What Do The Critics Say?

"Isn't awful but, like its two predecessors, it is a largely listless, apathetic affair. While it is easy to understand the super-successful supernatural book and movie series' appeal for romance-hungry teenage girls, their shared plot is pretty insipid stuff for anyone over the age of 17." Chris Carpenter MOVIE DEAREST "Poorly-acted, bland, overlong and thrill-less. It insults your intelligence from start to finish." Avi Offer NYC MOVIE GURU "Perhaps it's because the previous installments were so bad that they had nowhere else to go except up, but this time around I was occasionally, if only mildly, entertained. I'm not going to say it was a good movie, but at least it's a less bad one than the first two." Scott Nash THREE MOVIE BUFFS "Not as deathly dull as Twilight or as screamingly dull as New Moon, Eclipse is merely dull." Jeffrey Westhoff NORTHWEST HERALD "Implied speed is effectively used as the vampires and wolves form a pact to protect Bella and the make-up and production design is faultless. But it is not the technology, stunning locations or editing techniques that we remember, it is the tantalising relationships and the romantic notion of following tradition, promising eternal love and protecting the soul that affects us where it matters most." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE

"Eclipse almost fully redeems this franchise. It finally brings some bite to these vampy cats and wolf cubs. It actually looks and sounds like a real movie and not some student film with a blind cinematographer. I still HATE Bella and Edward." Michelle Alexandria ECLIPSE MAGAZINE "I can't pretend that the third episode instilled a fever in my blood, but it didn't leave me cold. For the first time in the series I felt I'd seen a real movie." Joe Morgenstern WALL STREET JOURNAL "Saying that the third film in a series with two pretty weak prior entries is the best of the bunch may be faint praise, but that happens to be the case with Eclipse. Slade manages to slip in some edge here and there, but it's not enough to avoid being bogged down by the melodramatic romance and the limitations of the actors at the center of it all." Cindy White ING MOVIE REVIEWS "The third in the Twilight series of films may be the best so far, but I still wonder if this series will ever amount to anything besides box office gold." Robert Roten LARAMIE MOVIE SCOPE "The screenplay offers a well judged balance between action: which is always driven by well-defined imperatives; and communication. Relationships drive the whole story. The scenes where Edward and Bella discuss her future, and the scenes where she explains in full the reasons for her choice, are some of the most edgy and tantalising in the film, fur-flying action notwithstanding." Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE

The Inside Story The action-packed, modern day vampire love story "Twilight", the first film in the highly successful series, was released in theatres on November 21st 2008 to a blockbuster reception. The second installment of the film franchise, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" was released November 20th 2009. The franchise has grossed over $1.1 billion in worldwide box office ticket sales to date. Both films set subsequent home entertainment records: "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" sold over four million DVD units in its first weekend of release in March of 2010, surpassing "Twilight", which sold 3.8 million DVD units in its first weekend in 2009 and went on to be the top selling DVD title of the year with 9.2 million units sold. Thousands of retails locations nationwide took part in midnight release events for insatiable Twilight fans, who are eager for more of the continuing story in "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse". Like the novel, the movie sees the love triangle between Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black reach a turning point while the Cullens and the Wolf Pack must unite against a common danger. "When we started to make these movies a lot of people would say that the third one's going to make the best movie," says Wyck Godfrey ("Dear John" & "I, Robot"), one of the producers of all three films. "I think a lot of people feel that way because Eclipse has the most action with the climax involving a huge battle between wolves and vampires and newborns. Plus, you know that the Bella/Edward/Jacob relationship is going to come crashing in Eclipse. But to me, Eclipse is really about Bella having come to the decision that she is absolutely going to become a vampire and she begins to really evaluate what that's going to cost her. She must weigh the pros and cons of the ramifications of choosing to become Edward's eternal lover." Author Stephenie Meyer ("The Host: A Novel") agrees: "For me the biggest theme was always about having to face the consequences of your choices, and that even the right choices have consequences, and not making a choice has a consequence. One of the biggest things about growing up is that grownups realize, if I do A then I have to deal with B, and they take that into account. Bella has to become a grownup and start dealing with the consequences of her actions. The complicated relationships between the multitude of characters intensify in her story. Jealousy and trust play into any human relationship. It's an interesting thing for me to explore and when I'm writing, I find that I just get really tightly wound up in the intricacies of human relationships and that's what always brings me back. There's so much story with Victoria, Riley, and Bree that wasn't in the book. When we were working on scripting Eclipse, I had to sit down with Melissa and a bunch of people at Summit, and just explain to them blow by blow exactly what Victoria was doing, so that we could make sense of it all. That was a lot of fun because there's so much to that story that nobody knows because it's not in the novel. So that was cool and I'm glad that some of that is in the film, so that people get to see some of the back story that was going on that Bella wasn't aware of." "I rely enormously on Stephenie and have so increasingly on each movie, and Eclipse more than the other two," screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg confirmed. "For Eclipse, we traveled beyond the book and went deeper into the mythology that Stephenie had already developed. She shared some of that with me and enabled me to flesh out the movie and to give us some different perspectives on some of the other characters." The mysterious new character Riley is highlighted in the film. "Because the books are all from Bella's point of view, you're only introduced to Riley when she's introduced to Riley. But Stephenie had, of course, thought of how Riley came to be, so I got the opportunity to flesh Riley out as a character, so we're not just dropping him into the third act," Rosenberg ("Step Up") revealed. Following in the footsteps of Catherine Hardwicke and Chris Weitz, director David Slade was selected to lead the filming of the action-packed third installment of The Twilight Saga. "We always wanted to shake up the styles of the various movies, so we always thought that we would have different directors for each movie," Godfrey explained. "For Eclipse, we wanted somebody who showed an ability to work with young actors and get great performances, but also someone who had a larger visual style with a bigger scope and an ability to shoot great action. David Slade emerged as a fantastic candidate. Plus, he was somebody who loves myth and the supernatural." "What attracted me to this project was that it is a great story and a tremendous challenge for me as a filmmaker. I don't like doing the same thing over and over again, because I learn from being challenged. On one level this was the biggest challenge out there; to make a film of this scope, in this amount of time, and to go into a different genre essentially. Yes, I've done a vampire film, but Eclipse is a very different kind of thing," Slade ("Do Geese See God?") states. "Eclipse is one of the broader stories. I think that New Moon was very sophisticated in its involvement of emotions between the three characters. But what I wanted to do with Eclipse, because it had so many larger scale stories, was to go for a more cinematic approach to the film." "With the first one, we had this girl party going on with Catherine and Melissa and me, and it really felt cool just to have all the ladies together. With New Moon, it was cool because Chris is a writer and director. He understood my side and I understood his. He was great about saying, 'What do you think?' With one scene in particular, I know that he just said, 'Let's just do this right out of the book.' As a writer you love to hear that. With Eclipse we were all back and forth even after we started filming. It's a very long book with a lot that goes on. Melissa and I worked together really well just going over the different information and late nights and dinners. It was fun! Melissa's great and it's kind of like a slumber party whenever I'm with her," Meyer relates. "I think it's awesome that we actors have the opportunity to work on the same story, with the same actors, and yet work with a different director, and be able to mold to their different styles. It's awesome for us. I'm so thankful we had that opportunity," says Taylor Lautner ("Valentine's Day"). "It is much more action-oriented," adds Pattinson ("Remember Me"). "New Moon is a very internal film and moves at a very different pace. Eclipse is much more frantic and there needs to be more immediacy about everything, which David likes. Plus, I think the tone is a lot harsher. The fight scenes in this are much more scrappy and feral." "Oddly enough I think this has been the easiest of all three. It's not been hard to get back into this at all. Especially coming out of New Moon, which was such a cerebral experience in terms of what Bella had to go through. Bella's much more industrious in this movie; she's got a lot more to do. She's called upon to actually deal with things that don't necessarily have an emotional drain on her. I've been in this horrifying life-threatening situation a million times, I think I can handle it a little bit better this time," 2010 BAFTA Rising Star winner Stewart notes. Twilight and The Twilight Saga: New Moon made Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner into global household names for their portrayals of Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black. "Eclipse is about a triangle and the tension between these three characters," says screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg. "The rivalry and jealousies -just the most basic of all human emotions of love and loss. At its core, it is all very raw and it all comes to a head in this movie. It's just really rich territory to mine." "We've been living with these characters for a while now. We learn more and more about them as time goes on and actually adapt to them. We're ourselves outside, but as soon as action comes, we're in Jacob mode or Bella mode or Edward mode," Stewart notes. "I think one of the things that is so attractive about these stories is that they do postulate the idea of true love in a culture where it's not very common. True love's a wonderful thing and sadly it's not been hugely abundant and apparent, especially in the media," says Slade. Patterson says: "The first film is about new love. The second film is about loss. This film is about just how difficult a relationship can be when it's real. It's become a committed relationship, which makes this more difficult because Edward has definitely decided to very much become a part of Bella's world." "It's unconditional love that is being tested," Stewart ("Zathura: A Space Adventure")adds. "It's an interesting thing." "Edward wants her to have every last human experience she can have before she becomes a vampire," Godfrey explained. According to Meyer, "Eclipse actually takes place in only one calendar month of time, in which the two of them are constantly adjusting and readjusting to each other, and trying to find the right balance." "Edward has a different mindset in this one," Pattinson says. "He's jealous and petty to other people. With Bella, he's possessive. He has seventeen year old guy emotions." "Edward's caught between this rock and a hard place of wanting to be with Bella, but wanting her to be happy and have the best life possible. He can't really dislike Jacob because he knows Jacob's just trying to do the right thing and that he would save the same people that Edward would save," Meyer revealed. "The themes of choice and the consequences of choices were really important to Stephenie," says Rosenberg. The three lead stars enjoy the working relationships that they've built over the course of the three films. "I love working with Taylor," says Stewart. Pattinson agrees: "It's cool." "Rob is too likeable. I need to roughen him up a bit." Lautner jokes. "Each time we start a film, it's like coming back to summer camp," Godfrey relates. "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" sees the return of the major cast established in "Twilight" and "The Twilight Saga: New Moon", plus along with director David Slade, several new actors and characters join the Twilight family. Slade worked intensely with Jackson Rathbone and Nikki Reed exploring the past of their characters. "With the back stories in Eclipse, you actually get to do a 1930's movie, you get to do a Western, and you get to go back into the 1700's and 1800's: plus this big contemporary movie. New cast members playing vampires include Bryce Dallas Howard as Victoria, Xavier Samuel as Riley, and Jodelle Ferland as Bree. Additional Quileute characters are introduced: Julia Jones and Booboo Stewart as siblings Leah and Seth Clearwater, as well as Alex Rice as their mother Sue Clearwater (who is widowed by the death of Harry Clearwater in "The Twilight Saga: New Moon"). Other notable new cast members are Jack Huston as Royce King, and singer Peter Murphy as 'The Cold One'. What's It All About?

Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. Seattle is being ravaged by a string of mysterious, savage killings and the malicious vampire, Victoria, continues her quest for revenge. In the midst of it all, Bella is forced to choose between her love for Edward Cullen and her friendship with Jacob Black, knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella is confronted with the most important decision of her life. While many of her high school friends are receiving college acceptances and sending graduation announcements, but Bella must make a decision so she can be with her love Edward always. She is struggling with Edward's compromise (that she marry him before he agrees to be the one to change her) and the consequences her choice will bring to everyone around her.

The Verdict "I can happily report that yes, "The Twilight Sage: Eclipse" is better than its predecessor "New Moon", but that's not a hard ask, considering how insipid 'Eclipse' was. Unfortunately, the latest edition in the soppy love saga, only lifts thanks to a spectacular showdown between 'the newborns' and the combined forces of the werewolves and 'the coldbloods'. These scenes are a welcome reflief from the farcical 'romance' that purportedly drives the film. Cinemagoers would be right to expect that scenes between two young loves (Bella & Edward) who are heavily 'into each other', would at the least produce some sort of electricity. Regrettably there's nary a spark. Heaven help the impressionable young viewers who form the backbone of the 'Twilight' fan base. One would hope that they are not deluded into thinking this is 'normal' behaviour. Just like "Sex and the City", the first edition of "Twilight" was refreshing and offered hope. In light of how the franchise has evolved, it should be compulsory for every cinema screening "The Twilight Sage: Eclipse", to display a large sign above the box-office stating: 'Abandon hope all ye who enter here'. Let us all hope, that the next edition: "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn", lifts this lifeless frachise substantially. Best left for the fans! 3 STARS." The Production Team

Director Screenplay Adapted from Producers Original Music Cinematography Film Editors Casting Production Design Art Direction Set Decoration Costume Design

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David Slade Melissa Rosenberg the novel "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer Wyck Godfrey/Greg Mooradian/Karen Rosenfelt Howard Shore Javier Aguirresarobe Art Jones & Nancy Richardson Stuart Aikins/Sean Cossey/Rene Haynes Paul D Austerberry Catherine Ircha & Jeremy Stanbridge Shannon Gottlieb & Rose Marie McSherry Tish Monaghan

Who Is Playing Who?

Kristen Stewart Robert Pattinson Taylor Lautner Billy Burke Justin Chon Anna Kendrick Michael Welch Christian Serratos Jackson Rathbone Bryce Dallas Howard Xavier Samuel Julia Jones Alex Rice Peter Facinelli Elizabeth Reaser Kellan Lutz Ashley Greene Dakota Fanning

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Bella Swan Edward Cullen Jacob Black Charlie Swan Eric Jessica Mike Angela Jasper Hale Victoria Riley Leah Clearwater Sue Clearwater Dr Carlisle Cullen Esme Cullen Emmett Cullen Alice Cullen Jane

Run Time 124 minutes Rated M [AUST] Copyright ©2010 - Summit - All Rights Reserved ©1999-2010 The Movie Pages & impact Internet Services. All Rights Reserved. Protected by Australian and International Copyright. Trademark Laws and Intellectual Property Rights apply.