Twilight appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. No issues developed in this pleasing Dolby Vision presentation.
Sharpness seemed positive. A smidgen of softness appeared at times, but the majority of the movie displayed clear, accurate images.
No signs of shimmering or jaggies occurred, and the movie lacked edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to mar the transfer, and grain felt natural, if somewhat heavy at times.
No one expects a vampire movie to boast a vibrant palette, and when that flick comes set in the gloomy, rainy Pacific Northwest, the potential for colorful material takes an even greater dip. Despite a few golden scenes, the vast majority of the flick took on a cold green-blue tint.
Within those parameters, the hues looked appropriate. HDR gave the tones added impact, though their intentionally dingy feel limited those upgrades.
Blacks were dark and tight, while shadows showed good clarity. HDR brought extra punch to whites and contrast. Overall, this was an appealing presentation that deserved a “B+”.
Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Twilight seemed positive, though not especially ambitious. Only a smattering of action sequences opened up the piece in a moderate way. The thunderstorm baseball scene was the most dynamic, though a few fights added some zing.
These were exceptions to the rule, though, as most of the movie stayed with atmospheric elements. Music showed solid stereo imaging, though, and provided good reinforcement from the rear speakers.
Audio quality always satisfied. Music was lively and full, with good dimensionality. Effects came across as accurate and tight; they boasted nice punch when appropriate.
Speech also appeared crisp and well-defined. No edginess or other issues marred the presentation. While I didn’t think there was enough pizzazz on display to merit a grade above a “B”, I couldn’t complain about the results.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the original Blu-ray? The 4K’s Atmos track added a little kick to the proceedings but didn’t show a lot of changes from the lossless 5.1
The UHD came from a 2K source, but that didn’t mean the Dolby Vision image resembled the Blu-ray. In particular, the 4K looked brighter and considerably grainier.
This gave the image a more film-like appearance and it made sense given the movie’s Super 35 origins. I felt the Blu-ray looked fine but the 4K bettered it.
The included Blu-ray copy includes “legacy extras”, and we open with an audio commentary from director Catherine Hardwicke and actors Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. All three sit together for this running, screen-specific look at sets and locations, cast and performances, stunts and effects, music,
The commentary starts slowly and never really gets into a groove. That doesn’t mean it lacks charms, though.
Hardwicke provides a reasonable amount of movie info, and Pattinson’s tendency to make fun of himself adds humor. Unfortunately, the track just doesn’t gel in a terrific manner.
It sags at times and doesn’t quite come together. Still, it boasts enough worth to merit a listen.
Five Extended Scenes fill a total of nine minutes, 36 seconds including a 21-second general intro from Hardwicke. These include “Are People Talking About the Cullens Again?” (1:55), “James, Let’s Not Play With Our Food” (2:02), “You Don’t Know How It’s Tortured Me” (2:18), “A Hundred Years Worth of Journals” (2:13) and “Don’t Read Charlie’s Mind” (0:44).
Of these, “Cullens” seems good, as it fleshes out some backstory in a satisfying manner. The others feel more redundant, and even tedious in the case of “Tortured”.
Each clip comes with a short introduction from Hardwicke. She offers perfunctory remarks to set up the scenes but she doesn’t tell us any details about them.
Five additional Deleted Scenes appear. Including a 23-second general intro from Hardwicke, these occupy a total of five minutes, 54 seconds. They bring “Edward, She’s Not One of Us!” (0:58), “That’s the First Time I Dreamt of Edward Cullen” (1:18), “Bella, Your Number Was Up the First Day I Met You” (1:48), “She Brought Him to Life” (0:43) and “I Love It When Men Chase Me” (0:40).
Maybe big Twilight fans will get more from these clips than I do, but frankly, most seem pretty dull to me. “Chase” probably should’ve stayed in the flick since it adds much needed exposition to the “bad” vampires, but I can live without the others.
Once again, the running times include intros from Hardwicke. Once again, she tells us little of interest.
Three music videos appear. These show Muse performing “Supermassive Black Hole as well as reels for “Decode” by Paramore and for “Leave Out All the Rest” by Linkin Park.
The Muse segment features some remarks from Hardwicke and author Stephenie Meyer before it shows the band as they play their tune live. It’s not a bad song, but it’s a pretty dull presentation.
As for the two other videos, “Decode” also provides short comments from Hardwicke about the song. That clips itself gives us standard “music videos from movies” fare, as it combines lip-synch footage and film snippets. It almost tries to tell a story with the bandmembers, but it doesn’t work too hard at this.
I have no idea why the Linkin Park piece is called a “video” when it’s another live performance with no link to the movie whatsoever. Heck, we don’t even get another intro from Hardwicke! At no point does it threaten to become memorable.
Our next attraction comes from The Adventure Begins: The Journey from Page to Screen. The documentary lasts 54 minutes, 29 seconds and provides notes from Hardwicke, Stewart, Pattinson, Meyer, screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, extras casting Danny Stoltz, visual effects supervisor Richard Kidd, producers Wyck Godfrey and Greg Mooradian, special effects foreperson Lawrence “Quasi” Decker, stunt performers Richard Volp, Colin Follenweider, Paul Darnell and Helena Barrett, 2nd unit director Andy Cheng, 2nd AD Thomas D. Coe, editor Nancy Richardson, and actors Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, Cam Gigandet, Edi Gathegi, Rachelle Lefevre, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Justin Chon, Michael Welch, Gregory Tyree Boyce, Taylor Lautner, and Billy Burke.
