Breaking Dawn Part 1 brought in millions of dollars at the box office this weekend but were TwiHards impressed with the latest installment of the hit franchise?
Most of the critics and reviews from last week were from movie experts – not die-hard Twilight fans – so we thought we’d open up the floor for reviews from those of you who really matter: Those of you who’ve read every book and watched every film in the series repeatedly for the past 5 years.
I had a chance to see the movie this weekend and, I have to say, I was not disappointed. Do I think Breaking Dawn Part 1 was better than the original Twilight movie (the first installment)? No. But do I think it was better than New Moon and Eclipse? Absolutely.
The 1 hr, 54 minute film flew by and kept me on my toes the entire time. It left you satisfied enough that you weren’t angry but intrigued enough that you absolutely, positively cannot wait to see Breaking Dawn Part 2 (which will hit theaters in 2012).
Did you see the movie this weekend? Was it everything you had hoped it was going to be?
Do you think Breaking Dawn Part 1 was better than the other films in the series?
Leave your reviews below:
I LOVED IT! It was my favourite one by far (although I say that every time i see a new one). It was a little creepy seeing bella almost die and her body looked so disgusting but other than that it was amazing. The baby is SO cute too. Can’t wait for Breaking Dawn Part 2!!!!!!!!
I loved it….I saw it four times this weekend including the midnight viewing! It was everything I hoped for and I cannot wait until Breaking Dawn II comes out!
I l l l looooooved the first half, teary eyed on the wedding scenes which were absolutely beautiful by the way. BUT the last half left me a little uneasy. I agree with lacey , I think that scene with bellas dead body and edward biting all over it was just plain weird. But the movie was amazing otherwise and I can’t wait to see part 2 , Im already going to try researching when it comes out on blu ray!!!! Team Eddie all the way baby! =)
I thought it didnt follow the book really well, which sucked!!! There were a lot of cheesy parts like when the wolf pack talk to each other. I think this movie could have been so much better, i was highly disappointed!
I expected more action. Some of the scenes were kind of slow. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I felt slightly disappointed.
I thought this movie was great! I didn’t feel like scraping out my veins when there were lovey dovey scenes like I did in the first Twilight movie (did they get acting lessons or what?) I thought that everyone did awesome in the movie. And I agree, the wolf scene was the only part that I thought was badly done. I think everyone in the theater was laughing during it.
As far as Bella looking nasty, that is exactly how it was described in the book! She looks horrible, and for good reason! I love how she physically changes and you get to see it when she’s um… ******SPOILER ALERT***** morphing into a vampire. I thought the movie followed the book perfectly!! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a movie that follows the book so well.
I also just have to say, I TOTALLY called how they were going to end this movie. It was absolutely the best way to end it. But why do we have to wait a WHOLE YEAR?!? Harry Potter did it in a 6 month increment! Especially since the movie is done and just sitting there waiting for us all to see it!!!!! All in all….I LOVED THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m a HUGE fan of the books and this movie was such a disappointment. It really dragged, and was quite silly in many places (the wolves talking). The honeymoon scenes were even boring – how is that possible? My favorite of the movies was the first – not great in special effects (low budget?), but the independent feel was cool and mysterious. In Breaking Dawn, the wolves are not interesting, yet occupy much of the second half of the film. Bella and Edward’s characters (as well as all of the Cullens) are just plain boring. I’m hoping the next movie is better.
I have to agree – I have loved the entire series until this one. I do not go to the theatre to see movies but could not wait for this one to come out – what a disappointment! I too hope the next one wil be much better…
I mean a third of the book Breaking Dawn is from the perspective of Jacob, so I was surprised they didn’t do more of the wolf telepathy in the movie. I absolutely adored this movie. It made me cry and laugh and fall in love with their story all over again! And it followed the book very very well!!! Can’t wait to see the next action packed second part!!!
I totally agree!
I love this saga and although I liked the movie overall, I was disappointed at the lack of details. No sparkling! This is part of who Bella will become and they left this major detail out. Edward shaking the pilots hand without him noticing the coldness? I hated the way the packs voices were done while in the wolf form too. I am invested at this point in my love for this story and some things did not come across to the standard I believe the saga has maintained up to this point. I felt like I was thrown into a kids cartoon nightmare with that pack scene. They made Rosalie look like a jerk who cared nothing about Bella which is not right. I feel like this was a major bonding point for these two in the book and the movie left a different feeling. The scenes with Jacob being torn between his hate for the Cullens and his love for Bella were rushed and would be confusing for anyone who has not read the books to fill in all the gaps. I was disappointed with so many things because it seems like the movie should have been longer. This is the ending to the Saga and it should have been lengthened to provide the details that make us all love this story so much. I can see how it had to be 2 movies…..but is should have been 2 long movies. At least 2 and a half hours to give us the emotions these characters should have been given time to play on. Were they worried about the budget? They are making so much money…why not go all out and give us the closure we need!
