Customer Reviews

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Two-Disc Special Edition)

5 star:		(306)
4 star:		(100)
3 star:		(71)
2 star:		(54)
1 star:		(88)

 

 

WARNING: This edition DOES NOT contain all the special features available with the New Moon release. Summit did an evil, evil, manipulative thing with this DVD release and divided up the special features among multiple retailers.

On Amazon you have just the standard discs with a limited number of extras.

If you buy your version at Target, you get an extra disc with Deleted Scenes, Interview with the Volturi, Fandimonium, The Beat Goes On: The Music of Twilight, and Frame by Frame: Storyboards to Screen.

If you buy at Borders, you get extras including Extended Scenes.

And if you buy at Walmart, you get a Sneak Peek at Eclipse (which includes an Eclipse scene), Team Edward v. Team Jacob, Becoming Jacob, Introducing the Wolfpack, Jacob Fast Forward, Edward Fast Forward, and Shooting in Italy.

Summit's hoping you buy THREE copies so that you can get to see all the special features they divided up. Don't give them the satisfaction! Buy one and call it a day!

Amazon only sells the Blu-Ray 1-disc "Special Edition," with very limited special features - if you want deleted scenes and more, you must buy the 2-disc "Deluxe Edition" from Target! If you're just a casual movie watcher (and this review isn't for the movie, but rather the Blu-Ray disc package) and are just interested in seeing the film, with some "making of" and music video-type extras, this edition is just fine. However, if you are (or are buying for) a more devoted Twilight fan, you will definitely want to purchase the "Deluxe Edition" with the second disc that is (to the best of my knowledge) only available at Target stores. It includes all the bonus stuff found on the Amazon version, along with these 2nd disc extras: Deleted Scenes; Introducing the Volturi Featurette; Frame by Frame: From Storyboard to Screen Featurette; Fandamonium: A Look at the Die Hard Fans; and The Beat Goes On: The Music of New Moon Featurette. The Amazon Special Edition has none of those, but costs $5 less. The "Deluxe Edition" also has a collectible film cell. I made the mistake of pre-ordering from Amazon without knowing that there would be two versions, so am forced to return mine to get the better version for the Twilight fan in my family.

So personally I'm a fan of the Twilight books, and while this film is much better than Twilight (not that this is saying much), it still waters the novel down to the point where it's rendered a shadow of its "paper and ink self." I actually feel kind of sorry for Bella-the-book-character because her depression is portrayed as solely the result of getting dumped and, as several reviewers have already noted, is doused with all these teen angst themes when in the novel it's much more complex. She's a young girl who's always related poorly to most people, and Edward and his family are among the very few whom she feels on the same wavelength with; they've essentially become her family and she's already made the choice to become one of their kind one day, and when he leaves her she loses all of that and to her mind, it really is "like she had died." To me that makes her emotional state understandable within the context of her one-track mind and marked lack of cynicism, but of course all that gets glossed over in the film and it's just this blank character with no ambition other than to be with Edward in some way. What's more, Kristen Stewart's empty expressions through it all made me gag, but at least they were somewhat better there than in Twilight.

Still, I thought Taylor Lautner did very well in both films, especially for his age, and all of the actors playing the Quileutes more than made up for Bella's lack of acting skills. However Michael Sheen took the cake with Aro: he portrays the creepily manic, greedy, utter-know-it-all of the books to a "T" and for me his hysterical laugh when Jane failed to torture Bella with her mind was the best part of the whole movie. It has its good bits and its decent bits, but the script is crap and sounds even crappier to viewers unfamiliar with the novel, since for most of the cast the most clumsily delivered lines come straight out of it.

All in all, the film is an okay rendition of the book, but far too manipulated to suit the commercial preferences of ninth-grade girls to appeal to much of an adult audience outside the Twilight fanbase.

If you're a fan of awkward pauses, weak plotlines, and shirtless guys, this movie is for you. By the end of the movie, it seemed like there was a lot of suspense, but not the right kind of suspense. I found myself with enough time between the character's lines to figure out what I'm doing for the rest of the week/month. A lot of times the pauses in the dialog were filled by grunts, sighs, and heavy breathing, which is more than a little uncomfortable. Also, I found myself wondering how two such awesome genre's as Vampires and Werewolves would get themselves wrapped up in something as lame as a highschooler with a breathing problem. Do yourself a favor and rent/buy/obsess over something else.

Bart Simpson put it best "only a girl could make a movie with vampires and werewolves boring.." That describes "New Moon" perfectly.

