Helen Hunt

Bill Paxton

Jami Gertz

Cary Elwes

Lois Smith

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Alan Ruck

Sean Whalen

Scott Thomson

Todd Field

Joey Slotnick

Wendle Josepher

Jeremy Davies

Zach Grenier

Gregory Sporleder

Patrick Fischler

Nicholas Sadler

Ben Weber

Anthony Rapp

Erik LaRay Harvey

Abraham Benrubi

Jake Busey

Melanie Hoopes

J. Dean Lindsay

Dan Kelpine

Sharonlyn Morrow

Richard Lineback

Rusty Schwimmer

Alexa PenaVega

Taylor Gilbert

Bruce Wright

Gary England

Jeff Lazalier

Rick Mitchell

John Thomas Rhyne

Paul Douglas

Samantha McDonald

Jennifer L. Hamilton

Anneke de Bont

Darryl Cox

Thomas E. Bentley

Jon Bielich

Mark Falvo

Ben Jackson

David Dillinger Jefferis

Brad Masters

April Warren

Jan de Bont

Anne-Marie Martin

Michael Crichton

Ian Bryce

Kathleen Kennedy

Laurie MacDonald

Gerald R. Molen

Walter F. Parkes

Steven Spielberg

Mark Mancina

Jack N. Green

Michael Kahn

Risa Bramon Garcia

Joseph C. Nemec III

Ronald R. Reiss

Ellen Mirojnick

Karen Blynder

R. Anthony Brown

Bradley M. Goodman

Glenn Salloum

Henry LaBounta

Jeanie King

Budd Carr

Joel Sill

Zigmund Gron

Trudy Ramirez

Geoffrey Patterson

Stephen Hunter Flick

Beau Baker

Kevin O'Connell

Gregg Landaker

Steve Maslow

Matthew Carlisle

David James

David Luckenbach

Dan Olexiewicz

Carla S. Nemec

Mic Rodgers

Chuck Parker

Steve Callas

Robert L. Thompson

John Aldays

William S. Maxwell III

Rory Enke

Dave Margolin

Giacomo G. Ghiazza

Patrick M. Sullivan

Mark Hudson

Stephen S. Campanelli

Bill Coe

Ron Cooney

Jeffrey A. Johnson

Robert Mehnert

Kim Santantonio

Kenneth Sayers

Tom Osman

Raymond Bulinski

Mitch Friedman

Timothy Greenwood

John Zemansky

Jill McGraw

Florian Kainz

Steven Chambers

Ron Poniewaz Jr.

Sheridan Ross Batson

Randy Peters

Mark Suveg

Timothy Eaton

Bob Putynkowski

Stephanie Flack

David H. Neale

Mark Mele

Emmanuel Vouniozos

Randi Hiller

Michael J. Burmeister

Ken Ryan

Amanda Brand

Catherine Calleson

Bruce Fowler

William Jacobs

Teresa Eckton

Julie Adrianson-Neary

John Frazier

Ken Nielsen

Jeanmarie King

Kim Bromley

Stefen Fangmeier

Fireball Tim Lawrence

Guy Hendrix Dyas

Bill Palmer

Carolyn Dessert

Leah Brown

Brad Wilder

David K. Riebel

Richard Oswald

John M. Morse

Daniel R. Bentley

Terrie Nettles

Twister Collection

Action

Adventure

Drama

Twister

Warner Bros. Pictures

Universal Pictures

Amblin Entertainment

United States of America

English

husband wife relationship

climate

tornado

twister

natural disaster

oklahoma

metereologist

invention

storm chaser

barn

truck

disaster

divorce

disaster movie

motley crew

**_Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt chasing tornadoes on the prairie_**

When atmospheric conditions are conducive to tornadoes, a weatherman (Paxton) tracks down his separated wife (Hunt) and inadvertently joins their storm-chasing team in the Midwest because he can’t resist seeing his sensor invention finally put to use. Jami Gertz plays his new love, Cary Elwes a pompous rival and Philip Seymour Hoffman a wild team member.

“Twister” (1996) could be categorized as a disaster flick, but with the distinction that the protagonists are constantly chasing the potential disaster. The entire film takes place in the prairies or forests of the Midwest with ominous skies and intermittent destructive tornadoes. It’s called “Twister” and that’s what you get.

The writers keep things interesting by adding human interest with the, admittedly contrived, love triangle and the rival storm-chasing team that has corporate sponsors (the horror, the horror). I didn’t mind the love story. When two people belong together, they belong together. Perhaps the fiancé will realize this. Speaking of which, I’m glad they didn’t make her (Gertz) out to be an unreasonable biyatch, like in “The Parent Trap.”

At the end of the day, “Twister” gives you what you pay for. It’s not rocket science, but it’s entertaining and full of tornado-oriented thrills, which explains why it was a huge hit at the box office. 

The movie runs 1 hour, 53 minutes, and was shot in Oklahoma (Guthrie and Ponca City), Iowa (Boone and Ames) and Bolton, Ontario.

GRADE: B

<em>'Twister'</em> makes for fun viewing.

There's a good chance that this was one of the (if not <em>the</em>) first films that I ever watched, it was released a mere few months after my birth and I have a faint memory of watching it on video as a young kid, I remember my mum had taped it and it was recorded back-to-back with a random music concert that was also on TV at the time - I can still picture myself seeing it switch from the film to the music.

With that said, if I did indeed watch it at that time and it wasn't just a memory of actually checking out the concert itself or perhaps someone else doing either/or, I don't recall anything about this movie - not one jot. I did know the general gist of the film though (hard not to, rather self-explanatory!) and that Bill Paxton was in it.

The movie itself is entertaining, if naturally not perfect. The special effects have aged, for 1996, rather well, there's a couple of goofy looking moments but again, for its time it's more than adequate. The score is pleasant too. I didn't overly like the lover's quarrel, in fact it kinda annoyed me in parts; Melissa is written weakly, there's kinda no need for Jami Gertz's character to even exist given what (predictably) happens.

Helen Hunt puts in a strong showing, probably the standout of the near two hours. Paxton, of course, runs her close in that regard too. Lois Smith and Philip Seymour Hoffman are the ones who stick out most away from Hunt and Paxton. Cary Elwes features too, albeit quite forgettably.

Eager to see what they do for this year's standalone sequel with Glen Powell & Co. Based on snippets of the trailer I've seen, I reckon it'll be just as good - if not slightly better - as this original. Time will tell.

Twister( 1996)

Don't breathe. Don't look back.

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A review by Wuchak

Written by Wuchak on Thu Jun 01 2023

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