Twister (film)

Twister is a 1996 disaster film starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton as storm chasers researching tornadoes. It was directed by Jan de Bont. The film was based upon a script by Michael Crichton and his wife, former actress Anne-Marie Martin.

Twister currently ranks 37th in all time box office gross with USD 241,708,908. Twister also has a famous scene of a flying cow, a scene that was the subject of many parodies. The film also became the theme of a ride at Universal Orlando Resort called Twister... Ride it Out.

According to IMDb, Twister was the first movie commercially released on DVD, and it is yet to be one of the first movies to be released commercially onto HD-DVD and on Blu-Ray.

In the movie, a team of "storm chasers" try to perfect their new instrument, while competing with another team.

Plot

The story revolves around two married storm chasers, Dr. Jo Harding (Hunt), and her soon to be ex-husband Bill Harding (Paxton). As the film begins, Bill has gone into the fields of Oklahoma to find Jo and her team of storm chasers. Bill is a former weather researcher and storm chaser who has taken a job as a weather reporter and is about to marry his new girlfriend, Dr. Melissa Reeves (Jami Gertz), a Reproductive Therapist. Bill is seeking Jo’s signature for the final divorce papers.

When they meet, Bill discovers that Jo has built DOROTHY, a device that Bill invented. DOROTHY is designed to release hundreds of sensors into the center of a tornado. He also meets up with Dr. Jonas Miller (Cary Elwes), a smug fellow meteorologist and storm chaser. Miller is a savvy fund raiser but has little instinct for field work and has questionable professional scruples. When Bill discovers that Jonas has “invented” a device almost identical to DOROTHY called D.O.T. 3, Bill is enraged and vows to deploy DOROTHY before Miller can claim credit for his idea. He joins Jo and her eccentric team of storm chasers which includes Dustin Davis (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Robert 'Rabbit' Nurick (Alan Ruck). Jo's team enjoys the thrill of the chase but to Jo, it's personal. Her father had been killed by a tornado when she was a child. If successful, DOROTHY will help increase warning times and save lives.

Tensions rise between Jo and Bill as they have several close calls with dangerous tornadoes as they try to implement the new device. Through these ordeals, it becomes obvious to everyone but them that they still have strong feelings for one another. Melissa also sees it and leaves Bill.

At night, a powerful F4 tornado attacks Wakita where the storm chasers stay. The squad didn't have time to prepare for it so they just ran away to refugee in a car workshop. While stopped for the night, the powerful F4 tornado moves through the other side of the town of Wakita, Oklahoma and injures and nearly kills Jo's Aunt Meg (Lois Smith). Jonas, with his smugness at an all-time high, and his driver Eddie (Zach Grenier) drive right next to an F5 tornado. Jo and Bill try to warn Jonas that the tornado might shift its track and come at him and Eddie, but Jonas won't listen. A metal girder from the tornado flies through the truck windshield, impaling Eddie and then the twister sucks the truck up. The truck then crashes back to ground, killing both men.

Jo and Bill decide that they will have to come dangerously close to the tornado in order to successfully release the sensors. They also modify the sensors with an idea inspired by Meg's windmill sculptures. They successfully release the sensors into the tornado, while taking cover from the tornado in a farm outhouse, tied by leather belts to a water pipe.

Ride

Twister...Ride It Out is a ride located at Universal Orlando Resort. It is based on the 1996 blockbuster film staring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton. The ride takes you to a small mock up of the Oklahoma town of Wakita with prop signs and vehicles around you. There are several video monitors above showing actual home videos of tornados shot by common every day people. Signs are laid out all over the place informing people about the different levels tornados on the Fujita scale.

As you enter the "Introduction" part of the show, you are shown clips from the film, then Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt welcome you to Twister and talk about their experiences they had while filming the movie. Helen Hunt then says "join us on the stage and see for yourself... just how powerful... a Twister can be."

Then you are taken into the "Preshow" area which is a fairly accurate recreation of the inside of Aunt Meg's tornado damaged home. There are monitors above, showing the actual damage Twisters can cause and did cause while they were filming Twister.

The cable goes out and it begins to storm, then you hear a tornado siren as you are taken into a recreated Drive-In which was used in one of Twister's most frightening scenes. Everything seems calm, crickets chirping, dogs in the distance barking, rain drops falling it seems almost calm but then BOOM! A bolt of lightning spits a tree in front of you. A weird howling freight train sound emerges as the tornado destroys the movie screen in the distance. Then it appears right in front of you and all you can do is watch as signs blow away, cars smashing into fire hydrants and gas pumps; and sends a poor cow flying right past you. Eventually it starts to die as the gas station catches on fire sending up a huge ball of fire as the stage drops giving the guests a final scare to remember the Twister's fury.

Trivia

This movie can be credited with improving sales of the Dodge Ram pickup truck, as viewers saw how much damage the Ram took while the team chased the twisters. As a result, Dodge Ram sales went from 280,000 a year (Before the film was released) to 400,000 a year after the movie was released.
This movie features an instrumental by Eddie Van Halen and Alex Van Halen called Respect the Wind. It is the only song throughout his entire career on which the elder of the two brothers, Alex, has worked on something without the band Van Halen (The song was credited as Eddie And Alex Van Halen).
A DirecTV commerical was made that used the movie, with some add ons to it.
The original tagline for the movie was "It sucks," but the producers ultimately decided to go in a different direction, thinking that this tagline would provide critics with ammunition if they didn't like the movie.
The movie received a PG-13 rating for "intense depictions of very bad weather."
The music that was used in the movie would be later used as incidental music in several Chinese television shows.

External links

1996 films | Disaster movies

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Plot

Ride

Trivia

External links