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Eclipse (2010)
Summit Entertainment
Blu-ray Disc Released: 12/4/2010
All Ratings out of
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1/2
Review by Mike Long, Posted on 11/28/2010
Since when are vampires made of porcelain? I've seen the other
Twilight films, and I don't remember anything like this. Yet, in Eclipse, when a vampire is hit, they fall apart like a statue. Is this something new? Was I simply not paying attention in the other movies? Perhaps this is a moot point, as Eclipse is an odd movie which is apparently trying to please the die-hard fans (I refuse to use that other term) and general audiences. However, I'm not sure if anyone will walk away from this movie satisfied...or knowing if vampire are made out of toilet bowl material.Eclipse picks up not long after the events of
New Moon. Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) are back in the small town of Forks, after having traveled to Italy, and are trying to resume their normal abnormal lives. Bella continues to ask Edward to make her a vampire, but he refuses. On the contrary, he brings up the idea of marriage, and Bella isn't sure how she feels about this. Her indecision has to do with the fact that her friendship with Jacob (Taylor Lautner) still means a lot to her, despite the fact that there is bad-blood between the vampires and werewolves. Meanwhile, a rash of murders, which appear to be vampire-related, have been taking place in nearby Seattle. Carlisle (Peter Facinelli), the leader of the vampire clan in Forks, can't decide what his family should do about this, but when it becomes clear that an army of vampires may be coming to town, he must forge an uneasy alliance with his kinds greatest foe. Edward, Bella, and Jacob are caught in the middle of not only their love triangle, but this impending battle.The Twilight saga films have taken a unique approach to the adaptation of the books, as each movie has been helmed by a different director, which leads to the films each having a unique tone. Eclipse comes from David Slade, the director of intense movies like
30 Days of Night and Hard Candy. While this is still very much a Twilight movie, Slade brings that kind of sensibility to Eclipse. This creates a film which feels like two movies in one.One of those movies focuses on struggle between the vampires and the werewolves and the mystery of the murder spree in Seattle. This story is actually pretty interesting, as we learn more about each of the supernatural creatures. For example, in the Twilight universe, newly made vampires are stronger than older ones, which is the exact opposite of the lore put forth in
The Vampire Diaries. We are also treated to backstories of more of the Cullen clan. (Why is there always a vampire who was involved in the Civil War?) While Eclipse never gets near horror movie territory, this entry into the series contains more scenes of vampires and werewolves in action than the first two films. (And, as mentioned above, we get those odd porcelain kills.) Slade gives these action scenes a nice look and the werewolf CG effects look pretty good. There isn't much "mystery" as to what is happening with the newly created vampires, but this tale of revenge makes sense and provides a logical reason for the increased action in the film.But, this is a Twilight movie, and thus it much focus on the love-story between Bella and Edward and this is where the whole thing falls apart. If you weren't impressed with this romance in the first two movies, then you'll be really underwhelmed here, as the movie gives us little reason for why these two should be attracted to one-another. There doesn't seem to be any chemistry between Edward and Bella and their confessions of love feel very hollow. This is further confounded by the odd morals presented by Eclipse. Edward and Bella decide to abstain from sex, but the movie makes it seems perfectly fine for Bella to be in love with two guys at once. Does that seem right to you? The love-triangle just keeps getting weirder and weirder and it culminates in a scene which takes place in a tent which is in the middle of a blizzard. The awkward dynamics of this scene aside, if you want to avoid bad vampire visiting from Seattle, isn't someplace sunny just as safe as a snow-covered mountain-top.
When compared to the first two Twilight films, Eclipse places less of an emphasis on the Edward and Bella story and this is good for two reasons. 1) See above, and 2) it means that we don't see as much of Kristen Stewart. But, she's still in the movie enough to prove that this still isn't the role for her and I can't help but wonder if the Twilight movies would be more appealing if someone else was in the lead. I'm sure that there's someone out there who grasps that shaking ones head and stammering isn't acting (that's called having a seizure). Again, I actually liked part of Eclipse, and found some of the story interesting. But, in the end, the movie isn't aimed at me -- it's for those dedicated fans who love Edward, Bella, and Jacob. My hope now is that The Vampire Diaries will steal the core story of Eclipse and do it right.
Eclipse continues to insist that werewolves love denim cutoffs on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Summit Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 28 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing no distracting grain and no defects from the source material. The colors look very good, from the cool blues to the hot reds, and the image is never overly dark or bright. The level of detail is very good, as we can make out the textures on objects, and the depth is particularly impressive. The Disc contains a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 4.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. This is an especially lively track, as we get stereo effects which show off good separation. The surround effects really add to the action scenes and several specific sounds are nicely placed in the rear channels. The subwoofer effects aren't constant, but we get some good ones during the big battle scene.
The Eclipse Blu-ray Disc features an array of extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. There is then a second COMMENTARY with author Stephenie Meyer and producer Wyck Godfrey. "The Making of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" (88 minutes) can be viewed as a stand alone feature, or via picture-in-picture while watching the film. This is a very in-depth documentary which opens with a profile of Director David Slade, and then moves into the pre-production phase, where we see the actors training for the physical rigors of their roles. We also see the construction of sets and the thoughts behind various props. The piece examines the love triangle and we get comments from author Stephenie Meyer. The making of the backstories is examined, as are the introductions of new characters. From there, the doc looks at the production itself, highlighting some key scenes and the creation of the visual effects. The Disc contains eight DELETED AND EXTENDED SCENES which run about 13 minutes and can be viewed with commentary from Slade. The two deleted scenes are fairly throwaway, and the extended scenes offer only a few new moments of footage, none of which is essential. The extras are rounded out by a PHOTO GALLERY and two MUSIC VIDEOS, "Neutron Star Collision" by Muse and "Eclipse (All Yours)" by Metric.
Review by Mike Long. Copyright 2010.