Film.com Twilight DVD Review

DVD Review: Twilight Is Astonishingly Perfect
The double disc set is a fans delight!

Amanda Mae Meyncke, Mar 19, 2009
You have your Team Edward T-Shirt all washed and pressed, your well worn copies of the four Twilight books are stacked on your night table, and you have your midnight DVD release party plans set in stone. There are just a few scattered doubts lingering in the back of your mind, what if it doesn’t live up to your expectations? What if they left something out? With a Two Disc Special Edition DVD, rest assured, they’ve left nothing out.

Twilight. The books that launched a thousand screaming fits of ecstasy over the love between Bella (Kristen Stewart), a fragile human, and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), an extraordinarily beautiful vampire who seeks to understand and love Bella even as he insists she is safer away from him. That’s pretty much all you need to know, and while it may sound simple, the series tackles a serious question: can love conquer all?

Some DVD commentaries have only minor characters or a screenwriter and editor bantering back and forth over the film, but not Twilight. They’ve delved straight into the collective mind and produced the three people you’d want to hear from most. The audio commentary is beyond hilarious, as director Catherine Hardwicke, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart tease each other, discuss filming problems and improvised moments with the sort of insider glee that’s truly delightful. Surprisingly, Pattinson himself leads the mockery, and his comments show a remarkable amount of self-awareness, as well as some bitingly witty observations, and offerings of alternatively sly dialogue, which tends from minor brilliance to laughing out loud hilarity. In addition to the commentary, worth the retail price alone, there are several music videos from bands that appeared on the soundtrack: Muse, Paramore and Linkin Park. The extended scenes, introduced by the director, offer us a few more glimpses into the world of the vampires, and the day to day existence of Bella and Edward as they learn to love each other.

This DVD release has been suffused with love, and such care and attention for detail that even the most critical fan would be hard pressed to find much to complain about. One nice thing, which given the immensity of work poured into this release feels greedy to even ask for, might have been an audio commentary track with the author, Stephenie Meyer and the screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg discussing the transition of book to screen over the course of the entire film. Also a nice feature might have been a longer look at the music of Twilight, since music plays such a significant role in the books as well as the film. While there is space in the documentary feature, including a visit to composer Carter Burwell’s recording studio, it would have been neat to hear a bit more about the soundtrack selection process.

But idle wishes aside, make no mistake: this DVD is packed with bonus features, including extended and deleted scenes, and one surprising treat. The long documentary on the special second disc, which goes deep into nearly every step of the Twilight film-making process. If you hate the books or the movie, you’re not likely to care for many of the special features, but the “making of” features are still interesting and engaging to anyone interested in stunt-work, or visual effects or the business of putting together an entire production from script to theatrical release. As they explain the movie magic of filming the epic baseball scene, or the crashing through the floorboards in the climactic fight scenes, appreciation starts to grow for the intense amount of work that went into making the film look effortless from start to finish.

A slightly strange but pleasant touch was the inclusion of Comic-Con 2008 footage, where a few thousand screaming fans attended a panel question and answer session with the cast, and clips from the film were screened. Love for a book or a film, is something hard-won and held close to the heart, and as one reads and grows attached to characters, there’s an exchange of ownership. Stephanie Meyer may have written Edward and Bella, but she’s given them up to every reader, and the makers of this film, who so carefully preserved them as best they could. There’s a very real feeling of respect with this DVD, that the trust placed in the filmmakers has been rewarded yet again with an astoundingly replete release that will be treasured and seen again, a thousand times over.

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