Independent Films, Film Profiles

Twister (1996 film)
by Jan_de_Bont

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 Hollywood feature film to be released on the DVD format and the last to be released on HD-DVD[2]. Twister has since been released in high definition on Blu-ray disc. It was nominated for 2 Oscars for best effects/visual effects and best sound in 1997.The film begins 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 an F5 tornado strikes. However, the storm is so strong that the locks on the cellar door fail and Jo's father is caught up in the storm and killed as young Jo struggles to catch a glimpse of the powerful storm.Years later, Dr. Jo Harding (Hunt) is reunited with her estranged husband; Bill Harding (Paxton). 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 (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 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. One tornado hits Wakita, Oklahoma, destroying the home of Jo's aunt Meg. 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.