Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

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krisitne89
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by krisitne89 »

To say that I was disappointed is the understatement of the century! Here's how I saw it:
1) Edward was made into a weak and angsty person. No life, no passion - just angst. In the book Edward came alive when he was in Bella's room and heard his name on her lips. I know Rob is better than this, but he needs to go back and reread Twilight and the manuscript of MS. Edward was portrayed as weak and unsure. He was actually a very confident poised individual that was still trying to reconcile who he was on some levels. Rob just did not get it.

2) Bella(Kristen) was stiff, uncomfortable and stilted. Bella learned to unwind and come alive after her relationship with Edward took off - where was the love story? This was an angst story not a love story as it should have been protrayed. I felt that Kristen did not get Bella either. It was like she hated being there.

3) The Meadow seen was butchered!!!! Where was the confession between the two; the intense conversation that started this whole series. Where was Edward telling Bella to "Don't move" and then he slowly glides his nose down her cheekbone, across her jawline, down her throat and runs his nose across her collarbone and then places his cheek against the hollow of her throat and chest and says "Ah". The tenderness and sensuality in that moment was not shown. And how about Bella telling Edward to "Be still" and no one could be still like Edward and she slowly touches her fingertips to his face; his cheekbones, his eyelids, across his forehead and finally to his lips which part under her touch and she feels the coolness of his breath and then he opens his eyes to reveal the hunger in them. That scene was the pivotal point in the book and their love. GONE.

4) Where was Alice? I love Alice.
5)This film was choppy, stilted and ill-written and directed. I mean, did Melissa Rosenberg even read the book?
Wow, navarre,- you took the words right out of mouth! Well said. It's so nice to get on this board and find other people who had the exact same issues with the film that I did.

The horrible special effects and production value I could ignore. I came to see the love story of Edward and Bella that swept me away in the book come to life on the screen. I was so disappointed. It was really lacking for me.
The two leads looked but that was pretty much it.

1.) Like you said, the film was very choppy. The romance between edward and bella was disjointed and so rushed. My nonreading friends said it didn't make any sense how/why they fell in love in the first place. There just wasn't enough development. It was all angst and odd glances then - all of a sudden they are in the meadow declaring their undying love for each other. It just wasn't an engaging, believable romance to me.

2.) Rob's edward overly emphasized the tortured side of the character. It was just angst, angst and more angst.
I'm not sure if it was his make-up or the editing- but a lot of his facial expressions came off as weird, awkward, and downright creepy. He was supposed to be mysterious and brooding in an attractive way, as well as charming and "dazzling." In the movie- especially in the beginning, he just seemed crazy and definitely not swoon worthy.
I know that Edward was conflicted and had inner turmoil, but in the film it was just overkill. A lot of his lines and his looks were overacted causing a lot of unintentional chuckles in the audience. Where was the smooth, gentlemanly, old world charm of Edward- the one who composed a lullaby to bella and hummed her to sleep, who would leave her notes, etc? It was the combination of all these character traits that have made a lot of women think of edward as " the perfect guy." I don't mind that the tortured side came out in the film- I just wanted the tender, affectionate side of edward to be included as well to give his character balance.

3.) Kristen's bella was more natural than Edward, but she was so cold and stoic. Throughout the whole film kristen barely cracked a smile. It was just depressing. What happened to the "blushing", fainting, Bella whose heart would stammer whenever she was around Edward? I didn't need it to be that melodramatic, but Kristen's bella either looked tense, indifferent, or scared when she was around Edward. It would have been nice to have captured at least some of the joy that was in the love story of the book. I think the only time Kristen ever registered any emotion was in the hospital scene when she began to channel some of the hysteria I expect to see in new moon at the thought of edward leaving her. The nonreading audience was thrown off by that- but I think it was because in the context of the film it did not make any sense for her to react so passionately at the idea of edward leaving when she barely expressed any emotion when she was supposedly in love with him

4.)which brings me to my next point which you also mentioned- Twilight was supposed to be about the wonder and excitement of discovering "first love". That was what struck a chord with me when I read the book. What we got instead was an angst story that was all doom and gloom. Where were all the tender, sweet moments that the two shared in the book- the light hearted banter? The only scene I can recall that was more natural and pleasant was when they walk into school together with everyone staring. That was classic edward and bella.