Defintely agree with everything smartin said!
Thank You Kelly! I am still trying to figure out how they could have been satisfied with this representation of such a great love story. All the hype and anticipation…I feel cheated. I can see how much more I missed when I read others thoughts about what was missing too.
I loved this movie, Breaking Dawn was a huge success, but I do agree that the whole wolf scene where they are talking to one another was a bit cheesy, the only regret I had was there was a lot of smaller intimate moments from the book that, wasn’t included in the movie. For example, we didn’t get to see Bella jealous when she was introduced to Tonya, and the whole pre-wedding scene where Edward and Bella tel Charlie they are getting married, I would have loved to see that scene come to life. I also felt that on certain scenes it pass over and focused on scenes that wasn’t important. I was happy, especially about the whole scene for the wedding, the wedding itself was phenomenally beautiful and they song they dance to at the prom in Twilight just made the wedding more Perfect,to have it as their wedding song. I loved how Bill Condon focused on how nervous Bella was when she was walking down, I thought we should have been given more with the Honeymoon and the Love scenes though, but overall the movie was good, I watch it twice so far
I loved this movie!!! I agree that it was lacking some major parts from the books. I thought that the part where Jacob gets mad and leaves the Cullen’s house, searching for a girl to imprint on was important to show how desperate he was not be in love with Bella any more. I enjoyed the honeymoon but wished that it was longer and more detailed. Where was the scene with them swimming and the fish stayed away from Edward? The scene where Bella confronts Edward about trying to wear her out so that she is to tired to want sex and to pressure him? The scene where Rose carves dog into Jacobs plate, where he come up with the blonde jokes? Though not important to a person that only watches the movies these scenes are important to a person who loves the books. I have found every movie to be lacking the depth found in the books and I get that it is hard to show all of that on screen. But twilight was missing the conversations in the car, the restaurant scene was much better in the book, the meadow which was what started this series was 1 minute long with no dialogue. New Moon I loved, the only thing I found lacking was the conversation between Edward and Bella at the end of the book. And Eclipse was missing a lot of the humor, the scene in the book where Edward warns Jacob that he will be running with three legs and Jacob implies that he is less then a man and Edward calls him a pup. All of this was important to build the relationships for the characters. Over all awesome movie, I loved the way Bella transformed, I hated the way she looked, in the book after she drank the blood she was looking better not in the movie.
I don’t know if it is because there have been so many different directors, and they don”t care but the screen writer has been the same on all 4 movies so far. If I was Stephanie Meyers I would be a little upset over the fact that so much was missing.
If you have only watched the movies then this movie is awesome. If you read the books then this movie is lacking just like all the others. Still a movie I loved but wish there was more.
Totally agree! I have read all 4 books 6 times each. I love Stephanie Meyer’s writing style and the way her books put you right in place with the characters and we missed that “bonding” in the movies. So many emotions lost…so many new scenes added (that were not in the book) that made things seem cheesey (although for anyone that hasn’t read the book you wouldn’t know)…so many great opportunities from the book that were left out of the movies. I didn’t like the way that Edward raised his voice to Bella in Breaking Dawn. In the book he was doing EVERYTHING to keep her happy and calm. They even left out the part where he asked Jacob to offer her another opportunity to have children with him. The incredible struggle for Jacob with Bella wanting him to be around so much and he not understanding…and Edward not understanding and even Bella not understanding. Jacob, not feeling the pull/connection to Bella anymore (as soon as the baby was born) and realizing some force was pulling him downstairs.
Don’t get me wrong – I’ve still seen the movies over and over but BY FAR – if you haven’t read the books you are doing yourself a disservice. READ THE BOOKS!!
I REALLY liked the movie and have already seen it three times. I liked how it followed the book but felt there were definitely some problems
*The wolves clothes miraculously appeared after being shred off and Jacob and the others always had new clothes, flannels, hoodies (except once when Esme brought them food).
*Why didn’t the vampires sparkle?
I expect there to be differences between the books and movies, but not glaring mistakes.
Of course I would have liked it longer; there were some important/fun scenes missing that they should have included.
