Top 10 Best Twilight Moments

As the Twilight saga wound down, it seemed like the debate of whether Bella would end up with Edward or Jacob tilted in the vampire’s favor, but Jacob’s heart was still spared. He ended up imprinting on Bella’s newborn daughter, Renesmee, an involuntary phenomenon by which the Quileute shape-shifters find their soulmate. As odd as it seemed, it saved our favorite vampire clan from the wrath of the wolfpack, since it meant that Renesmee couldn’t be harmed by the wolves who were trying to kill her. After so much talk about what imprinting is like and how it affects the wolves, seeing it visualized finally made us, and Jacob, understand this phenomenon. And it meant Jake didn’t have to be alone.

Jacob’s refusal to listen to Bella gets him into trouble more than once, especially when he tries to kiss her. It’s clear from her punching him in the face that she’s not into it. But things change by “Eclipse’s” climax; though Bella’s now engaged to Edward, she asks Jacob to kiss her in an attempt to reconcile. Set against a picturesque backdrop of snowy mountains, this moment gave Team Jacob hope for the ending they wanted, and while it didn’t come to fruition, it still makes for one of the best scenes in the franchise.

“What happens when a bunch of vampires play baseball?” Sounds like the start of a bad joke, but this strange premise makes for an awesome sequence when Bella witnesses the Cullens playing their favorite sport – complete with uniforms. Since these powerful beings make a ton of noise when they hit the ball, they have to be choosy with when to play - naturally, thunderstorms offer the cover they need. And to boot, the 2008 film - and its sequels, come to mention it - showcase an excellent soundtrack, demonstrated here when Muse’s “Supermassive Black Hole” plays. It almost makes you forget that they’re interrupted by the villains before they can finish the game.

With the villains gaining on our heroes, Bella has to flee Forks to escape James, who’s obsessed with hunting her. But after returning to Arizona, she falls straight into his trap. Though the Cullens come to her aid and rip James to pieces, he’s able to bite her and begin her undead transformation. It’s down to Edward to save her life by sucking out the vampire venom, which means he has to drink her blood - the question is, will he be able to stop? Though it’s clearly painful and traumatic, he manages to do so, and it does stop him from being tempted by her blood for the remainder of her human life.

After being abandoned by Edward, a distraught Bella goes looking for Jacob, only to find he’s missing as well. She ends up confronting his friends, which escalates after Bella slaps Paul for laughing at her and he phases into his wolf form out of anger. Jacob springs into action to protect Bella and in the chaos leaps over her head and transforms into a wolf himself, revealing that the wolves we’ve seen before are the Quileute males. While we’re now used to seeing the big, CGI wolves, this exciting revelation remains one of the coolest scenes in the franchise.

While it’s more customary to close a movie with a big wedding, “Breaking Dawn – Part 1” opens with one, as Bella and Edward finally tie the knot. Despite naysayers’ criticizing the couple’s young age, the wedding itself goes off without a hitch – though that might be due to Alice’s meticulous planning more than anything else. The ceremony takes place in the Cullens’ backyard, beautifully decorated with elaborate flower displays to accentuate the natural setting. The real heroes of this scene are the costume department, who managed to make everybody – not just the bride and groom – look dazzling.

At the end of “New Moon”, Edward agrees to turn Bella into a vampire if she marries him. Though he’s reluctant about the transforming part, he pushes for the marriage in the third installment. And this is seen when Bella sets her own conditions for marriage--sleeping together beforehand. Hesitant to have sex before marriage yet overwhelmed by his devotion for her, Edward compromises. He gets down on one knee and proposes right then and there, giving Bella his mother’s ring. Of course, she says yes. Even though she’s hesitant about marrying so young (because her parents did the same thing and ended up divorced) her agreement sets in motion the events of the big finale. It’s one of the franchise’s most romantic moments – provided you were on Team Edward, of course.

When Edward breaks up with Bella and the Cullens leave Forks, she has a bit of a downward spiral, to say the least. She starts seeing visions of Edward every time she does something dangerous, so she becomes increasingly reckless and eventually jumps off a cliff. Alice sees a vision of this, and in a case of high stakes broken telephone, Edward thinks Bella’s dead, and seeks out the Volturi, the head vampire coven, to kill him. From then on, it’s a race against time - the Volturi refuse Edward’s request, and resolute, he aims to reveal himself to humans to force their hand, and Alice pulls a “Grand Theft Auto” to get Bella to him. It’s a nice change of pace as this time Bella is the one who rescues Edward.

One of the most important locations for Bella and Edward is the meadow hidden in the woods outside of Forks. It’s full of wildflowers and in the books, Bella says it’s the most beautiful place she’s ever seen. It becomes a central location for the rest of the movies, and the two repeatedly return to it both in reality and in Bella’s dreams. It’s the place where she has her first date with Edward, where she sees the werewolves for the first time, and where the whole saga’s final scene takes place.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few Honorable Mentions:

Spider-Monkey/Bella’s Lullaby
“Twilight” (2008)

The Final Battle
“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2” (2012)

Bella Drops Her Shield
“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2” (2012)

Bella & Edward’s Honeymoon
“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” (2011)

The First Kiss
“Twilight” (2008)

The moment we were waiting for from the beginning finally arrives at the very end of “Breaking Dawn - Part 1”, when Bella transforms into a vampire after nearly dying in childbirth. The movie’s closing shot sees Bella open her eyes, revealing them to be the crimson of a new-born. For fans, however, it was an entire agonizing year before getting to see her do any cool vampire stuff. When Bella awakens in the next movie, she nearly crushes Edward with her new strength and is even capable of beating Emmett in an arm wrestle. It certainly made “Breaking Dawn - Part 2” well worth the wait.