Twister (1996)

Director:

Jan de Bont

Writers (WGA):

Michael Crichton (written by) &
Anne-Marie Martin (written by)

Release Date:

10 May 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The Dark Side of Nature.

Plot:

A couple on the point of divorce keep meeting each other because both are researchers who chase tornadoes.

Plot Keywords:

Divorce | Tornado | Divorce Papers | Weatherman | Gasoline Truck

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Helen Hunt	...	Dr. Jo Harding
Bill Paxton	...	Bill Harding
Cary Elwes	...	Dr. Jonas Miller
Jami Gertz	...	Dr. Melissa Reeves
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Dustin Davis
Lois Smith	...	Meg Greene
Alan Ruck	...	Robert 'Rabbit' Nurick
Sean Whalen	...	Allan Sanders
Scott Thomson	...	Jason 'Preacher' Rowe
Todd Field	...	Tim 'Beltzer' Lewis
Joey Slotnick	...	Joey
Wendle Josepher	...	Haynes
Jeremy Davies	...	Laurence
Zach Grenier	...	Eddie
Gregory Sporleder	...	Willie

Also Known As:

Catch the Wind (USA) (original script title)
Wind Devils (USA) (working title)

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

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:PG | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Ireland:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Ames, Iowa, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

A tornado hit a drive-in theater in the town of Orangeville, Ontario while this movie was playing.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Melissa asked Bill "Where are we going?", we see her standing 15 to 20 feet away from her vehicle with the car facing the cornfield, in the next shot, we see her standing 3 feet away from her vehicle with the car facing the road.

Quotes:

Dusty: Red meat. We crave sustenance.
Jo: No, guys. We are not invading my aunt.
Dusty: Food.
Dusty, Rabbit: [others join in] Food.
Dusty, Rabbit, Beltzer: [the rest join in] FOOOOOOOOD!
Jo: Hey! We are absolutely not going.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Michael Phelps/Lil' Wayne (#34.1)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

How

Twister, not just a party game

Being from the west coast I never had a whole lot of interest in the natural phenomena showcased in this film. Where I live an inch of rain is headline news. I had absolutely no interest in Twister until I saw it was on late one boring night. Having nothing better to do, I obliged the television and payed attention. I found Twister to be what I call a nice bedtime movie. While it failed to anthropomorphize the tornado the way Backdraft successfully did with fire, the characters were well fleshed out, there was a healthy balance of comedy, drama and (at the time) cutting edge special FX. I found that as long as the viewer came in with no expectation, Twister would be a fun and easy to watch nappy time movie, perfect for watching on a rainy day, curled up with a blanket. So to sum everything up, don't expect an epic, emotionally charged extravaganza, but if you are willing to accept a decently woven story with reasonably believable characters, and have a rainy afternoon to kill, check out Twister. You shouldn't be too disappointed.