Twilight - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Ten years later and a clan of vegetarian bloodsuckers tries to take a bite out of Ultra HD with a good but not particularly impressive HEVC H.265 encode. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to quickly note where the movie benefits compared to the Blu-ray, especially since it would seem the transfer has been upscaled from a 2K digital intermediate. This is not to say viewers won't note an uptick in definition and steady resolution levels. In fact, there is plenty of strong detailing in the hair and clothing, and background information is plainly visible and fairly distinct for a majority of the runtime. However, it's not a significant or noteworthy jump with many scenes looking more like an upscaled Blu-ray, and this is especially true of the Bella and Edward conversations in the forest where the cheesy CG imagery is more apparent. Then again, all the visual effects throughout are cheesier and more obvious in the higher resolution, making the so-called romance all the more hackneyed and schmaltzy. 

Then there is Elliot Davis's heavily stylized, orange-teal cinematography greatly limiting the contrast while boosting the brightness levels, making for a considerably dark and monochromatic 4K video. This makes for a substantially somber and morose atmosphere that aligns with the overcast weather of the Northwest, giving fuel to the argument the transfer perhaps being faithful to the creative intentions of the filmmakers. On the other hand, whites are duller and lackluster while a shortage of specular highlights never provide the picture with the sort of energetic pop we've come to expect of the format. In point of fact, the brightest spots tend to lightly bloom and wash over the finest details, such as within lightbulbs or car headlights. There is little to almost no detailing in the clouds, and the light shining off wet surfaces are more of a glare than a realistic, glistening shine, likewise, the movie's infamous sparkling vampires don't dazzle or twinkle as much as radiate in white. 

On a more positive note, the Dolby Vision presentation is awash in remarkably inkier, swarthier blacks in the hair and clothes. Compared to the HD SDR counterpart, nighttime and poorly-lit scenes are flooded with darker, velvety shadows without sacrificing any of the finer details to the darkest corners, providing the 2.40:1 image with appreciable dimensionality and a lovely cinematic appeal. At the same time, Davis's photography makes a considerably darker and gloomier picture quality, even in scenes where it doesn't feel appropriate, such as Waylon Forge's death. Also, this significantly limits the overall color palette with a greater emphasis on teal blues, significantly sacrificing the secondary hues while markedly muting the primaries. Thankfully, greens nonetheless display a good deal of life and vibrancy in the many exterior scenes. Meanwhile, reds come in a slightly wider selection of shades, from the bright tomato cherry of the ketchup bottle and a few articles of clothing to the thick, gooey crimson of blood. 

All in all, the UHD offers a few appreciable improvements, but it's not a significant upgrade from the previous Blu-ray releases. (Video Rating: 66/100)

For this 10th Anniversary, Lionsgate offers different a set of bonus material on the Ultra HD disc, one of which is exclusive to this anniversary edition, while porting over the same collection of supplements from the 2013 Twilight Forever release.

Ultra HD Blu-ray

• Twilight Tour…10 Years Later (HD, 10 min): Brand-new featurette has actor Jackson Rathbone and director Catherine Hardwicke reunite and reminisce about working together while visiting the various shooting locations across Oregon and Washington.
• A Conversation with Stephenie Meyer (HD, 24 min): The author talks about her writing process and dedication she placed on complete her first book while being a full-time mother.
• Music: The Heartbeat of Twilight (HD, 6 min): Cast & crew interviews on the importance of a good score and thoughts on specific musical motifs complementing a scene.
• Becoming Edward (HD, 7 min): Interviews praising Robert Pattinson's performance.
• Becoming Bella (HD, 5 min): Same as the above but focused on Kristen Stewart.
• Catherine Hardwicke's Vampire Kiss Montage (1080i/60, 3 min): Collecting all the footage of the vampire biting scenes from the movie.
• Catherine Hardwicke's "Bella's Lullaby Remix" (1080i/60, 4 min): A somewhat corny music video made from random footage of the Northwest mixed with film and audio clips.
• Edward's Piano Concert (1080i/60, 3 min): Scenes of Pattinson's Edward playing the piano.
• Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson (1080i/60, 7 min): The interview comes from the promo press tour of the film for the Borders Group bookstore.
• Cam Gigandet (1080i/60, 6 min): Same as above but with the actor who played the villain.
• Edi Gathegi and Rachelle Lefevre (1080i/60, 6 min): Another interview with the cast, focused on the other two villains.
• Twilight Premiere on the Red Carpet (1080i/60, 8 min): A Borders featurette with footage from the premiere and random conversations with cast, crew and screaming fans.
• Cast Interviews on the Red Carpet (1080i/60, 5 min): Culled together from the same featurette as above but spotlighting the cast & crew and their aspirations for the movie.
• Stephenie Meyer Talks about the Twilight Saga (1080i/60, 36 min): A final Borders-produced featurette giving fans an opportunity to question and chat with the author.

Blu-ray

• Audio Commentary - Director Catherine Hardwicke is joined by young stars Kirsten Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Good news for kids is bad news for adults -- Stewart and Pattison are not at all serious from frame one, even swapping their names at one point, and generally just goofing about. Hardwicke does her best to impart some information on adapting the story, the film's visual style, and a little bit on the effects. Though I appreciated the youthful enthusiasm of the cast, I can't say they brought much at all to the track, and more often than not they distracted from it for me. 
• The Adventure Begins: The Journey From Page to Screen (HD, 55 minutes) - As this doc is offered both as a picture-in-picture and stand-alone, seven-part doc version, I will discuss it in the exclusives section below. 
• Comic-Con Presentation (SD, 8 minutes) - This short piece gives us a look at the hordes of screaming 'Twilight' fans that packed Comic-Con last year. It's actually quite amusing, with the rabid tweens treating the arrival of Stewart and Pattinson as if it were the second coming. 
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 14 minutes) - There are only five deleted scenes offered, plus another nine extended snips. I found them all rather inconsequential, though there is a lot more romantic blabber between Stewart and Pattinson, which the target audience should love. Hardwicke provides optional commentary, though she perhaps overstates when she says she included them here because the fans "love the scenes" (how could they, when they haven't seen them yet?) 
• Music Videos (SD) - We get three clips: Linkin Park's "Leave Out All the Rest," Muse's "Super Massive Black Hole" and Paramore's "Decode."
• Theatrical Trailers (HD) - Included under a section entitled "Theatrical Campaign," we get the film's theatrical and teaser trailers, and a highly-promotional 'Twilight' pre-release sneak peek vignette.