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> The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Two-Disc Special Edition) |
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see larger picture
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Staring:
Kristen Stewart,
Robert Pattinson
Director:
Chris Weitz
Average Customer Rating:   
List Price: $32.99
Our Price: $16.99
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Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0025192058158
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Label: Summit Entertainment
Manufacturer: Summit Entertainment
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Summit Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2010-03-20
Running Time: 130
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: 2009-11-20 |
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Description
In the second chapter of Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling Twilight series, the romance between mortal Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) grows more intense as ancient secrets threaten to destroy them. When Edward leaves in an effort to keep Bella safe, she tests fate in increasingly reckless ways in order to glimpse her love once more. But when she’s saved from the brink by her friend, Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), Bella will uncover mysteries of the supernatural world that will put her in more peril than ever before.
Amazon.com
New Moon, the second in Stephenie Meyer's blockbuster teen-fiction saga adapted for film, is stronger than its predecessor, Twilight. Director Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass), taking the helm from Catherine Hardwicke, brings a lighter, more assured touch to the sequel, which continues the star-crossed love story of mortal Bella (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson). Incidentally, Edward is absent for most of the film; after an accident on Bella's birthday reminds Edward that her life is always at risk when he's around, he chooses to abandon her, sending her into a deep depression. The only person who helps her heal her broken heart is her friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner), a member of the Quileute tribe who, as he grows taller, beefier, and more aggressive (with less clothing), comes to realize he's not entirely human either. But even his love for Bella doesn't prevent her from throwing herself in the path of danger, because that's the only time she can see visions of Edward. One such fateful misunderstanding sends Edward into the coven of the Volturi (a sort of vampire Mafia, if you will), where the most dangerous vampires hold both Edward and Bella's fate in their cold, dark hands. Much of New Moon rests on the shoulders of Lautner, so scrawny in Twilight, who famously packed on the muscle to avoid getting recast. He's very nearly successful in carrying the load, but the cheese-tastic beefcake scenes disservice him, and Jacob and Bella's complicated friendship stumbles on its way to any kind of love triangle. Some of that blame lies with Stewart, who understandably holds her emotions close to her chest but reveals much too little (c'mon, even an angsty girl has to be a little joyful in the arms of two different hunks). As is with the book, the film is just a bridge between sagas, so the plot drags and not a lot happens. Fortunately, while Twilight was trapped in its own self-consciousness, the wobbly-legged cast seems to have found stronger footing in New Moon; the jokes come faster, the writing (by Melissa Rosenberg, who also scribed Twilight) is a hair wittier. (Even Pattinson seems more comfortable in Edward's skin.) The Volturi, highlighted by Michael Sheen's Aro and Dakota Fanning's Jane, also make an all-too-brief impression, but at least there's more to look forward to when Eclipse, the third installment, is released. --Ellen A. Kim
Stills from The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Click for larger image)
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Good Adaptation, 2010-03-12
Although I think that the books were very simplistic and filled with teenage drama I thought that they were entertaining enough to actually read the complete series. In "New Moon" the characters are already established and the book takes us into new territory and a three-way love triangle between Bella, Edward, and Jacob. We find out that Jacob was carrying a ressesive gene that was activated soon after the results of the first book ended. What happened was that Jacob actually is a wolf shape shifter who's sole purpose is to kill any and all vampires. Edward feels the need to "protect" Bella from himself and leaves her to live a supposedly normal "human" life. In the time after Jacob and Bella's friendship grows and their emotional attachment becomes deeper. Jacob falls for Bella and Bella begins to love Jacob. However, Bella's first love Edward is the one who she wants to be with. Jealousy, tension, and anger ensues between the 3 characters. But not before Bella having to run to Italy to save Edward from a grizzy fate of exposing Vampires to the moral world, hence, being killed by the Vampire World's "Royalty".
Overall, the movie itself did a decent job at translating the book to screen. However, there is no passion that the characters show and the intense scenes between the threesome end up being nothing more than melodramatic. Causing the characters to look like nothing more than cry babies and whiners instead of characters who are housing deep emotional scares and fears from life and love's journey.
Cullens looked totally fake......., 2010-03-15
I watched the Twilight and loved it! This movie was good and had a very good story, but I felt that there were some scenes from the book that should have been put in the movie. I know everyone talks about time limits in movies, but I am sure that any Twilight fan would sit through another 30 or 45 minutes to see their favorite scenes or lines from the book. The BIGGEST PROBLEM that I had with this movie was that Edward and the rest of the Cullen family looked too fake!!! I know that they are vampires, but in Twilight, they lived in a town where they had to blend in and even though they were pale skinned, they did. In New Moon, way too much make-up was used on them and they looked totally fake! I was really disappointed in that and I hope they don't make the same mistake with the next movie, Eclipse.....
desert dame, 2010-03-16
I am a sixty yr. old woman who loves to read. I was given the first book to read by a friend. I do not usually read books like this. I am a big Faye Kellerman fan for mystery/action reading. I absolutely loved the Twilight Sagas! I felt terrible for Stephanie Meyers after seeing Twilight, she was clearly taken advantage of as a novice to the world of film. I felt that Katherine Hardwicke was very narcissistic in her direction, all you have to do is listen to her commentaries on the film as to why she did what she did. don't even get me started with Ms. Rosenberg. she took a wonderful story and totally rewrote it!she inserted characters and scenes that were not even in the book. I had to re-read Twilight (not that this was the only time I had)to find out where the line " the kids liked those little bottles though" was in the book. guess what it isn't in the book like the character who said it. please for the sake of Stephanie's genius, get another writer before she destroys the last two like the first two. if she could write she would be, not doing this ie:..... those that can't teach".
