# The Twilight Saga: Eclipse - Bluray Review



## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=5377[/img]*Title: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Directed by: David Slade 
Written by: Melissa Rosenberg, Stephanie Meyer
Studio: Summit
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 124 Minutes
Release Date: 12/4/2010* 

*Movie:* :3stars:
*Video:* :4stars:
*Audio:* :4stars: 
*Extras:* :3stars: 
*Overall:* :3.5stars: 


*Synopsis:*
The third chapter in the Twilight Saga opens with a young man being hunted by a shadowy figure through the streets of Seattle. As the young man looks desperately for refuge, he ultimately falls victim to his predator and lays bleeding from a bite wound on a dock near a ship yard. Shortly after this opening scene, we find ourselves once again back in the small town of Forks, Washington and in the middle of another teen drama involving Bella, Edward and Jacob.

It has been a while since the events in 'New Moon' where Edward promised the Volturi that he would indeed turn Bella into a vampire, or suffer the sentence of death. Now, laying in a field, Edward and Bella are back in Forks talking about getting married and her imminent “re-birth” as a vampire. However; all is not well and good in the small town of Forks. Charlie Swan, Bella’s father, has taken a more active interest in his daughter’s personal affairs and is doing what he can to drive a wedge between Edward in Bella. Jacob has been keeping himself busy running with the rest of the werewolf pack and keeping as far away from Bella as possible. He does however eventually end up back in the picture as he tries to convince Bella that he is the one for her and not Edward.[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=5380[/img]


As the plot thickens around this human, vampire and werewolf love triangle, a more ominous threat approaches. The attack in the opening scene was a catalyst to an all out war between the supernatural residents of Forks and an army of "New Borns" that forces the werewolves and vampires of of the small town to form an alliance if they are to survive. The 'New Born' leader, Riley, is the pawn of Victoria from the first two movies. Riley is also a former Forks resident and the young man from the opening scene. As the vampires and werewolves in forks prepare for battle by training together, tensions also continue to mount between Edward and Jacob as each of them pursue Bella. 

If this entire synopsis reads like it is competing for a daytime Emmy, that's because it really should be. I have stated before that I am not a huge Twilight fan. I don’t care for the characters, the actors, the story and especially the drama. The main reason I watch them is because my teen aged daughter enjoys them as most teenage girls probably do, and considering the series to date has grossed over $1.8 billion dollars in revenue for the theatrical releases alone, it is probably safe to assume we haven’t seen the last of this type of genre. I will admit that sitting through Eclipse was not near as painful as sitting through the last movie ‘New Moon’. 

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=5378[/img]The performances were what you would expect from a movie that is specifically geared towards the female audience. Oddly enough, the most unbelievable part of this series to me is not the whole ‘vampires and werewolves’, thing. It is the sensitive lead male characters that would rather sit and talk about their feelings and abandonment issues and wait for the enemy to attack rather than to load up and take the fight to the enemy. I am sure I could segment this into a rant about the feminization of America here, but I will leave that for someone else to do.

Overall this wasn't a bad movie, it just wasn't particularly interesting to me. I don't find myself anxiously awaiting the release of the next one and in fact, if they stopped filming the new one now and never realeased it, that would be fine with me as well. The world has enough melodramatics in the form of the evening news, we don't need to go buy additional media to continue watching it. 



*Rating:* 
PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some sensuality.

*Video:* :4stars:
Eclipse is presented in 1080P MPEG-4 AVC with an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and the results are quite impressive. The shadows are dark and menacing and the colors pop off of the screen when they are presented out of the overcast and dreary town of Forks. Detail is brought out to a fault at times in this transfer as minor details such as the skin tones of the vampires look fake due to the make-up used for their pale appearance. 

There is a fine amount of film grain that gives the overall presentation a very genuine theater like experience. Blacks are inky and shadow delineation is ever present but does fall victim to some occasional crushing in a few scenes. The CGI werewolves are all but flawlessly rendered for the movie and the overall look of the transfer is excellent. 


























