Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-23 03:54:09

Lame plot and acting is just the start

The opening scene was pretty dramatic but it was all downhill after that. Twister lacks in the reality department. The chances of this group of storm chasers chasing so many tornadoes in such a short period of time is slim to impossible. Nobody would survive the "gully tornado". It sucked the truck up and it would also have sucked them up. Nobody, storm chaser or not, would get as close to F-3, 4 or 5 tornadoes as this group did unless they were on a suicide mission. Lastly, an F-5 twister (or any twister for that matter) has a forward motion (speed) of anywhere from 30 to 50 mph and Paxton and Hunt could have never outrun the storm, avoid debris from all directions or made it in time to tie themselves to some plumbing and hope to live. Special effects were good for the time period but that's where the accolades end.

calvinnme 2012-05-22 18:43:05

A very watchable hokey action film

This film is not high cinematic art. It was intended to be a summerblockbuster "put your brain on hold" action film when it was releasedin 1996, and that is what it was and still is. Its competition at thetime was "Independence Day", which is an unwatchable hokey movie, andthis movie is better than that film in that it is a watchable hokeymovie. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton play recently divorced storm chasersJo and Bill Harding whose relationship was pulled apart by Jo'sobsession with chasing tornadoes to the exclusion of wanting any kindof "normal family life" by Bill's definition. Bill has moved on andfound a more conventional girl that he plans to marry (Jami Gertz).However, before he can move on, Bill needs Jo to sign some papers. Hemeets her "in the field" as she and her team from the university plan aday of chasing tornadoes through Oklahoma. Before they can concludetheir business a storm calls the team to the chase, and Bill is drawninto the chase by necessity but kept there by his latent passion - forstorm-chasing and maybe even for the marriage he left behind. The filmfeatures some great special effects, fast-paced action, and cringinglyobvious dialog with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. However if you'rejust in the mood for an action-packed film with a feel-good aftereffect, this movie fits the bill.The current rating of 6/10 is probably correct if you are comparingTwister with Casablanca. If you judge it as an action film againstother action films, I'd say it's probably more of a 7 out of 10.

hunter-32 2012-05-22 13:08:49

What can stupid people do with a huge budget?

What can stupid people do with a huge budget? They can make film likeTwister. This movie is dumb in so many ways, I wouldn'tknowwhere to begin in commenting on it, but I'll give an example:The wind is strong enough to pick up and carry a cow aroundtheyellow Jeep pickup, but not strong enough to blow the truckoffthe road??? How is that possible?Viewers easily impressed with "special effects" and having an I.Q. below 90will love this film. All others should pick somethingelse.

2012-05-21 21:16:07

Special Effects carry bad story, performances, directing, Helen Hunt

I don't know how they did it, but they got a cow to fly. They must have put a harness around Helen Hunt's midsection. Truly, truly, truly a movie that should never have been made. The story is absurd, ridiculous and has no basis in reality. Kind of like Helen Hunt's rise to fame in Hollywood.

2012-05-19 02:06:34

Spin this "Twister"

Jo (Helen Hunt) and Bill (Bill Paxton) are fed up and want a divorce. But wait, there's Dorothy. The machine that contains many sensors that can measure how a tornado is formed. There's a catch, you'd have to be insane to drive up to the tornado to release the machine to be sucked up. The two join forces along with the rest of the team and Bill's new fiancee (played by Jami Gertz). Stuff gets ravaged, cows fly and cars blow up. Yes. You need to see the 500 pound cow run at the beginning of the movie to the bomb shelter. It's hilarious. See Jo's father fly away to evaporation! Jonas (Cary Elwes) is a corporate sponsored storm chaser and he gets what he deserves because he's a sonofa. Does anybody really like "The Shining," tornados don't. Pure havoc in a movie. A good disaster film.

2012-05-18 17:19:35

Rabbit is good rabbit is wise

This is one of the best movies I have seen! it is filled with catchy phrases and my friend and I quote from it all the time. Watch it!

Angela 2012-05-14 01:43:04

A Twist Of Amazing Scenes

This Movie Is FILLED With AMAZING Effects and terrific acting and a story that is very memorableTwister is an ENORMOUS Hit from the star directorsteven spielberg(E.T.)AND Jan De Bont

Spacelamb 2012-05-13 20:42:47

How could so much destruction be so very, very boring?