5.) You're completely right about the meadow scene. All we got was that video montage of them staring at each other, (and the theatre laughing again when they shouldn't be.) It was supposed to be a tense but sensual, exciting, and tender moment between the two. She was supposed to be tracing patterns on his arm, touching him for the first time, etc. He was supposed to be gradually touching her like you said, with his head resting on her chest, etc. I didn't need it to be exactly like that, but I wanted the essence of the emotion to be captured and it just wasn't.

I think a lot of it was mostly the directing and the editing. Also, it seems like the actors were so bent on making this serious that they forgot these 2 characters were completely enraptured and crazy in love. That was the dominating emotion- not fear, not angst, not thirst. They were excited and happy about experiencing love for the first time- marveling at all their new found feelings. I think kristen and rob were just more comfortable playing miserable and tortured. The thing is, they would have had plenty of chances to do that in new moon. The depression and devastation they feel at being apart in new moon doesn't make a whole lot of sense if they didn't show any joy when they were actually together.
SoSimplySimple
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by SoSimplySimple »

Apparition wrote:I know that when making a book into a movie things will be left out, and some things will change for cinematic reasons. That is to be expected. I took that into consideration when I went to see Twilight, and gave it the benefit of the doubt. Let me start of by saying that I really had no problem with any of the actors except maybe the guy playing Jasper, and the girl playing Jessica, but I can get past that. I just felt that the pacing was all off. If I hadn't read the book I feel like I may have been lost at times. The thing in the book that makes their love story real is how it develops over time, and the amount of love and sacrifice that Bella feels for Edward. The love story felt extremely rushed. When she wakes up to find Edward watching her in her sleep Edward tells her that he has been watching her for the past 2 months, when it felt like Bella had reall only been in twon a week, maybe two at best. I felt no concept of time at all.

Ant that was just one of my problems all be it a major one. It almost felt like the love happened over night. I also didn't like how they left out Carlisle's story which is not only important to explain him as a character but the whole Cullen family. His story would have really came in handy at the end when Alice has to call Carlisle over because Bella is bleeding and she is having trouble fighting her hunger.

Edward also tells Bella that he has killed people, though he never says why, just that he has down it. In the book he is more like the Dexter of the Vampire world, killing for the greater good.

The meadow scene needed to be longer, especially seeing as how to me that kind of sets up their relationship, and kind of builds the foundation on the love story.

I had a lot more issues with the movie that I won't go into, I am sure someone else will. And don't get me wrong, there were some things that were done well, like the skin sparkle I thought looked good among other things, but all in all not to fantastic.

I blame most of the films issues on the Director. I know that money was also an issue, but I think a good director would have made all the difference in the world. I felt as if she was relying on the fans of the book to know what was going on in some scenes so she wouldn't have to explain them fully, and then betraying those same people in the same breath.

They have already signed on to do New Moon. All I can say to that is good luck. They are going to need more money of course, which should be a problem. A new Director, and a new Screen Play Adapter. These are my opinions.
agree in every way possi ble
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by goremyra »

First of all, I'm probably a lot older than the average/median age of this website (33), and I was hesitant to read the books, especially since they were recommended by my Cheap Romance Novel loving roommate. I have been quite surprised by the books, in a good way! (I still have the fourth book to read, as of now)


Me and my partner and my roommate all went to see the movie "Twilight" on Tuesday and even though we had heard that it wasn't as well made or as closely adapted to the book as we would have liked, we decided to give it a chance since we liked the books so well. It's akin to supporting one of your favorite sports teams (for a rough analogy, at least) even though you know they don't play very well or will probably lose. There's always something in people that inspires fierce loyalty....in this case, I would surmise that the simplistic bumblings of, let's face it, a very innocent but precocious young girl/woman (Bella) falling in love with what could be considered her polar opposite (Edward). It ALMOST seems cliched, yes? Good vs. Evil. Good joing with Evil. That sort of thing. I would suppose that had she not written the books for a strictly juvenile audience, and had embellished the stories with a little more darkness, a bit more sinister and truthful, if you will, look at what Vampire really means in terms of legends and mythology, then we(the audience) wouldn't be so sympathetic to the story. Bella does love him, unconditionally, and never sees the problem of her predicament, as Edward clearly does. And Vampire's being, for all intents and purposes, a very well-crafted metaphor for the lurking, underlying Being in every human being; we are capable of Good and Evil, some representing a greater Balance to one side or the other. Well, what I'm trying to say is that she (Mrs. Meyers), for the most part, hints at what Edward really is, what he represents, so it's easy for the audience to sympathize with their story, their Romeo and Juliet-ish, against-the-odds affair.



