Twister (1996 film)
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| Twister | |
|---|---|
 theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Jan de Bont |
| Written by | Michael Crichton Anne-Marie Martin |
| Produced by | Ian Bryce Michael Crichton Kathleen Kennedy |
| Starring | Helen Hunt Bill Paxton Jami Gertz Cary Elwes Philip Seymour Hoffman Alan Ruck Zach Grenier |
| Cinematography | Jack N. Green |
| Edited by | Michael Kahn |
| Music by | Van Halen The Goo Goo Dolls Mark Mancina Anthony Kiedis (uncredited) Dave Navarro (uncredited) Chad Smith (uncredited) Gioacchino Rossini Ennio Morricone Shania Twain |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. (USA) Universal Pictures (non-USA through United International Pictures) |
Release dates | May 17, 1996 |
Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$92,000,000 (estimated) |
| Box office | $494,471,524 |
Twister is a 1996 disaster film starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton as storm chasers researching tornadoes. It was directed by Jan de Bont. The film was based upon a script by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin. Twister was the number two grossing film of 1996, with an estimated 55 million tickets sold.
In the movie, a team of "storm chasers" try to perfect a data-gathering instrument, designed to be released into the funnel of a tornado, while competing with another better-funded team with a similar device during a tornado outbreak across Oklahoma.
Twister is notable for being the first movie to be released on the DVD format[1] and the last to be released on HD-DVD[2]. Twister has since been released in high definition on Blu-ray disc.
Main characters
Dr. Jo Harding (Helen Hunt): The leader of her storm-chasing research team. Vehicle: 1982 AMC Jeep J10 Honcho
Bill Harding (Bill Paxton): Jo's estranged husband and former fellow storm-chaser. Vehicle: 1995 Dodge Ram 2500 V10 SLT
Dustin 'Dusty' Davis (Philip Seymour Hoffman): An extroverted, wise-cracking member of Jo's chase team. Vehicle: Late 80's Chevrolet "short bus," known as the "Barn Burner."
Robert 'Rabbit' Nurick (Alan Ruck): The navigator for Jo's chase team. Vehicle: 1982 Ford F-150 with Camper
Laurence: (Jeremy Davies): A quiet member of the team, in charge of photographing and capturing a tornado on film.
Joey: (Joey Slotnick): In charge of taking measurements of wind and taking care of their doppler radar.
Alan Sanders (Sean Whalen) Vehicle: 1987 Ford Country Squire, Tim 'Beltzer' Lewis (Todd Field):, Haynes (Wendle Josepher): and Jason 'Preacher' Rowe: (Scott Thompson): other members of Jo's team.
Dr. Melissa Reeves (Jami Gertz): Bill's new fiancee.
Aunt Meg Greene (Lois Smith): Jo's aunt and mother-figure to her team.
Dr. Jonas Miller (Cary Elwes): The leader of the rival storm-chasing team. Vehicle: 1989 Chevrolet Suburban Dually
Eddie (Zach Grenier): Jonas' reluctant assistant.
Plot
The film begins with a prologue set in June 1969 on a rural Oklahoma farm as severe weather looms. A family (including five-year old Jo) seeks shelter in a storm cellar as a tornado strikes. Jo's father is caught up in the storm and killed as young Jo struggles to catch a glimpse of the powerful storm.
The main story begins with the reunion between Dr. Jo Harding, now an adult, and 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 arrived seeking Jo’s signature for the final divorce papers.
When they meet, Bill discovers that Jo has built DOROTHY; a research device that Bill 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 (but well-funded) 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 his idea. Bill and Melissa join Jo and her eccentric team of storm chasers.
Meanwhile, while the storm chasing team is driving through a street, one of the strorm chasers spots an F1 tornado touch the ground, then informs Bill about the tornado he saw touch the ground. Bill then detects it too, and rushes to get close to it. He then cuts through a field in order to get close to the tornado. The team then loses visual. One of the chasers then makes contact with Jo and Bill, who then drives into an obstacle, wrecking the truck, but neither killing Bill nor Jo. Bill and Jo, who are now on foot, both use the obstacle as a hideout. The twister approaches them, and sucks the truck into the sky. Luckily, the twister dissippates before it can suck Bill and Jo into the sky.
Tensions rise between Jo and Bill when they have several close calls with dangerous tornadoes as they try unsuccessfully to deploy the new device. One tornado hits Wakita, Oklahoma head on, destroying the home of Jo's aunt Meg. Dr. Melissa, frightened by the dangers of storm chasing and recognizing the unresolved feelings between Jo and Bill, leaves.
