrates on the Comic Con convention. This was attended by some of the Twilight cast (Edward and Bella, Jacob, Victoria, James and Laurent) plus Stephenie Meyer (author) and Catherine Hardwicke (director). We get to see them on stage, answering questions from the audience and it all looks a bit mad and scary! Poor Rob gets a lot of adulation from screaming fans, poor guy!


A CONVERSATION WITH STEPHENIE MEYER

This is an interesting interview, which lasts about 25 minutes and it is worth watching. I like Stephenie, she seems an ordinary mum with a busy life and I can relate! She explains how the idea for the novel came to her and how she found the time to write, as well as how she ended up becoming published.

She discusses the characters and the difficulties of writing in the first person as Bella. It was also interesting how the location for the books (and film) was chosen - I didn't even know Forks really existed!

Stephenie is very easy to listen to and has a lot to say, coming over as a very intelligent and warm woman. It was also interesting to see how the book became the film and how involved Stephenie was in the whole process.


BECOMING BELLA

This lasts around five minutes and profiles the character of Bella and the actress who plays her, Kristen Stewart. This takes the same kind of format as Becoming Edward, so we get to see Kristen talking about the role, Catherine Hardwicke explaining about putting Bella on the screen and Kristen doing stunt work and so on.


BECOMING EDWARD

This was the first bit I watched! I wanted to see more Rob!!

This section lasts 7 ½ minutes and concentrates on Edward, of course. We get to know about the character and his realisation, as well as the actor and how Robert Pattinson played the role. Rob has a lovely English public schoolboy accent and seems very modest, explaining that being someone who is beautiful and "perfect" was rather daunting.

It shows how some of the effects were done and you get to see Rob jumping from trees and hanging on wires! His musical talents are also mentioned here and how two of his own songs were used in the movie.


CATHERINE HARDWICKE'S 'BELLA'S LULLABY' REMIX
CATHERINE HARDWICKE'S VAMPIRE KISS MONTAGE

These two are okay to watch once, but nothing special.


PARAMORE VIDEO FOR 'DECODE'
LINKIN PARK VIDEO FOR 'LEAVE OUT ALL THE REST'
MUSE PERFORMING 'SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE' LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM

I quite enjoyed these three, as the music on Twilight is very good. I was also interested to hear why the tracks were used and especially how the lead singer of Paramore is a fan of Twilight and wanted to be involved musically in the film. But I can't foresee myself watching these too often.


DELETED SCENES WITH DIRECTOR INTRODUCTION

There are five deleted scenes included as extras in this section. Catherine Hardwicke introduces them, although I would have liked to know more about why they weren't included in the movie.

These are worth watching, especially the scene between Dr Cullen and Esme, which I think would have added to the film.


EXTENDED SCENES WITH DIRECTOR INTRODUCTION

There are five extended scenes and again, Catherine Hardwicke introduces them.


EDWARD'S PIANO CONCERT

It was interesting to discover that Robert Pattinson is an accomplished musician and also wrote and performed two tracks used in the film, but when it comes down to it, this is just Rob playing the piano and is a bit dull. He's a talented bloke though.


MUSIC - THE HEARTBEAT OF TWILIGHT

This features more interviews with Rob, Kristen, Stephenie and Catherine. (By this time, I felt I was on first name terms with them all.) This mini-documentary explains the importance of the music used in Twilight, how each song or piece of music sets the mood of the scene. I loved the music in the film and this was interesting to watch, to see how and why they chose certain pieces.


UK THEATRICAL CAMPAIGN

This section features four UK TV spots, the UK Premiere footage and the British trailer.

UK PREMIERE FOOTAGE (EXCLUSIVE TO THE UK)

This is footage from the Twilight premiere in Leicester Square, London. As well as the scenes of screaming fans, you get to watch Alex Zane interviewing Rob Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Catherine Hardwicke. I enjoyed this, it had lots of atmosphere and Rob's smile is lovely!

UK THEATRICAL TRAILER

The full-length trailer for the film that was shown in Britain.

UK THEATRICAL TV SPOTS

These are little clips and mini-trailers used to advertise the film. Worth watching once, but nothing amazing.

Summary: A modern twist on a romantic tale