I'm off subject, I suppose! :) This is supposed to be about the movie....here is what I think was wrong with the movie and what I thought did a terrible disservice to the book and the story, overall:


1) First, the woman who wrote the screenplay should be shot! (NOT literally, I hope you know that!) She wrote, admittedly, a contrived, confusing and ill-sequenced script. I know that the target audience was primarily teenage girls, but c'mon! It was banal and over-articulated to the point of being ridiculous! Stephanie Meyers words were chopped up and spewed out with such randomness that just when I was beginning to get into the movie, here come's more trite dialogue that ruins the moment! Let ME write the next treatment for "New Moon"! HINT HINT! ;) Seriously, I could do greater justice for it than Michelle Rosenberg!

2) Secondly, the characters: I did find Robert Pattinson rather handsome (at times) and I think they picked the right girl for Bella. HOWEVER, and me and my partner and my roommate were all on the same page as this, but some of the other characters did not materialize onto the screen as we had imagined them while reading the book. Usually a good writer will give enough of a description (even writing subjectively as Bella does) of other characters that it can create a fairly universal ideal of that character, personality, etc. However, Carlisle in the movie did NOT look like the Carlisle we envisioned. He looked like a technicolor Mannequin, ready to be dressed and displayed in a Macy's deparment store window! It came across as cheesy and fake. Eric was not what I/we had imagined, as was Mike Newton, Billy Black, and of course, all of the Cullens, especially Jasper (who looked, I fear, even more homosexual and/or metrosexual than any gay men I've known!). I was also highly suspect of Emmett, in the movie, wearing a purple tracksuit and hat turned sideways, all gangsta', like a wanna-be Vanilla Ice. And Robert Pattinson was rather "furry"....his arms, some strands of chest hair, etc. Isn't Edward described as "cool marble" in the book? I would doubt a 100 year old vampire would have body hair that was auburn colored. Just not believable even though the book is fictional and using mythical creatures! The girl who played Bella, well, her hair was rather pretty and long, like I imagined! At least that was right! And let us not forget the dreadlocked wearing Laurent or the trailer park effigies of James and Victoria. They were much more grander and beautiful in my imagination. And who would have thought Laurent was Black? Sorry, but that was just not something that occured to me, from reading the story!

3) The acting: Well, I'd like to predict, Alice-like, that there won't be any awards given for giving a truly believable emotional performance. When Edward (Pattinson) grimaces the first time he sees Bella, it looks like he's got diarrhea coming on, not, as we know from the book, a certain grimacing displeasure from reacting to Bella's scent and blood so strongly. The acting was over-done, the emotional embellishment not entirely believable and Bella, though the actress tried, did not come across nearly as believable as I'd hoped. It looked like the actress playing her had botox done, because I don't recall her forehead ever registering any sort of emotion, as what happens when someone frowns or is lost in thought, etc. She acted very blandly, Pattinson overdid the love parts and the scene in the meadow while they are playing baseball...well, let's just say we weren't the only ones who found the scene when they are about to fight over Bella just a wee bit ridiculous and stupid! I wish I could imitate for you, personally, the looks of fake growling and hissing they did....I was embarassed for them!


4) The special effects: Again, not a prize winner. I've seen indie films where the special effects were done on a tight budget but done tastefully. Edward running through the forest looked like fake Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon outtakes. Them climbing into tall trees? Not in the book and certainly not pivotal to the story.....and let us not forget the AWFUL way that Ms. Rosenberg interpreted how sunlight reflects off of a Vampires skin....glitter? That's what it looked like....Edward looked like a Abba reject from the disco era...I was waiting for a disco ball to drop right out of the sky at that point...I could put glitter on my body and go out into the sun and look like Edward did. It would have been amazing if he'd looked like I/we imagined: it would be akin to taking a crystal and holding it into the sunlight..or a big diamond, and letting all of the suns rays refect from the surface into millions of brilliant, rainbow-colored arrays. Instead, we got glitter. This was NOT a Mariah Carey movie!



Overall, a very disappointing failed attempt to take a great story and visualize it on screen. At any rate, I'd have to admit that I'll probably buy the movie on DVD when it comes out simply because I do like a few parts of the movie (very few!) and I'd have to admit a certain guilty pleasure of looking at Rob Pattinson again! (I rewatched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire just so I could remember who he was!)



