Twister- Review by Thomas Rosie

Overview

Twister is a 1996 natural disaster movie set in Kansas. It follows a group of storm chasers tracking tornados throughout Oklahoma after a record breaking storm is predicted. This film tends to be remembered for it's sound and visual effects, which to be honest I thought were really cheesy, comical at best if they raise a slight giggle. I went to the cinema to see this on it's release at the ripe old age of 10, i remember not being very impressed and found the plot very dull. I'm not a fan of the disaster movie genre, i can not recall ever watching one and enjoying it. So for me Twister was not exactly memorable but let's see if time and watching as an adult will change my opinion.

Ben and Jo, the two main characters are going through divorce but put their differences aside whilst chasing deadly twisters, cue the cringy banter whilst they secretly enjoy working together but have to pretend they hate it, this was at times annoying, and distracted me from the already silly story as I had to keep rolling my eyes a lot. The acting overall in this film though is pretty poor, most of the characters are just way over the top, seeming to try way to hard at building tension, but they are just really unconvincing. The humour (if you can call it that) is very silly and just generally fails to make me laugh.

Favourite Scene

My favourite scene in the film, and I'm guessing it will be most people's, is the flying cow. It even gives us a comical "moo" as it fly across the screen. Out of all the other special effects in the film, this is the one that sticks in my mind.

Favourite Quote

"I'd like to get struck by lightening, just once so I know what it feels like" - I think you'd feel very dead most likely, but maybe if we are able to design the technology like in Total Recall, it will be possible someday to feel the effects of something horrible without actually injuring ourselves. I think I'd choose being shot in the chest with a revolver. What would you choose?

Final Words

I wasn't very enthusiastic for this weeks film choice and it was definitely a chore to watch all the way through and couldn't wait for it to end as soon as it started. The disaster movie genre needs binning, i hate it so much. I thought Helen Hunt was Jodie Foster for a second also. This film let me down the same as it did 24 years ago.

I score Twister: 1 eye of the storm out of 5. The flying cow alone earned it the 1, if it weren't for that it was getting a zero, so I think I've been pretty generous.