The mid-’90s was a very specific moment for the summer blockbuster whennatural disaster filmswere seriouslyen vogueand comprised many of the era’s big-budget summer features. This half-a-decade-ish period consisted of some of the most eminently re-watchable action movies ever — but for all their staying power, entertainment-wise, their attempts at providing scientific support for far-fetched plots have grown almost laughable three decades later.Twisterwas no exception, being the big-budget 1996 mega feature that dared to introduce us to the “suck zone.”
Twistergrows more paradoxical with every passing year and every re-watch, with an exceptional cast comprised of the ultra-lovable everyman star Bill Paxton, the about-to-be Best Actress Helen Hunt, and a supporting cast that included generational talent Philip Seymour Hoffman. Nostalgically speaking, it’s everything we missabout the ’90s— a period when screenwriters clearly weren’t concerned with a modicum of real-world grounding, and their onus was focused completely on fun. Nowadays, however, such reckless disregard for reality may not fly — meaning the forthcoming reboot,Twisters, won’t be able to take quite the same amount of artistic license with facts.
Increasing Climate Change Has Created a New Context for the Twister Franchise
In the intervening decades since the originalTwister, natural disasterslike super-tornadoeshavebecome all too common, and the topic of climate change is hotly debated. Still, films likeTop Gun: Maverickhave ushered in a new era of reboots and sequels, where ’80s and ’90s nostalgia makes for a built-in audience — one that warrants a big budget that isn’t required to be a superhero property. EnterTwisters, which promises to preserve all the fun of the original but will be required to give us a much better science around its deadly whirlwinds.
Twister Director Jan de Bont Explains Why Modern Action Movies All Look the Same
Jan de Bont thinks today’s action movies all use too many computer generated effects.
In charge of the story is Joseph Kosinski, who proved his audience-friendly chops beyond doubt when he helmedTop Gun: Maverick, but now is only responsible for the story-writing credit onTwisters. Top-billed on the cast is Daisy Edgar-Jones, who, up till now, was arguably most famous for having her body parts packaged intosaran wrap inFresh, and the uber-affable Glen Powell in the other lead role as Tyler Owens. Powell is on an absolute heater at the moment after showing his acting range in the highly enjoyableHit Manand proving his bankability (even in the fraught rom-com market) withAnyone but You.
Some of the Original Film’s Content Won’t Fly Nowadays
Here’s the problem: one look at the latestTwisterstrailer, andit’s clear that not much has changed since the original. The tornado tracker, Dorothy, still looks like a Sputnik-era pork smoker. The new film’s protagonists are still driving a Dodge Ram truck that looks aheckuvalot like Bill Harding’s in the original, and despite a $200 million budget and two decadesworth of CGI innovationssince 1996, the tornadoes still look kind of fake. Watching the originalTwister, we can still enjoy a laugh when a cow flies in front of the truck while the Dodge still inexplicably grips the road, but that may not be the case with the new version.
1996’s Twister Director Shares Scathing Opinion About New Sequel
Jan de Bont, the director of the original 1996 film, Twister, comments on the soon-to-be-released sequel to his film.
Hopefully, director Lee Isaac Chung, who made the near-perfect filmMinariin 2020, can inject some much-needed realism into the action, but now that he’s been working on twoStar Warsseries, do we really expect that?Also absent from the new film is the fantastic supporting castof the original, which included Cary Elwes ofThe Princess Bride, Alan Ruck ofFerris Buellerfame, andthe peerless Philip Seymour Hoffman. Having Hoffman play Dusty Davies inTwisterwas like casting Sir Laurence Olivier in a supporting role inIndependence Day. But guess what? It worked!
Duplicating Amblin Entertainment’s Filmmaking Machine Won’t Be Easy
In 1996,Amblin Entertainment was at its peak, creating films that blended in enough practical effects wizardry to offset the lagging CGI. These films wereexperiences, as Steven Spielberg’s company also produced theme park attractions in the ’90s and understood what audiences wanted from a natural disaster movie.It’s hard to seeTwistersliving up to those lofty heights, and it certainly won’t incorporate enough practically-shot effects to re-produce the original films' charm, which was a bit like one of those rides at Universal Studios.
Where it can outdo the original is incorporating the boots-on-the-ground reality of our planet today, where natural disasters seem to increase every year, disproportionately affecting the poor, and new tornado-predicting technologies are being deployed (that don’t look like a toaster with marbles inside).Twistersstill has plenty of promise, with Glen Powell hitting his prime as the current male action star of choice and Lee Isaac Chung continuing his unique skill for storytelling. When Bill Harding poured dirt from his hand to predict the direction of a coming tornado in 1996, we somehow bought it. Now, that won’t be quite as easy.StreamTwisteronMax.Twistersin theaters July 19, 2025.
