We've already talked about favorite scenes from The Twilight Saga film franchise, but what about those scenes which translated best from book to screen?
My pals at Twilight Lexicon have put together a really interesting top ten list of their favorite translations from all five films as follows:
10. Twilight: The cafeteria scene
9. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1: The wedding scene
8. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: Flashback scenes for Rosalie and Jasper
7. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: The newborn army battle
6. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: The tent scene
5. Twilight: The baseball scene
4. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1: The birth scene
3. The Twilight Saga: New Moon: Months ticking away
2. The Twilight Saga: New Moon: The clock tower chase scene
1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2: Bella lowering her shield for Edward
Pretty great list, right? I especially agree with numbers 10, 8 (so, so fun), 4 and 3 (Lykke Li's "Possibility" gave that one some real flare). Your faves?
To add to/piggyback off of that list, here are some others that I also think translated well to the big screen.
10. Twilight: Bella moves in with Charlie
There was something really satisfying about the awkwardness existent between Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Charlie (Billy Burke) when she first moved to Forks in the film. Just like the book, they didn't have much to say to one another - sure, the dialogue changed a bit to display it - and the first-glimpse of the town was amply depressing.
9. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: Victoria plays Riley
There were actually two scenes in Eclipse wherein Riley (Xavier Samuel) got played by Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard). The second, when she convinces him to fight for her and then leaves him armless and dying without a care, fits in with the newborn army scene referred to above. The first, though, pays tribute to Stephenie Meyer's The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella. Having her faux "I love you" thrown in there definitely illustrated the manipulation existent between them earlier on than the book had, so that helped to understand the dynamic. It was a nice touch and well executed.
8. Twilight: The biology classroom
Don't lie. You loved this face and this face too. The words "I'm Edward Cullen" were seared into all of our brains because of this scene, so it definitely came off well.
7. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: Jake goes rogue
As with the book version, Bella clasped a scratched, re-written and re-scratched out letter from Jacob (Taylor Lautner) as she desperately tried to contact him and making things right. I liked this scene on-screen because it brought home a reality that even though Edward returned to Forks and all was well on that end, poor Jake was still hurting.
6. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: Florida
This is one of the rare scenes that I actually think turned out to be better than the book. While I enjoyed Stephenie Meyer's style of telling the scene in past tense in-text, I enjoyed revisiting the dynamic between Bella and her mother Renee (Sarah Clarke) again after missing that character for an entire installment. The way that Renee commented on the "he moves, you move" business was well done, and the clever addition of the "congraduation" bit to make Bella re-think her quest for immediate immortality made a lot of sense.
5. The Twilight Saga: New Moon: Carlisle and the Volturi
First of all, I loved, loved, loved the stylish intro to the Volturi. Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg and director Chris Weitz made a nice decision to sink into the Volturi painting to show Carlisle (Peter Facinelli)'s affiliation with and rejection of them. Secondly, the cool CGI upgrade we all got thanks to a heightened budget became apparent right away with it, and also the mood of the relationship was well translated here.
4. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: THE talk
In the book, the big talk between Bella and Charlie about her bedroom behaviors with Edward was, in my humble opinion, just a tad bit hokey. But Billy Burke and Kristen Stewart really sold it on-screen. It became a little cute, in fact.
3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2: Alistair
In the book, the significance of Alistair (Joe Anderson) was a tad bit marginalized, what with all the hubbub of the massive new vampire group, but in the film, he got the requisite attention to get his point across. Anderson's portrayal and lines added a little something to escalate the dangerous reality of the situation, and the point of the character came through a little clearer on-screen.
2. Twilight: Parking lot scene
The parking lot scene in Twilight, to the everlasting credit of director Catherine Hardwicke, was done on an indie film budget but somehow came out just right. Edward stopped the van and effectively kicked off the supernatural elements of the Saga in one fell swoop.
1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2: Bella wakes up/first hunt
The first moments of Bella as a vampire in Part 2 were awesome. Plain and simple.
Any you'd like to add? Hit the comments! Also, be sure to visit Twilight Lexicon to read their mini-summaries for their top list as well.
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