# The Twilight Saga: New Moon - Blu-ray Review



## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=3687&w=o[/img]* Title: The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke 
Directed by: Chris Weitz
Written by: Stephanie Meyer, Melissa Rosenberg
Studio: Summit
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 130 Minutes
Release Date: 3/20/2010 *

*Movie* :2.5stars: 
Twilight: New Moon is the first sequel in the Twilight series that tells the story of Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson). The movie begins on Bella’s 18th birthday as she is haunted by nightmares of herself growing old as her vampire lover remains untouched by the hands of time. Later that evening, at a party in honor of her birthday, Bella is attacked by one of Edward’s family members when a paper cut spills her blood and sends him into an uncontrollable frenzy that can only be satisfied with a taste of her blood. Because of his brother’s actions, Edward decides that it is time to leave Forks, Washington and Bella to mitigate the risk of further danger to her life. This sends Bella spiraling into a deep depression from which there seems to be no escape. 

Months later, Bella is out with a friend and about to do something reckless when she learns that Edward will still show himself when she is in danger. After testing this theory a couple of times, Bella becomes wise to the manner in which Edward will appear and convinces Jacob (Taylor Lautner) to rebuild two motorcycles for her to ride in the hopes that it will draw Edward out. While rebuilding the bikes, Bella and Jacob begin to have feelings for each other but suddenly and without warning Jacob shuts Bella out completely. When her phone calls and messages go unanswered, Bella decides to take matters into her own hands and confronts Jacob at his home where she discovers that he is in fact a werewolf and part of a pack that is responsible for protecting humans from vampires. 

Later in the story Bella’s relationship with Jacob gets in the way of any hope to reconcile with Edward and she is forced to make a choice of who she will be with. Can Edward and Jacob ever co-exist in Bella’s life? "These and other questions will be answered next week on SOAP!":heehee:
[img] http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=3688&w=o[/img]
I like giving one word summaries to movies as I feel a person should know what they are about to get into. My word for New Moon is DRAMA. Of course by drama I don't mean 'A Few Good Men' I mean teenager drama. I found New Moon to be a bit too long on the buildup of said drama and a far too weak on the payoff. By the end of the movie I found that I really just couldn’t wait for it to be over. I felt I would literally scream if I had to see Robert Pattenson do his half-crying/painful/constipated look every time he went to kiss Bella. I’ve decided that women love Edward so much because he is one of them. For some reason the lead actors in this movie really got on my nerves as I felt each of them really went all out giving their best soap opera performances. The acting was absolutely full of melodramatics but then again; what was I expecting? 

On the other hand, the target audience absolutely loved the movie as my wife and my daughter were hanging on to every word and plot twist as if their lives depended on it. I was “Shushed” several times for my chuckles at the bad acting and I was even told I could leave if I didn’t shut it. Make no mistake, this franchise was designed for women and they are prepared to defend it at any cost. What's worse is that I knew this going in and still chose to watch it. The action was extremely scarce and almost non-existent but this movie has drama by the ton. In the end, I would say that the filmmakers hit their target right on the nose as we are sure to continue seeing Twilight sequels for the foreseeable future which means I will be hosting more of these viewings for a room full of women and teenage girls. God help me.

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=3689&w=o[/img]A couple of small negatives that had to do with a lack of attention to some of the detail in the movie such as Jacob’s long hair looked fake and a couple of the CGI effects were poorly executed. On a positive note, the movie was shot fairly well and the locations and set designs were nice to look at as well. There are probably enough things in the picture and sound to keep guys busy while scoring points with your wife or girlfriend as you sit through this extended cut of a Vampire Diaries episode. New Moon as a story is a little better than the first Twilight but doesn’t stray from the formula that has made it such a huge success. 



*Rating* 
Twilight Saga: New Moon is rated PG-13 for some minor language and violence. One thing that I will make mention of is that there seemed to be several references of suicide being a means to an end that I found to be a bit disturbing but I assume it only adds to the drama they were going for. 

