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Twister

113 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Cary Elwes Jonas
Jami Gertz Melissa
Lois Smith Aunt Meg
Alexa Vega Young Jo
Alan Ruck Rabbit
Sean Whalen Sanders
Scott Thomson Preacher
Todd Field Beltzer
Jeremy Davies Laurence
Zach Grenier Eddie
Patrick Fischler Flanders
Nicholas Sadler Kubrick
Ben Weber Stanley
Jake Busey Mobile lab technician
Richard Lineback Mr. Thornton
Rusty Schwimmer Mrs. Thornton

Twister | The Rewatchables

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Half-Assed Internet Research

Production anecdotes; cast careers; practical effects; locations; storm-chasing impact

In the discussion (20)
Approx. transcript time · 00:11:48Read transcript
  • An Industrial Light and Magic proof-of-concept sequence with a truck, tornado and flying tractor tire reportedly initiated the project before the story took shape.
  • Paxton reportedly lost A Time to Kill to McConaughey.
  • The film reportedly received sound and visual-effects Oscar nominations.
  • De Bont’s difficult production reportedly involved crew walkouts, a knocked-over camera assistant, replacement cinematographers and Jack Green injured by a collapsing house before de Bont finished photography.
  • Schedule overruns reportedly delayed Mad About You; Crichton, Zaillian and Whedon worked on the script, including during filming, yet the visual result appears seamless.
  • Unexpectedly sunny conditions reportedly prompted intense lighting that temporarily impaired Hunt’s and Paxton’s eyesight.
  • Hunt reportedly suspected a concussion after a door struck her in the cornfield.
  • Paxton’s account contrasts being pelted by ice-chip hail with de Bont wearing a helmet nearby.
  • A 90 million budget and 495 million gross are reported, ranking second among 1996 movies; the transcript mistakenly renders the gross as billion.
  • De Bont reportedly blamed Hunt’s clumsiness for her concussion.
  • A missed oil-tanker explosion reportedly required a500,000 reshoot.
  • A reported accidental Hoffman exposure was edited from later home-video editions; the anecdote was not personally frame-checked.
  • Meteorology enrollment reportedly rose10percent nationally and doubled at Oklahoma after the film.
  • Production reportedly bought and demolished older Wakita houses; the low total purchase cost is recalled approximately.
  • The ditch reportedly required hepatitis shots because of bacteria, adding to the leads’ other injuries.
  • A tornado reportedly destroyed an Ontario drive-in screen scheduled to show Twister onMay24,1996; Ontario is clarified as Canada.
  • Paxton reportedly witnessed Kennedy’s final Fort Worth speech at age eight; the transcript incorrectly appends Jr to the president’s name.
  • Vegetarian de Bont reportedly disliked Meg’s meat-heavy scene.
  • De Bont reportedly personally recruited Tori Amos for the soundtrack.
  • Reported state daily tornado records complicate the five-storm objection: Texas66, Oklahoma58, Kansas70 after an Iowa correction, and Iowa34; definitions remain uncertain.

Roger Ebert's review

Rating not yet verified
In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:19Read transcript
  • The score is rendered ambiguously as two and F stars; the quoted review praises skillful escapism while calling it dumb, prompting objections that tornado entertainment needs little plot.

Picking Nits

Shelter door; final survival; Dorothy design; debris immunity; divorce; storm-day routines

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:32:17Read transcript
  • The father’s weak lock and decision to hold the doomed door instead of retreating are criticized; dismissing Jo’s grief is challenged because she witnessed his death.
  • Strapping themselves to a pipe would not plausibly protect the leads from wind and debris; the implement-filled barn also invites questions about its owners.
  • Dorothy is criticized for spilling easily, lacking remote release and existing in only four copies.
  • The rapid improvised sensor wings prompt skepticism.
  • The leads rarely suffer flying-debris injuries across repeated tornado encounters, unlike the scraped-up preacher.
  • The divorce lacks a satisfying explanation; incompatible paths, storm obsession, drinking or a missing infidelity scene are conjectured.
  • Five tornadoes in one day seem nationally notable enough to close the drive-in and local businesses.
  • Prepositioning many Dorothys is proposed; limited money and a need to prove results are offered as an explanation.
  • Stopping for steak and eggs, showers, blow-dried hair and homemade lemonade seems implausible while storms are so active; another tornado catches the group flat-footed.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Melissa’s background; revenge hookup; regular driver; Jo’s survival; Jonas’s business; deaths; disaster fears

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:37:03Read transcript
  • Melissa’s home base is guessed as Dallas, Atlanta or Charleston; her tornado ignorance undermines Dallas, while a wealthy country-club family is jokingly imagined.
  • Dusty is imagined as Melissa’s revenge hookup; Jonas is suggested and rejected.
  • Bill’s unexpected arrival raises the question of Jo’s displaced regular driver, with Field suggested and Dusty ruled out.
  • Jo is thought likely to die that day without Bill repeatedly rescuing and redirecting her.
  • Jonas’s profit motive is questioned; selling warning technology to government is a possible explanation, and an explicit recruitment scene is imagined.
  • Killing an inner-circle member is rejected as damaging the hangout tone; Preacher is considered the least disruptive option but still unnecessary.
  • A tsunami is one scariest-disaster choice, while earthquakes are feared for rolling ground and Los Angeles geography.
  • Tornadoes are feared for unpredictability, but a driving-escape idea is challenged; another earthquake choice emphasizes helplessness.

Casting What-Ifs

Spielberg; Hanks; Sorvino; Brooks

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:56Read transcript
  • Spielberg was reportedly attached to direct before executive-producing; de Bont arrived after leaving Godzilla over creative differences.
  • Hanks reportedly prepared for the Bill role before passing and recommending Paxton.
  • Sorvino reportedly declined Melissa because she would not dye her hair.
  • A Garth Brooks-as-Jonas possibility is raised with explicit uncertainty about its credibility.
  • Dwight Yoakam or Chris Gaines is imagined as stunt casting for Jonas.

Recasting Couch

Darlene Love as Aunt Meg

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:20:29Read transcript
  • A bigger-name Meg is considered: Burstyn or Field, with Field judged too prominent for the small part.
  • Sarandon, MacLaine and Winger are considered for Meg; Winger seems too young and excessive sexual appeal is treated as a mismatch.
  • Darlene Love as Meg is enthusiastically supported, revising the earlier anti-diversity joke.
  • Phylicia Rashad is added as a possible Meg.

Producer review

Enthusiastic first-view response; disputed Hoffman take

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:49:38Read transcript
  • A first or unremembered earlier viewing leaves an enthusiastic impression of a tight emotional story and balanced effects; airplane turbulence reportedly amplified the experience.
  • Hoffman’s supporting work is controversially described as similar goofy outsider roles; Ripley is partially withdrawn from the comparison and The Master praised as different.