Twister

1996 • 112 minutes
4.6
2.02K reviews
63%
Tomatometer
PG-13
Rating
Eligible
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About this movie

Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt and Carey Elwes may be billed as the stars of Twister, but the film's real attractions are the cyclones themselves. Best experienced in a theater, the nail-biting, blow-the-audience-out-of-their-seats computer generated graphics, cutting edge sound and other special effects are designed to take viewers straight into the roaring funnel of a gigantic tornado. In order to focus on special effects and action, the story is simple and the characters are drawn in broad strokes with little depth. Jo Harding (Hunt) became a storm chaser (a meteorologist who photographs and scientifically studies tornadoes in the field) after a large twister sucked her hapless daddy into oblivion when she was a girl. Bill (Paxton) was a storm chaser too, but left to become a successful weatherman. His change of profession ruined his marriage to Jo. Before separating, the Hardings invented DOROTHY, a gizmo designed to release thousands of tiny sensors when a tornado passes over it. The Hardings hope the information transmitted by the sensors will provide insight into the nature of the whirling windstorms. Backed by a large corporation, the villainous Dr. Jonas Miller (Elwes) has created a similar machine. Neither gadget has been field tested and both groups of storm chasers are anxious to find tornadoes. At the peak of the worst twister season in decades, Bill shows up at Jo's truck with his prissy fiancee Melissa (Jami Gertz) so Jo can sign divorce papers. Suddenly a twister is spotted. With little hesitation, Bill rejoins the mad rush to reach it in time to activate DOROTHY. Jonas and his team are right behind them. Throughout the day the storms become worse and the rivalrous race becomes more intense. As they continue facing incredible dangers together Jo and Bill find renewed love while poor Melissa finds only an intense desire to get away from these storm-obsessed lunatics.
Rating
PG-13

Ratings and reviews

4.6
2.02K reviews
Mike Young
July 26, 2014
I don't get it. The movie wreaks of the cliché with a story that just sickens you but I can't help myself: I love this movie. The only good performance is Jamie Gertz and while Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton and Mr Elwes cake-walk through it they are fun to watch. Hoffman is so bad he's fun. The weather lore and technology is laughable at times. But it's the spirit of the movie that grabs me. I love the 'love story'. I love Jamie Gertz's ability to hang on the edge of fear while supporting her husband to be even in the face of such an obvious fate for losing him. The excitement of when they charge into the fun makes you laugh while the ominous moan of the approaching tornado makes you shiver. This is a movie you either love or hate and both viewpoints have their merits.
35 people found this review helpful
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Candy Mooney
April 8, 2021
This is the best film about tornadoes ever!! Tornadoes have always fascinated me and "Twister" (1996) was my first tornado movie. I can tell you anything you want to know about tornadoes for real. The wind speeds of tornadoes can reach more than 200 miles per hour. A strong tornado can pick up a house or a truck easily and break trees like matchsticks. There are about 1,000 tornadoes in the United States each year. It is false that tornadoes never strike cities. Cool winds!! Good!
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Jamie Baldree
April 23, 2015
This movie is one of my favorites, for the animation back when it was made, it was the best there was. Even the space animation at the beginning was great. Nowadays, some stuff is a little out dated in animation, but overall it still looks great. It brings out the suspense and fear of a tornado. The only thing I find an issue with is (maybe spoilers) that the tornado always looks like it's right next to them, but they are able to run away from it with time to loiter every bit.
8 people found this review helpful
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