Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

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

Post by cassis_rose »

Kachiti wrote:Here is how I see your answer, if only I hadn't read the book first. Which is what many in this thread have said. If your honest your answer would be no. I find it interesting that so many blame the book for not enjoying the movie. Like it was somehow unfair to compare it to the book. I disagree.

Realistically, there is no way a movie can follow a book perfectly. However, the movie should at least carry the "essences" of book. I use the movies, The color purple, The Lord of the Ring series and the Narina series. None of these follow the books exactly, people and scenes were added or taken away. Yet I could follow each with the book in my mind accept what the director/producer had done because they had not understood what the original piece of literature but the "essence" of the story. Yea, there were times I would go, okay that person didn't say that or that took place in a different part of the book but it was so beautifully done that in the end it didn't matter. These movies respected the author, the story (characters) and the fans.

Twilight the movie did none of those things. I mean you could barely tell it was a love story. I feel if they had taken the time to tell the love story of Bella and Edward then some of the changes would not have mattered. And don't tell me it was due to a small budget. I seen great movies done a on shoe string budget that were done better then this.

Now with New Moon under production and new director, maybe just maybe the story will be told right or it will bury the series altogether. I guess we will see.
Indeed, I see your point. Even my friend and brothers who did not read the book first find the movie to be a joke. The essence was just not there. There's no deep love behind Bella and Edward and most of the scenes are just awkward. It was almost like MR was not putting enough effort in writing the script, a half-hearted piece of work.

Of course, I will compare the movie to the book. Although my expectations fell after reading the reviews. Still, I held on to some hope, since most of these reviewers were not fans. But when my cousin who is a fan told me about crappy movie, I was really unhappy.

New Moon has to be so much better than Twilight.
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by Jadey »


Im optimistic about New Moon.

But since she completely stuffed up Twilight, I'm not holding my breathe for New Moon.
And I'll be personally offended if she screws up NM.
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by TheInkling »

Oh I've wanted to do this for a while now.

I think most of all the cinematography was just wrong.

First off, the scene in biology. Edward is tense and struggling against Bella's scent. They should have had him just get up and leave, instead of a strange cut scene to show time has passed. Yes, he waits throughout the class period before leaving, but it just came off as awkward. If he had just sat there for a second, holding his mouth, and then run off like he was sick, it would have worked better.

Second was the scene where they're doing the phases of mitoses lab. The entire shot was done WAY up close, and it felt too tight. I wanted to lean back and see the whole shot. It should have been half shot up close, and then half of the shots were of the two of them. It would have been much more interesting to see them interacting, instead of just moving between their faces back and forth.

Also, throughout this part of the movie, it's aaaaall hand held, instead of steady cam. The picture is all shaky. It was like Blair Witch Project, it made me a little sea sick.

Then, was the forest scene. Oi!!!! Okay, the scene where she tells him she knows he's a vampire, this should have been almost all shot head on, just looking at the two of them. In a tense scene like that you should have NO movement what so ever. It's way too distracting. In every movie, every stage production, when the dialogue is tense and important, you don't move anything, not the camera, not the actors. The point is that you want your audience focused. The constantly changing positions and angles was just distracting and annoying.

Then they run through the woods, he's showing her all the reasons she should hate him, then he sparkles in this tiiiiiny little ray of sunlight. Then they fall in love.

what?

Then a musical interlude and a montage of them in the meadow?

It just made no sense.

They should have done it closer to the book. Okay, she tells him she knows he's a vampire, she doesn't want to lose him, he should have then been glad that she loved him, taken her to his meadow, shown her his beautiful shining self in all his glory like he did in the book, yay sparkly Edward, then they share this tender moment, maybe add in that deleted scene where he bites her finger, but then he freaks, and shows her how dangerous he is, cute scene with Edward in the tree.

There, we've got actual character development, we show how they fall in love, it doesn't feel so quick, there's honest conflict in Edward's feelings, and we get a much better meadow scene.