The first Twilight film was tolerable. Slow moving, a little flat, but tolerable. Instead of moving things to a new level, New Moon wallows in the same somber material that was in the first film. But this time, girls, there are boys with no shirts = werewolves! How exciting? No, not really - especially when there is so much maudlin dialog spread throughout this film.

I have to give credit to the marketing people and the producers. They managed to create something that can directly tap into the pre-teen, teen female movie-goer. Guys know, sensitivity is a hard thing to fake, but if you fake it well then you, just like this film, will be real popular with the ladies. The romantic mythology of this age group is a very powerful thing and this film carefully harnesses that energy, generating massive ticket sales.

But is the film deserving of such attention? No, its not well made, the acting is boring and bad and the movie is unintentially funny. Lets hope this fad dies a quick death.

I was sad so see the version I received was a French copy. The movie is still in English but it's not what is being advertised. The only reason I have not returned the item is because it took so long to arrive in the first place

i rented this film. it was decent and pretty much followed the book. jacob was pretty fab too, i found myself liking him a lot even though i didn't care for him in the books. the following issues however were really apparent and totally proves in my mind why one director/music director needs to tackle a series all at once (a la' lord of the rings) rather than having a hodge podge of different directors:

1.makeup was terrible, edward looks ten years older. the yellow contacts they wore made their eyes look alien instead of golden, alice was the only one who looked better with yellow eyes. hair was absolutely awful, especially rosalie and jasper although edwards hair looked better. everyone looked noticebly uglier except for bella and jacob and charlie and alice. edward is supposed to look 17 for crying out loud, not have deep powdery lines in his forehead and really obvious circles under his eyes.

2.even though there were serious holes and mistakes in twilight, the magical feel and soft texture of the film made it a hit even with those of us who had not read the books, i.e. the eery bluish cast of almost every frame, the rainy foggy beauty of the forests...new moon was much harsher in its look.

3.the acting between bella and edward was seriously lacking in emotional depth, however the real life chemistry between them is what kept me watching in spite of that.

4.the music was...completely unremarkable. typical 'movie' orchestral soundtrack and the pop songs didn't fit and were not catchy at all. not like the first twilight in any regard. i certainly won't be buying that soundtrack whereas i have bought both soundtrack cds from twilight and still listen to them.

if twilight had been made by this director i would not have any reason to see any follow up films. hardwicke, even with all her mistakes, really understood the emotion and intensity of being in love for the first time for a klutzy 17 year old girl and the super coolest danger guy at school. i ran out straightaway and bought the books and loved them for the most part(except BD).

i watch twilight over and over again, but i won't be buying new moon, that was a one time watch. but...it didn't stink, was just ok.

New Moon had the benefit of a bigger budget, more action scenes, and more suspense. The same cast we love are back playing the same characters. Edward is still gorgeous, and thinking of what's best for Bella. Bella is prettier, more mature, and when her heart was breaking, mine was too. Jacob is looking good with a new body, a new haircut, and finds out he really IS descended from wolves. Alice is still sweet, Carlisle is still kind, and Charlie is still the loving dad. There are some great scenes from Italy, and the vampires really look like vampires.

BUT...

There are no special touches this time around. No cool blue lighting. No beautiful music. No Bella's lullaby, or flightless bird. No Robert Pattinson singing or playing the piano. No Stephanie Meyer making an appearance. No romantic, peaceful dreamy feeling. Also, there will not be any commentary from Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson on the DVD.

So if you loved the look, the sound, and the feel of Twilight as I did, then you might be disappointed in New Moon. I know I was.

It's no mistake that NEW MOON has been nominated for several Razzie awards that honor the worst films of the year. This film is atrocious on every level (with perhaps the exceptions of its soundtrack and the cinematography).

For a teen vampire film, it's tone is oddly self-important and humorless. There are no moments of levity to break up the dour malaise in which the characters in this world seem to be hopelessly entangled. Every scene is without subtext. The characters say exactly what they're thinking and feeling at all times. The result is that the scenes have no tension and fall flat. (e.g. "So, you're a werewolf...")

The acting is stilted and without nuance. Kristen Stuart plasters a single, anguished expression on her face the entire time, and the effect is something like watching someone in desperate need of a bowel movement -- for three hours.

But the real issue is that there simply isn't a story. Without the smoke and mirrors of the supernatural creature element as a diversion, and setting aside for a moment the fact that this is a story about a hundred year old guy who digs high school chicks -- the storyline goes something like this:

SPOILER ALERT -- DON'T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT THE STORY REVEALED!

