“Twister” (1996) Movie Review

Twister is an American Drama that was released in 1996 starring Helen Hunt (Jo Harding) and Bill Paxton (Bill Harding). As the film begins, Bill pursues Jo, his lawful wife, who is along with his old crew of storm chasers. He brings along with him his soon-to-be wife (Melissa) who is a therapist and for the most part has very little interest in Bill’s career as a meteorologist. Upon arrival at Jo’s stake out Bill introduces Melissa to his old team of storm chasers and leaves her with (Dustin/Dusty) who is a particularly odd, but nonetheless enthusiastic fellow. Bill wanders around the camp looking for Jo while receiving much welcome from the storm chasers. He then finds her gathering together equipment on her truck and immediately insists that she hand over the divorce papers in which she was supposed to fill out to completion. He reviews the many pages of the document and finds that she missed a page in which then he asks her to sign it. She does, but immediately directs Bill’s attention to “Dorothy” which is a piece of scientific equipment that theoretically is supposed to be put in front of an oncoming tornado and collect important data. “Dorothy” was an idea pursued by Bill until he found his new job as a meteorologist in an office so he was never able to create the final product which finally lye in front of him. Suddenly, one of the storm chasers announces to the camp that a tornado is developing not too far from them and this prompts an immediate mobilization of the crew. Bill then grabs Melissa and begins making their way to the car when she asks if he got the divorce papers from Jo. In the mad rush Bill forgot to grab the papers from Jo and realizes that he has to follow the storm chasers along their journey to the nearby tornado to retrieve the papers from her, not like he wouldn’t want to have anyways…
This first scene summarizes the entirety of the movie and showcases that Jo and Bill, two enthusiastic storm chasers, were meant to be together. Throughout the rest of the movie Bill along with the crew of storm chasers pursue four more tornadoes including the dreaded “F-4” which destroyed Jo’s aunt’s house and the rest of Wakita, Oklahoma. Surprisingly enough, Melissa rode along with the crew and enjoyed the experience until “The Sisters” which was a scene in which two tornadoes merged together and went right over the car that Bill, Melissa, and Jo were riding in. The resulting reactions from Bill and Jo were those of amazement which ended in a hug while Melissa was stunned and traumatized. This was the first time Melissa showed any signs of jealousy. Afterwards, the whole crew goes to visit Jo’s aunt (Meg) in Wakita, Oklahoma. There they have dinner in which the chasers tell Melissa the basics of meteorology and tornadoes. Soon after they catch word of a nearby tornado on the TV close to the dining room table. They mobilize once again and this time Jo and Bill decide to ride in one truck and Melissa goes along with Dusty in his van. They then come across the tornado which constantly jumps around and is scattered in movement. Jo and Bill together decide to put down “Dorothy” and try and intercept the tornado, but a power pole falls directly on it and makes it incapable. Jo tries to set it back up, but Bill grabs her away as it is too late and the tornado is bearing down on them. Luckily, the tornado misses a direct hit with them, but the resulting outcome of the situation was an argument between Bill and Jo in which they talked about their past and how Bill still has feelings for Jo. This argument was heard over the walkie-talkie system that the storm chasers have between their cars and Melissa overheard.
That evening, they went to a drive-in theater and motel to rest. Melissa watching TV suddenly encounters a blackout which prompts her to head outdoors and towards the concessions. This foreshadowed what was to come. While at the concessions Jo comes to buy something as well and they have a conversation that involves what previously happened that day which is the argument between Jo and Bill. The scene then switches to Dusty and Bill observing an approaching storm and suddenly the wind picks up and Melissa and Jo, realizing the situation, run to meet them. The tornado then tears through the drive-in theater forcing the audience along with Bill, Jo, Melissa, Dusty, and the rest of the crew to take cover in a warehouse. The resulting damage is catastrophic, so much that Melissa can’t take anymore and informs Bill that she will be leaving in the morning. Suddenly the crew catches on to the large tornado that just hit them via radar, and discovers that it is heading for Wakita, Oklahoma where Jo’s aunt resides. They rushed quick as they could to Wakita, but find complete and utter destruction. They found Meg’s house which was basically destroyed and went on to rescue her and her dog. The next morning the crew is on the road and Bill has an epiphany that in order to get “Dorothy” to properly work they would have to add propellers to the sensors. They use what they can around them which happen to be Pepsi cans. Soon after they come across an “F-5” which is the strongest ranking on the Fugita Scale. They put down “Dorothy 3” which is the 3rd installment of the equipment, but it is blown over by debris coming from the tornado. Needing to weigh it down, Bill and Jo then come up with the idea to drive in front of the tornado with “Dorothy 4” on the back of the truck. They then jump out of the truck and watch as the tornado suck up the truck and “Dorothy.” Unfortunately, the tornado switches direction and begins moving right towards Bill and Jo. They then begin running as fast as they can through the fields and come across a barn in which they take shelter. After the tornado passes Bill and Jo are found by the rest of the chasers tied to a poll with basically nothing else around them due to the strength of the tornado. Here they are seen kissing…
The movie shares both its characteristics as an action flick while adding romance and science as well and while it does have both extreme and unrealistic scenes, for the most part “Twister” is an enjoyable and worthwhile movie experience.