*Video* :4stars: 
OK, enough of the abuse. The MPEG-4 AVC 1080P transfer with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio looks very good indeed. This is one of the things that made it a bit more tolerable. Colors were very lush and vivid and almost popped off the screen. The many different shades of greens in the forests and the crimson robes of the festival goers in Italy were an incredible contrast to the gray and drizzled atmosphere of Forks, Washington where the story mostly takes place. Shadowing effects worked very well with the fog and the scenes involving Edward “checking in” on Bella. Blacks were fairly deep and had a lot of detail as did the many shades of gray that encompassed a lot of the movie. There wasn’t any noise or unintentional grain to speak of and the edges were sharp and clean. Not reference quality but definitely above average.
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=3690&w=o[/img] [img] http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=3691&w=o[/img] 








*Audio* :4stars:
I would have to class the DTS-HD Master Audio mix in New Moon a little bit above average. Things that really stood out were the growls and barks of the werewolves which were deep and roaring. Fight scenes were impactful and forceful and did a great job of breaking up the drama. Voices were very clear and at times very deep and resonant. As with the video, the audio on New Moon isn’t reference but is a bit above average.

*Extras*:3stars:
I need to correct my earlier review of the 'Extras' after realizing that I had missed a couple of things that actually make the experience better. New Moon contains a six part making of video, Audio Commentary with Chris Weitz, three music videos including *"Meet me on the equinox”* by Death Cab for Cutie,*“Satellite heart”* by Anya Marina and *"Spotlight"* by Mutemath. There is also a behind-the-scenes rehearsal of *“I belong to you”* by Muse. The music videos do sound really good and pack a lot of punch. Although not the greatest Extras package out there, you could do a lot worse.


*Overall*:3.5stars:
New Moon was tolerable to me but a nail biter to members of the opposite sex that outnumbered me 2 to 1 during the viewing. Fans of the series have probably already seen it 10 times since its Friday night at midnight release window and non-fans don’t really care. If you do find yourself having to endure it just remind yourself that it is for a greater cause, (the happiness of your better half) and you should be fine.


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## celica_pete21 (Aug 27, 2009)

*Re: The Twilight Saga: New Moon - Bluray Review*

Nice review. I do think that the actors matured greatly as actors in this movie. Much better than the first.

However...I did not like seeing the wolf pack shirtless 90% of the movie. I understand the preteen girls did (of course) but a lot of my female friends who are fans, this kind of threw off the movie.


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## Jon Liu (May 21, 2007)

*Re: The Twilight Saga: New Moon - Bluray Review*

I really did not think too highly of this film. I actually enjoyed the first one enough that I was interested in seeing this one with my wife in the theaters. When we actually watched it, both of us came out of the theater thinking, "That movie didn't accomplish anything..."

Granted, my wife said that the book was the same, but still...


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

*Re: The Twilight Saga: New Moon - Bluray Review*

Thanks for the review Dale, I am enjoying these sagas so much so that when New Moon finished both me and my partner went Noooooo, it cannot finish like that, now we have to wait for the 3rd instalment :hissyfit:


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

*Re: The Twilight Saga: New Moon - Bluray Review*

I realize that I missed the music videos on the Extras for some reason and have updated the reveiw to reflect that. Sorry I missed that everybody, not sure where my head was.


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## celica_pete21 (Aug 27, 2009)

*Re: The Twilight Saga: New Moon - Bluray Review*

I agree Jon that this movie did not accomplish anything. Except who half naked guys 90% of the movie. lol

I still stand on my opinion that most of the actors improved in their acting abilities. That was the one thing my wife and I left saying about it. Just how much better the acting was. Story, though? We were on the same boat. But all the book readers that I have talked to said 4 will be the best, followed by 3, then 1, and 2 being the worst. So, maybe the next movies will be much better.


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## atledreier (Mar 2, 2007)

*Re: The Twilight Saga: New Moon - Bluray Review*

I'm probably the only male who will admit to reading the entire saga, and liking every bit of it.

I agree the story in New Moon is less engaging than the first, and so is the book. It's a nescessary step to introduce the werewolves and the Volturi. 

Look forward to number three and four, that's when the story kicks into high gear! 8)


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

*Re: The Twilight Saga: New Moon - Bluray Review*

I now can't wait until the third instalment :whistling:


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