Twilight the movie vs Twilight the book in comparison with other film series' adapted from best-selling books

Rating: 7/10 (22 December 2008)

I agree with the majority of previous comments made about Twilight the movie and like many people who have rushed to watch the movie; I have read most of the series of books and am in the process of moving on to the final book.
I too also believe that not enough attention was placed upon Bella's and Edward's relationship which was the fundamental part of this story. I am not sure whether the director is to blame or the actors themselves.
I found the personality of the character of Bella come across a little too aggressive and she is supposed to be seen as an innocent girl. The scene in where Bella works out Edward is a Vampire seemed too easily done in the sense that in the book, it was done in the car journey after they eat at the restaurant and I believe she never does out right say he is a Vampire in front of him. However, I do believe this was put in the film to get the adrenaline going which I do not protest against.
The prom scene was all wrong. Bella is supposed to be dreading going to the prom and in some ways irritated with Edward, yet she willingly goes with him to the prom in the film.
Another important scene in terms of showing their relationship develop is the scene in the book where there is a Biology less which involves blood and Bella seems like she is going to faint and I believe it is Mike who wants to take Bella to the medical place. However, half way there Bella decides to lie down on the pavement for a while and then Edward comes to pick her up despite her stubbornness to stay on the pavement and takes her to the medical place himself. I believe this scene may have aided in showing the development of their relationship much better in the film.
I completely understood why James and his coven were seen at the start of the film but only at the end of the book and I believe this was helpful in making the film captivating.
I also believe there was something missing from Edward's personality in the film compared to the book; I'm not entirely sure what.
Although with every film there are also great features. I believed the special effects were great and they weren't too over the top or too mellow. The baseball scene was awesome and better than described in the book. Rosalie's acting was great as well as Alice's to some extent. Bella's suffering after she is bitten by James is depicted excellently and we feel the pain with Bella. I also loved the idea of showing how James was killed at the end which isn't described so well in the book. I thought when Bella explains to Edward during the prom that she wants to become a Vampire and Edward asks her if she is ready now and she puts her head back and he puts his mouth in position to bite her was done very well.
The craze of Harry Potter here in the UK is said to match up with the craze of the Twilight saga in the States, and I must point this out that Twilight after its premier here was said to beat Harry Potter's record and I believe it will not be able to as after reading the Harry Potter books I felt the movies matched up much more precisely to the films and they didn't fail to even captivate the readers who knew what to expect and Warner Bros managed to go one step further in impressing the readers as well, which I felt didn't happen with the movie of Twilight.
Finally, I thought it was great that they hinted in the film what was to come in the sequel New Moon which doesn't occur in the book and overall as this film wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be, I hope it was just a warm up as to what is to come in New Moon, Eclipse and probably Breaking Dawn, because the team have got their work cut out for the upcoming films of those books. _____________________________________________________________________
I just want to say also, is that seeing it for a second time does really help. Especially when you go with people who are also as interested in the Twilight series as you are. I learnt to like it the second time because I already knew what to expect and saw it for what it was and it did change my pessimistic views slightly...but not immensely. I still believe Warner Bros. could have done a better job and I think I should be glad their changing the Director for the sequel, New Moon.