Every Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

While the Twilight movies ranked lower than some other beloved young fantasy series, like Harry Potter, the incredibly popular franchise still has plenty of fans who continue to debate which are the worst and best movies in the saga. Vampires are traditionally depicted as tragic, romantic, and dark creatures, but Stephenie Meyer changed the world of the fanged supernatural beings with her unique vision seen in her novels. Twilight introduced the audience to Edward Cullen, a vampire who fed off animal blood and whose skin sparkled under the sunlight. However, it was Edward’s romance with moral teenager Bella Swan that gripped readers.

In 2008, Twilight made the jump to the big screen with Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen and Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, becoming an even bigger phenomenon than the books. The success of the first movie helped to launch a franchise that opened the mythology of this supernatural world while also introducing the love triangle with Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). Although the quality of the Twilight Saga was inconsistent, some of these movies captured the excitement of this lore and its romance, while others left fans disappointed.

5

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011)

Bella’s Pregnancy Can’t Save This Plodding Plot

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 was all about Bella and Edward’s wedding and the preparations for her transformation. However, what no one was counting on was Bella getting pregnant and all the problems that would bring. Following the trend set by the Harry Potter movie franchise, the final book in the series was split into two parts, with Part 1 serving as a setup for the conclusion which is just one of the issues with the movie.

Twilight: What Different Vampire Eye Colors Mean

The eye color of different vampires in the Twilight Saga changed depending on some very important factors, and each color means a lot about them.

The movie feels like an incomplete and rather pointless entry in the franchise for much of its runtime. Despite Breaking Dawn – Part 1 bringing the franchise to some big moments, including Bella’s long-awaited transformation, there is no fun or excitement to be had. Even Bella’s pregnancy is dull in the context of this aimless story. There are a few strong points, such as Kristen Stewart’s committed performance and the horror elements featured in Bella’s birthing scene, but it is not surprising that Breaking Dawn Part 1 ranks the lowest of the franchise on Rotten Tomatoes.

4

New Moon (2009)

Edward’s Toxicity Drags The Movie Down, But Dakota Fanning & Michael Sheen Deliver Great Villainous Turns

The second installment in the Twilight Saga, New Moon, focused on the break-up between Bella and Edward and everything caused by that. The break-up leaves Bella depressed and isolated, but she slowly begins to open up and spends more time with Jacob, whose attraction to her only grows. The movie also gets a boost to its cast with some entertaining villainous performances from the likes of Dakota Fanning and Michael Sheen.

New Moon is the most problematic Twilight movie due to how much Edward’s manipulative ways show, and how Bella seems unable to break free from her co-dependency.

New Moon is the most problematic Twilight movie due to how much Edward’s manipulative ways show, and how Bella seems unable to break free from her co-dependency. However, there are some who have viewed the movie as a strong depiction of loss and the hardships of teen romance seen in many coming-of-age stories. These aspects have led to New Moon being the most divisive of the Twilight movies, but its box office success of nearly $300 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo) proved that fans were invested in the franchise.

3

Twilight (2008)

An Enchanting Teen Romance Centered On Bella & Edward

Twilight

6/10

Release Date: November 21, 2008
Runtime: 121 minutes
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Writers: Melissa Rosenberg

Being the first installment in the saga, it’s undeniable that Twilight has a unique spark that made the audience (especially those not into the novels) much more welcoming. Twilight can be easily considered a teen romance, as the core of the movie is Bella and Edward’s first encounters and the evolution of their relationship. Twilight also told the audience the basics of vampires in Meyer’s world, which made it easier for the sequels to carry on with their stories without having to dive into the complex mythology that would take over the franchise eventually

Having Catherine Hardwicke as director was one of Twilight’s strengths, as she was able to tell the story through Bella’s eyes, truly giving it a teen romance vibe but with sparkly vampires. In retrospect, Twilight was able to settle a very important detail that the rest of the movies forgot about: this is Bella and Edward’s story told through Bella’s perspective, which is why it has a feeling of newness and excitement.