An Honest, Neutral Review of Why "New Moon" is NOT a Good Film, 2010-03-15
The sequel to 2008's Twilight needs no introduction. The film has broken box-office records and the next film in the series is due in just a matter of months. Like it or not, the Twilight Saga is a cultural phenomenon in both film and book form. After seeing the first film, I was unable to grasp the appeal of this series and now, having seen New Moon I am still dumbfounded. In my review of Twilight, I wrote "almost everything here is underwritten, characters and plot included" and "no one with a knowledge or appreciation of American cinema would call Twilight a good movie." New Moon does flesh out the main characters a bit more but I stand by the latter statement. New Moon is certainly not a good film by any means.
Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) finds her relationship with vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) strained as her birthday passes along with the realization that she'll be growing older while he stays the same age. After Edward announces to Bella that he and his family are leaving Forks, Bella sinks into a depression while growing closer to Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), who has a "surprise" himself. I'm not spoiling anything for anyone by saying Jacob Black is a werewolf, which I guess is supposed to create an interesting, mythical love triangle.
Teenage girls have raved about Twilight as being Romeo & Juliet for the 21st Century and New Moon makes no attempt to hide that parallel. There are direct references to the famous Shakespeare work throughout the movie; a mistake, as it reminds the audience of a much more poignant love story.
The first film was directed by Catherine Hardwicke, who had previously made a film about teenagers called Thirteen. On New Moon, she's replaced by Chris Weitz who also previously directed a film about teenagers called American Pie. I was surprised to see that Weitz handles the material better than Hardwicke did, but this isn't a case of a director turning water into wine. No director could with this story.
How can a "love story" be told without charm, poignancy, or intelligence? It's a teenage love story, yes, so one must expect the characters to be overdramatic and/or naïve but what separates these characters from others in teen love stories is that these characters are caricatures and `overdramatic' skates dangerously close to psychotic. After Edward leaves Bella, her reaction is like that of a P.O.W. returning from Vietnam. Most parents would commit their teenage daughter for reacting the way Bella does and they'd be right to do so.
Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg has made no effort to improve upon the melodramatic dialogue between Edward and Bella, which weakens the film significantly. I felt nauseous watching the two speak to each other in the first film and now Bella gets to chat the same way with other characters. The banter is nothing but clichéd, repetitive drivel. "Bella, you give me everything just by breathing" and constant assurances of "I don't want you to get hurt" seem both forced and familiar. I'd like to see how the dialogue would sound if its writer wasn't trying to obviously to be clever. If that isn't bad enough, the fact that Pattinson doesn't even seem to be trying to play Edward should be. Once again, Pattinson spends the small amount of screen time he has trying to look brooding. As Edward, Pattinson is never convincing and usually just looks nauseous...Who can blame him with some of the lines he is given?
There were aspects of New Moon that surprised me. Stewart and Lautner have more chemistry than Stewart and Pattinson and there are a few scenes between the two that offer a hint of credibility which, alas never lasts very long. New Moon also has the terrific Michael Sheen in the small role of Aro, an elder of an Italian clan of vampires called the Volturi. Sheen manages to wade through the material unscathed and actually giving one of the films's only acting performances. Lautner prances around with his shirt off through almost the entire film, while Stewart complains about her life, and Pattinson tries not to vomit. I can't write this without mentioning the special effects though. For a movie that is guaranteed to tear the box-office apart, you'd think the studio could spend a little extra on special effects. The werewolves in the film look like distant cousins of Scooby-Doo from the live action films.
Despite my efforts, I can't find much to like about this series and I certainly can't find the appeal. There is no intrigue, no suspense, and no emotion that feels real. The characters are completely overdramatic and illogical, which is clearly why the story hits so close to home with teenage girls, but beyond that...There's nothing. Both films have left me emotionally unfulfilled and a little more mentally handicapped than when I started watching them. The "cliffhanger" at the end of the film made me laugh though. Not the ending itself, but the realization that I didn't care to know where the story would go from there. The pointlessness of telling this story is summed up for me with one brief scene towards the end of the film. Edward asks Bella to wait five years for him to change her into a vampire, to which she replies "too long." If five years is "too long," how exactly is Bella intending to handle eternity?
The final song that plays over the credits is "Meet Me on the Equinox" by Death Cab for Cutie, which is the best thing to come from this film in my opinion. The chorus is simply "Everything, everything ends." This is the most profound line you will find watching New Moon from the beginning to the end of the credits. Everything does, in fact, end...And one day, not far away from now, so will the popularity of this series and anyone being under the impression that it's worth their time.
GRADE: D+
Wow, 2010-03-15
I am the type of person that will give any movie a chance despite what all the critics say, but this one was a force to be reckoned with... a devastatingly boring one. I have never wanted to leave a theater during a movie, but the thought crossed my mind several times. It is just long and whiny. I love that everyone says that if you have read the books you will be a huge fan. Just because something is popular doesn't mean that it is good, smart, or cutting edge. I gave it a 2 star simply because it was so bad that its great to make fun of. Wait! If you got a scratch reading this review let me take my shirt off in extra slow motion for you. Good God people.
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![The Twilight Saga: New Moon [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516h%2BrDEcxL._SL75_.jpg "The Twilight Saga: New Moon [Blu-ray]")
