The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 [DVD]

I just saw "Breaking Dawn" part 1, and I was VERY impressed, even if as a man I am probably not the most typical fan of "Twilight" series. I rather liked all the "Twilight" movies until now and this one is, to my personnal taste, as good as the previous ones - and even in one aspect a little bit better, as Edward and Bella finally become lovers. Below, you will find a short description of what I believe are the best elements of this film, with very limited SPOILERS:1. Actors. All actors evolved as the serie continued and I believe they all got better with time. Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner are both excellent, but - in my humble opinion - it is Kristen Stewart who in this movie shines the most. Quite a lot of people frequently criticized her actorship claiming that she simply can not play at all and has a very limited assortment of expressions in her tool box. But for me, after reading "Twilight" books, this is how the character of Bella should be. I can hardly picture her wide smiling with all her teeth bared or doing any other highly extraverted things like that. In fact I believe that either by design or by accident Kristen Stewart got the things right about this character - her minimalistic approach to facial expressions actually makes (for me) Bella very believable and also quite likeable. In this part of the story, Bella shows a more dynamic approach to life by taking her destiny firmly under control. She makes important decisions and takes extreme risks, stubbornly resisting the opposite advice of all her family and friends - all of that in a deceptively unassuming way... And Kristen Stewart acted in the movie exactly as I pictured Bella did it, when I read the books. A very good job!Other actors are also great, with Ashley Greene and Billy Burke being as usual the pillars - but amongst the supporting roles it is Nikki Reed who really gets the most praise from me. She has a much bigger role in this film and she is perfect in it! The one (little) disappointment is Jackson Rathbone, who changed comletely his haircut for this film and as a result his character, Jasper, seems much less impressive, which is a pity. He also seems to appear very little in the "first line", almost as if the director preferred to hide him a little...2. Visual aspects. As usual, the images of state of Washington are great - dark forests filled with (were)wolves are very much present here and they are a great background for the story. The tropical island where Bella and Edward spend their honey moon is also very pleasantly showed.3. Music. As usual in those series, music and songs have been selected very carefully and with a great taste.4. The (were)wolf pack. The Quileute wolves are shown here even more and better than in the previous part. The scene of their war council, when they are all in the werewolf form, is absolutely great! The scene when Sam (the alpha male) asserts and confirms his power over the pack is excellent - as good as the description of Jacob's defiance and its consequences.5. The wedding. A very nice and moving scene with some humour elements, especially when the guests make speeches offering toasts. Emmett, Jessica and Bella's father give here a great show. In the same time Mike Newton obsesses on vampire bridesmaids from the Denali clan, to the point of drooling (and I TOTALLY understand him!). Bella's mum and, suprprise surprise, Rosalie (!) are also real treasures in wedding scenes.6. Quileute wolves vs. Cullen coven confrontation. This heartbreaking, tense and at moments violent conflict in which both sides are trapped against their will is a great moment in the Twilight saga - and its final resolution is even better! Finally it is true what the Beatles were singing - all you need is love! Babies help too...7. The fight for Bella's life, Renesmee's bloody birth and Bella's fate - excellent! Those were moments very difficult to film - but the challenge was met succesfully! Nothing more about it to avoid more spoilers, but I was very impressed!Conclusion: it is an excellent movie which I watched with great pleasure. My wife, who usually is a much harder person to please, loved it too and she is going to see it again with some girlfriends. And we will certainly both wait with great expectations for the "Breaking dawn" part 2. If it was done as well as that one, it will be certainly worth waiting one year to see it...IMPORTANT UPDATE ON BLU-RAY (21 March 2012): This item has a printing error on the outer packaging which lists a special feature that is not included. This feature is listed as: "Filming The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1: A New Beginning, The Wedding, The Honeymoon". According to amazon, this feature was never meant to be on the Blu Ray version and was only ever present on the 2 disc special edition. However, after buying it, I received from amazon a message informing me, that the distributor is producing a disc with the special feature on it FOR FREE for customers who would like it. I was instructed just to email my amazon order number and my adress to the distributor to receive the upgraded Bly Ray disc FREE of any charge, including shipping.

Love the film

Delivery was prompt. Very happy with my purchase!

I am a massive fan of all the Twilight books and got into the series in the first place after watching the first film. I loved the atmosphere of the first film and the musical score was beautiful. I have since been disappointed by the film adaptations of New Moon and Eclipse, in particular Eclipse, because they didn't capture the romance and feelings of the books and seemed to concentrate on being action films. Also I felt that in the past Kristen Stewart's acting didn't really portray Bella's feelings well enough. I am pleased to report therefore that Breaking Dawn part 1 recaptures the emotional magic of the first film, they also brought back Carter Burwell to do the musical score therefore creating a great atmosphere. I sat in a packed cinema and there were (intentional!) laugh out loud moments in the film along with tear jerking moments. Kristen's acting was great too so I think that with time all of the actors have grown into their roles.The director has done a fantastic job and has pretty much stuck like glue to the book. I hear that the critics have slated this film but I can only assume that they hated the book as well because the director has brought the book to life so if the critics don't like the storyline then the film shouldn't be criticised for it. I have to admit however that I cringed at the wolf scene where Jacob challenges Sam's alpha male superiority but I guess it is hard to bring that to the big screen.If you enjoyed the book you will love the film, go and see it or order it on DVD, just make sure you keep watching after the credits have started otherwise you'll miss a bit. Enjoy :o)

Having come to the Twilight Saga fairly late and very critical I can say that I enjoyed this movie very much and would have been happy if it had been twice as long.I am not a book Twihard,have only read the first book which was rather flat and barely competent. I don't rate Meyer as a writer of fiction, I'm afraid. She has no style and the first person "voice" was all wrong for a teenage girl, maybe for a thirties something. But as a creator of story and characters she has a good imagination, albeit a tad derivative. Thankfully screenwriters, directors and cast bring her world to life.I do love watching Kirsten Stewart, she is so lovely, and she basically carries the movies. Those that say she can't act really need to think hard about what movie acting actually is. She brings this character to life in a believable, natural way. Poor Robert Patinson has a much more difficult job, particularly as the series goes forward - we don't see D'Arcy after their married after all !Lots of really nice camera on Bella in this one, and a brief bikini shot showing just what a sexy little body is under those baggy t-shirts. Sadly not enough Alice, there never is.My only complaint is the change in hair colour with Jasper and Carlisle and Rosilee. I don't know why they did that, especially Carlisle whose hair was ridiculously blonde in the first 3 movies, but I was used to it.And the wolves, they also seemed not to go bare chested as much in this movie. I thought that was their macho thing, and it made sense with the over-heat thing that they all suffered from due to their condition.Get the feeling that a new voice on set was trying to redesign the movie.The special effects on gorgeous Bella towards the end were realistic and quite shocking, thankfully she recovers.I'm looking forward to Part 2, though to be honest I don't want this to end because it is such an enjoyable indulgence and you do grow affectionate towards the characters.The series is roundly despised by a certain type of movie fan based often on its lack of " artistic merit." Got to be Citizen Kane I suppose or it ain't good enough.Watch Kirsten Stewart's performances and tell us, could Ingrid Bergman do better, or Lauren Baccal,or Elisabeth Taylor ? Meryl Streep maybe ?