Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse’ Delivers For Franchise Fans

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CHICAGO – One of the biggest films of 2010, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” comes home to Blu-ray and DVD this weekend and the release is a surprisingly-complete set for the best film yet in the blockbuster franchise. With commentary tracks, a ton of behind-the-scenes material, deleted scenes, and great HD video, “Eclipse” could satisfy even moderate fans of the franchise.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

Despite its significant flaws, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” is, without question, the best of the three “Twilight” films. Even with that fact aside, the Blu-ray and DVD release of the title is impressive. When a franchise has this many hardcore fans, it must be tempting for a studio to produce the bare minimum. Seriously, how many tweens putting “Eclipse” on their Christmas wish list really care about special features, video quality, and commentaries? They’d want their favorite movie no matter what. And so it’s nice to see a studio like Summit treat fans respectfully and go above and beyond what they need to merely to make money.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on December 4th, 2010.
Photo credit: Summit

As for why “Eclipse” works, David Slade’s film not only has actual atmosphere and pace instead of just romantic teen obsession but actually proves that Robert Pattinson might be able to act. Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have finally found the urgency in their characters. Sadly, Taylor Lautner could still use a few actiing classes and Melissa Rosenberg’s writing continues to frustrate, but this is the most technically-accomplished and interesting film in the series because Slade, Stewart, and Pattinson actually invest in rising action unlike the monotonous moping of the first two films.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on December 4th, 2010. Photo credit: Summit

“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” dives right into the story on a sun-drenched romantic afternoon between Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). She wants to become a vampire and he refuses to do so until they’re married. He won’t sleep with her either. The moral message is clear — sex before marriage isn’t just bad, it will make you undead.

Jacob (Taylor Lautner) continues to brood over Bella, convinced that she will one day love him instead of Edward. A mysterious new figure named Victoria played by Bryce Dallas Howard enters the picture, accompanied by a man named Riley (Xavier Samuel) who does her bidding. The two have been planning a war against the Cullens and Bella becomes the obvious target. Yes, we’re expected to believe that Bella is basically the key to centuries-old conflict. It’s every girl’s teen fantasy come true — the fate of your love story truly is the most important thing in the world.

The problems with “Eclipse” are similar to “New Moon” in that the movie takes itself way too damn seriously, producing unintended laughter far too often. Most of it centers around Lautner, an actor who always looks like he’s waiting to speak instead of actually listening or being in the moment. And yet, “Eclipse” moves at an undeniably better pace than “New Moon” and the entire cast seems reinvigorated by actually having something urgent to do.

Summit may be relatively new to the HD game but they have picked it up pretty quickly. The HD video on “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” looks excellent with just the right amount of color saturation and line detail. It’s not over-heated like so much of the dialogue. And the special features are remarkable, including appearances and anecdotes by the cast members that teenagers really want to hear from. We know “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” is your favorite movie of 2010. It’s nice that the Blu-ray will probably be your favorite holiday present too.

Special Features:
o Audio Commentary by Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart
o Audio Commentary by Stephanie Meyer & Wyck Godfrey
o Deleted & Extended Scenes
o Photo Gallery
o Six-Part Making Of Documentary (PIP mode on Combo only)
o Edward Fast Forward
o Jacob Fast Forward
o Music Videos From Muse and Metric
o Photo Gallery
 

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com