I would seriously write the next script/treatment for another film in this series and do it the justice that Mrs. Meyers books' deserve! If you know her personally, pass that on! I couldn't bear to sit through two more hours of butchered dialogue, overwrought and unbelievable emotion and knowing that someone elses creations were being made to look like childish renderings in the hands of inept "filmmakers".
lyssa73
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by lyssa73 »

do you think if we got a petition going to replace katherine and melissa and kristen that maybe they would get replacements? seriously? i dont think i can stand to see them massacre the next two. :cry:
goremyra
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by goremyra »

lyssa73 wrote:do you think if we got a petition going to replace katherine and melissa and kristen that maybe they would get replacements? seriously? i dont think i can stand to see them massacre the next two. :cry:
I would certainly help get that started! Maybe you should start that as a new discussion thread? Let me know and we'll get Melissa (who I called Michelle) fired! They butchered the story enough!
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by Dancing_with_Jacob »

Sorry! I posted this in Fan Reactions -- I didn't realize this board topic was here - not too observant tonight! Anyhoo moved it here...


Okay finally getting around to posting my review here. First I would like to say the movie looked beautiful. It had a very interesting "look" to it. But other than that I have to say, and I really didn't want to say it...I was a bit disappointed. I feel that if someone did not read the book they would be very confused. I just don't think it was executed very well. The first half was rushed so insanely fast to me...one minute she hates him, next minute head over heels? And was it just me or did she look kind of like she was in pain when she was in scenes with him? I felt scenes were added that were unnecessary (victoria and james killing) - we would have known what they were and what they wanted - pretty obvious. It took up time that would have been better used to explain Bella and Edward's relationship more clearly.

I also feel a lot of the humor contained in the book was left elsewhere in the movie. The theater maybe gave a silent chuckle here and there to minute moments in the film but it just seems a lot of the joy of the book was lost on the film for me. It just came across SO dark. Again, I did not hate the film, but I am hoping for a better result in the future movies.
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by Dancing_with_Jacob »

goremyra wrote:First of all, I'm probably a lot older than the average/median age of this website (33), and I was hesitant to read the books, especially since they were recommended by my Cheap Romance Novel loving roommate. I have been quite surprised by the books, in a good way! (I still have the fourth book to read, as of now)


Me and my partner and my roommate all went to see the movie "Twilight" on Tuesday and even though we had heard that it wasn't as well made or as closely adapted to the book as we would have liked, we decided to give it a chance since we liked the books so well. It's akin to supporting one of your favorite sports teams (for a rough analogy, at least) even though you know they don't play very well or will probably lose. There's always something in people that inspires fierce loyalty....in this case, I would surmise that the simplistic bumblings of, let's face it, a very innocent but precocious young girl/woman (Bella) falling in love with what could be considered her polar opposite (Edward). It ALMOST seems cliched, yes? Good vs. Evil. Good joing with Evil. That sort of thing. I would suppose that had she not written the books for a strictly juvenile audience, and had embellished the stories with a little more darkness, a bit more sinister and truthful, if you will, look at what Vampire really means in terms of legends and mythology, then we(the audience) wouldn't be so sympathetic to the story. Bella does love him, unconditionally, and never sees the problem of her predicament, as Edward clearly does. And Vampire's being, for all intents and purposes, a very well-crafted metaphor for the lurking, underlying Being in every human being; we are capable of Good and Evil, some representing a greater Balance to one side or the other. Well, what I'm trying to say is that she (Mrs. Meyers), for the most part, hints at what Edward really is, what he represents, so it's easy for the audience to sympathize with their story, their Romeo and Juliet-ish, against-the-odds affair.



I'm off subject, I suppose! :) This is supposed to be about the movie....here is what I think was wrong with the movie and what I thought did a terrible disservice to the book and the story, overall:


1) First, the woman who wrote the screenplay should be shot! (NOT literally, I hope you know that!) She wrote, admittedly, a contrived, confusing and ill-sequenced script. I know that the target audience was primarily teenage girls, but c'mon! It was banal and over-articulated to the point of being ridiculous! Stephanie Meyers words were chopped up and spewed out with such randomness that just when I was beginning to get into the movie, here come's more trite dialogue that ruins the moment! Let ME write the next treatment for "New Moon"! HINT HINT! ;) Seriously, I could do greater justice for it than Michelle Rosenberg!

