1996 gave audiences the one-two punch of cinematic destruction in Independence Day and Twister, which were number one and two for highest grossing films of the year. Despite continued work in the disaster genre, Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin have never been able to top the heart, comedy, and palatable jingoism of ID4. While aliens were destroying major cities on the east and west coasts, Twister was laying waste to the Panhandle State with the help of Mother Nature.
Twister was bound to be a box office hit thanks to executive producer Steven Spielberg, a screenplay co-written by Michael Crichton (author of Jurassic Park and Westworld), and director Jan de Bont, who brings the same adrenaline rush approach he brought from Speed. No surprise a sequel would be produced, but an almost 30-year gap feels like the studio struck while the iron has long cooled off, especially after the death of the great Bill Paxton.
Good news, Twisters serves as a standalone sequel. Whether you’ve never seen the original or only remember the flying cow, you won’t need to do a deep dive into the massive lore of Twister. Don’t worry, if you’re the type to revisit the original film frequently, there are several nods for the long time fan.
Kate Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is a budding scientist developing a system of polymers that she hopes will dry out tornadoes and stop them before they do any damage. While testing her project, Kate underestimates the power of a tornado and loses nearly everyone on her team. Five years later, Kate is working in New York when she’s approached by the only other survivor, Javi (Anthony Ramos), who has founded his own research firm, Storm Par. Javi convinces an apprehensive Kate, still grieving for her friends, to return to her home state of Oklahoma to help utilize a new imaging system to gather data from storms. Javi’s business partner, Scott (David Corenswet), swoops in to assist the unfortunate victims that have lost their homes and businesses.
Kate comes up against Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), the self-proclaimed “Tornado Wrangler,” with a penchant for chasing down tornadoes for his YouTube channel. When he’s not shooting fireworks into the tornado, Tyler is hocking t-shirts with his face on it. The Tornado Wrangler’s swagger predictably rubs Kate the wrong way until she discovers the money he earns goes right back to the ravaged communities. At the same time, Kate learns Storm Par isn’t that altruistic as they attempt to snatch up land on the cheap.
None of the original characters have returned for Twisters, unless you count the Dorothy system developed by Helen Hunt’s Jo Harding. Mark L. Smith (The Revenant, The Boys in the Boat) wrote the screenplay, based on a story by Joseph Kosinski (director of Tron: Legacy, Top Gun: Maverick), who had been developing his own follow-up. Smith borrows several beats from the original movie, such as the opening prologue that gives the protagonist a tragic backstory. In both films, the protagonist also takes a respite at a family member’s farm and deals with an arrogant rival. In Twister, it was Cary Elwes, here it’s the future Superman, David Corenswet, broadly playing someone the Man of Steel would not approve of. Jan de Bont had a pivotal twister strike a drive-in theater during a showing of The Shining, That scene is replaced in Twisters with Kate and Tyler shepherding people to safety as a tornado abruptly attacks during a rodeo. Don’t fret, a theater eventually gets trashed while screening James Whale’s classic Frankenstein. Oh, and did somebody say, “Firenado?” A climactic sequence sees a tornado hit an oil refinery and become a flaming plumage of smoke and devastation.
Director Lee Isaac Chung makes a huge jump from the semi-autobiographical indie drama Minari to this $155 million blockbuster. Chung has cited his childhood growing up in the tornado territory of Arkansas as part of his desire to bring Twisters to life.
Video/Audio: 10
The video is presented in 1080p with an aspect ratio of 2.39:1. The audio is presented with a Dolby Atmos track.
As expected, the presentation is off the charts. Picture quality is flawless with rich, but natural, colors and fine details from the ridges of every off road tire to the grime on everyone’s clothing. The sound absolutely rattles the rafters during the tornado sequences. You can hear the wind roaring from speaker to speaker..
Extras: 5
Tracking the Fronts: The Path of Twisters (14:53) is a behind-the-scenes featurette with the cast and crew discussing the making of Twisters, along with their fondness for the original film.
Into the Eye of the Storm (24:07) looks at the stunt work and the creation of the special effects, both practical and visual. Rain, wind, and hail were created on set while ILM was utilized for more extreme conditions. One location also used actual debris from the paths of tornadoes.
Glen Powell: All Access (3:12) shows us a day in the life of the actor as we get a tour of his Oklahoma City apartment, meet his parents (and dog), and watch as he films the rodeo sequence.
Front Seat to a Chase (5:16) follows actual meteorologists and storm chasers as they gather footage to use as reference material for the effects team.
Voice of a Villain (6:16) is a featurette that focuses on the sound effects. Not just those of the storms, but the destruction they cause. Interesting enough, sound designers layered machine and animal noises to create the deadly winds.
Tricked Out Trucks (4:31) looks at how the film’s vehicles are enhanced to protect them from tornadoes, all based on actual vehicles used by real-life storm chasers.
Rounding out the disc are an audio commentary track with director Lee Isaac Chung, three delete scenes, and a gag reel.
Film Value: 6
Just like its predecessor, Twisters is a prime example of the Hollywood machine churning out the latest in big-budget schlock. It’s loud, it’s dumb, and it taps into our basest desires to see things sucked up into the air and destroyed. A silly disaster movie not to be taken too seriously.