Twister goes like this: a few minutes of stormy special effects,followed by approximately 45 hours - sorry, minutes - of Helen Hunt andBill Paxton bickering about their impending divorce. Then a tornado ortwo, then some more bickering, then some more tornadoes, then a fewclose-ups of Philip Seymour Hoffman wolfing down chops with his mouthopen (thanks a lot, Jan), more bickering - but wait! Maybe Hunt &Paxton still love each other! Maybe they should stay together! Will youcare? No, because only a saint could muster enough compassion to carefor these charisma-free characters. Yes, unlike *every* other aspect ofthe movie, the special effects manage to avoid shaming themselves. Butto what end? This may well be the most implausible movie in the historyof cinema. Not just silly but really, really stupid. It becomespainfully obvious within minutes (Oooops! "Spoiler warning!") thatneither of the big names will so much as break a fingernail. Violentstorms flatten entire towns in minutes but Helen Hunt merely reachesout a spindly arm and clutches a nearby pole in order to cheat death.Still, you can't fault their driving skills - the characters alwayskeep their eyes on the road, even with a humongous tornado only metersaway from the side of their truck.

GeorgeSickler 2012-05-09 13:35:01

The stale popcorn in the theater was better

Well, I guess a half-billion $$$ in worldwide gross means a lot ofpeople saw this movie -- once.Anybody who lives in "Tornado Alley" would just roll their eyes at thisclunker. The set-ups are so absurd that they would be laughable if theyweren't so very dumb.At the time the movie was released, the joke in Dallas was "$30 millionin special effects trying to find a plot." The last straw for me -- andyes, I stayed to the bitter end -- was the final F-5. And this is amega spoiler.The guy and gal couldn't get out of the way of the twister so they tiedthemselves to a pole, in a barn I recall. The high winds sent "barnthings" all around them, which they dodged. Then, the tornado struckthe building, it was sucked and torn apart, and they could look way upinto the heart of the funnel cloud. And, of course, they both survivedto live happily ever after.Oh, get real! Nobody could survive an F-5 under those circumstances.And if one did pass either through them or close by, they'd be cut toshreds by all the debris being hurled around by those ultra-high winds.(In Texas, a common soda straw has been pictured driven through atwo-by-four board after being in the path of a lesser-force twister.)If you really want to see this movie, get some very stale and "gummy"popcorn: it will keep you focused on other things than what's on thescreen.

MrPunch 2012-05-09 08:54:59

How in the world did this happen?

Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, Phillip Seymore Hoffman in a Michael Crichtonscript, and it is one of the worst films ever made.I wasted my money on this garbage when it was new and in the theaters,and I'm still mad about the lost time. I could have had a nap, or reada book, or perhaps just sat on the floor staring into space. I want mytime back! Here is how you can test your IQ... Watch this film. If you areinsulted, your IQ is at least average. If you like it, you are an idiotthat thinks anything is entertaining.IF you are going to try to outrun a tornado, do you get out of aperfectly working vehicle (which probably has a top speed of 80MPH) torun on foot (roughly 10 MPH)? Do you really think someone could getclose enough to a tornado to throw a bottle at it? This movie is insultingly stupid. The dialog is awful, the plot inane,and the "special" effects (although well done) just plain stupid. Worstof all, it wastes a potentially great cast.AVOID!!!!!

2012-05-02 06:53:30

Twister

Probably the best disaster movie made about tornadoes/twisters. The special effects were really exciting if you can overlook the inaccurate scenes enhanced for dramatic effect. It was a good balance between the story and the action. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton were really good - actually the whole cast was wonderful.

James 2012-05-01 18:22:00

This Is One Of My All-Time Favorites

A TV weatherman named Bill Harding(Paxton) is trying to get his tornado hunting wife Jo(Hunt) to sign divorce papers so he can marry his new girlfriend Melissa. But Mother Nature comes just in the nick of time and she is in the form of a series of intense storms sweeping across Oklahoma. Soon Bill and Jo are back together with their old gang including Dustin Davis(Hoffman), Robert "Rabbit" Nurick(Ruck) & Allan Sanders(Whalen) doing what they love...chasing tornadoes. The group is attempting to get their storm & tornado measuring device called Dorothy into the middle of a tornado so that everyone around the world be able to get quicker warnings and get away from danger. This device really hits home with Jo because Jo's father died years ago in a tornado and that's why she wants to get faster warning times. Meanwhile the rival storm chasing team led by Dr. Jonas Miller(Elwes) and Eddie(Grenier) have copied Jo & Bill's storm and tornado measuring device and are trying to get it to work before Bill and Jo can. Who will get the device to wrok first? This movie is great. It's a 10/10 for sure!Everything about this movie is about as perfect as it gets.Favorite Quotes In The MovieDusty - Did you just miss that truck? That's Awesome! That's AWESOME!Dusty - Fashionably late again, eh Jonas? Fashionably late. Gimme kiss baby! Eddie - Get outta here! Dusty - Loser! Move on!

