From the Vaults: Twilight 2 Disc Special Edition DVD Review

WIth all of the commotion over Twilight New Moon and the monster showing this weekend at the box office, what better time to revive this review of the movie that started Edward Mania? So, we went ahead and dug the Twilight DVD review from the vault for your perusal…enjoy!

When her mom and step-father decide to travel out to Jacksonville Florida to follow his dream of trying out for the minor league baseball team, Bella (Kristen Stewart) decides to leave Phoenix in favor of Forks, Washington, where her father (Billy Burke) serves as Sheriff. She is quickly reintroduced to Jacob (Taylor Lautner) a childhood friend who’s father sells Sheriff Swan an old pickup truck. The pickup truck turns out to be a welcome home gift for Bella, who is delighted to have wheels to get around. Although she seems like the aloof, quiet type, Bella quickly makes friends at school and begins to settle in to life in the great Pacific Northwest. She is immediately perplexed by her new science lab partner, Edward (Robert Pattinson), who seems to be repulsed by her. Although he seems to act quite strangely around Bella, she soon finds herself inexplicably drawn to the quiet, pale teenager with a dark secret.

I have never read any of the Stephenie Meyer Bestsellers that Twilight is based on but have it on good authority that it is a fairly accurate presentation of the first book of the same name. I think Twilight will be the slowest of this movie series, as it spends half the film in character development and plot setup and seems to be forced to rush through the action sequences in order to make it to the finish line on time. There are several not so subtle inferences to another supernatural race that seem destined to eventually challenge the Cullen vampire clan a la underworld.

Kristen Stewart was quite good as Bella Swan. She displayed the emotions of a teenager going from dislike to infatuation to love for another teen quite convincingly. Of course, once she realizes the truth about Edward, she seems to digest and accept it in a ridiculously brainless manner but I am starting to digress… Co-star Robert Pattinson also puts in a good performance as the moody, withdrawn Edward Cullen, who has spent quite a lot of time in high school.

The special effects varied in effectiveness, with fight sequences looking decent. The scenes of Edward running with Bella hanging off of his back, however, looked practically comical in execution. The cinematography did a good job of contrasting Forks Washington from Bella’s former residence in Phoenix. The film is shot in a way that brings a cold, lifeless feeling to many locations and a blue pallor to most of the characters, undead or not.

The 2 disc Special Edition has enough extras to tide Twilight afficionados over until the second installment. First off is a commentary track featuring director Catherine Hardwicke and stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. They provide some light moments and anectdotes about the filming and casting of the film. Next is a collection of 5 deleted scenes from the movie. Each scene is accompanied by a short introduction for Hardwicke and honestly non of them deserved inclusion in the final film. Also included are 5 extended scenes with the same introduction format. They are also inconsequential to the final product. The making of featurette, which clocks in at just under an hour is an in depth look at storyboards, cgi, casting and such. It is broken up into several segments and is an interesting watch. Finally is a collection of 3 music videos, two of which are live concert performances. The third video features clips from the film. Also included is a bundle fo footage from a recent comic book convention that prominantly features the actors and actresses in question and answer sessions and such.

This is a well done movie for the tween and teen age market. If you have fans of the book in your house, this is a no brainer cold purchase. It does have a lot of rewatchability, especially as the sequels roll for the other 3 books and people want to refresh before watching the newest installment.

Twilight 2 Disc Special Edition is available now, courtesy of Summit Home Entertainment.