“Journey” looks at aspects of the book series and its adaptation, cast, characters and performances, Hardwicke’s approach to the film and pre-vis planning, stunts and various effects, locations, editing and music. While it can be viewed as one long program, it really provides seven shorter ones, and that makes it erratic.
On the negative side, “Journey” sticks with its episodic nature in such a way that it lacks much coherence. We zoom through subjects without great depth and don’t learn as much as we’d like. This is particularly true for issues related to the novel/script adaptation, editing and music; these come out as loose overviews at best.
“Journey” does succeed when it comes to the subjects of footage from the set, stunts and effects. We find tons of shots from the production, and we learn quite a lot about the various sorts of effects and stunts. Those areas function well enough to make “Journey” useful, even if it remains erratic.
Note that the Blu-ray allows viewers to access “Journey” either on its own or alongside the film as a “picture-in-picture” presentation. I opted for the standalone edition.
Next we find a featurette called The Comic-Con Phenomenon. The show fills seven minutes, 58 seconds as it shows the reception the Twilight cast and crew got from a heavily female Comic-Con audience.
This means challenging queries like “what’s it like to play a super-hot vampire in a movie?” Expect a whole lot of screaming, as literally every statement uttered by a panel participant ends with wild squealing.
Someone could say “I’m sitting at a table” and the crowd would go crazy. We get a whole lot of hype but not much real information.
A few promotional components appear under Theatrical Campaign. Under this banner, we find “Sneak Peek as Seen on Penelope DVD” (3:22), “Comic-Con New York Sneak Peek” (4:22), “Teaser Trailer #1” (0:58), “Teaser Trailer #2” (1:15) and “Final Trailer” (2:28).
“Sneak Peek” includes comments from Rosenberg, Meyer, Pattinson, and Stewart before it shows snippets from the film. “Comic-Con” features Stewart, Meyer, Hardwicke, Pattinson, Facinelli, Reaser, Greene, Rathbone, Lutz, Reed, Gigandet, Lefevre, and Gathegi. We see little of movie, as the emphasis here is on behind the scenes shots and story/character synopses.
The content of the trailers is pretty straightforward: they advertise the movie. (Surprising, isn’t it?) All are pretty average, as none include unique elements or anything to make them stand out from the typical trailer.
The 4K disc comes with new circa 2018 extras, and these launch with Twilight Tour… Ten Years Later. It runs 10 minutes, two seconds.
Hardwicke and Rathbone pair for a view of the movie’s locations, and along the way, they also chat with Carver Cafe owner Kristine Stafford and Cullen house owner John Hoke. The reel feels fluffy and lacks much substance.
A Conversation with Stephenie Meyer goes for 23 minutes, 34 seconds. Unsurprisingly, it offers notes from the author.
Meyer looks at the origins of the novels, writing them, the development of the characters and narratives, getting published and the movies. Meyer covers all these processed well in this informative chat.
Next comes Music: The Heartbeat of Twilight. It spans five minutes, 36 seconds and involves Hardwicke, Pattinson, Stewart, Meyer and music editor Adam Smalley.
We get general thought about the movie's score and songs. Not much substance results, as those involved just talk about how great the music is.
Two similar featurettes ensue. We find Becoming Bella (5:24) and Becoming Edward (7:29). Across these, we hear from Pattinson, Stewart, Hardwicke, and Rosenberg.
Unsurprisingly, these look at casting the leads as well as the roles and performances. They mix praise and insights.
Catherine Hardwicke’s Vampire Kiss Montage fills two minutes, 36 seconds and brings just what the title implies: lots of shots of chomps on the neck. It feels like a waste of time.
In the same vein, Catherine Hardwicke’s “Bella’s Lullaby Remix” Music Video presents a three-minute, 58-second montage. It looks awful and seems utterly pointless anyway.
More of the same arrives with Edward’s Piano Concert, as the two-minute, 34-second piece just shows that footage. Like “Lullaby”, it suffers from poor visuals and lacks purpose.
Three Twilight Cast Interviews follow. We get segments from Stewart/Pattinson (7:03), Gigandet (5:56) and Gethegi/Lefevre (6:21). All seem fairly promotional but they reveal more than I expected from this kind of fare.
Twilight Premiere on the Red Carpet (7:55) and Cast Interviews on the Red Carpet provides the sort of footage one anticipates. They also seem fluffy and less than enthralling.
Finally, Stephenie Meyer Talks About the Twilight Saga runs 36 minutes, 13 seconds. Here Meyer sits in a yard and chats with a group of fans, all female from ages 14 to 34.
That seems like a limited group, but to be fair, females 14-34 encompass the vast majority of the Twilight fanbase. I like the approach and Meyer offers some insights, especially given that all the books weren't done yet.
As one far from its target demographic, I expected little from Twilight. However, it turned out to be a pretty interesting flick, and to my surprise, its weakest parts came from those I thought I would like the best. The 4K UHD provides positive picture and audio along with a solid roster of bonus materials. Twilight becomes a fairly engaging mix of romance, fantasy and action.
Note that this 4K of Twilight can be purchased on its own or as part of a Best Buy-exclusive 15th anniversary steelbook collection that provides 4K UHD renditions of the four sequels as well.
As of November 2023, those four movies appear on 4K UHD only via this five-movie collection, though I strongly suspect that will change eventually. As for the Twilight 4K involved in the 15th anniversary set, it differs from the solo release solely because of the steelbook package and the inclusion of a second Blu-ray with most of the 4K’s supplements.
Oddly, that BD drops the “Tour” featurette. Otherwise, it comes with the same materials found on the 4K.
To rate this film visit the DVD review of TWILIGHT
