“Still a better love story than Twilight” had its reign once when mocking Twilight was cool. However, it’s not entirely true. Stephenie Meyer did a fabulous job creating a fantasized world weaved around vampires. Her unique approach to the already existing concept inspired moviemakers to adapt the story into a lovable movie series. The Twilight Saga introduced us to Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) on the big screen along with some more interesting characters. Twilight and its sequels are a few of the best fantasy movies on Netflix, which will keep you hooked throughout the series. So, if you’re looking to watch the entire series, here are the Twilight movies in order.
How and Where to Watch Twilight Movies
The Twilight Saga adapted the four novels by Stephenie Meyer into five movies, breaking the last book into two films. All the movies follow a linear storyline unfolding new characters and events in each one. Therefore, it’s best to watch the Twilight films in order of release. The only confusion can come with remembering the names. Therefore, I created this guide mentioning the order of Twilight Saga movies and a short recap about the story in case you want to revisit your favorite scenes. All Twilight movies are available on Netflix, and you can open them directly from the links I have mentioned.
Spoiler warning: The movie synopsis discusses the plot. So, kindly use the table below if you only want to see the viewing order of Twilight movies without getting into the story.
Twilight Movies in Order
Twilight (2008)
- IMDb: 5.3
- Rotten Tomatoes: 49%/72%
- Director: Catherine Hardwicke
- Writer: Melissa Rosenberg
- Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli
- Runtime: 2 hours
The first movie of the Twilight Saga begins with Bella relocating with her father, the police chief of a small town in the Olympic Peninsula. Her mother had been married to another guy, and his job required them to be on the go. Bella quickly befriends a few schoolmates, including Jacob, a native American teenager who lives with his father. Everything seems dull to Bella in the new place except for the Cullen siblings. Their behavior raises suspicion in her mind. Soon, Edward reveals his powers to Bella, and after much struggle, she concludes he is a vampire. The rest of the film deals with Bella meeting Edward’s family, them falling in love, another vampire family trying to kill Bella, and the Cullens protecting her.
The first movie of the series shows Bella’s affection for the new world she found. She also shows interest in being a closer part of it. It also shows the different perspectives of both the lead characters about vampire life. Bella thinks of it as power and a gift, whereas Edward thinks of it as being a monster with suffering. Twilight grossed 407 million US dollars against a budget of 37 million. The huge hit provided the franchise a kickstart and confidence to create more installments despite the mixed reviews from critics and the audience.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
- IMDb: 4.7
- Rotten Tomatoes: 29%/61%
- Director: Chris Weitz
- Writer: Melissa Rosenberg
- Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Rachelle Lefevre, Billy Burke
- Runtime: 2 hours 18 minutes
The Twilight Saga: New Moon, commonly known as New Moon, is the second film in the franchise. It picks up after a few months from the first movie, and Bella is gelled up with the Cullens. They even throw her a birthday party at her residence when she turns 18. However, Bella receives a papercut which overwhelms Jasper, Edward’s foster brother, to attack her. However, he is stopped in time, and Edward decides to leave Bella and the town to protect her. Bella becomes depressed and finds solace in thrilling activities, which evoke Edward’s image in her mind.
On the other hand, it is revealed that Jacob and his tribe are werewolves whose enemies happen to be vampires. They are on high alert for Victoria, a vampire trying to seek revenge for James’ death, which Edward has killed in the previous movie. The rest of the movie Explains the treaty between Jacob’s tribe and Cullens, Edward thinking Bella is dead and trying to kill himself, Bella saving him, and showing interest in becoming a vampire.
The second movie introduces more fantasy characters into the fold and continues the story from the first one. It still emphasizes Bella’s affection and interest in becoming a vampire, which Edward agrees to if only she marries him. Most importantly, this movie creates a love triangle adding more elements to the romance angle. New Moon grossed 709 million US dollars against the budget of 50 million, making it a better hit than the first movie. It was created solely for the fans, and new watchers found the movie quite boring due to its slow pace and downcasted tone. However, everyone praised the acting and depth of the dialogues.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)
- IMDb: 5.0
- Rotten Tomatoes: 48%/60%
- Director: David Slade
- Writer: Melissa Rosenberg
- Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Bryce Dallas Howard, Billy Burke, Dakota Fanning
- Runtime: 2 hours, 3 minutes
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, commonly known as Eclipse, is the third film in the franchise, and it focuses majorly on revenge and the love triangle. The movie begins with Victoria attacking Riley Biers, making him a newborn vampire to serve her revenge on the Cullens for killing James. Meanwhile, Bella and Edward discuss the complications of becoming a vampire at the age of eighteen. Edward is determined that Bella should enjoy normal human life, which she won’t be able to after becoming a vampire. She is also concerned about marrying so young.
Besides, Jacob also confesses his love for Bella, which creates a tense situation. Victoria successfully creates a newborn vampire army and plans to kill the Cullens. Knowing it beforehand, the Cullens join hands with the werewolves and train together to defeat the common enemy. The rest of the movie shows the fight and political pressure by the Volturi, the group overseeing the laws for vampires, Bella’s confusion among Jacob and Edward, and Edward and Bella’s decision to marry.
