Twilight
Triple Feature: Twilight/Twilight: New Moon/Twilight: Eclipse
(2008 - 2010/Extended Editions/Summit/Lionsgate Blu-ray set)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: D
Films:
Twilight: C+/Twilight: New Moon: C+/Twilight:
Eclipse: B-
In
the wake of the success of the Harry Potter franchises,
Hollywood decided to turn more successful young adult book series
into film franchises and hit the nail on the head with the Twilight
series, which are the brainchild of Anne Rice wannabe author
Stephanie Meyer. When the first film debuted in 2008, many movie
theaters were caught off guard by just how incredibly successful the
film was - especially to young (and older) women. When New Moon
hit in 2009, its success was mirrored by its predecessor making stars
out of Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. The
marketing for the film was genius, dividing women up into two teams
of which young hunk they liked better (Lautner or Pattinson) with
T-shirts entitled Team Edward or Team Jacob. And by the way, there
are future Twilight productions (and a rumored web series) in
development, so I'm sure this franchise will re-emerge again soon so
don't think the fad is over!
There
have been many editions (and store tailored exclusives) of the
Twilight films on disc over the years (complete collections,
steelbook editions, etc.) but this set incorporates deleted scenes
(that were presumably available previously as supplements) into the
final cuts of the films making this the definitive version of the
first three films. Don't expect anything fancy in terms of
packaging though, just a standard Blu-ray case with three un-colorful
discs inside. If fans are going to be spending more money for new
releases of their favorite films nowadays, I wish these big studios
would revert back (to the early DVD days) where they actually
cared about disc packaging. A little insert booklet would
have been nice here to highlight what has been added and maybe even a
cool cardboard case with production photographs wouldn't have been
much to ask for. Alas, it's the content that truly matters so here
we go...
In
case you have been living under a pop culture rock under the past ten
years, Twilight is a mix of trashy romance novel with
(mortified) vampire mythology (they sparkle in the sunlight) and
centers around the young and vulnerable teen-turning-woman Bella
(played by Kristen Stewart) whose first love happens to be a Vampire
named Edward (played by Robert Pattinson). His family, named The
Cullens, all seem unusually beautiful, pale, rich, and secretive to
the small town Bella lives in.
As
romance swells between Edward and Bella and she starts to learn
exactly what Edward is capable of - Bella soon becomes fascinated
with Vampire culture and becomes almost an extended member of the
Cullen family. Though her childhood friend Jacob (played by Lautner)
also has a thing for Bella isn't too happy about her new alliance and
she soon discovers that he isn't exactly human either but a Wolf (not
really a Werewolf, folks... more of a Native American Wolf.. man) and
a very long and complicated love triangle ensues...
The
films get a few points from me for being stylistically shot in a
pleasing manner (the colors, production design and visual effects for
the most part aren't bad) and for having incredible soundtracks
(especially for New Moon). Granted, it's a little easier now
to watch these films now that the hype has died down and luckily with
this collection you can act as if Breaking Dawn parts 1 and 2
didn't happen (boy did the franchise fall to cheesy pieces then) with
this collection of extended versions of the first three films.
All
presented in 1080p high definition with a 2.40:1 widescreen aspect
ratio and a powerful, lossless set of DTS HD 5.1 Master Audio (MA)
tracks, you aren't going to see these films in much better quality at
home for the moment. The image is substantially sharper than
previous releases with beautifully saturated colors and flawless
audio tracks that are up to studio standards.
No
other special features aside from the films are on this release...
which means that an ultimate collection with the final two Breaking
Dawn films is inevitable later in the year. In short, this
release is only for the most die hard of Twilight fans that
can't wait for that edition. If you don't own any of the previous
releases and are curious, then this may be a good purchase for you,
however.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