Also the color grading was too blue, and shiny. The whole movie seemed to have this color thing where it was really bright, blueish silver all the time, it came off as a little too surreal. I think it would have been better if it was slightly more natural colors at some points.


But at about half way through the movie, I loved it! Pretty much if I can get through to the "Rockstar Edward" scene, I love the rest of the movie.
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by shortstuff »

Kachiti wrote:
shortstuff wrote: ah, i didnt realize that was your question..

my answer... i really don't know. i read the book before watching the movie, so i've kind of been 'tainted' (for lack of a better term) by the book and naturally have that in my head when i watch. When i first saw it i was like, 'man i'm glad i read the book, because i think if i was just watching it cold, i would have thought this was the stupidest peice of crap ever'. BUT my friend, (who was the one who got me into the series) watched the movie FIRST and she absolutely LOVED it and that's what led her to read the books.. so really i dont know. maybe watching it without all those expectations and ideas of what it was supposed to be, i would have enjoyed it and watched it mutiple times... or maybe not. i guess we'll never really know!
Here is how I see your answer, if only I hadn't read the book first. Which is what many in this thread have said. If your honest your answer would be no. I find it interesting that so many blame the book for not enjoying the movie. Like it was somehow unfair to compare it to the book. I disagree.

Realistically, there is no way a movie can follow a book perfectly. However, the movie should at least carry the "essences" of book. I use the movies, The color purple, The Lord of the Ring series and the Narina series. None of these follow the books exactly, people and scenes were added or taken away. Yet I could follow each with the book in my mind accept what the director/producer had done because they had not understood what the original piece of literature but the "essence" of the story. Yea, there were times I would go, okay that person didn't say that or that took place in a different part of the book but it was so beautifully done that in the end it didn't matter. These movies respected the author, the story (characters) and the fans.

Twilight the movie did none of those things. I mean you could barely tell it was a love story. I feel if they had taken the time to tell the love story of Bella and Edward then some of the changes would not have mattered. And don't tell me it was due to a small budget. I seen great movies done a on shoe string budget that were done better then this.

Now with New Moon under production and new director, maybe just maybe the story will be told right or it will bury the series altogether. I guess we will see.
the funny thing is... i agree with you! i KNOW the movie was terrible and in no way did the book justice.. and yet, for some reason i cant explain, i continue to watch it over and over again, and enjoy it more every time! i guess the basic reason is the simple delight i get seeing these beloved characters come to life on screen, and enjoying the few things they DID get right.. there's really no logic or explanation... its just the way it is, lol. :lol:
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by Dovrebanen »

^^ Me too. I can't wait to get my DVD. It's somewhere between the UK and Norway now, and I am so excited. Hope it comes today or tomorrow. I didn't like it all, but I can't wait to see it again. It is just so strange...
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by Kachiti »

shortstuff wrote:
the funny thing is... i agree with you! i KNOW the movie was terrible and in no way did the book justice.. and yet, for some reason i cant explain, i continue to watch it over and over again, and enjoy it more every time! i guess the basic reason is the simple delight i get seeing these beloved characters come to life on screen, and enjoying the few things they DID get right.. there's really no logic or explanation... its just the way it is, lol. :lol:
I won't hold it against you. For me, once was enough.
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by shortstuff »

Kachiti wrote:
shortstuff wrote:
the funny thing is... i agree with you! i KNOW the movie was terrible and in no way did the book justice.. and yet, for some reason i cant explain, i continue to watch it over and over again, and enjoy it more every time! i guess the basic reason is the simple delight i get seeing these beloved characters come to life on screen, and enjoying the few things they DID get right.. there's really no logic or explanation... its just the way it is, lol. :lol:
I won't hold it against you. For me, once was enough.
lol, to each their own i guess! :D
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by Sykes »

It was a low budget movie I know, but I was still very disappointed with it, I laughed nearly the whole way through it. Their sense of time was way out too; I know it was suppose to be months later but it didn't feel like it.
I was very disappointed when Jasper didn't get his little time at the end, we never even were told what ability he had; only the people who have read the book would no
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by rjupiter »

Hi -

This is my first post here and I feel like I need to warn that it might be a bit long, so you don't have to read it if you don't want.