Edward breaks up with his girlfriend Bella and moves away. Bella becomes hopelessly depressed, but eventually starts hanging out with a new guy, Jake. Here we actually have a lot of promise for a great love triangle, but... the relationship kind of starts to develop with Jake, but not really. Bella still loves Edward and is in no danger of changing her heart. (In my opinion, this is the tragic flaw of NEW MOON. If Bella had, after grieving Edward, really and truly fallen in love with Jake, the story could have taken some interesting twists and turns). At any rate, because Bella hasn't gotten over Edward, she becomes a risk-taker. Why? Because every time Bella is in danger, she hallucinates Edward. These hallucinations make her feel close to him. Well, this risk taking has the unintended consequence of giving Edward's sister a dream of Bella's death. And since Edward can read his sister's mind (when it's convenient for the story), Edward fears Bella has died. Worried, Edward makes a phone call to Bella, but as luck would have it, Jake answers the phone. Edward misconstrues the cryptic conversation he has with Jacob and assumes Bella is dead. Before you know it, Edward's sister shows up and reveals that Edward is going to kill himself. So Bella races to Italy to prevent Edward (who is not reachable by phone, email or telepathy) from killing himself. She does prevent his suicide, and Edward returns with her back to the Pacific Northwest. Jake is bummed, but although Bella feels bad for him, it's a simple decision that she continue to go steady with Edward. The end.

So nothing really changes from the start to the finish of this film. Relationships don't change. People's feelings don't change. Despite being sad, Bella loves Edward at the beginning, middle and end of the film. The thing about a love story is that it's only really interesting if two people FALL in love. But in NEW MOON they STAY in love. It's almost as if we're supposed to care about these people and want to watch them not because they're doing anything interesting, but just because they're love is "special." But what makes it so special? The fact that he's a vampire? The fact is that love is only "more special" when it's tragic. But here it's not presented as tragic. It's presented as idyllic. Snoresville.

But wait a minute, -- Edward is a VAMPIRE. He's going to stay young looking while Bella ages. How can that NOT be tragic? That's called inconvenient, -- not tragic. It doesn't prevent them from being together. You may as well say that EVERY love story is tragic because everyone dies eventually.

However, there is an upside to all of this. NEW MOON is so absurd, the dialogue so hammy, the acting so overly-serious and self-important, -- that it's actually kind of watchable as a comedy. Especially when Taylor Lautner goes, "It's gonna get ugly in here." That killed me.

The problem w/New Moon is that it takes itself too seriously while giving the audience plenty of reasons to consider it a joke.

I try not to read too much into movies, and I believe that individuals are responsible for their own actions, but I agree that this movie has influence on young girls, and yep, older women as well. I was in junior high once, and a lot of the dialog resembled what I remembered hearing btwn boyfriends and girlfriends. You know, back in the day when you had a major crush and they were the love of your life? Then 3 weeks later, you BOTH move on to another "love of your life." That's how the dialog sounds. It's cheesy, overdone, and I feel sorry for the teens who thinks this is what it should be. Edward and Bella have an obsessive and codependent relationship. Dumped by a vampire so you're feeling suicidal? Really? If you take out the vampire stuff, everything else is still wrong. Bella is a mopey, emotionless, humorless, goalless, utterly empty of personality shell of a girl. It's really hard to understand why either of these guys find her attractive. What does she do? For herself or anybody? She's a major drag and she treats her dad like crap. It's just not credible that two guys are willing to die (one again) for her. She offers nothing in return. She gets dumped by Ed and just eats up the attention Jacob pays her w/no intention of ever reciprocating his feelings. We call that leading. Everything is about her to the max. What I found particularly amusing is that she asks Jacob if he could just STOP being a wolf...yet this same girl would never ask that of Edward. It makes no sense. Lautner did the best acting of the three, and made me feel for Jake. I read the Wiki page for the Breaking Dawn book and the outcome for his character sounds like a movie recipe for disaster. At this point, producers need to stop leading the little girls on. He honestly saved the movie. As an adult, I can only handle so much teen angst and the fact that he cracked a few smiles kept me from turning it off.

When the werewolf first emerged from the woods before chasing Victoria, OK yes, I thought it was a bear. But even still, the werewolf scenes were the best parts. The vamp makeup was terrible and the contacts were distracting. Pattinson was better in the first movie. Stewart was the same non-entity. She was so unrelatable. Even if not in the dialog, mannerisms, facial expressions, and actions can convey so much about a character. It's hard to believe that Bella is not a robot. Even on the dvd cover, she just doesn't try. Compared to both male leads. Actors should be able to sell their characters' motivations. Stanley in `Streetcar' was utterly reprehensible, but Brando sold it. Stewart does not, and therefore Bella comes off as one of the most undeserving "heroines" to ever hit the screen.

Ugh, I'm gonna stop here.