90's Throwback Month - Twister (1996)
Hey guys, Chuck here, and welcome back to 90's Throwback Month. Today, we'll be taking a look at one of the many disaster movies that were really popular back in the 1990's: Twister.
The movie starts off in Oklahoma in the year 1969, with a family escaping to their storm cellar for protection from an oncoming tornado, when the father, while trying to hold the cellar door shut, is grabbed by the tornado and flown to his death. Years later. and we meet Bill Harding, played by Bill Paxton, who is off to collect the divorce papers from his estranged wife Jo (the little girl we saw at the beginning of the movie, played by Helen Hunt), so that he can be free to marry his new fiancée Melissa, played by Jami Gertz. It's here that we meet Jo's crew, the Storm Chasers, and their newest instrument in studying tornadoes, DOROTHY, which was Bill's design. After getting a call regarding possible tornado activity, Jo and the Storm Chasers head out, with Bill and Melissa in tow. It's here that we meet Jonas Miller, a former associate of the Storm Chasers who sold out and got corporate sponsorship, and has built DOT-3, a blatant rip-off of DOROTHY. Bill agrees to help launch DOROTHY before Jonas can launch DOT-3, and goes with the Storm Chasers as they chase down tornado after tornado. After a stop at Jo's aunt Meg's house in Wakita for a warm meal of steak and eggs, the Storm Chasers are back on the road following another tornado. After not being able to deploy, and losing their second DOROTHY, the Storm Chasers head to a drive-in theater (BTW, kids, that's an outdoor-type theater where you watch a movie from inside of a car, with the audio being played through the car's stereo), when yet another tornado shows up. After tracking the tornado to the town of Wakita. Jo and the Storm Chasers head out, Melissa breaks off her engagement to Bill, and Bill goes with Jo and the others to find Meg.
Arriving too late, Bill and Jo pull Meg out of the house before it collapses, and the National Severe Storms Laboratory detects a massive tornado on the way. Bill and Jo, figuring out a way to help the sensors get into the air, have the Storm Chasers cut up as many aluminum cans as possible, creating fans with which the wind can carry the sensors into the tornado. Bill and Jo deploy DOROTHY III, but the entire pack is too light, and is destroyed by an uprooted tree. Jonas, not too far off, moves to deploy DOT-3, but is killed along with his driver Eddie in the process when the tornado shifts its track. Driving through the cornfield, Bill and Jo deploy the last DOROTHY, and the sensors send readings back to the Storm Chasers, who are set up further away from the storm. As Bill and Jo celebrate, the tornado shifts its track right towards them, forcing them to run for it. Managing to anchor themselves to a pipe, Bill and Jo witness the inside of a tornado, and I gotta say, it's really gorgeous to look at. The Storm Chasers show up just as the tornado dissipates, Bill and Jo are back together, and the movie ends there.
As far as 90's disaster films go, Twister is honestly one of the more entertaining ones. Okay, the story isn't particularly deep, but it's still a pretty fun escape nonetheless. Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt are enjoyable leads as Bill and Jo, Cary Elwes is entertaining as Jonas. But to me, what really elevates this film is the supporting cast, particularly the Storm Chasers. With the likes of Alan Ruck, Sean Whalen, Todd Field, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, this colorful bunch is a lot of fun, and they made the movie as entertaining to watch today as it was back in the 90's. Director Jan de Bont did an okay job, and co-screenwriter Michael Crichton did a passable job with the script. But, let's be honest, the real star of this movie is the visual effects. ILM did a phenomenal job in making the tornadoes in this movie look and feel as real as possible. Combine their groundbreaking visual effects with the incredible sound design, and you've got a movie, that while not perfect, is still entertaining. It is with that in mind that I give Twister a rating of 4/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guy next time as 90's Throwback Month continues.
The movie starts off in Oklahoma in the year 1969, with a family escaping to their storm cellar for protection from an oncoming tornado, when the father, while trying to hold the cellar door shut, is grabbed by the tornado and flown to his death. Years later. and we meet Bill Harding, played by Bill Paxton, who is off to collect the divorce papers from his estranged wife Jo (the little girl we saw at the beginning of the movie, played by Helen Hunt), so that he can be free to marry his new fiancée Melissa, played by Jami Gertz. It's here that we meet Jo's crew, the Storm Chasers, and their newest instrument in studying tornadoes, DOROTHY, which was Bill's design. After getting a call regarding possible tornado activity, Jo and the Storm Chasers head out, with Bill and Melissa in tow. It's here that we meet Jonas Miller, a former associate of the Storm Chasers who sold out and got corporate sponsorship, and has built DOT-3, a blatant rip-off of DOROTHY. Bill agrees to help launch DOROTHY before Jonas can launch DOT-3, and goes with the Storm Chasers as they chase down tornado after tornado. After a stop at Jo's aunt Meg's house in Wakita for a warm meal of steak and eggs, the Storm Chasers are back on the road following another tornado. After not being able to deploy, and losing their second DOROTHY, the Storm Chasers head to a drive-in theater (BTW, kids, that's an outdoor-type theater where you watch a movie from inside of a car, with the audio being played through the car's stereo), when yet another tornado shows up. After tracking the tornado to the town of Wakita. Jo and the Storm Chasers head out, Melissa breaks off her engagement to Bill, and Bill goes with Jo and the others to find Meg.
Arriving too late, Bill and Jo pull Meg out of the house before it collapses, and the National Severe Storms Laboratory detects a massive tornado on the way. Bill and Jo, figuring out a way to help the sensors get into the air, have the Storm Chasers cut up as many aluminum cans as possible, creating fans with which the wind can carry the sensors into the tornado. Bill and Jo deploy DOROTHY III, but the entire pack is too light, and is destroyed by an uprooted tree. Jonas, not too far off, moves to deploy DOT-3, but is killed along with his driver Eddie in the process when the tornado shifts its track. Driving through the cornfield, Bill and Jo deploy the last DOROTHY, and the sensors send readings back to the Storm Chasers, who are set up further away from the storm. As Bill and Jo celebrate, the tornado shifts its track right towards them, forcing them to run for it. Managing to anchor themselves to a pipe, Bill and Jo witness the inside of a tornado, and I gotta say, it's really gorgeous to look at. The Storm Chasers show up just as the tornado dissipates, Bill and Jo are back together, and the movie ends there.
As far as 90's disaster films go, Twister is honestly one of the more entertaining ones. Okay, the story isn't particularly deep, but it's still a pretty fun escape nonetheless. Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt are enjoyable leads as Bill and Jo, Cary Elwes is entertaining as Jonas. But to me, what really elevates this film is the supporting cast, particularly the Storm Chasers. With the likes of Alan Ruck, Sean Whalen, Todd Field, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, this colorful bunch is a lot of fun, and they made the movie as entertaining to watch today as it was back in the 90's. Director Jan de Bont did an okay job, and co-screenwriter Michael Crichton did a passable job with the script. But, let's be honest, the real star of this movie is the visual effects. ILM did a phenomenal job in making the tornadoes in this movie look and feel as real as possible. Combine their groundbreaking visual effects with the incredible sound design, and you've got a movie, that while not perfect, is still entertaining. It is with that in mind that I give Twister a rating of 4/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guy next time as 90's Throwback Month continues.
Comments
Post a Comment