A Look Back at Twister (1996)

 

With Twisters arriving soon it's time to do another A Look Back.

Twister is a disaster thriller movie, that was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Twister was written by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin and directed by Jan de Bont.

The story is, an underfunded storm chasing team have made a revolutionary tornado data-gathering device that they've name Dorothy. They soon find out their rival has stolen their idea and plan to beat them to the most powerful tornado in decades. Now it's a race to the first, but the question isn't who's gonna be first, it's will anybody survive?

• Negatives

I've got nothing, just move along.

• Mix

Now let's get this out of the way, because this is a disaster movie you're not gonna get the most mind blowing story. However, there are quite a few character moments, but we all know along with the filmmakers that we're all here for the disasters. So if it's not the deepest story, is it at least entertaining? Oh hell yeah! I don't know how many times I've seen this movie, but I know I'm always entertained everytime. This is movie is a thrill ride.

• Positives

One thing about the movie is the comedy. There's a lot of funny moments that'll get a good laugh out of you. I remember one where everybody's sitting for dinner or something and one bit of dialogue was basically congratulating someone on slaughtering their own cows.

Then there's the performance. Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt have really chemistry together. Which is impressive considering they absolutely couldn't stand each other during production. How much did they hate each other? Well when the theme park ride [Twister...Ride It Out] was a thing, they filmed their scenes separately even though it's clear their characters are talking to each other. And I of course can't talk about performances without mentioning the late Philip Seymour Hoffman as Dusty. He was a show stealer for how energetic he was. And maybe it's just his convincing acting, but I like to think he had a fun time playing the character.

The last thing to credit is the special effects. It's amazing how this is over 20 years old and the effects still hold up to this day. I dare say they make some (not all) effects we see in other movies look like amateurs made them.

While Twister isn't anything deep, it is really fun. So you want to kick back and be entertained whether the movie is old or new, give Twister a shot.

My final rating is, Good.

That's all. Come back on Thursday, Jul 11th, for part two of the Road to Superman (2025), with my review of Superman II. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.