Twister (1996)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Blistering performances.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Who knew you could make a story about wind interesting. I wonder, if after the filming was done, Paxton was overheard saying, "Storm over, man. Storm over." Twister has a good cast, great eye candy, very nice FX AND if you can't laugh at flying livestock, I don't want to know you.This is a good flick and a must see for all us Helen Hunt fans. I can watch this every 5 - 7 years.

Having grown up a 90's kid, I often find myself nostalgically looking back on the films and television of my youth with a bit of a sad yearning. The world of entertainment was quite a different beast back in those days, and sometimes it can be easy to lose historical perspective and dismiss the media of the era when comparing it to more modern releases. Back then, a simple high-concept premise, a few likable actors and some (at the time) cutting edge effects were all we needed to have a good time at the cinema. But as filmmaking continues to evolve, and audiences are no longer wowed by the things we once were, it's becoming easier and easier to look back on films of that era as quaint and inherently more flawed than we might remember. Thankfully, there are many releases that still hold up to this day to one extent or another.A prime example of this would be the 1996 disaster/action film "Twister", from producer/co-writer Michael Crichton and director Jan de Bont. It's one of those 90's flicks that actually is still quite good fun thanks to solid and visually exciting action, effects that hold up for the most part and excellent performances from the entire cast. While it might not be quite as great as we remember, it's still solid-enough popcorn entertainment, even over twenty years later.We follow a group of storm-chasers who are on a mission- they are tracking a system that will be capable of spawning several tornadoes, in hopes of studying the cyclones with an advanced piece of technology they have developed. If they can achieve their goal, it might help in the development of a more advanced storm warning system. However, there are some obstacles in their way... including an evil corporate- funded rival (Cary Elwes) and personal squabbles between the team leader Jo and former member Bill (Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt), a couple in the midst of a divorce. And as the storm becomes increasingly dangerous and more volatile, it will eventually lead to a harrowing and thrilling series of life-and-death decisions for our heroes.The main strengths of the film come down to the extreme likability of the cast and the thrilling beats of action and adventure that de Bont excels at crafting. Each and every member of the cast is pretty much perfect in their roles, archetypal and clichéd though the roles may be. In particular, our leads Paxton (rest in peace, good sir) and Hunt are both exceedingly fun to watch and have a great chemistry that makes you want to see them reconcile their differences. Elwes is also wonderfully slimy as an opportunistic villain that you'll just adore hating. And there's even a really fun early role from Philip Seymour Hoffman. If you have a good cast, you can forgive a lot, and the charm on display from just about every performer is part of what makes the film such an easy and breezy watch.Director Jan de Bont, perhaps best known as a cinematographer who transitioned to the role of director with the excellent "Speed" before slipping up with later duds like the sloppy "Speed 2" and the over-produced and under-scary remake of "The Haunting" does what he does best here, which is make thrilling action that will keep the audiences glued to their seats. Say what you want about the mixed quality of his overall work- the guy knows how to make some kick- butt scenes. His camera-work is smooth and slick, his sense of pacing is strong and he ratchets up the stakes with each passing moment during the films many tornado sequences. (Expertly realized with CGI that still holds up pretty well to this day thanks to Industrial Light & Magic.) He injects such a kinetic sense of fun into the proceedings that you can kinda forgive some of the flimsy characterization and old tropes on display. You'll certainly never be bored.Unfortunately, the script by Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin is where most of the problems with the film lay. Despite the duo crafting some fun characters and interesting set-pieces, there's just a bit too much reliance on the same-old, same-old. You've seen these characters before. You've seen these motivations before. And you've seen these types of situations before. It's a palette-swap of numerous other adventure films that have come before. Not bad by any means... but typical enough that most audiences familiar with basic story structure will be able to guess the twists and turns the story takes ahead of time, which can somewhat rob from the intended suspense of certain scenes. Thankfully, the inventive action and great performances are able to overcome the so-so screenplay and elevate it.In the end, looking back... "Twister" might not be quite the classic we initially thought it would be when it first came out. But it's certainly good fun and is near-ideal popcorn entertainment. And that's perfectly fine. Sometimes we need a good bit of the old "dumb fun", and this movie is sure to please anyone who wants a fast, enjoyable experience.I give it a pretty-good 7 out of 10.

Bill and Jo Harding, advanced storm chasers on the brink of divorce, must join together to create an advanced weather alert system by putting themselves in the cross-hairs of extremely violent tornadoes. It's funny how back in the 1990's there were so many great Natural Disaster Films and now there's only like 1 or 2 of course i'm talking about the movie "Twister" starring Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt and Philip Seymour Hoffman and it does have a very simple premise and story that fans won't be disappointed plus the special effects for a 1996 movie were actually pretty enjoyable and the performances by the 2 leading actors were very good it's for sure not the movie that you would expect to be nominated for 2 Oscars but it's still an enjoyable action flick that will definitely keep you relaxed.

Bill Paxton plays Bill Harding, a former storm chaser who travels to the heart of tornado alley with his fiancée, Melissa, during an unusually high outbreak of storms to retrieve divorce papers from his storm chasing, soon-to-be ex wife, Jo (Helen Hunt).Jo, who still has feelings for her estranged husband, reveals that she has brought Bill's design for an internal tornado reading device, 'Dorothy', to fruition. Lured by the chance to see Dorothy in action for the first time, Bill agrees to join Jo and the team one final time.Unfortunately, an inept but arrogant rival team of storm chasers have copied Bill's design and developed a tornado reading device of their own called 'D.O.T.', and Bill and Jo must get Dorothy into the air before they have a chance.The rest of the movie that follows is basically Bill and Jo realising their true feelings for one another interspersed with scenes of tornadoes that appear and disappear conveniently according to the plot.This movie is a huge guilty pleasure of mine. Going by my own personal rating system this movie should be a '5', which is an essentially 'bad' movie with good elements that make it worth a watch, but I bumped it up to '6' for two reasons; as an avid sky watcher (seriously, I should have just gone into meteorology for the amount of time I spend looking upwards) there is a real dearth of good extreme weather movies out there and as long as you aren't concerned with complex characters or plot then Twister delivers in that respect. Yes, the science is implausible and downright silly at times, but it's still the best extreme weather movie to date.The second reason is for the end credit sequence featuring Van Halen's instrumental piece, 'Respect the Wind'. I've bumped up many a mediocre movie before due to their soundtracks and I feel 'Respect the Wind' captures the wild, majestic, unbridled nature of planet Earth's skies perfectly and beautifully.