Twilight (film)

Twilight is the movie adaptation of the novel Twilight, the first book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. Starring Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, it was released November 21, 2008 in North America and December 11, 2008 in Australia. It will be released on DVD on March 21, 2009.

Short Summary
When seventeen year-old Bella Swan leaves the sunny Phoenix, Arizona to live with her father in the small and always rainy town of Forks, she does not expect to like it. After all she has made many excuses not to go there several times in the past. Although Bella hates the rainy weather and anything wet, she chooses to do this for her mother, Renèe so she can travel with her new husband, Phil Dwyer, who is a minor league baseball player. Although Bella was an outcast in Phoenix, she soon makes some new friends at the school. To her dismay, several boys in the school compete for her attention. When she sees a boy named Edward Cullen, sitting with his brothers and sisters in the café, she is instantly intrigued. Edward is stunningly attractive, and inhumanly beautiful, yet he is an outsider too. Although the Cullens have lived in Forks for two years, they have never really been accepted by the townsfolk. When Bella sits next to Edward Cullen in her Biology Class, on her first day, Edward seems utterly repulsed by her. He even tries to change his schedule to avoid her, leaving Bella completely puzzled about his malicious attitude towards her. After tricking a family friend, Jacob Black, into telling her the local tribal legends, Bella comes to realize that the Cullens are Vampires. Realizing his secret changes nothing for Bella, because she knows that she is still in love with him, even though he‘s not human. She also finds out that the Cullens are “Vegetarian”, that instead drinking human blood, they drink animal blood. How their relationship is thrown into chaos, when another vampire coven sweeps into Forks, and James, a tracker vampire, decides that he wants to hunt Bella for sport.

Detailed Plot Summary
Isabella "Bella" Swan moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington to live with her father, Charlie Swan. She chooses to do this so that her mother, Renée, can travel with her husband, Phil Dwyer, who is a baseball player. Once at her father's house, she is greeted by Billy Black and his son Jacob, one of her old friends. Even though Bella never had many friends in Phoenix, she attracts attention at her new school in Forks, and is quickly befriended by students. Much to her dismay, boys in the school compete for Bella's attention, unlike at her old school.

When Bella sits next to Edward Cullen in biology class on her first day of school, Edward seems utterly repulsed. He moves as far away from her as possible. He even attempts to change his schedule to avoid her, which leaves Bella completely puzzled about his attitude towards her. Shortly after he disappears for a while, Edward begins to talk to Bella, having seemingly forgotten their unfriendly first encounter. Later that day, while in the parking lot, Bella sees Edward staring at her. Oblivious to her, a student, Tyler Crowley, had lost control of his vehicle, and it was rapidly progressing in her direction. Bella realizes this at the last moment, thinking she is dead. However, Edward appears and stops the oncoming car completely with one hand, leaving a dent, and shocking Bella with his speed and strength.

Bella tries to get Edward to tell her how he stopped the van, but he refuses each time she asks and says that he was standing right next to her. During a trip to the La Push reservation with her friends, Jacob and two other Quileute boys visit Bella. After hearing one of Jacob's friends insult Edward, Bella asks Jacob to tell her why the Cullens have such a bad reputation on the reservation. Jacob explains that his people are supposedly descended from wolves, and that his great grandfather had met the Cullens, who signed a peace treaty with them to keep the encounter from turning violent. But Jacob still doesn't explain what the Cullens supposedly are.

During a trip to Port Angeles, Edward rescues Bella again, this time from a band of thugs. Edward takes Bella to a restaurant, where she questions him again. This time, while he still doesn't say how he stopped Tyler's van, he tells her he has the power to read minds. He can read anyone's mind, except hers. After Edward drives her home, Bella uses a book she bought on Quileute legends and the internet to try to make sense of what Jacob told her. She eventually finds an internet link about vampires, and realizes that the website's description of a vampire matches Edward.

The next day after school, Edward follows Bella into the near-by woods. She says she knows he is a vampire, and that she is not afraid of him. Edward becomes very distressed, and tries to explain how dangerous he is, but Bella keeps insisting that she doesn't care. They soon realize they have fallen in love with each other. They decide to publicly act on their feelings, shocking their entire school. All of Edward's family, except Rosalie, accept Bella with open arms when Edward introduces her to them.