Overall I left feeling happy and wanted to see it again right away. But I do agree that so much was just left out. You would think they could have made it a little longer. The wolves were ridiculous… I have no idea why they felt they had to morph their voices, it made them so obviously stupid sounding. I knew poor Jake would not get as much attention as he needed in this movie but was unprepared for how much. I am Team Edward and thought everything concerning his character was just perfect…could have used more skin lol. Agree we needed to see the sparkle…I absolutely loved the humorous moments!
Books are always better, but I plan to see this again and again because I am hooked
The Twilight movies have made millions of dollars, that’s why I do not understand the RUSH to make these movies. The books are so close to the fans, and the movies have not done the books or the fans justice. Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 was rushed. They left out too many important things, for example Jacob’s and Seth’s relationship should have been in the movie. They should have let the characters develop more during Bella’s pregnancy. I feel sorry for the people who have seen the movies, but not have read the books because they don’t understand just how wonderful this story is.
Your so right. I have read the books so I know the story. But my friends who haven’t read them had tons of questions when we left. I’m a super fan so in my eyes they can do no wrong……but I think maybe 3 parts would be better to capture all of the essence.
I just love the Twilight series.I find them magical and romantic (Twilight) and surreal,compelling,artistic (New Moon) and dramatic (Eclipse). I have waited so long for Breaking Dawn, and it is possible that my hopes were too high.
I felt embarrassed and uncomfortable in a few scenes.. awkward moments,timing ‘off’ feeling of forced acting, maybe poor-editing?. I felt like I was watching a very bad soap the whole first-half of the movie due to the extremely bad music..what was that? Just awful,cheesy music over everything. Where was the cool, underground music in the beginning? It was like elevator music in the background..arg!!!
Part of what made Twilight and New Moon so interesting,captivating and etherial was the unique, original music played through-out.
The magic was REALLY missing through the first-half for me.So flat.So rushed.
I wanted Bella’s pregnancy to be played through properly, the intensity of her wondering..everything in this movie was rushed and all nuance missed.
Things started to finally get better as the wolves were introduced and the drama began..BUT,then again, scenes with the wolves were seriously ‘off’. They had them running off angry and on a mission, as people? Why were they not phasing? Looked so lame!So disapionting..The scene where the wolves are talking in the ‘transformer’ voices was fully embarassing and I suddenly realised I was in a pre-teen-movie nightmare..what a mess!
They could have done that scene as people or even just as ‘thoughts’ in thier real voices, like in the book..and it would have been totally fine.
I thought Jacob, Edward and Bella all did a wonderful job.But the others were given no screen time and they seemed really not to matter at all.
Where was the anamosity between Jacob & Rosalie?
Everyones hair looked weird, even Bella.Extensions?
All and all, I left feeling like a really lovely creative idea had been smashed together, thrown together and served up..I cannot believe it, but I dont even know if I want to see it again. Maybe, just to be sure I still feel the same way.
In all the other movies I felt so much joy and magic happening, especially New Moon with such wonderful cinematography, a killer soundtrack and beautiful wolves..This one broke the magic for me, Im sorry to say.
OK first let me say that I am a Twilight fan, not a Hater. I bought the “combo tickets” a month in advance for myself, my daughter, and my grand daughter and we all looked forward to the midnight release of this movie with great enthusiasm, we are suckers for love stories and love triangles. To say that I was disappointed is an understatement. My daughter thought is was OK, and my grand daughter’s words were “it was too weird”. She is 10 years old, and the biggest fan of the three of us, so that is saying something. $139 Million in sales over the weekend….that doesn’t mean it was good. That means that those who had been anticipating this movie and its hype showed up to see a good movie and a continuation of the saga, as faithful loyal fans do. I am one who will see a good movie at least twice…and I am a Twilight fan. I can honestly say I will not be going to the theater to see this one again, even my grand daughter doesn’t care to go again. I’m sure I am not alone in saying that! So, it’s probably a good thing they had a great opening weekend because I believe they will slump in anticipated continued sales. I was actually embarrassed for the franchise. I expected so much more from this movie…I think the absolute worst part was the werewolves talking scene. It was excrutiating to watch and listen to. Honestly, I wanted to leave. My thoughts were, “you have got to be kidding me”. I can’t believe that no one, and I mean no one who had the power of what gets cut from a movie, what gets edited, or what stays in a movie, actually let this slide by. That’s when my grand daughter rated the movie “too weird” and rightfully so. It was beyond an awful scene and set the “feeling” for the rest of movie, in my opinion. There were numerous bad scenes and bad ideas and I agree with most others who said they basically did two hours of nonsense and pointless filler. I honestly kept wanting to relate emotionally to the central characters as in the previous movies, but in this movie, it just didn’t happen. What a huge dissappointment. Like other Twilight fans, I will of course return to see Breaking Dawn Part 2 at the midnight release next year (more curiosity than anything else at this point) and hope that after a year of waiting (and the franchise milking this movie for every penny it can get at the expense of quality) that Part 2 redeems itself.