2

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)

The Darkness Of Twilight’s Vampire World Is On Full Display

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

6/10

Release Date: June 30, 2010
Runtime: 123 minutes
Director: David Slade
Writers: Stephenie Meyer, Melissa Rosenberg
Prequel(s): Twilight, The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Eclipse followed Bella as she was haunted by Victoria, who was still looking for revenge after the Cullens killed her companion, James, in Twilight. In order for her revenge to be successful, Victoria armed herself with her own group of vampires, all of them newborns and desperately looking for blood. Eclipse is considered by many to be the best novel of the Twilight series thanks to its exploration of more mature themes and a much more exciting story, which the team behind the movie managed to bring to the big screen.

Eclipse blended drama, romance, action, and comedy but without forcing it to drop jokes every few minutes. The story also gives Bella more to do and think about other than her relationship with Edward, as there’s also her high school graduation, her future, and her and Charlie’s safety now that the newborn army is attacking Forks. Eclipse also gave the audience a proper (and real) battle with a purpose, further elevating the blockbuster aspects of the franchise and not just remaining a teen romance.

1

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2011)

Bella & Edward’s Story Reaches Its Epic Conclusion

Despite the franchise being shaky at times, Twilight manages to end things on a high note with its final chapter. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 focuses on Bella’s transformation into a vampire and the Cullens’ struggles to keep their clan safe, as the Volturi are going after them following the news of Reneesme’s birth. Breaking Dawn – Part 2 introduces more vampires, as the Cullens need as much help as they can get, and so the audience gets to see Lee Pace, Rami Malek, Noel Fisher, MyAnna Buring, and more in full vampire mode.

Along with the extended cast, this feels like the biggest of the Twilight movies with real stakes and thrills. Of course, that is not to say it is without its flaws. The visual effects and make-up in the Twilight Saga got worse as the movies progressed, with it becoming a distraction for some of the bigger setpieces in this conclusion. Of course, there’s also the infamous CGI baby Renesmee, which became a bit of unintentional comedy in the movie.

The movie builds to a thrilling climax that outdoes all the franchise’s previous action sequences.

However, this is by far the most entertaining of the Twilight movies, earning the highest Rotten Tomatoes score. Bella and Edward’s romance was losing some of its excitement in the later entries, so it is nice to see that their semi-stable relationship was not the sole source of drama this time around. The movie builds to a thrilling climax that outdoes all the franchise’s previous action sequences. The reveals about the ending of Breaking Dawn Part 2 are controversial, but the movie at least entertained the fans who stuck with the franchise this long.

The Future Of The Twilight Franchise

It has been over a decade since the last Twilight movie was released, but there looks to be more from the franchise coming soon. Following the announcement that the Harry Potter series would be moving to the small screen on HBO Max, Netflix decided to bring another beloved fantasy franchise to television form with a Twilight show. However, unlike the new Harry Potter series, the Twilight series will be animated and will not quite be a remake of the original books.

Instead, Netflix’s Twilight series will be an adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s novel, Midnight Sun. The 2020 novel was a retelling of the Twilight story but told from Edward Cullen’s perspective. While it might seem like an excuse to simply tell the same story again, this new approach to the franchise could give some interesting insights. Edward is a complicated character with his motivations and true feelings not always clear in the movies. This show will open audiences to his world in a more in-depth way.

While the Netflix series is exciting, there is no word on whether the Twilight franchise could return to the big screen with some of the key cast returning. Meyer never wrote a sequel taking place after the events of Breaking Dawn, but that does not mean there are no more stories to tell. However, with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson’s careers more focused on prestige projects, it seems unlikely they could be convinced to return.

Are The Book Rankings The Same?

Bella is angry at Jacob in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2

There is one major difference between the Twilight books and the movie franchise: there are only four books, given that Breaking Dawn was split into two parts, something that became a trend for YA series adaptations at the time. Because of this, and the fact that the two parts of Twilight: Breaking Dawn are on opposite sides of the ranking, it throws the book ranking compared to the movies for a bit of a loop. Some consensus, though, seems to agree that the Breaking Dawn novel sits somewhere at the bottom of the rankings for the books, alongside New Moon.

In both film and book rankings, Twilight often sits right behind Eclipse as one of the best in the series…

This is consistent with the movies for the most part, as Eclipse is often considered possibly the best book in the franchise, which Twilight: Eclipse is in a similar situation, though Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 acts as an epic conclusion to the movie franchise. In both film and book rankings, Twilight often sits right behind Eclipse as one of the best in the series, which is a great spot for it, given how important it is in kicking off the entire thing. Still, each movie and book all bring something unique and often exciting to the Twilight franchise as a whole.