The seemingly perfect state of their relationship is thrown into chaos when another vampire coven sweeps into Forks and James, a tracker vampire, decides that he wants to hunt Bella for sport. This occurs while the Cullens are all playing baseball. Edward's family plan to distract the tracker by splitting up Bella and Edward, and Bella is sent to hide in a hotel in Phoenix. Bella then gets a phone call from James in which he says that he has her mother, and Bella is forced to give herself up to James at her old dance studio. Upon meeting him, Bella discovers her mother wasn't at the dance studio and was safe all along. Bella tries to run but James attacks Bella, breaking her leg and hitting her head. Edward then shows up and brutally attacks James. Just before Edward attacks, James bites Bella, injecting his venom into her. As Carlisle and the family show up, Edward rips James' throat out, after which Carlisle coaxes him to regain himself. James' neck is then snapped, and he is ripped apart and burned. Because James bit Bella, she was undergoing the painful transformation into a vampire. After James is taken care of, Edward begins to suck the venom out of Bella to stop the transformation while Carlisle and Alice brace her broken bone. Edward almost killed Bella, because he continued to suck the blood even once it was clean. But he manages to stop, and Bella wakes up in the hospital, recovering.

Once returning to Forks, Bella goes to the prom with Edward. Before they get into the dance, Jacob arrives to talk to Bella. He says his father wants her to break up with Edward, and that "they'll be watching". While dancing, Bella expresses her desire to become a vampire to Edward, saying she wants to be with him forever. It looks like Edward is going to grant her request, but he kisses her instead, saying he's not going to give up that easily. Bella accepts this for now. The movie ends with Victoria, James' lover, watching Edward and Bella dance with a vengeful look.

History
Twilight was originally optioned by Paramount Pictures' MTV Films. According to Catherine Hardwicke, a script was produced even before the novel was published. It bore little resemblence to the actual novel or the final movie; for example Bella was a track star, and the FBI was chasing the vampires on jet skis. When that option lapsed in summer 2007, the novel was optioned by Summit Entertainment. Catherine Hardwicke was brought in to direct the film. After reading the original script, she went and read the novel. She decided that the script needed to be rewritten from scratch. Melissa Rosenberg was hired for the new version. On November 16, 2007, Summit Entertainment, along with Stephenie Meyer, announced that Kristen Stewart had been cast in the role of Isabella Swan. A month later, on December 11, 2007 it was announced that Robert Pattinson (who portrayed Cedric Diggory in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) had been cast as Edward Cullen. Summit Entertainment had an open casting call for the role of Jacob Black on January 19, 2008, and Taylor Lautner was cast.

Cast
The official cast stands as follows:

Production
Filming in Oregon began in March 2008 and lasted for 44 days, ending on May 2, 2008. Additional footage and some reshoots were made in late August, including the scene where Edward plays piano, the scene where Edward and Bella kiss in the bedroom, and the meadow scene. Hardwicke confessed that she finished working on the film October 31st, 2008. Director Catherine Hardwicke claims that finding the perfect meadow for the emotional climax scene was very difficult. Although the scene was set to be filmed near the end of the schedule, the original site they chose was still covered in snow and inaccessible. They then found a forest with boulders and old growth trees, and with time running out, chose to film some of the scene there. However, the director said that after they wrapped the movie, she told them, "I've got to shoot a meadow. Something that looks like a meadow. Or people are going to stone me in the streets." So they shot part of the scene in the middle of the Griffith Park golf course. In order to make Edward sparkle in the sunlight, they worked with Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), George Lucas' special effects company.

DVD & Blu-Ray


The release date for the Twilight DVD and Blu-Ray DVD is currently March 21, 2009.

DVD Special Features

 * Audio commentary by Catherine Hardwicke, Kristen Stewart, and Robert Pattinson
 * Muse music video: "Super Massive Black Hole"
 * Paramore music video: "Decode"
 * Linkin Park music video: "Leave Out All the Rest"
 * Five extended scenes with director introductions
 * Five deleted scenes with director introductions
 * Seven-part documentary: "The Adventure Begins: The Journey from Page to Screen"
 * Comic-Con "fandom" piece
 * Comic-Con NY sizzle reel
 * Three trailers
 * Penelope trailer

Blu-Ray Special Features

 * Audio commentary by Catherine Hardwicke, Kristen Stewart, and Robert Pattinson
 * Muse music video: "Supermassive Black Hole"
 * Paramore music video: "Decode"
 * Linkin Park music video: "Leave Out All the Rest"
 * Five extended scenes with director introductions
 * Five deleted scenes with director introductions
 * Seven-part documentary: "The Adventure Begins: The Journey from Page to Screen"
 * Comic-Con "fandom" piece
 * Comic-Con NY sizzle reel
 * Three trailers
 * Penelope trailer
 * Breaking Dawn Live with New Moon teaser