MTV’s Hollywood Crush & David Slade on Why ‘Eclipse’ Is the Fan Favorite
Dec 6th, 2010 | By Stefanie | Category: Fandom, Featured Articles, Movie News
MTV’s Hollywood Crush recently interviewed David Slade in anticipation of the Eclipse DVD release and they asked him why he thinks the Eclipse film is the fan favorite:
‘I think it had the best story,’ he said. ‘And the most action.’
Slade goes on to talk about Eclipse the book and how that attributed to the fans’ positive reception to the film:
‘I certainly do believe we had one of the best stories,’ he said. ‘ ‘Eclipse’ is the fans’ favorite book, behind ‘Twilight,’ the first book. There’s so much in terms of backstory and understanding characters. It has a very clear progression to Bella’s transformation; not physically but emotionally. That’s something that is important. That, along with the fact that we had so many fun backstory moments. We had a Western. We had a 16th century historical piece. We had a ’30s period piece, as well as the rest of it.’
Go here to read the rest!
Eclipse was/is my least favorite in the film/book series–like it’s way down there on the list (New Moon is my favorite movie/book and I’m Team Edward. Go figure. 🙂 I’m nothing if not a contradiction. haha). Trust me, I’m well aware that I’m in the minority here. 😉 Not that I hate the movie. Slade rocked it with the special effects and I love that he kept Javier Aguirresarobe on as the director of photography–love the shallow depth of field you get in so many of the scenes (ex: Jane’s closeups on the battlefield–see screencap above). There are alot of things I like about the movie but Eclipse was just never my favorite story (the love triangle business was too much for me) so I knew going into it that Eclipse wouldn’t be my favorite movie–maybe I shot myself in the foot by having that mindset. Who knows. But, I definitely want to hear y’all’s opinions on the matter! Was Eclipse your favorite book and your favorite movie of the series? If so, why?
I guess I’m in the same camp as you (My favorite book/movie was New Moon, unless you count Midnight Sun, least favorite book/film was Eclipse). I loved the action scenes, the flashbacks, the scenery, the extra Seattle scenes, and Xavier Samuel; however I was really frustrated that there were some mistakes/liberties/changes in the Eclipse film that I felt shouldn’t have been there.
For example, when Jacob is talking about giving up being the Alpha, it really isn’t explained in the movie. There should have been at least one line like “my great grandfather was the last chief of our tribe, so technically I should be the Alpha”, or something as simple and short as that.
The scene with Bree Tanner was also very disappointing. She was supposed to be in pain/blood thirsty; she didn’t seem at all bothered to be so near Bella. In the book, Bree’s reaction was a huge eye opening experience for Bella, it really helped her more fully understand what being a newborn was going to be like and because of the knowledge, she was more in control later.
I also hated the part at the end of the movie where Bella says she was excited to become a vampire not only because she can be with Edward, but also because she has never fit into this world. In the book, Edward specifically asks her if there is another reason why she wants to be a vampire, besides him and she very clearly says that she doesn’t want it without him (she goes on to ask him if the only reason he doesn’t want her to be a vampire is because of her soul, not because he will miss her softness and smell). I realize in Breaking Dawn, after she changes, she realizes how much better she seems to fit into the vampire world than the human world, but that wasn’t her reason for wanting to change.
I won’t go into the chopped tent scene, the fact that Bella wasn’t remorseful for kissing Jacob, the bratty/rude feeling of Bella ditching Edward when she gets on Jacob’s bike, and the angry Edward when Jacob kisses Bella, etc.
Those were my biggest problems with the movie that made it difficult for me to enjoy. I felt like New Moon and Twilight were truer to the books and were really created for the fans. Eclipse felt like it was trying to draw new fans in, but didn’t really. I was pretty disappointed with this movie and really hope they do a better job with Breaking Dawn…..K, I will step down from my soap box….sorry.