2) Secondly, the characters: I did find Robert Pattinson rather handsome (at times) and I think they picked the right girl for Bella. HOWEVER, and me and my partner and my roommate were all on the same page as this, but some of the other characters did not materialize onto the screen as we had imagined them while reading the book. Usually a good writer will give enough of a description (even writing subjectively as Bella does) of other characters that it can create a fairly universal ideal of that character, personality, etc. However, Carlisle in the movie did NOT look like the Carlisle we envisioned. He looked like a technicolor Mannequin, ready to be dressed and displayed in a Macy's deparment store window! It came across as cheesy and fake. Eric was not what I/we had imagined, as was Mike Newton, Billy Black, and of course, all of the Cullens, especially Jasper (who looked, I fear, even more homosexual and/or metrosexual than any gay men I've known!). I was also highly suspect of Emmett, in the movie, wearing a purple tracksuit and hat turned sideways, all gangsta', like a wanna-be Vanilla Ice. And Robert Pattinson was rather "furry"....his arms, some strands of chest hair, etc. Isn't Edward described as "cool marble" in the book? I would doubt a 100 year old vampire would have body hair that was auburn colored. Just not believable even though the book is fictional and using mythical creatures! The girl who played Bella, well, her hair was rather pretty and long, like I imagined! At least that was right! And let us not forget the dreadlocked wearing Laurent or the trailer park effigies of James and Victoria. They were much more grander and beautiful in my imagination. And who would have thought Laurent was Black? Sorry, but that was just not something that occured to me, from reading the story!

3) The acting: Well, I'd like to predict, Alice-like, that there won't be any awards given for giving a truly believable emotional performance. When Edward (Pattinson) grimaces the first time he sees Bella, it looks like he's got diarrhea coming on, not, as we know from the book, a certain grimacing displeasure from reacting to Bella's scent and blood so strongly. The acting was over-done, the emotional embellishment not entirely believable and Bella, though the actress tried, did not come across nearly as believable as I'd hoped. It looked like the actress playing her had botox done, because I don't recall her forehead ever registering any sort of emotion, as what happens when someone frowns or is lost in thought, etc. She acted very blandly, Pattinson overdid the love parts and the scene in the meadow while they are playing baseball...well, let's just say we weren't the only ones who found the scene when they are about to fight over Bella just a wee bit ridiculous and stupid! I wish I could imitate for you, personally, the looks of fake growling and hissing they did....I was embarassed for them!


4) The special effects: Again, not a prize winner. I've seen indie films where the special effects were done on a tight budget but done tastefully. Edward running through the forest looked like fake Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon outtakes. Them climbing into tall trees? Not in the book and certainly not pivotal to the story.....and let us not forget the AWFUL way that Ms. Rosenberg interpreted how sunlight reflects off of a Vampires skin....glitter? That's what it looked like....Edward looked like a Abba reject from the disco era...I was waiting for a disco ball to drop right out of the sky at that point...I could put glitter on my body and go out into the sun and look like Edward did. It would have been amazing if he'd looked like I/we imagined: it would be akin to taking a crystal and holding it into the sunlight..or a big diamond, and letting all of the suns rays refect from the surface into millions of brilliant, rainbow-colored arrays. Instead, we got glitter. This was NOT a Mariah Carey movie!



Overall, a very disappointing failed attempt to take a great story and visualize it on screen. At any rate, I'd have to admit that I'll probably buy the movie on DVD when it comes out simply because I do like a few parts of the movie (very few!) and I'd have to admit a certain guilty pleasure of looking at Rob Pattinson again! (I rewatched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire just so I could remember who he was!)



I would seriously write the next script/treatment for another film in this series and do it the justice that Mrs. Meyers books' deserve! If you know her personally, pass that on! I couldn't bear to sit through two more hours of butchered dialogue, overwrought and unbelievable emotion and knowing that someone elses creations were being made to look like childish renderings in the hands of inept "filmmakers".

I TOTALLY agree with you about Carlisle! I literally jumped back in my seat when he came on the screen.
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twilightgirlforever
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by twilightgirlforever »

These buttholes didn't like it and made a joke out of the movie!!! :evil: :evil:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UlAMSqyZXCY
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by navarre »

lyssa73 wrote:do you think if we got a petition going to replace katherine and melissa and kristen that maybe they would get replacements? seriously? i dont think i can stand to see them massacre the next two. :cry:
If only, lyssa73, if only we could get so lucky! But it does sound like a pretty righteous idea to me.
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by morethanmyownlife »

Did anyone notice that Billy was driving? Wasn't the whole point of him selling Bella his car was that he couldn't drive? Wasn't the whole point of Jacob being with him half the time was because he had to be the one to drive him? BIlly is also supposed to be incredibly overweight. Couldn't they have given him a body suit or something? My boyfriend even commented during the movie, hey that guy is in a wheel chair how was he just driving? It's the little things that count, and the little things that ruin a movie..
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