Review: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Two-Disc Special Edition DVD

STUDIO: Summit | DIRECTOR: David Slade | CAST: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Bryce Dallas Howard, Nikki Reed
RELEASE DATE: 12/4/2010 | PRICE: DVD $24.99, Two-DVD Special Edition $34.99, Blu-ray $32.99, Blu-ray/DVD combo $34.99
BONUSES: six-part documentary, deleted and extended scenes, photo gallery, music videos, skip to scene, commentaries
SPECS: PG-13 | 124 min. | fantasy | 2.40:1 aspect ratio | Dolby Digital 5.1 audio | English subtitles

RATINGS (out of 5 dishes): Movie | Audio | Video | Overall

Fans of Eclipse won’t be disappointed in the DVD. The third installment in The Twilight Saga, Eclipse is arguably the best of the three movies — the acting is solid, the tension builds well and the action scenes have plenty of, well, action. There’s even a great moment when Edward (Robert Pattionson of The Bad Mother’s Handbook) looks at shirtless Jacob (Taylor Lautner, Valentine’s Day) and asks, ” Does he ever wear a shirt?” As much as female viewers enjoy Lautner’s abs, the comment is a nice acknowledgement of the pack’s propensity to go topless, which, let’s face it, gets a bit ridiculous after a while.

In Eclipse, we also get more information about the histories of the vampires, and the stakes are higher as they consider the consequences of being a vampire while Bella (Kristen Stewart, Welcome to the Rileys) sets the date for her own change.

Strangely enough, Bella’s big decision isn’t addressed much in the six-part making-of documentary included in the two-DVD special edition of the romance movie, but just about every other aspect of the film is, including the creation of the computer-generated wolves and the location shoots — some not so much on location thanks to green-scene technology. Fans will have fun watching Lautner (not shirtless) catching grapes in his mouth thrown by other stars, and they’ll probably be a bit disappointed to discover that the wildflower field that Edward and Bella lie in is more man-made than nature.

The documentary also showcases all the major actors talking about their characters and what they’re thinking and feeling during the story. The interviews were shot between takes, and it’s fun to see Bryce Dallas Howard [SPOILER ALERT] say she just got her head torn off. [END SPOILER] In fact, we learn a lot about the film’s favorite villain from all the actors and what they think of Howard.

As well as the actors, the documentary has interviews with director David Slade (who gets kudos for injecting his style into this film), screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg (who talks about the difficulty of culling an entire chapter in the book to the short tent scene) and author Stephenie Meyer, whose books are the inspiration this series of movies.

The two-disc set also includes deleted and extended scenes, some that add nice extra footage of the main characters; a photo gallery with pictures from the movie and its making; two music videos from Muse and Metric; and two commentaries, one with Pattinson and Stewart and one with Meyer and producer Wyck Godfrey.

Plus, whether you’re Team Edward or Team Jacob, a click of the remote can take you to your favorite scenes in the movie. Now that’s a feature every Twilight fan will love.

Buy or Rent The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
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