2012-04-30 10:22:02

You must overlook the obvious

In order to really appreciate this film you must overlook the obvious. Such as the fact that many times these tornado chasers somehow seem not to be effected when they are close to the whirlwind. The special effects are good overall.The chemistry between Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton really pulled me in to the feelings. The fight in the truck when they get together again is classic. The characters that they are portraying remind me of many average Jane and Joe's across the country. The wide variety of personalities that add to the supporting cast are excellent. Each one, in their own, adding to the overall mood of the movie. This movie is entertaining (as movies should be) and the flaws are very easily overlooked. It will be an enjoyable way to pass a few hours some night with the one you love.

2012-04-29 13:59:00

Great Movie

I LOVED TWISTER. BILL PAXTON AND HELEN HUNT ARE GREAT ACTORS IN THIS MOVIE! TWISTER TELLS THE STORY OF 2 DIVORCED TORNADO CHASERS THAT BUILT A MACHINE CALLED DORTHY TO CREATE AN ADVANCED WARNING SYSTEM FOR PEOPLE SO THEY CAN GET TO SAFETY IN TIME. THEY HAVE TO GET INTO THE TWISTER'S DEADLY PATH TO GET DORTHY UP INTO THE FUNNEL THOUGH. SO WATCH OUT. TWISTER IS HITTING YOUR HOME.I EVEN KNOW SOMEONE THAT IS IN THE MOVIE TWISTER. THE GUY WHO PLAYS RABBIT, MY AUNT USE TO GO TO COLLEGE WITH HIM AND I MET HIM. SO SEE OR BUY TWISTER TODAY! IT IS AN AWESOME MOVIE!Rated: PG-13 For Sequences of Bad Weather and Some Language.Running Time: 113 Minutes.

2012-04-28 12:55:24

Twister Review

O.K. So this isn't Lawrence of Arabia, but it achieves what it set out to do, and that is to provide entertainment. For 2 hours you can forget your world and just enjoy this popcorn flick. With great special effects and amazing sound, this is fun, fast and enjoyable, just accept it for what it is.

tedg 2012-04-28 02:35:47

Hoffman's Tempest Twist

Spoilers herein.The great Phil Hoffman plays the chief technician-scientist of a groupof stormchasers. As with most scientific projects, the front men/womenare the figureheads. Here they are impetuous, non-methodical andpettily competitive as well. The true genius is often in thebackground; often brilliance is marked with personality 'disorders.' Sohere we have the obviously dimwitted Bill and Jo as the leaders andDusty and his handpicked team doing the real work. The rest are contentto stay in the background.Hoffman plays the gay Dusty, who has long had a crush on Bill, the male'scientist' leader. Through some device (of which we remain ignorant)Bill's wife drove him away from the project. This film is about themachinations of getting Bill back into the team. That the plot revolvesaround sexual confusion is underscored by Bill's fiancé, who is a sextherapist (consistently experiencing 'bad communication,' through hercell phone -- rare in those days).(There's a pretty blunt association of the storm with sexual confusion,as a story is told about a drunk, nude Bill confronting the storm.)Dusty plays Prospero, summoning up great storms to coax events along.("Spero" means "dust" in the gaelic Shakespeare parodies in his play.)This Prospero is not always in full control however, and the forces doget out of control at the end, harming the beloved Aunt Meg, (Meg is asort of likable Caliban, providing nourishment and making mechanicalweathercharms.) But by the end Dusty has his double victory: Bill isback and the scientific mission (at least the data collection) is done.I know lots of Dustys, and often suspect them of creating to suitthemselves that part of nature they study. The self-referential, ratherclever element of the story is how Dusty conspires to focus the movieaway from him. But while standing in the background, he acts up,reminding at least himself that he's in charge. Shouting "don't look atme."

2012-04-23 09:53:09

watch out for that tornado!

Over the years, people have grown tired of natural disaster movies. Why? Because they all appear to be the same. Here's an example of a typical storyline- everything starts out nice and calm, the story focuses on one family, the family starts having problems and they split up, and then a volcano, tornado, hurricane, or whatever hits, and all the family members somehow miraculously avoid the incredible danger JUST so they can be together again and make up with each other by the end of the movie. Well, that kind of typical storyline isn't featured here. Twister is truly a classic. It's not ordinary, either. It's about a group of tornado chasers who, as you guessed, drive around speeding through the country in an attempt to get never-before-seen film of a twister, up close and personal. This means the film delivers the most amazing action I have honestly ever seen in a tornado movie. Twister is definitely better than most of the similar type of films, and I remember in 1996 how influential this movie was. I was in 9th grade, and the science teacher played Twister for the class a couple times throughout the year because it was SO good and much better than other tornado films. Helen Hunt plays a magnificent role. She is so obsessed with her love of twisters that she barely seems to care about the divorce she's going through. What's great about this is that, despite giving us a really good story about a divorce, this doesn't interfere with all the tornado action. There are *so* many good scenes in Twister that show the devastation tornadoes are capable of that it's simply amazing to me how much time and energy had to happen to make this movie.Favorite scenes? Well, everyone seems to love the cows floating in the air, so I won't pick that one. I really liked the part where the twister ripped through the outside movie theater, tearing the big screen to shreds as the people quickly ran away to try and get away from it. That's just one of MANY awesome scenes. The storyline is really good too. It's not just a story about a divorce between Helen and her husband. There's a lot more to it than that. It's complicated because the new girlfriend of the husband shows up and gets involved in all sorts of tornado action (against her will). This is such an awesome movie. I highly recommend it. Tornado movies don't GET any better than this. Pure action from beginning to end. You will be glued to your television screen hoping the tornado chasers manage to escape the devastating danger. Twister will make you think twice if you're thinking about becoming a tornado chaser.

