IMDb > Twister (1996)
Twister
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Twister (1996) -- A couple on the point of divorce keep meeting each other because both are researchers who chase tornadoes.
Twister (1996) -- A couple on the point of divorce keep meeting each other because both are researchers who chase tornadoes.
Twister (1996) -- ZuGuide.com - Trailer (Flash)
Twister (1996) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)
Twister (1996) -- Sinematurk - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
6.0/10   57,586 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Jan de Bont
Writers (WGA):
Michael Crichton (written by) &
Anne-Marie Martin (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Twister on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
10 May 1996 (USA) more
Genre:
Action | Drama | Thriller more
Tagline:
The Dark Side of Nature. more
Plot:
A couple on the point of divorce keep meeting each other because both are researchers who chase tornadoes. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 9 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(27 articles)
The world's only Bill Paxton pinball machine
 (From Corona's Coming Attractions. 29 September 2009, 11:18 PM, PDT)

Point Break Sequel is Dead
 (From Worst Previews. 11 September 2009, 9:00 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
The darker side of writing a script for a disaster movie more (343 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Catch the Wind (USA) (original script title)
Wind Devils (USA) (working title)
more
MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for intense depiction of very bad weather.
Runtime:
113 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS
Filming Locations:
Ames, Iowa, USA more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
At the end of the movie Bill remarks that the tornado didn't take the house. In fact, it was originally supposed to. The Hardin County (Iowa) Historical Society and many citizens objected to the house being blown up so it was spared. The area is now a tourist attraction as the rubble from the barn and fences is still there exactly as it was in the movie. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: While Bill and Jo are running (driving) from the first bad tornado, a house falls into the road in front of them, and one of them yells, "We're goin' in!" As they crash through the walls of the house in the truck, in one room there is a chair, above the truck in frame, standing as it should be, in place, even though the house has been blown through the sky and the floor is at a steep angle. The chair doesn't even move when the truck crashes through the room. more
Quotes:
Dusty: "The Suck Zone". It's the point basically when the twister... sucks you up. That's not the technical term for it, obviously. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "American Dad!: Francine's Flashback (#1.4)" (2005) more
Soundtrack:
Humans Being more

FAQ

Is it true that there's gonna be a special edtion of Twister?
more
52 out of 55 people found the following comment useful.
The darker side of writing a script for a disaster movie, 22 November 2003
7/10
Author: Kristine (kristinedrama14@msn.com) from Chicago, Illinois

Twister, one of the most successful movies of the 90's, mainly due to it's special effects and a lot of people's want for a natural disaster movie that is fun to watch, this was an extremely popular movie. I was only 11 when the movie was released and I was absolutely in love with it, in fact right after the movie was done, I wanted to become a storm chaser. That's how much I loved this movie; I grew up and forgot about the movie and decided on a new career. But I saw the DVD on sale and thought about how much I enjoyed the movie when I was younger, I'm sure it would be just as much fun to see it again. I have to say this wasn't as awesome as I remembered, in the theater it was like "Oh, my God! Look at that flying cow! A house just flew across the road! That is so cool!", now on my TV screen I was like "Oh, wow, look at that cow. How the heck does a house fly across the road? Why isn't this as cool as I remembered it?" Not to mention that the story wasn't as good as I remembered, granted I know that they had to fit in some kind of story with the whole plot of the twisters, but a lot of this movie is just plain unrealistic.

In June 1969 on an Oklahoma farm a tornado warning is issued, the family seeks shelter in a storm cellar as an F5 tornado strikes. However, the storm is so strong that the locks on the cellar door fail and the father is caught up in the storm and killed as his daughter struggles to catch a glimpse of the powerful storm. Years later, Dr. Jo Harding, the father's daughter, is reunited with her estranged husband; Bill Harding. Bill is a former weather researcher and storm chaser who has taken a job as a weather reporter. He is planning to marry his new girlfriend, Dr. Melissa Reeves, and arrives at Jo's research lab seeking Jo's signature for the final divorce papers. Bill discovers that Jo has built a tornado research device called DOROTHY based upon his own design; the device is designed to release hundreds of sensors into the center of a tornado to study its structure. The team later meets up with Dr. Jonas Miller, a smug and unscrupulous fellow meteorologist and storm chaser. When Bill discovers that Jonas has "invented" a device almost identical to DOROTHY; he vows to help Jo deploy DOROTHY before Miller can claim credit for the idea. Bill and Melissa join Jo and her eccentric team of storm chasers. Tensions rise between Jo and Bill when they have several close calls with dangerous tornadoes as they try unsuccessfully to deploy the new device.

So how does Twister hold up over these years? Not so well, the effects are still amazing, but that's about it. I do have to admit, even though it's a bad movie, I still enjoy it like crazy. I think because if you let go of how unrealistic it is, you can just have fun with that want of destruction and chaos. Granted I know this movie is a bit stupid: our two leads, Bill and Jo, survive the impossible facing an F5 twister, the twisters always disappear as our "hero's" are in danger, Bill's fiancé puts up with quit a bit before realizing that he is a jerk for putting her through all the danger with him, Jo, a scientist, thinks that tornado's are serial killers, and not to mention that this was a record breaking day with numerous twisters. But still as bad as the acting, as bad as the story, as stupid as some of these situations may be, it's still a fun movie to watch and I think I wanna be fair with the rating just because it is mindless entertainment. It's a classic 90's disaster movie and besides, it has flying cows, what other film will give you that kind of situation? But it's all good I think they were taking the cows to McDonald's anyways.

7/10

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