Eclipse takes the love triangle to the next step by showing Bella’s interest. Meanwhile, it intensifies Bella’s transformation into a vampire for her own protection. The movie grossed 698 million US dollars against a budget of 68 million. Critics found the film better than its predecessor, having mostly positive reviews. The movie is slow yet involving considering that the audience expected better dialogue.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 (2011)
- IMDb: 4.9
- Rotten Tomatoes: 25%/60%
- Director: Bill Condon
- Writer: Melissa Rosenberg
- Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser
- Runtime: 1 hour, 57 minutes
The last novel by Stephenie Meyer had so much going on that the producers and director decided to cut it into two parts. The first part, titled The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1, picks up a few months after the last movie’s events. The film begins with Edward and Bella ready to take the vows and get married. Jacob flees the city on hearing the news but comes back for the marriage, which surprises Bella. She mentions her plan to consummate the marriage on their honeymoon to Jacob. He becomes furious since it can be extremely dangerous and leave the place.
Still, Bella and Edward go on with their previous plan and spend a good time together. However, things go south when Bella finds indications of pregnancy, later confirmed by Carlisle, Edward’s adoptive father. He asks Bella to abort the child since a human body can not withstand birthing a vampire baby. However, Bella is firm on her decision to continue with the birth. Meanwhile, Jacob informs his pack about the situation, which evokes a fallout between them, half wanting to protect Bella and the other half wanting to kill her. The reason is that Bella’s child will need human blood and can cause harm. The rest of the movie explores Bella’s pain during the delivery, everyone trying their best to save her, the birth of her baby girl, Jacob imprinting her, Bella’s death, and eventual rebirth as a vampire.
The movie hardly has any evil side and majorly focuses on the after-marriage complications. There is a visible confusion in making the right choices and determination to cause no harm to innocents. The movie grossed 712 million US dollars against a budget of 110 million. Breaking Dawn Part 1 generally received negative reviews from critics for its slow pace and unnecessary inclination to add humor. Some of them even called it the worst movie of the franchise. However, it also showed an evolved understanding between Edward and Bella.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2 (2012)
- IMDb: 5.5
- Rotten Tomatoes: 49%/70%
- Director: Bill Condon
- Writer: Melissa Rosenberg
- Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser
- Runtime: 1 hour, 55 minutes
The fifth and last movie of the franchise, titled The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2, takes place directly after the events of part 1. Bella is transformed into a vampire, and everyone is making their best efforts to help her recover properly. However, they must leave the town to protect their identity. Bella’s father, Charlie, tries to contact the Cullens about her health. Jacob, desperate not to lose Renesmee, tells him that she is alright but has to be transformed. However, he does not tell Charlie about Renesmee being a birthed child and mentions she is adopted.
Further, he reveals his true identity to Charlie. After confirming Bella is alright, Charlie agrees with their decision to leave the city. After several months in the new town, a bitter vampire named Irina suspects Renesmee to be a vampire child and reports it to the Volturi. They come to kill the child since they can not be trained or controlled and can become savage, killing off whole villages. The rest of the movie shows Volturi’s attempt to kill the baby and Cullens’ attempt to protect her, which they eventually do without bloodshed.
It is the shortest movie in the saga and still shows a lot going on. It heavily depicts the strength in unity and trust in the law. The movie grossed 829 million US dollars against the budget of 136 million, becoming the highest-grossing movie of the franchise. The film received positive reviews compared to its predecessors; still, they believed it was not a good enough stand-alone film.
Watch Twilight Movies in Order of Release Date
Here is the entire Twilight franchise arranged as they were released:
- Twilight (2008)
- The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
- The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)
- The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 (2011)
- The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2 (2012)
Watch Twilight in Chronological Order
Unlike some of the more convoluted set-ups found in some sci-fi franchises, Twilight was released in a straightforward way. Therefore, if you want to watch it in chronological order, you can simply watch it by order of release, and it’s the same thing. On the other hand, if you want to watch Marvel movies in order, that’s a whole other thing. So, here’s how to watch Twilight in chronological order:
- Twilight (2008)
- The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
- The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)
- The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 (2011)
- The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2 (2012)
Twilight Movies in Pop-culture
Twilight became the first movie to gain traction because of hateful memes, which worked in its favor. The netizens brought Twilight into the limelight, which inspired fantasy movie admirers to watch The Twilight Saga. It’s worth mentioning that the memes around Twilight played a pivotal role in creating marketing campaigns in the last few years. For instance, Netflix’s movie Birdbox depended heavily on memes to create awareness among the viewers. I was one of those who watched Birdbox understand those memes. It’s okayish, but not better than A Quiet Place. If you like such movies, you can benefit from our list of the best psychological thrillers. The Twilight Saga also inspired a few low-budget parodies.
Binge-watching Twilight Movies
The Twilight Saga is solely made for fans. You would love the movies only if you already find fantasy movies appealing. Otherwise, I recommend reading the novel series before getting into the films. Later, you can spend a lazy Sunday watching all the movies. Or, you can also watch these movies with friends sharing your interest. If there’s any location barrier, kindly read our article about creating a watch party on Netflix to view the movies from the comfort of your home. I hope you found this article helpful. If you have any queries regarding the topic, feel free to comment below.
