Twister

Rating:
Summary: A very exciting film,with great special effects
Review: Twister,directed by Jan DeBont,is a very fun film.(to watch,anyway,as I don't think I'd want to be a storm chaser)The performances weren't bad,especially Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton as Jo and Bill Harding,a couple of storm chasers who are about to be divorced,and Bill is supposed to get remarried to Melissa,(Jami Gertz)but of course Jo and Bill wind up back together in the end.That's all very interesting,but what really makes the film is the action and special effects,which are incredible.The storms and tornadoes look very real,and some of the action scenes are really cool-such as when Jo and Bill drive right through the house during the big tornado towards the end,and the scene when the cow flies across the road and back again.The musical score by Mark Mancina is very good,and as I said before the special effects are incredible.Overall,this is a very entertaining movie,(not as good as DeBont's first film Speed,but much better than his last two-Speed 2 and The Haunting)although the characters do take a back seat to the weather.

Rating:
Summary: I like it anyway...
Review: OK, I've read the other reviews...I think "Twister" is entertaining, with great CGI effects. The plot is intense, and most sub-plots are silly. Helen Hunt is beautiful, and quite a good actress. Bill Paxton is customarily hammy. Still I enjoy this film as entertainment. It's interesting to note that a lot of our current best actors today got a start in this film. Philip Seymour Hoffman, in particular, shows great flair, as well as Jeremy Davies, playing the wimp. Director Jan de Bont seems to use Alan Ruck a lot, and for good reason: He's talented. I was disappointed when Jamie Gertz won the Razz Award as "Worst Supporting Actress" in '96. I thought she gave a fine performance...her character was written to be reactionary, and I thought her every nuance was touching and sincere. As far as writing, well, some of the soap opera stuff could've been cut short. Jan de Bont, with all the films he could've chosen, showed scenes from Kubrick's "The Shining" (at the drive-in), and Cukor's "A Star is Born" (before Aunt Meg's house is blown away). If these are homages, he has good taste. And Lois Smith was solid as the aunt; I've liked her since she played Nicholson's sister in "Five Easy Pieces". A fine character actress. With this stuff in mind, I watch "Twister" often, and enjoy it each time. Why be so analytical? It was made as mass-marketed entertainment and, on that level, it succeeds. Doesn't seem to matter that it was also on quite a few "10 Best" lists in '96. I like it a lot; if you don't, maybe you should get out more...

Rating:
Summary: Everyone is a robot.....
Review: I find this movie a burden to watch largely because of the non-existent story and that the so-called human characters act like robots. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton are great as actors but even their energy can not lift this movie up then being anything other then a CGI fest/poorly written movie. NEXT.

Rating:
Summary: Not that good.
Review: I saw 'Twister' some time ago and wasn't very impressed by it. I guess I didn't find the twister very scary. It was a little entertaining, but wasn't worth the time.

Rating:
Summary: White-Knuckle Excitement
Review: Some time ago I had the chance to see the movie Twister. This is a movie about some tornado chasers and the biggest storm system on record.

A group of tornado chasers are out to test a new device that will provide researches with enough data to give a fifteen-minute tornado warning (as opposed to the current three-minute warning). There is a rush to succeed as an evil associate with lots of funding has stolen the idea and is out to get the data first. Throw in some special effects tornados and the result is Twister.

On the side of the good guys is a researcher who has an almost-psychic link with tornados and is thus able to predict their paths better than any instruments. But then you have the common problem of scale that occurs when special effects are added to live footage. Half-a-mile looks pretty small in this film. Half-a-mile is the supposed diameter of the film's final funnel cloud. Unlike Crichton's other films of this nature, the scientific breakthrough is not lost at the end and therefore the film fails to fit the real world. But despite these things, this is a edge-of-the-seat, white-knuckle film. If you like action and tension then this is a film to see. While, in my opinion, the story is very implausible, the movie succeeds in affecting the audience as planned and that is a rare thing. So I have to recommend this movie to those who have not seen it.

Rating:
Summary: Story Line Is Mediocre, But Special Effects Are AWESOME!
Review: It says right on the cover of the DVD that Twister is a project from the producers of "Jurassic Park", which is fitting considering that the only difference between that movie and "Twister" is that the dinosaurs are replaced with tornadoes. Oh, and this movie has a flying cow that just might put a smile on your face.

This is the story of two scientists named Bill and JoAnne Harding, played by Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt, respectively. They were once married to each other, but now in the process of divorcing. Bill and his new fiancé, Melissa (Jami Gertz), go to see JoAnne to pick up the legal documents that will finalize their divorce. While they're with JoAnne and her research crew they get news of some tornado activity in the vicinity. Bill and JoAnne had devised this machine called the "Dorothy" which was supposed to help measure the intensity inside the middle of a tornado, and they figure that these tornados will give them a chance to see if their machine actually works. The next thing you know, everybody is chasing after and running away from tornados, all in an effort to test out their machine, as well as compete against a "rival" group of scientists who have copied the machine's design and created a similar device of their own.

