Director: David Slade

Writers: Melissa Rosenberg, Stephanie Meyer

Release Date: December 6 2010

Studio: E1 Entertainment

Number of discs: Available as a solo or double DVD

Price: From £9.99-£14.93

Running Time: 124 mins

Certificate: 12

Starring: Kirsten Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Dakota Fanning, Ashley Greene, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Kellan Lutz, Billy Burke

To non-Twilight fans and perhaps followers of the book alike, Eclipse is the cheesy mildly disappointing drawn-out anti-climax it proved difficult not to expect.

Headlines speak of murders and disappearances in Seattle that are possibly the work of a serial killer; the vampires and werewolves remain bitter foes faithfully sticking to their own territories; Victoria is Bella blood-hungry and Jacob and Edward continue to fight for Bella’s affections. “I’m tired of this” complains one of the lovestruck and so are we – the continuous personal rivalry drawn out across the trilogy and particularly in Eclipse has become extremely tedious.

Bella and Edward remain like magnets drawn together – the convincing sexual tension between the two could be cut with a garrote as Edward still insists sex is dangerous. For much of the film they have the “marry me”/ “turn me” argument, while a ripped Jacob stubbornly insists: “You feel something else for me – you just won’t admit ,“ as he parades around topless with burgeoning muscles, even on a snowy mountain-top. Risking losing Bella as a friend, Jacob knows time is short so tactlessly fires lines like: “Better you really be dead than one of them” amid vomit-inducing cheesy slush: “Imprinting on someone is like when you see her, everything changes. All of a sudden, it’s not gravity holding you to the planet.”

Almost a backdrop to this romantic rivalry is the threat of a “New Born” vampire army marching on Cullen territory. Some of Eclipse’s most interesting footage is presented in flashback - Rosalie’s flashbacks reveal her thirst for missing possibilities while Jasper’s give insight into his past experiences with “New Borns” during the Civil War when a vampire called Maria “turned” him in order to win land territories.

There are plenty of sigh-inducing scenes that reek of unoriginality like the scene disturbingly familiar to that of Land of the Dead with vampires crossing over the water, or the tiresome repeat of vampire history originally involving Japsper and Maria and now featuring Victoria and Reilly or Bella’s painfully obvious brazened copy of werewolf tribal stories.

The script is also torturously “teen deep” from the outset as Bella’s introductory monologue begins: “Some say the world will end in fire and some say ice, I prefer fire,” but later main characters equally gush: “I’m exactly right for you Bella – it would be as easy as breathing” and “You will always be my Bella… just less fragile.”

Amid all the cliches and elongated resolve, Eclipse borders on pain while teetering on pleasure. Although the tent scene drags out when Edward and Jacob spend a night together sitting out a freezing storm, their hypothetical banter and communal teasing is one of the most genuinely amusing parts of the film – only rivalled by the kick arse graduation speech and the optimistic prospect that every time a cast member says “something’s coming – bigger than any of us alone,” they’ll break out into West Side Story song and dance.

***

Special Features:

DVD

  • Deleted & Extended Scenes
  • Audio Commentary with Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart
  • Audio Commentary with Stephenie Meyer & Wyck Godfrey
  • Photo Gallery
  • Six-Part “Making of” Documentary
  • Music Videos
  • Edward Fast-Forward: Jump to all your favourite Edward scenes
  • Jacob Fast-Forward: Jump to all your favourite Jacob scenes

Blu-ray/ DVD Combo

  • Audio Commentary by Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart
  • Audio Commentary by Stephanie Meyer & Wyck Godfrey
  • Six-Part “Making Of” Documentary (PIP mode on Combo only)
  • Deleted & Extended Scenes
  • Photo Gallery
  • Music Videos
  • Edward Fast-Forward
  • Jacob Fast-Forward
  • Fast-Forward: Love Triangle
  • Fast-Forward: The Cullens
  • Fast-Forward: The Wolfpack
  • Fast-Forward: The Humans
  • Fast-Forward: Victoria’s Army