The team then attacks their goal with even more fervor, chasing an increasingly-intense storm in an attempt to deploy DOROTHY. The rival team's hubris and lack of instinct proves fatal as their lead truck is caught up in a tornado due to overzealous chasing, despite Bill's warnings.
Eventually Jo and Bill set out on their own and, in a risky maneuver, are able to successfully deploy DOROTHY, surviving a direct contact with a huge tornado and re-sealing their personal bond in the process.
Production
The film was a joint production between Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures. (This fact is reflected in the movies comprising a double-bill advertised on the marquee of a drive-in theater featured in the film: The Shining, a Warner Bros. release, and Psycho, a Universal owned production).
Several actual television meteorologists from Oklahoma were featured throughout the movie, including Former KFOR-4 Oklahoma City (and later KJRH-2 Tulsa) meteorologist Jeff Lazalier, Rick Mitchell, Chief Meteorologist at KOCO-5 Oklahoma City, and Mike Morgan, also of KFOR. Gary England of KWTV-9 Oklahoma City can be seen on a small television in actual footage from the early 1970s. England also served as a technical advisor on the film.
Although the movie takes place in Oklahoma, nearly half of the movie was actually filmed in Iowa.
Effects
The DOROTHY instrument in the film is loosely based on a real-life experiment that NOAA attempted in the 1980s with an instrument called the TOtable Tornado Observatory, or TOTO. Similarly to TOTO, DOROTHY was also named after a main character from The Wizard of Oz
The sound of the tornado was produced by recording a camel's moan and slowing it down.[3]
A gasoline tanker truck involved in the final tornado bears the words "Benthic Petroleum". The company is the fictitious oil corporation from James Cameron's film The Abyss.
In one tornado scene, storm chasers witness cows flying through the air; this scene has been heavily parodied.
Music
Twister featured both a traditional orchestral film score (by Mark Mancina) and several rock music songs, including an instrumental theme song composed and performed for the film by Van Halen. Both the rock soundtrack and the orchestral score were released separately on compact disc.
Marketing
Working titles for the film were Catch The Wind and Wind Devils.[citation needed] The original tagline for the movie was "It Sucks", but the producers ultimately decided to go in a different direction, thinking that this tagline would provide critics with ammunition if they didn't like the movie. The tagline that was eventually agreed upon was "The Dark Side of Nature".[citation needed]
Sega Pinball released a pinball machine based on the movie.[4]
Weather impact
On May 21st, 1996, a tornado destroyed a drive-in theater in St. Catharines, Ontario which was scheduled to show the movie Twister in a real-life parallel to a scene in the film in which a tornado destroys a drive-in during a showing of the film The Shining. [5] The facts of this incident were exaggerated into an urban legend that the theater was actually playing Twister during the tornado. Comedian Bob Saget claims he was on his way to see the movie at the St. Catharines drive-in when the real thing hit.[6]
Theme park attraction
The film was used as the basis for the attraction Twister...Ride It Out at Universal Studios Florida, which features filmed introductions by Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton.
Cast
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Soundtrack
Twister: The official soundtrack
- Van Halen - Humans Being
- Rusted Root - Virtual Reality
- Tori Amos - Talula(BT's Tornado Mix)
- Union Station Feat. Alison Krauss - Moments like this
- Mark Knopfler - Darling Pretty
- Soul Asylum - Miss this
- Belly - Broken
- K.D. Lang - Love affair
- Nine Stories Feat. Lisa Loeb - How
- Red Hot Chili Peppers - Melancholy Mechanics
- Goo Goo Dolls - Long way down
- Shania Twain - No one needs to know
- Stevie Nicks Feat. Lindsey Buckingham - Twisted
- Edward Van Halen Feat. Alex Van Halen - Respect the Wind
References
- ^ Twister (1996) - Trivia
- ^ HD DVD Disc Historical Release Dates | High Def Digest
- ^ Amazon.ca: Twister (Widescreen): Jan de Bont, Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Jami Gertz, Cary Elwes, Lois Smith, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck, Sean Whalen, Scott Thomson, Todd ...
- ^ [1]
- ^ "TORNADO DESTROYS 'TWISTER" THEATER' Boston Globe May 22nd, 1996.
- ^ "Twister" - Snopes.com
External links
