DVDFile

Summit / 125 Minutes / 2011 / Rated PG-13 / Street Date: March 2, 2013

Polarizing in epic, seismic ways, the Twilight saga is a fascinatingly empty example of mass entertainment in the internet age. Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) have been staring romantically into each other's eyes for three full films now, and even though melodramatic events line the halls of Breaking Dawn: Part 1, they don't stop now.

If anything can be said about this cinematic franchise, it's that what the first Twilight film delivered to its audience, all the other ones have also manifested. It would take a Twi-lifer of delirious confidence to defend the series as dramatic wholes in any convincing fashion - in short, all of us who have become suckers to these sparkly vampires know full well that they're terrible - but this teeny-bop story nevertheless keeps the tractor beam at full operational power.

What's so embarrassing about Twilight is that the series is woefully cheesy and pseudo-goth mopey in all the worst ways, but there's a nugget of magic underneath its layers of soap opera stupidity that is enough to keep many of us coming back for more. Bella's and Edward's wedding night? The vampire baby Bella learns she will soon birth? Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and his werewolf ennui? These plot points are thin as tracing paper as presented in Breaking Dawn: Part 1, but even though they don't work dramatically, they're vivid enough as placeholders that Twi-lifers eat them up and beg for more.

Speaking of begging for more, on the occasion of Part 2's Blu-ray debut, Summit has now made available an Extended Edition of this title so Twi-Hards have the opportunity to soak up eight extra minutes of sparkles during their full high-def Twilight marathons (which are inevitable at this point, no?). Having seen the theatrical version and this longer endeavor only one time each, I can't really say that I noticed all that much difference - I'm sure I'll get hate mail from R-Pat aficionados disagreeing with this - but if you can't help yourself and must see all things Twilight, you'll likely have to at least rent this one.