Why Twilight is good

[bunny-summers]

Hi, I watched Twilight (the first film) for the first time the other day with my sister. I thought that as a film it was ok but that the story in general wasn't that great. I am generally intrigued as to how and why Twilight suddenly got so big. Is it purely for Mr Pattinson or the stories themselves? Can you please enlighten me?

[thedude57]

no idea, perhaps the books are good

 

but i found the movies to be poor, bad effects, average acting, weak unoriginal storyline

 

overall disappointing overrated flicks

[DavidB]

The majority of people that don't like it aren't even the target audience, so it's not a surprise.

 

A fair few fans don't even like the movies compared to the books, so it's certainly not just the Pattinson factor.

[Narago]

i think for me its the whole story of true love and that no matter what obstacles are in the way you can always find a way to be with your true love, its kinda soppy i know but isnt that what most ppl want in life to find someone they truly love and want to spend their lives with?

 

i love both the books and the films although as with many books made into films the books rise above and beyond the films!!

 

:)

[dayna]

The thing that attracted me to the film wasn't Rob Pattinson (although yes I do think he's hot lol) but it was the fact it was a vamp film and was about the forbidden love of a human and a vampire and everything they have to go through. I love the film but I think that's because I love the books. Saying that, the film didn't do the book justice and left a lot of the story unsaid and was generally confusing. In order for you to really understand the film you kinda have to read the book first/or aswell. I actually regret reading the book before I saw the film because, in the beginning, I was quite angry with how the book had been portrayed in the film lol.

[touchthesky]

Hm.

 

I like the books WAY more than the movies so it definately wasn't the movies that got me in to the series.

 

I dunno what it is if I'm honest.

 

It's just love.

[talie]

I have NO idea what I like(d) about it.

 

Crap writing.

Dire story.

Badly made film lol.

 

But I'm still really excited for eclipse

Edited April 17, 2010 by Talie

[Daniel]

What makes Twilight work is its characters. There are a thousand vampire movies, but what made Twilight stand out was how the audience could get involved in the characters which I thought were interesting.

 

The vampires going to high school and living as normal members of society I thought was an original idea and the native American wolves storys I have always had an interest in. As for the humans I think they all had aspects of their personalities or issues we could all relate to.

 

When I went to see Twilight I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary but was happily surprised. I would even go as far as to say it was one of the best films I have ever seen.

 

One final thought is that it is pointless to discuss a films, because we all have our personnel tastes and favorites and there is nithing wrong with likeing a film even if the critics don't. If you look at Twilight's box office takings I think there is something to suggest it i not just teenage girls (i.e. Robert Pattinson fans) who are watching.

[touchthesky]

I have NO idea what I like(d) about it.

 

Crap writing.

Dire story.

Badly made film lol.

 

But I'm still really excited for eclipse

IM EXCITED FOR UR FACE.

 

[talie]

I have NO idea what I like(d) about it.

 

Crap writing.

Dire story.

Badly made film lol.

 

But I'm still really excited for eclipse

IM EXCITED FOR UR FACE.

 

LAV IIT

[beauty&bear]

Are you even a fan Talie? All of the things you listed pretty much make Twlight.

 

I don't really know why I love Twilight, I think its a combo of everything, mainly the cast, I'm more in love with Robsten than Edward and Bella Our cast are just amazing, I only dislike one from the time I met him but all of the others are brilliant and really loving to the fans.

 

I love the books, the story is fairly predictable, but under the surface there are pretty dark themes for a teen audience, Edward is pretty domineering for example, girls might think its okay for their boyfriends to tell them what to do. Another obvious one is the fact they are willing to die for eachother. Its not just a fluffy love story, I do think the characters are slightly fluffy but I do love them, again Melissa Rosenburg BUTCHERED the script. I HATE her.

 

Twilight was made with a tiny budget and Catherine did the best with what she got and hired an amazing cast. Chris W did what he does best, CGI effects and a big production and made New Moon great, with what he had - a rubbish script from an amazing book.

 

I don't know why I LOVE it, I just do, I'm one of the freaks that love the movies more than the books, but thats just because im not a book person, I'm a fanfic person but not a book person, I love movies and TV shows rather than books.

 

I was obssessed this way with Buffy to, must just be a vampire thing

[natfrog5]

I read the books because I've always loved vampire related things and had had them recommended to me by a friend.

 

It had been a while since I'd got involved in a book and tbh it just completed had me engrossed! For me Twilight is so well written, made me truly feel emotions for what was being described and I got completely lost in Bellas world.

 

The vampire link is totally not what the books are ultimately about.....its a love story and I hope that anyone who has experienced those kinds of feelings for someone would be able to relate to and appreciate the books.

 

The films dont do the books justice so I can see why a lot of people feel the need to criticise or cant understand why we all love it so much.

 

It's all personal taste at the end of the day.

 

xxxx

[talie]

Are you even a fan Talie? All of the things you listed pretty much make Twlight.

