Twister (1996) Dir: Jan de Bont
Instagram post:
It will come as little surprise that the arrival of a blockbuster sequel this year provided the catalyst for my watching this Jan de Bont directed disaster film. Tornadoes are an all-too-real threat, which inflict carnage on the lives of people in places like Oklahoma and Alabama every year. This, in part, is why they are such an effective force to use in a disaster film.
No cows were harmed in the making of this movie...I hope. The visuals were pretty average, for the most part. I did remind myself that the film is now about thirty years old, so, of course, the CGI would reflect that. I felt, even with its age, some of it looked pretty good.
I was impressed with the amount of story and character development the film had - if I'm honest, I was expecting a pretty basic story. Sure, it got a little bit repetitive, but that much was somewhat inevitable, considering the nature of the characters and the story.
Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton had a pretty good amount of chemistry, and their eagerness shone through in spades. In all honesty, I thoroughly enjoyed both of their performances here. They were both entertaining and believable characters, and I found myself rooting for them to succeed.
The standouts from the supporting cast were easily the trio of Jami Gertz, Cary Elwes and Philip Seymour Hoffman, all of which excelled in their respective roles. I was especially impressed with Hoffman, whose exuberance and comedic knack came through very clearly.
I'll also give a few quick mentions to some of the other noteworthy cast members, despite their mostly smaller roles; Lois Smith, Alan Ruck, Sean Whalen, Scott Thomson, Todd Field, Joey Slotnick and Jeremy Davies.
Overall, this film was so much more fun than I anticipated. It combined thrills, drama and weather-based action to create a genuinely very exciting film, which rightly became a popular cult classic in the years since its release. Its definitely one of the stronger disaster films out there, of that I'm sure.
Comments