Anywho, I recently had the mind to sit down and read/watch what all the bad press/reviews and hype was about this movie and books. I had never heard of these books till the movie was set to be released and the press and internet was flying. Vampires has always been my bailiwick so to speak. If there was a "monster" to pick vampires were it. Unfortunately I have been working on my bachelor and master's the past 6 years straight so when I am not reading 3,000 years old religious text or about the French Revolution I am pretty much just not reading anything, until now.

In truth I had really no interest in seeing the movie, the reviews aside. If anything has that many negative reviews, people balking and parodies online I will usually see it just cause of all that. Anyway, my sister is the one who wanted to see it so when it came out on DVD I rented for her from my Netflix. When it got to the house, before I could give to her in a few days, I said what the hell and watched. After I did I sat up and honestly said, "I have seen much worse movies", it really wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. I kind of genuinely liked it, that was until I decided to look into the source material.

Yep, I went and I read the book to compare it to the movie, probably a bad idea, and now I kind of hate the movie for not being what was in the book. I know many people say, "apples and oranges" but for me that is not even the problem. I mean I could watch "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" , for example, and see the movie for what it was apart from the book, but this movie I had trouble with. To me it left out a lot of what made the book interesting and brought it charm. It shifted around scenes and dialogue to different parts or completely new scenes that made little sense and kind of confused the story. I blame the screen writer 100% for this. I notice a lot people blame the director and this is part true. However, the director goes by what is in the script and it was if the person who adapted the book took all the most interesting and important parts of the book, completely ignored them, and then picked all the generic bland high school garbage that you can get in any other "teen flick" type movie. (after looking up her CV I can see why this is) I know people say "but you can't have the whole book in two hours" and that is true but you can have an adaptation that is actually done well, this is evident from past Oscar winning movies being adaptions. This movie felt more like and "inspired by" or "based on" then an adaptation.


For me I can remember what it was like being in school, a young chick, (oh so many moons ago) and seeing "that guy" in school and going "damn!" and then knowing no way in hell I would get him. I mean even small things like being so worked up over talking to "that guy" that I couldn't sleep so I took cold medicine so I could. When that happened in the book I shouted and laughed "I so did that". However, that kind of charm for me was lost in the movie and I was left with, i felt, a more watered down and rushed version of the book and a lot of things left unexplained, making it seem overly dramatic and cheesy at times. They really did leave out some of the best scenes in the book and put in new scenes or chopped stuff together. I mean come on I would I have liked to seen the meadow scene fully done and in the film, which would have done a lot for the film and had the "killing spree" angle dropped.

One example that bugged me would be Bella who went from a somewhat shy/introverted person a bit more of a loner, smart, very observant a bit pigheaded and a bit self deprecating, but caring, all of which I also identified with, to someone who came off as skittish, overly nervous, sheepish, kind of smart but not overly and clumsy for the sake of being nervous and not predisposed to it.

Anyway, now I am just complaining and that is not good, sorry. In the end I think I rather enjoy the books more. And my sister who saw it, when I first asked her what she thought/did she like it, she said "well the cinematography was beautiful" and that kind of summed it up. The movie is what it is and if I can see it apart from the books I might like it more but I keep getting the feeling that the books would have made a better tv show then a movie. In fact it was brother-in-law, who saw it with my sister, who suggested it and said how much it reminded him of Roswell. Good points and one I agree with. I think I would root for a TV version that gave us more of what the books has then watered down movies.

Sorry, went a little off topic/strayed in thought. Anyway, what I wanted to know was did this happen to anyone else? Did they see the movie first and ten read the book? Did it make the movie better or worse for you?
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Re: Twilight the Movie ~ I didn't like it

Post by Kachiti »

rjupiter wrote:Hi -

This is my first post here and I feel like I need to warn that it might be a bit long, so you don't have to read it if you don't want.

