A mile-wide, 300 miles-per-hour force of total devastation is coming at you! In this adventure swirling with cliffhanging excitement and awesome special effects, Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton play scientists pursuing the most... more » destructive weatherfront to sweep through mid-America?s Tornado Alley in 50 years. By launching electronic sensors into the funnel, the storm chasers hope to obtain data to create an improved warning system. But to do so, they must intercept the twisters? deadly path. The chase is on! Special Features ? Commentary by Director Jan DeBont and Visual Effects Supervisor Stefan Fangmeier ? Chasing the Storm: Twister Revisited featurette ? The History Channel Documentary Nature Tech: Tornadoes ? Anatomy of a Twister ? HBO First Look: The Making of Twister ? Van Halen Humans Being Music Video ? Theatrical Trailers« less
"If ever a film was made to perpetuate the stereotype of Oklahoma as a state mercilessly and relentlessly ravaged by tornadoes, TWISTER is it. As a resident of Oklahoma, I can assure the readers of this review of two things: 1) tornadoes do on occasion occur here; and 2) tornadoes do not come in endless waves, one after another, like some sort of demented assembly line.Having said this, TWISTER is a remarkably entertaining film. It's a fasten-your-seatbelt, get-ready-to-duck, leave-both-hands-inside-the-car rollercoaster ride, complete with eye-popping, hair-raising special effects. This movie is a vivid feast for the eyes: menacing, swirling tornadoes of various shapes and sizes; flying cows; and an endless assortment of storm debris to block the path of our protagonists, from tractors to tanker trucks--even houses. The plot plays second fiddle to the action and special effects. Thank goodness: if the plot had to carry this film, the movie would have collapsed into a sappy and contrived love story. From the very beginning of the film, when meteorologist Bill Harding (Bill Paxton) locates his estranged stormchasing wife Dr. JoAnne Thornton-Harding (Helen Hunt) out on the northern Oklahoma plains and asks her to sign divorce papers, the viewer instantly realizes: the couple, eventually, will get back together. Thankfully, Mother Nature takes over and the film takes off. Paxton and Hunt are solid in their performances, yet Philip Seymour Hoffman steals the show, as techno-goofy, slightly off-center Dusty Davis, a member of JoAnne's stormchasing team. If anyone can have a good time in the face of oncoming disaster, it's Dusty (who refers to a tornado's swath of destruction as "the suck zone").Director Jan de Bont delivers nonstop action like a swirling wall cloud; TWISTER is nervous energy unleashed, a cacophony of sights and sounds that keeps the adrenaline flowing."
Stunning Dolby 5.1 sound and Visual Effects
David S Smith | Richmond, VA USA | 10/31/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is the best sounding 5.1 channel DVD that I have heard so far! The thunderstorms sound like the real thing and the dialog is always crisp and clear. This disc includes both widescreen and full screen versions of the movie. Unfortunately, there aren't any good special features on this disc (thats why only 4 stars instead of 5). I would have liked to have seen some behind the scenes info. This film has stunning visual effects and it would be nice to watch the computer art gurus in action! Even without special features, this disc is worth the money. It will squeeze every drop of performance out of your home theater!"
Twister
Kelly | Littleton, Colorado | 03/11/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Probably the best disaster movie made about tornadoes/twisters. The special effects were really exciting if you can overlook the inaccurate scenes enhanced for dramatic effect. It was a good balance between the story and the action. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton were really good - actually the whole cast was wonderful.
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Good, but not as good as other Blu-Ray movies
G. Stant | 09/16/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I have this in regular DVD as well as Blu-Ray. It is one of the movies that is light and lively and enjoyable to watch from time to time. I looked forward to the production in Blu-Ray but was disappointed. The Blu-Ray product was not much better than the regular DVD when played in my Blu-Ray player which like other Blu-Ray players has the upconvert feature. While I enjoy the superior quality of most of the Blu-Ray movies that I have bought, this movie, while good, did not make the leap in superior picture quality that it could have when being converted to Blu-Ray."
Two Disc Special Edition Review
A. Davis | 02/13/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This a review of the DVD, not the movie. There are as many opinions of the movie as there are people to watch it.
The newest DVD is a vast improvement over the first two releases. The image is cleaner with stronger colors, better matched to the theatrical print. It also has few in any visible mpeg artifacts. The sound is essentially a match to the second DVD release, without the DTS track. The big improvement in sound is on the commentary track. In the previous release, the movie's audio wasn't reduced enough in volume and would often overwhelm the commentators, to the point that one couldn't understand a word they were saying. This is corrected in the new version.
The second DVD in the set is largely made up of previously released material. But there are two documentaries added that make it worthwhile. "Twister Revisted" is an interesting anecdotal look back on the production. Also included is a History Channel documentary that gives viewers a look at the reality of tornado research.
For those of you with whom this is a guilty pleasure, it's defintiely worth the investment."