I coudln’t wait to see these movie I am a huge fan. I read each book about ten times. I enjoyed a few parts the movie it was funny and romantic. I loved the wedding scene and that they used the prom song from the first twilight movie, They even used Bella lullaby from the first movie too. My favorite part was towards the end when they showed all of bellas and edwards memories from the beginning. I liked that for some parts they stayed close to the book but damn it there was so much left out. What happened to Rosalie and Jacob going at it? Jacob’s and leah getting close and understanding each other? Jacob was supposed to get mad and try to imprint on someone. The wolves talking to each other was just ridicilous. the birthing scene wasnt so bad..I like the part where jacob imprinted it was very sweet. I feel that Stephanie Meyer did an amazing job with the book but so much was left out. They did the same thing in ecilpse leaving out the part where jacob and edward go at it over bellas hand the the tent scene was a disappointment..What i hate the most is how the end these movies..Bella opens her eyes bam its over! Thats just crazy they could have showed lot more in this movie. I feel that they could have did the whole thing in one movie instead of two. And we have to wait another year!! I feel that to any fan of the books its a disappointment..
Thank you all for saving me not only the price of the ticket, but the soda, popcorn and disappointment.
The scriptwriter should have been replaced after the first movie. NOOO, instead they kept replacing the directors. Seriously??? How much can a director (let alone actors) do with a bad script? I’ll bet the only things the actors have been looking forward to in each movie is the big paycheck.
I feel SM sold out to the biggest offer without thinking how much damage another person could do to the storyline. I feel sorry for us.
I think you should still check it out. Yes things are left out but it’s still quite good. I have seen it 5 times so far.
I think that it was an good movie. But the part with the wolves was cheesy ,and I wish they would have more details from the book. Overall I give it 9/10 ,and cant wait for part two.
I, like most others who have written reviews, was disappointed…on several levels.
Everything, thus far, has been a hit. The books were incredible as well as the first 3 movies. All of the previous movies kept the integrity of the books, elaborated on the scenes and really got us involved.
Breaking Dawn followed the sequences but did not deliver the grand slam as well as the other movies did. Where was all the cute bantar between Jacob & Rosalie? Where was the pleading and fighting between Edward & Jacob? Where was the kinship when Jacob accepted that they were now a new pack? There are so many other clips that could have been included. This and part 2 next year are the finale… this is the time to ramp it up, pull out all the stops… not ride on the success of the past and just slide into place.
I whole-heartedly agree with other comments that this could have been made longer to include these ‘extra’ features from the book.
One of the great things the other movies did is follow the book so well that you could watch the movie without having read the book and be able to keep up with it. I do not get the same feel from this one. I think someone who had not read the books or seen previous movies would be lost with Breaking Dawn.
It was good, for what it was… but it wasn’t all that I expected it to be. Part 2 undoubtedly will be better …hopefully with all the bells & whistles that avid fans need & deserve.
I watched this movie it was very well done the pain Bella had to endure is shocking to say the least and no one should ever have to go threw this for love! I am disappointed in who Bella picked because life is more important then anything dead and lets face it Bella died tonight the person we loved and watched for 3 other movies died.
No wonder Jacob stopped loving her he watched that person die now he imprints on the only thing left of her a child that really should of been his not Edwards because what Vampire knocks up a human being really seriously some of the writing was terrible.
I am team Bella, watching this movie I realize that person is dead now!
Another point they should change Bella name now because that person isn’t alive anymore!
I don’t admire the writers point of view in this movie I would of changed it for sure I think women that are made so weak that they prefer death over living is dumb founded and weak.
I think Bella would of realize life was more important then death lets hope the teenage women watching this show don’t believe death for love is good!