Anywho, I recently had the mind to sit down and read/watch what all the bad press/reviews and hype was about this movie and books. I had never heard of these books till the movie was set to be released and the press and internet was flying. Vampires has always been my bailiwick so to speak. If there was a "monster" to pick vampires were it. Unfortunately I have been working on my bachelor and master's the past 6 years straight so when I am not reading 3,000 years old religious text or about the French Revolution I am pretty much just not reading anything, until now.

In truth I had really no interest in seeing the movie, the reviews aside. If anything has that many negative reviews, people balking and parodies online I will usually see it just cause of all that. Anyway, my sister is the one who wanted to see it so when it came out on DVD I rented for her from my Netflix. When it got to the house, before I could give to her in a few days, I said what the hell and watched. After I did I sat up and honestly said, "I have seen much worse movies", it really wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. I kind of genuinely liked it, that was until I decided to look into the source material.

Yep, I went and I read the book to compare it to the movie, probably a bad idea, and now I kind of hate the movie for not being what was in the book. I know many people say, "apples and oranges" but for me that is not even the problem. I mean I could watch "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" , for example, and see the movie for what it was apart from the book, but this movie I had trouble with. To me it left out a lot of what made the book interesting and brought it charm. It shifted around scenes and dialogue to different parts or completely new scenes that made little sense and kind of confused the story. I blame the screen writer 100% for this. I notice a lot people blame the director and this is part true. However, the director goes by what is in the script and it was if the person who adapted the book took all the most interesting and important parts of the book, completely ignored them, and then picked all the generic bland high school garbage that you can get in any other "teen flick" type movie. (after looking up her CV I can see why this is) I know people say "but you can't have the whole book in two hours" and that is true but you can have an adaptation that is actually done well, this is evident from past Oscar winning movies being adaptions. This movie felt more like and "inspired by" or "based on" then an adaptation.


For me I can remember what it was like being in school, a young chick, (oh so many moons ago) and seeing "that guy" in school and going "damn!" and then knowing no way in hell I would get him. I mean even small things like being so worked up over talking to "that guy" that I couldn't sleep so I took cold medicine so I could. When that happened in the book I shouted and laughed "I so did that". However, that kind of charm for me was lost in the movie and I was left with, i felt, a more watered down and rushed version of the book and a lot of things left unexplained, making it seem overly dramatic and cheesy at times. They really did leave out some of the best scenes in the book and put in new scenes or chopped stuff together. I mean come on I would I have liked to seen the meadow scene fully done and in the film, which would have done a lot for the film and had the "killing spree" angle dropped.

One example that bugged me would be Bella who went from a somewhat shy/introverted person a bit more of a loner, smart, very observant a bit pigheaded and a bit self deprecating, but caring, all of which I also identified with, to someone who came off as skittish, overly nervous, sheepish, kind of smart but not overly and clumsy for the sake of being nervous and not predisposed to it.

Anyway, now I am just complaining and that is not good, sorry. In the end I think I rather enjoy the books more. And my sister who saw it, when I first asked her what she thought/did she like it, she said "well the cinematography was beautiful" and that kind of summed it up. The movie is what it is and if I can see it apart from the books I might like it more but I keep getting the feeling that the books would have made a better tv show then a movie. In fact it was brother-in-law, who saw it with my sister, who suggested it and said how much it reminded him of Roswell. Good points and one I agree with. I think I would root for a TV version that gave us more of what the books has then watered down movies.

Sorry, went a little off topic/strayed in thought. Anyway, what I wanted to know was did this happen to anyone else? Did they see the movie first and ten read the book? Did it make the movie better or worse for you?
rjupiter,

You fit in with the rest of us. Unlike you I read the books first. Thirty minutes into the movie, I so wanted to turn it off. I kept starring at watch, basically for the nightmare that was this movie to end. I hate to say it but Roswell (maybe not the last season) was way better then this movie. Though making the book into a tv show does perk my interest. However, unlike most I won't be insulting my intelligence by watching that dribble again. Though if New Moon works out maybe they can savage Twilight by doing Midnight Sun.
Frustrated love has been the incentive for many great works.
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