Twister (B+ or 3.5/4 stars)
'Twister' is an adrenaline-pumping 1996 summer action blockbuster directed by Jan de Bont (of Speed) & co-written by Michael Crichton that unfolds with relentless momentum & spectacular special effects from the Industrial Light & Magic team. This film opens with a short prologue set in Oklahoma, 1969. It is one of the most effective sequences, as a family of 3 flees into a storm cellar to escape an approaching F5 twister. The father is sucked into the vortex while his wife & 5 yr. old daughter, Jo, watch on in horror. More than 25 yrs. later, that girl has grown up to be an obsessed tornado chaser.
Storm scientist Jo (now Helen Hunt) is tracking a series of storms that are gathering across the state when her estranged meteorologist/fellow tornado chaser husband, Bill Harding (Bill Paxton) arrives back in Oklahoma to have divorce papers signed from Jo. Accompanied by his doctor fiance, Melissa (Jami Gertz), he is eager to start a new career as a weatherman. But Bill is pulled back into his old life when it becomes apparent that this series of storms present the opportunity for him use special scientific equipment he designed that would gather new data about tornado activity; this new machine would replace "Dorothy", their old weather sensory unit.
To do this, he & Jo, aided by their team of college scientists {including characters played by a young Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck, Jeremy Davies, Wendle Josepher, etc.} must place themselves directly in the path ... of a twister. And just to make matters nuttier, a rival group of corporate-sponsored scientists (led by Cary Elwes) is tracking the tornados, as well; hoping to make their own breakthrough into the archives of weather history. And so, along with romantic entanglements & the villainous rival scientists, Jo makes it her mission to face-down another huge F5 tornado, launch the equipment into the twister, & survive the deadly storm.
Not unlike everything from The Poseidon Adventure, to The Towering Inferno, to Earthquake, to Godzilla, to Jurassic Park, etc. ... 'Twister' is a roller coaster of a disaster flick; but so, too, is it a man vs. an implacable enemy flick. I don't think this story 'needed' human villains {Cary Elwes & his team} when you've got a gargantuan F5 right there as the antagonist; but, so be it. While this film will never be remembered for its amazing performances or well-written dialogue, it will be remembered for the incredible tornado sequences and, it's propulsive pace keeps things moving along swimmingly.
Sure, there are dramatic scenes & capable performances from an extremely likeable cast. But a fair share of that is merely filler in-between the copious thrilling action scenes. i.e., that opening 1969 twister {holyyyy moly}, a tornado striking the drive-in movie, a tornado that hits the farmhouse of Jo's aunt (Lois Smith) after the storm chasing team chows down on her food, and a cow flying by the screen during another tornado. 'Twister' is big & dumb, with amusingly cheesy dialogues. But it is also a tremendous amount of fun, & leaves you with a deeper respect for the horrifying power of Mother Nature.
Storm scientist Jo (now Helen Hunt) is tracking a series of storms that are gathering across the state when her estranged meteorologist/fellow tornado chaser husband, Bill Harding (Bill Paxton) arrives back in Oklahoma to have divorce papers signed from Jo. Accompanied by his doctor fiance, Melissa (Jami Gertz), he is eager to start a new career as a weatherman. But Bill is pulled back into his old life when it becomes apparent that this series of storms present the opportunity for him use special scientific equipment he designed that would gather new data about tornado activity; this new machine would replace "Dorothy", their old weather sensory unit.
To do this, he & Jo, aided by their team of college scientists {including characters played by a young Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck, Jeremy Davies, Wendle Josepher, etc.} must place themselves directly in the path ... of a twister. And just to make matters nuttier, a rival group of corporate-sponsored scientists (led by Cary Elwes) is tracking the tornados, as well; hoping to make their own breakthrough into the archives of weather history. And so, along with romantic entanglements & the villainous rival scientists, Jo makes it her mission to face-down another huge F5 tornado, launch the equipment into the twister, & survive the deadly storm.
Not unlike everything from The Poseidon Adventure, to The Towering Inferno, to Earthquake, to Godzilla, to Jurassic Park, etc. ... 'Twister' is a roller coaster of a disaster flick; but so, too, is it a man vs. an implacable enemy flick. I don't think this story 'needed' human villains {Cary Elwes & his team} when you've got a gargantuan F5 right there as the antagonist; but, so be it. While this film will never be remembered for its amazing performances or well-written dialogue, it will be remembered for the incredible tornado sequences and, it's propulsive pace keeps things moving along swimmingly.
Sure, there are dramatic scenes & capable performances from an extremely likeable cast. But a fair share of that is merely filler in-between the copious thrilling action scenes. i.e., that opening 1969 twister {holyyyy moly}, a tornado striking the drive-in movie, a tornado that hits the farmhouse of Jo's aunt (Lois Smith) after the storm chasing team chows down on her food, and a cow flying by the screen during another tornado. 'Twister' is big & dumb, with amusingly cheesy dialogues. But it is also a tremendous amount of fun, & leaves you with a deeper respect for the horrifying power of Mother Nature.