Honestly, I was a huge fan the first movie, then the whole thing blew up and annoyed me but I kept watching, because it was sweet and nostalgic and because I was curious, really, more than anything else. I watched all the movies & was okay with them. The acting is nothing worthy of awards, but they were alright. This movie though, ever since I saw the trailer, I didn’t really feel like going to see it. It looked gross, but I went to go see it anyway because my friends wanted to go and so I went. It was cute, and the jacob/bella scene at the wedding was done perfectly, but honestly it went downhill from that. the Denali clan looked hideous. I’m not saying the actresses were ugly, I’m saying they weren’t compatible with the makeup. There’s just some people who should not have yellow-gold eyes and plastered alabaster skin. But to the point, I missed the scene between Tanya and Bella/Edward. There was so much missing! The scene that did it for me though were the wolves, and I actually felt insulted on their part because they took what was a powerful moment and made it hokey and pretentious. The voices were AWFUL. AWFUL. This movie was by far the worst of them all. Not even the music saved it, because honestly I felt like it was all reused. I know there were only two songs used again from the first movie but it felt like it was just the same crap they were spouting every single scene. The only thing I was looking forward to in these movies were the Rosalie/Jacob scenes, and there was not a SINGLE one of those. I’m sorely disappointed.
To the directors/producers/Stephanie – just because your fans will always want to see the movie doesn’t mean you should count on them being satisfied just because there IS a movie. Put a little more heart into it, and remember that they’re your FANS. Treat them like such. They’re the ones making your paychecks. The least they deserve is to have a movie worth their time.
I loveddddd Breaking Dawn!! It was awesome. IT was very detailed! Did anyone of you guys see the last scene? IT played after the credits rolled. It showed the Voulturil. Just about everyone in my theater missed it because they had already left. I wouldn’t of known about it if my uncle hadn’t seen it the night before!!!. Overall, I guess I would say it’s my favorite so far. Deff worth going to see!!!
I dont want to say the movie was bad because I love the saga sooo much. I want to defend it but they strayed away from the book far to much. The birthing scene didnt make sense to me? Edward and Jacob delivering the baby? WTH. I did love the movie though and they probably leave out alot of stuff so they can put it on the DVD to make sooo much more money!! Also the extra footage during the credits…that wasnt extra at all it was in the trailer..I was hoping it would be a real glimpse of the next movie like Bella as a vampire or reneesme? Not the volturi who we have seen 100 times. Lame….but I still love it. I just think none of the movies will ever be as good as twilight because it was low budget it made it seem real…now bella looks all done up like a super model when she isnt she is just a regular girl.
Oh…but I did love when Bella was remembering all their times together and how they played the song from their first dance at prom during their wedding kiss. The nightmare with the pile of dead bodies was weird…but the birth scene was done very well and believable.
Hey, just wanted to know if this movie is unappropriate for kids to see? I have heard the sex scenes are not bad from one person, and totally inappropriate for kids from another. What does everyone think? Would it be bad for say an 8 year old to see? She has seen all of them so far. I was just worried about her seeing this one because of the questionable sex scenes.
thx
I think the film isn’t nearly as bad as its reviews might suggest. Men who are being forced to go see this should hear my thoughts on Breaking Dawn from a male perspective here:
http://www.spreecast.com/events/easymactwilight
139 mil? well they didn’t get my money ,per say –gotta love pirated movies..
So now onto the movie at hand.humm…bits and pieces were good and others just painful to get through…but I did and still glad I didn’t miss it.
For all of you that were disappointed about switching directors, changing so much compared to the book, well…this is the real world –Steph,,,isn’t S.King–yet.
In this , having true control of the outcome of their movie, as to follow the story line as written.
But who has “that” much money and control?
I would think if they would really like to make more money ,do it as a chapter book series on TV….the Nelson rating would love it ,and so would the fans –that way they could put in “every” detail and drag it out for years ….
( inject) Yes they would have to put all new actors in the parts –but we would get use to it quick. And still love it.
I hope they did a better job on part two.
This movie thrown together the way it was, just proves a point —When the money fire catches like it did .like wild fire, it always ends up all about greed.
Makes me laugh –if had asked every fan on line for a buck donation, they could have had a bigger budget and made a more satisfying movie that the fans wouldn’t have been so disappointed by.
I couldn’t wait to finally watch the movie….thought it was going to blow me over. But sadly i was mistaken. The movie was good until the last 10 mins or the imprinting on renessme was werid and very unexpected. Since then my moods been off. I liked the previous movies alot. I regret watching it coz now there is no more jacob loving bella
So much of the book was left out.Dissapointing. The opening scene with the car, I really wanted to see the car. Edward asking for the blessing,Renee explaining her approval…..all of this could have been covered in seconds but the chosen scenes moved so tediously slllloooooowwwww. Bella changes her relationship with Rosalie,that whole scene, gone. The HarryPotter movies followed the books much better.