*Audio:* :4stars: 
The 5.1 DTS-HD-MA audio for Eclipse is equally impressive. The opening scene is captured in the middle of a thunderstorm that is brought to life with the sounds of thunder and rain. The surround effect was perfectly executed and impressed me quite a bit in this particular scene as the thunder and rain fill each speaker with acurate and realistic sound. The score of the movie adds tons of ambiance and atmosphere to the film and gives the movie as a whole, a much grander feel. The surrounds are widely used to create a very broad sound design that incorporates just about every nuance that would be present in each scene. The dialogue is crisp, clear and never gets lost in the surrounding action.


*Extras:* :3stars:

No digital copy, minus one point.
On both DVD and Blu-ray sides:
Audio Commentary with Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart
Audio Commentary with Stephenie Meyer & Wyck Godfrey
Six-part "Making of" documentary (Picture-in-Picture feature on BD side only)
Deleted & extended scenes
Photo gallery
Music videos
Fast-Forward: Edward (Jump to all your favorite Edward scenes)
Fast-Forward: Jacob (Jump to all your favorite Jacob scenes)
Fast-Forward: Love Triangle 
Fast-Forward: The Cullens
Fast-Forward: The Wolfpack 
Fast-Forward: The Humans
Fast-Forward: Victoria's Army

*Overall:* :3.5stars:
So there you have it. While the audio and video are agreeable, the story may be a bit too heavy on the “cheesy” side for many. As I said, I found it better than the second movie, but that wasn’t actually saying very much. If you are a fan of the series, or if your spouse is, then this will definitely be a buy for you. If you found the first two movies to be as melodramatic and exaggerated as I did, you will probably want to pass. I did not see Eclipse in the theater, but I have to believe that this is a spot on representation of the filmmaker’s vision for this chapter in the series as the audio and visual piece of this Blu-ray were extremely well done. On the up-side, there are only two more Twilight movies left to be released. Until next time campers, have a good day and in case I don't see ya later, a good afternoon, a good evening, and a good night! :wave:


----------



## Jon Liu (May 21, 2007)

Thanks for the review, Dale! I have to admit, this one I actually enjoyed more than the first two. But, I use the term "enjoyed" relatively loosely. My wife, while not a big fan of the Twilight saga, has read the books so it was only prudent for her to see the movies as well.


----------



## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

Jon Liu said:


> Thanks for the review, Dale! I have to admit, this one I actually enjoyed more than the first two. But, I use the term "enjoyed" relatively loosely. My wife, while not a big fan of the Twilight saga, has read the books so it was only prudent for her to see the movies as well.


Hey Jon, like I said, I did like this one better than the last one, but.......:dontknow:


----------



## celica_pete21 (Aug 27, 2009)

I guess I'm one of those few guys that actually enjoy the twilight movies. lol However, if they could do away with the cheesy romance, or at least the love triangle. The love triangle just gets to me, almost ruins it for me. ESPECIALLY the scene where Bella decides on a kiss if she is in love.

Other than the cheesy love triangle, I actually enjoy these movies. I am much more a fan of Eclipse than the other two. I thought all the actors have grown greatly in their acting from the first film. 

Great review Dale. :T


----------



## martinez331 (Oct 21, 2010)

I watched this movie this past Friday on BD. One of the first things that I noticed with the picture was the ability to see the make-up used on the actors. It actually got to the point where it was distracting me. I kept looking to see the nuances of the actors' skin and hair. Kinda funny that I did come away from the movie thinking that Robert Patison has some pretty flawless skin for a dude! LoL Anyway. I agree with all, the storyline was at least better than the first two. I didnt care much for the first, felt New Moon was better and because my gf has read all the books, she knew I'd like Eclipse the best. Due largely in part to the fight scenes and music soundtrack. Which I do like in fact.


----------



## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

It's funny how many of us make a point to mention the women that made us watch it. :rofl:


----------



## martinez331 (Oct 21, 2010)

I know right! :bigsmile:


----------

