Twilight (2008/I)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Catherine Hardwicke

Writers (WGA):

Melissa Rosenberg (screenplay)
Stephenie Meyer (novel)

Release Date:

21 November 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

When you can live forever what do you live for?

Plot:

A teenage girl risks everything when she falls in love with a vampire.

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Love | High School | Blood | School

Awards:

19 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Kristen Stewart	...	Bella Swan
Sarah Clarke	...	Renée
Robert Pattinson	...	Edward Cullen
Matt Bushell	...	Phil
Billy Burke	...	Charlie Swan
Gil Birmingham	...	Billy Black
Taylor Lautner	...	Jacob Black
Gregory Tyree Boyce	...	Tyler
Justin Chon	...	Eric Yorkie
Michael Welch	...	Mike Newton
Anna Kendrick	...	Jessica
Christian Serratos	...	Angela
Nikki Reed	...	Rosalie
Kellan Lutz	...	Emmet Cullen
Ashley Greene	...	Alice Cullen

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violence and a scene of sensuality.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44786) | UK:12A | Ireland:12A | Finland:K-13 | Australia:M | Sweden:15 | Norway:11 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | South Korea:12 | Malaysia:U | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Czech Republic:12 | Brazil:12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Germany:12 | Denmark:11 | Netherlands:12 | South Africa:13V | Taiwan:PG-12 | Spain:13 | Iceland:12 | Mexico:B

Filming Locations:

218 Rim Drive, Washougal, Columbia River Gorge, Washington, USA

Company:

Summit Entertainment

Trivia:

The song playing on the background when Bella comes to "have dinner" at the Cullen's is the aria "Libiamo" from La Traviata. "Libiamo" literally means "Let's Drink", which is exactly what the Cullens do when they "have dinner".

Goofs:

Continuity: In the garage scene, Jasper is seen bent over in the background putting things in the trunk of the car. When the scene switches to a close-up of Alice, Jasper is standing upright and looking in Alice's direction.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Isabella Swan: [voiceover] I'd never given much thought to how I would die... But dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "At the Movies: Summer Special 2008/09" (2008)

Soundtrack:

I Caught Myself

Count me as a Twilighter.....

I can't remember the last time that I was literally one of 3 or 4 men in an otherwise packed theater. Tonight was just the case when my wife and I took in Twilight. My interest had been peaked by a co-worker who is female and a big Twilight fan. My wife has not read the books (nor I) but did receive the first 2 for Christmas. We wanted to check out the movie and see what all the hoopla was all about. We were not disappointed.

I really enjoyed this movie. It does play like an episode straight out of any female focused romance story that is currently playing on TV. But there is a maturity about the film that brings it up a notch. It is full on love story stuff, but being a guy who isn't afraid to embrace the chick-flick side, I was pulled into the story, even though I know basically the outcome of the whole 4 book set. Catherine Hardwicke spun a very nice tale, it is shame she will not be back for New Moon. I thought all of the acting was top notch, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson the obvious standouts. But it was the supporting characters; Edward's family, Bella's friends and family, that really helped with the enjoyment of the film.

I had heard reports of laugh inducing dialog, never caught any of that. With any story that has a target audience that is in their teen years, one must expect earnest and often overly dramatic dialog and moments. It never goes into the day-time soap variety.

There was a lot of online snipping from mucho-macho fanboys that mocked the film (without having read the books) and called in a Covenant clone. Too bad they won't let their geek cred take a hit and actually go see this film before bashing it. Not anything that will change cinema forever, but a very different and entertaining take on the vampire genre. The thing I enjoyed the most was the return of romance to the vampire tale. Recent films have taken a more action approach to the vampire tale. I can't wait for New Moon.