Movie · 1996 · Action, Adventure, Drama · 1h 53m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 4.0/10 (593.6K ratings)
The dark side of nature.
Overview
An unprecedented series of violent tornadoes is sweeping across Oklahoma. Tornado chasers, headed by Dr. Jo Harding, attempt to release a groundbreaking device that will allow them to track them and create a more advanced warning system. They are joined by Jo's soon to be ex-husband Bill, a former tornado chaser himself, and his girlfriend Melissa.
Ratings
Curator score: 4.0/10
IMDb: 6.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.31/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 68%
Metacritic: 68
TMDB: 6.6/10
Director
Jan de Bont
Production
Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment
Cast
Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Jami Gertz, Cary Elwes, Lois Smith, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck, Sean Whalen, Scott Thomson, Todd Field, Joey Slotnick, Wendle Josepher, Jeremy Davies, Zach Grenier, Gregory Sporleder, Patrick Fischler, Nicholas Sadler, Ben Weber, Anthony Rapp, Erik LaRay Harvey
Curator Review
Verdict
A big, glossy disaster movie that still works as pure spectacle: fast-moving, loud, and surprisingly charming. The storm effects and practical chaos hold up, and the movie’s mix of action, romance, and weather-obsessed obsession gives it a distinct, very 90s blockbuster energy.
Best for
fans of disaster movies and large-scale spectacle
viewers who like high-energy 90s studio action
people who enjoy campy blockbuster chemistry
audiences looking for practical effects and kinetic set pieces
Skip if
you want deep character psychology
you dislike melodramatic dialogue or broad blockbuster acting
you prefer restrained, realistic disaster films
you are not in the mood for a crowd-pleasing, slightly goofy tone
Overview
Twister is one of those studio movies that understands the assignment completely: make the weather feel enormous, make the danger legible, and make the characters fun enough to carry you through the chaos. Jan de Bont stages the tornado sequences with real momentum, and the film’s practical effects and location shooting give the destruction a tactile punch that CGI-heavy disaster movies often miss.
Worth noting
What keeps it memorable is the oddball blend of sincerity and camp. The romance is blunt, the dialogue is quotable, and the storm-chasing crew has just enough personality to turn a procedural into a hangout movie with life-or-death stakes. It’s also a very specific kind of American blockbuster, where obsession, competition, and spectacle all get folded into the same adrenaline rush.
Bottom line
If you want a polished, old-school theatrical crowd-pleaser, this is still easy to recommend. It may not be subtle, but it knows how to entertain, and it does so with a confidence that has aged better than many of its peers.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Reece (4★) · 7759 likes
over the course of less than 48 hours this man serves his ex wife divorce papers, chases 7 tornadoes, loses his car to a natural disaster, watches 2 men die, gets dumped by his current fiancée, saves the lives of a dog and a woman, gets back with his ex wife, makes a historical scientific breakthrough, and watches The Shining at a drive-in movie theater
Framesofnick (3.5★) · 4669 likes
Ain’t no pussy ass wind gonna kill my fat heavy ass
Lucy (4★) · 4251 likes
ok i know this was like a blockbuster or whatever when it came out but listen listen... i feel like at this point? in 2021? this is camp. there is something very satisfying about seeing the stormchaser cars drive very fast on a two lane surrounded on either side only by cornfields towards a big huge storm (and this time i actually saw it at the drive-in DURING a moderate medium storm which was essentially a 4D experience). it’s very… more ok i know this was like a blockbuster or whatever when it came out but listen listen... i feel like at this point? in 2021? this is camp. there is something very satisfying about seeing the stormchaser cars drive very fast on a two lane surrounded on either side only by cornfields towards a big huge storm (and this time i actually saw it at the drive-in DURING a moderate medium storm which was essentially a 4D experience). it’s very… more
Dan Pendleton (3.5★) · 3373 likes
Watched in 4D - I turned on the electric fan on the highest setting. Intense!
Bobby Wagner (3★) · 2891 likes
*tens of thousands of people lose their homes and possibly their lives in a natural disaster the likes of which human eyes can barely comprehend*
Phillip Seymour Hoffman: right on brother man let’s run it back!