RyoGTO 2012-04-22 23:14:37

Apparently they have more than just 9 lives!

I gave this film a 5 out of 10.Sure, it was entertaining, and it kept my attention. I can even saythat I've seen it on multiple occasions, but on the other hand'Twister' contains so much illogical malarkey in it that it can bedownright irritating.When watching movies, we all should be aware of the term, "Suspensionof Disbelief." The problem with this film is that it comes from theperspective of a reasonable scientific phenomenon, but goes wayoverboard bending the laws of physics. With this, I'm referring to theseemingly invincible characters that appear to have more lives than ourfurry feline friends. Now every thriller needs close calls, but the majority of the incidentsin 'Twister' are a little overboard in bending the laws of what youbelieve to be possible, sometimes just shockingly absurd. Honestly, Icould not even count how many times the main characters should havedied, not to mention the eye-popping defiance that their bodies seemedto have to obvious laws of physics... I am sorry to say that rewatchingthis movie was a disappointment. Maybe the film would be better if youwatched it knowing that it was going to be a disaster.To sum it up, if you don't mind suspending your disbelief beyond thenorm for a 'scientific' disaster flick, then you are ready for thisaverage blockbuster thriller. Otherwise, you're likely to bedisappointed.

Criti-Size 2012-04-18 08:23:39

"Left...Right...Left..."

This really is a disaster film from start to finish, or should I saydisastrous. Completely unbelievable plot, lame acting by Ms. Hunt, who wedon't see much of anymore (hmmm?). That leaves the special effects, whichare not enough to make it worth seeing.Wasn't it amazing how the debris fell in front of the truck alternating fromRight to Left....pure cinematic magic!!

HelloTexas11 2012-04-17 16:47:43

nice visuals, but movie blows

'Twister' has what seems a "can't miss" premise for a dramaticthriller: two teams of tornado-chasers compete to see which one'sdevice will succeed in helping future forecasters predict the deadlystorms more quickly and with greater accuracy. The catch- the deviceshave to placed INSIDE a full-blown twister to see whether or not theywork. Which means getting close, real close to one while it's on theground. How many times must we make the comment about big-budget filmsthat don't really work, "The special effects are great, but..."? Atleast once more, I'm afraid. One could put together a very excitingmovie by editing out everything but the tornado scenes in 'Twister.'Steven Spielberg does not appear to have been directly involved butdiscerning viewers will detect his fingerprints all over theexcessively annoying and/or goofy characters. Philip Seymour Hoffman'sis the worst (Hoffman would eventually land some decent roles), a manicstorm team member who is sort of the 'animal' of the bunch(imaginatively named 'Dusty') who loves loud music and eating andlaughing a lot... and to whom everyone's reaction is a good-naturedshrug and eye-roll. Yawn. You get the idea. The other characters inthis determinedly madcap, offbeat group of storm chasers are onlyslightly less tiresome. Think of the two kids from Jurassic Park grownup and multiplied by five. Jo (Helen Hunt) and Bill (Bill Paxton) arethe two main protagonists, married once but now separated andalmost-divorced (never mind), and they are drawn together once again bytheir mutual love of chasing tornadoes. Of course they argue and bickerthrough most of the film, which is a lot of fun to watch. Not. Jo's abit of a mental case; her father was sucked up into a twister when shewas little and so she's spent her whole life studying the storms. Thetragic incident seems also to have left her with something of a deathwish. So Bill, the more level-headed of the two, has to cope with notonly trying to get the storm-tracking device to work but also keepingJo from diving headlong into a funnel-cloud in the process. At variouspoints during all this folderol, the tornadoes strike and never has itbeen such relief to see nature's fury unleashed. One of the best scenesoccurs at a movie drive-in, where one hits unexpectedly while the stormteam takes in 'The Shining' and the ensuing chaos and destruction istruly breathtaking to behold. The final scene in an open field, whereJo and Bill finally manage to insert the tracking device into a livefunnel, is similarly hair-raising. Most people will come away from'Twister' relishing these exciting bits and forgetting the wearisomeinteraction between the various forgettable characters. Others willtell their friends, "The special effects are great, but..."