 

I don't really know why I love Twilight, I think its a combo of everything, mainly the cast, I'm more in love with Robsten than Edward and Bella Our cast are just amazing, I only dislike one from the time I met him but all of the others are brilliant and really loving to the fans.

 

I love the books, the story is fairly predictable, but under the surface there are pretty dark themes for a teen audience, Edward is pretty domineering for example, girls might think its okay for their boyfriends to tell them what to do. Another obvious one is the fact they are willing to die for eachother. Its not just a fluffy love story, I do think the characters are slightly fluffy but I do love them, again Melissa Rosenburg BUTCHERED the script. I HATE her.

 

Twilight was made with a tiny budget and Catherine did the best with what she got and hired an amazing cast. Chris W did what he does best, CGI effects and a big production and made New Moon great, with what he had - a rubbish script from an amazing book.

 

I don't know why I LOVE it, I just do, I'm one of the freaks that love the movies more than the books, but thats just because im not a book person, I'm a fanfic person but not a book person, I love movies and TV shows rather than books.

 

I was obssessed this way with Buffy to, must just be a vampire thing

No I'm not that's why I've been to all the cons, and have seen all the films and have all the books.......

 

I just don't know why I like it but I do, the writing is abysmal.... and the books are predictable I do like them though.

[foreverbella]

The films for me are just an added bonus really. I read all of the books before the film came out and was instantly hooked. It wasn't till I googled Twilight around the time of the film being announced that I realised there was this huge fan base, it felt weird not being the only one who had fallen in love with them considering I didn't know anyone who had read them I thought they were some sort of hidden gem...even though they had been advertised a lot. Oh how wrong I was haha.

[timpe]

I'm with Talie - I love it despite knowing it's bad. It's a guilty pleasure to me.

 

There are some things that are really quite disturbing about Twilight. In New Moon there is very definitely the suggestion that the worse a guy treats you the more he loves you. Even with Jake there are scenes where he warns Bella how dangerous he is, only to have her long for him more. If I had a daughter I think I would rather she read something with a more healthy message than "if you think the guy you are dating is dangerous, sneak him into your house and even into your bed". Whe I hear about 9 and 10 year olds loving the books I wonder how healthy it is for them to learn that having a secret relationship with a dangerous boy is the ultimate in romance.

 

I think the books are best read by women who are sensible enough to know better. It's not an age thing - my niece read the books at 12-13 and was angry that Bella would let a boy tell her what to do, while I've met older women who talk about holding out for a man like Edward, with no sense of irony whatsoever.

 

I don't really rate Stephanie Meyer as a writer (though The Host is a far better written book than the Twilight Saga) but one thing she does perfectly is creates an connection between the reader and Bella - the intimacy of being inside Bella's head is very successfully captured. Other than that, the supporting Cullens are appealing characters, and let's face it, vampire baseball rocks.

 

For me the books were what got me hooked - they were just so easy to read, and so curiously old-fashioned. They're Wuthering Heights with fangs. The first movie has a visual style that I love but the story was butchered and all the sweeping romance was completely lost. New Moon was a better stab but without the romance being set up properly in the first movie, the audience is left wondering why Bella doesn't just forget the pale kid with the caterpillar brows and snuggle up to the shirtless hottie.

[nicky]

The films dont do the books justice so I can see why a lot of people feel the need to criticise or cant understand why we all love it so much.

 

It's all personal taste at the end of the day.

 

I think you just answered your own question there. Besides the OP was talking about the films, not Twilight the phenonemon in general. I only saw the first one and I thought it was pretty bad but then again I'm a bloke in his 30s.

 

I think the film would have been handled better by a genre-director who had handled this kinda teen-drama before like Clueless , The Craft, She's All That or Bring It On.

[JaneDoe]

I made a complete ass of myself trying to explain what I liked about the Twilight series to Simon Mayo on the radio the other day. As usual it wasn't until I'd hung up the phone that the real reasons I liked it in the first place came back to me.

 

Imagine you've been with your partner, significant other or what ever for years. You know you still love them but you can't remember what it's like to have all those initial emotions and feelings you had in the beginning. Then you read Twilight, and yes I have to agree with Talie that the books aren't great literary master pieces but Meyer got some thing. She managed to write those first feelings of falling for someone to a degree that made me remember what it was like when I first fell for my husband. Take the biology video scene for instance, the electricity and tension was so palpable you could almost touch it. That sort of thing was lost in the movie. But also like Talie, I cannot wait for Eclipse to come out!

[dayna]

I made a complete ass of myself trying to explain what I liked about the Twilight series to Simon Mayo on the radio the other day. As usual it wasn't until I'd hung up the phone that the real reasons I liked it in the first place came back to me.

 

Imagine you've been with your partner, significant other or what ever for years. You know you still love them but you can't remember what it's like to have all those initial emotions and feelings you had in the beginning. Then you read Twilight, and yes I have to agree with Talie that the books aren't great literary master pieces but Meyer got some thing. She managed to write those first feelings of falling for someone to a degree that made me remember what it was like when I first fell for my husband. Take the biology video scene for instance, the electricity and tension was so palpable you could almost touch it. That sort of thing was lost in the movie. But also like Talie, I cannot wait for Eclipse to come out!