There's also a subplot involving the budding love triangle between Bill, JoAnne, and Melissa. Though they're divorcing, Bill and JoAnne still have deep feelings for each other, much to the chagrin of Melissa. However, in relation to the grand scheme of this movie, this subplot is awkward and simply doesn't work. The audience is made to believe that this group of scientists is risking their lives in pursuit of a scientific breakthrough. It seems silly for Melissa to be questioning the feelings that her fiancé might have for his ex-wife.

Just as in "Jurassic Park", the story line of this movie is pretty weak. The only reason to see the movie is for its outstanding visual effects. This is a movie that would be fun to see on a big screen TV. I'm disappointed that I didn't go see it when it first came out in theaters. While the plot is [simple], the cinematography, art direction, and special effects more than make up for it. I recommend this movie.

Rating:
Summary: An Extreme Action Thrill Ride.
Review: This film will blow you away. Twister, firstly, has some of the most realistic and visually stunning special effects that I have ever seen in a movie. It is almost like watching a Discovery Channel documentary, but better. The plot is gripping, and filled with non stop action. The acting is really wonderful, especially Helen Hunt's. The thrills keep on coming and they never at anytime get dull or boring. You leave the movie with a better appreciation of tornadoes. It actually teaches you something. For any hardcore action fan, this is the movie for you.

Rating:
Summary: Special effects can't overcome unfocused plot
Review: I saw Twister in the theatre and then got the video when it came out. Director Jan DeBont had some awesome special effects in the movie. However, even great directing can't overcome a plot that is predictable and unfocused.

Basically, the plot centers around a group of professional "storm-chasers", scientists who track tornadoes and go where they strike. Meteorologist Bill Harding(Bill Paxton) has created TOTO(Totable Tornado Observatory), a device that sends sensors into the heart of a tornado to see how the storm behaves. Bill's former colleague--and now rival--Jonas Miller(Cary Elwes) has come up with a similar invention, and Bill accuses Jonas of stealing his technology. In fact, when Jonas demonstrates his machine, he and Bill nearly come to blows. There is also a romantic triangle here. Bill's estranged wife, Jo Thornton(Helen Hunt), like him a weather scientist, has divorce papers ready for him to sign, and Bill's girlfriend, Melissa(Jami Gertz), has come along to get a piece of the action. Bill at first wants to retire from storm-chasing and settle down with Melissa, but he is dragged back into the tornado scene when he discovers that Jonas wants to take credit for inventing something that he(Bill) in fact came up with. Finally, as we see in the opening flashback scenes, Jo's father was killed by a tornado when Jo was a little girl, which is part of the reason for Jo's intense interest in the tracking of storms.

There is intense action throughout as Bill, Jo, and their fellow storm-chasers race across the Oklahoma countryside which is part of the Midwest's Tornado Alley. When I saw the movie in the theatre and later watched it on video, I was awed by the special effects--for instance, houses coming apart, cows spinning around, a pickup truck being lifted off the ground, fuel trucks blowing up, and the sky literally turning black in seconds. Also, TOTO, which Bill nicknames "Dorothy" in the film(from Dorothy and Toto, who were transported to Oz by a tornado in "The Wizard Of Oz"), transmits some memorable color images, despite the mishaps Bill and Jo endure in getting their machine into the air. In the end, Melissa, who is terrified of storms and who realizes that Bill and Jo might still have feelings for each other, decides to leave. In the last destructive storm, Jonas, Bill's chief antagonist, dies when he gets reckless. He fails to secure his machine properly and as a result is sucked into the funnel cloud. Bill saves Jo's life by holding onto her as she clutches a pole, and they get back together.

Despite its awesome storm scenes, though, Twister is no better than average. Although I like its special effects, I think the plot lacks focus. If the movie had concentrated more on the action, I wouldn't be too disappointed. However, in my opinion, writers Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin, in trying to develop the personal lives of their main characters, twist the plot(pardon the pun) in so many directions that it is sometimes difficult to figure out, and the characters aren't really interesting. There are also some scenes that I believe are completely unnecessary to the movie--for instance, the one where Bill, Jo, and their colleagues take a break from storm-chasing to go to the home of Jo's aunt for a steak-and-eggs breakfast. However, I think Twister's special effects save it from total disaster--after all, it's a movie about a natural disaster. The special effects alone make Twister worth seeing.

Rating:
Summary: The only thing 3-D was the Twister
Review: The one-dimensional characters were out of a cartoon book. What a disappointment! You would think that with Helen Hunt, there could be some character depth. But the "B" team was out in spades in this stinker - even the guy whose dad owned the expensive car in "Ferris Buehler's Day Off" was given a speaking part. And with Bill Paxon - well, you just know there's going to be a lot of hurt and angry looks, and a lot of running around, and no character development. And Cary Elwes of "The Princess Bride" showed up as the "Bad Guy." Someone came across these guys waiting tables and took pity on them. But at our expense. Shame! Next time give us some real actors with a real plot.

Rating:
Summary: Predictable rubbish...
Review: This film is your typical Hollywood multi-million dollar pice o' crap made for summer. There is no compelling plot. There are only special effects. If effects are all you care about, fine ... buy it. If you want to think or enjoy a plot turn or well-developed characters, you don't have to read this review to know this isn't the film for you. This is the tipical insert-your-own-disaster-here attempt to entertain the masses. It's tired and hard to sit through. I give it a second star only because of "the cow" and good special effects.