I felt exactly the same and as weird is it sounds it made me re-evaluate my relationship and apreciate it more.

[symphony]

Twilight as a movie, I wasn't impressed by. Thought there was no chemistry shown between Edward & Bella, and that Edward was very stilted. Bella drove me mad with her little twitches & hair flicks / lip biting / lack of emotion etc. It did nothing for me whatsoever.

 

New Moon, on the other hand, stepped it up a notch, I felt. Perhaps it was the actors getting used to their characters, growing into them, I don't know. But with the warmth, then the heartbreak, the rising chemistry between Bella & Jacob - this film had all the signs of new love, and gosh, you'd be sitting there thinking "oh lord, they're gonna kiss / hold hands" etc and nodding along, remebmering times when you yourself first fell for someone and went through all those stages.

 

As for what made it so huge? Who knows. To me, the books far surpass the movies so I'm not sure where they suddenly sprang out of but then again look at Harry Potter - books were huge, & then movies were huge. Same kind of thing here, I think :)

[bfsfreakaof]

Im with Talie here... The books are badly written and Melissa Rosenberg can't write a script. Yet i'm still unashamedly hooked =/ But i think for me a big reason why Twilight has stuck with me and I've stayed in the fandom is because of the rest of the people in the fandom. Like friends i've made on message boards, freinds ive made through reading fic, friends i've made at conventions THEY are what makes Twilight the most fun for me. I think if everyone is the fandom was horrible i would of flouced a while back and maybe just of been a casual fan... nut with my fan fic addiction and the amazing freinds i've made is whats kept me.... not the quality of the books or films...

 

My other theory is an odd one. You remember how once you popped a packet of pringles you couldn't stop? Well my theory is that they took whatever ingrediant it was that did that and lined the lages of all the books with it... so once we started reading we couldnt stop and we then go on to get our fix from as many places as we can find.... this i believe is the reason why Pringles just aren't the same anymore... i cant stop way too easily now =s

[Nell]

Ok here's my two penneth!

 

I borrowed the movie Twilight from a friend back in January and I loved it. What I loved about it was the idea of the relationship between Bella and Edward, that's what initially got me hooked. I got the books straight away and pretty much read them all back to back. It was only after reading the book of Twilight that I realised how poor the film is compared to the book, there was sooo much more they could of done with it and there were bits they put in that I thought were completely pointless, like making Bella a vegetarian for example (even tho I am one myself, I fail to see how making her one in the film improves the story at all! Think I missed the point there.) I find it very much a 'teen' film now, though I don't find that with the book. You really do need to have read the book to truly understand the film. I don't think the acting is poor, I can totally see how they've directed Rob to make him come across a certain way, but I really don't rate Kristen Stewart at all. I agree about the annoying ticks she has and I don't think she does Bella any justice. I literally just saw the trailer for Eclipse last night (I only got the net back yesterday, waiting to see it has been KILLING me!) and it seems to me she has the same look on her face throughout the ENTIRE thing! I prefer the character of Bella in the books, I think she is very well written and actually quite funny at times. But Kristen displays very little emotion and even when she does, the emotion doesn't touch her face.

 

Rob, however, is the perfect Edward for me. As I said, I watched the film first, so I found myself imagining the cast as their parts in the book. Rob made it very easy for me to imagine him as Edward!

 

I read New Moon before I saw it and I wasn't disappointed. The Wolves were exactly how I imagined them to be and I was totally blown away by it. Definitely my favourite of the 2 films so far. Can't wait for Eclipse! Looks set to be amazing! Only dubious about Bryce, am reserving judgement til I've seen her as Victoria and as I said, Kristen. Bella has a very emotional time in the book and I doubt that Kristen will portay this well in the movie.

 

One thing I do find strange is that I had an oppurtunity to read Twilight back in the beginning of 2008, but I was at a very low ebb at the time and didn't have the concentration needed to read a book, so I returned it to the person who leant it to me. I wonder what would have happened if I had gotten into it back then, as I have already started meeting fellow fans and it has changed my life! I don't agree with people who criticise Stephenie as an author. I think she very talented and has captured the imagination of millions, including little ol' me!

[timpe]

My other theory is an odd one. You remember how once you popped a packet of pringles you couldn't stop? Well my theory is that they took whatever ingrediant it was that did that and lined the lages of all the books with it... so once we started reading we couldnt stop and we then go on to get our fix from as many places as we can find.... this i believe is the reason why Pringles just aren't the same anymore... i cant stop way too easily now =s

 

That is so true - a bunch of friends and I all read the books at the same time and we said the same thing. It's was like the pages were dipped in some kind of drug. I couldn't put the books down.

I do love the books, though I am completely aware of their faults. As Jane Doe said, Stephenie Meyer excelled at portraying the first blush of a new romance, and I think a lot of the appeal for the older reader is that it taked you back to that time when you first fell in love. The biology class captures that feeling of nervous attraction so perfectly - I held my breath when I read that scene in the book.