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{{Infobox Film
| name = Twister
| image = Twistermovieposter.jpg
| caption = ''Twister'' theatrical poster
| director = [[Jan de Bont]]
| producer = [[Ian Bryce]]<br />[[Michael Crichton]]<br />[[Kathleen Kennedy (movie producer)|Kathleen Kennedy]]
| writer = [[Michael Crichton]]<br />[[Anne-Marie Martin]]
| starring = [[Helen Hunt]]<br>[[Bill Paxton]]<br>[[Jami Gertz]]<br>[[Cary Elwes]]<br>[[Philip Seymour Hoffman]]<br>[[Alan Ruck]]
| music = [[Flea (musician)|Flea]]<br>[[Mark Mancina]]<br>[[Anthony Kiedis]] (uncredited)<br>[[Dave Navarro]] (uncredited)<br>[[Chad Smith]] (uncredited)<br>[[Gioacchino Rossini]]<br>[[Ennio Morricone]]
| cinematography = [[Jack N. Green]]
| editing = [[Michael Kahn]]
| production_company = [[Warner Bros.|Warner Bros. Pictures]]<br>[[Universal Studios|Universal Pictures]]<br>[[Amblin Entertainment]]<br>Constant c Productions
| distributor = [[Warner Bros.]] (USA)<br>[[Universal Studios]] (non-USA)
| released = [[May 10]], [[1996]]
| runtime = 113 minutes
| country = [[USA]]
| awards = [http://imdb.com/title/tt0117998/awards]
| language = [[English language|English]]
| budget = [[United States dollar|US$]]92,000,000 (estimated)
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:135936
| imdb_id = 0117998
}}
'''''Twister''''' is a [[1996]] [[disaster film]] starring [[Helen Hunt]] and [[Bill Paxton]] as [[Storm chasing|storm chasers]] researching [[tornado]]es. It was directed by [[Jan de Bont]]. The film was based upon a script by [[Michael Crichton]] and his wife, former actress [[Anne-Marie Martin]].
In the movie, a team of "[[storm chaser]]s" try to perfect their new instrument, while competing with another team.
''Twister'' currently ranks 49th in all time [[box office]] gross with [[USD]] 494,471,524. ''Twister'' also has a famous scene of a flying [[cow]], a scene that was the subject of many [[parody|parodies]]. The film also became the theme of a ride at [[Universal Orlando Resort]] called ''Twister... Ride it Out''.
According to [[The Internet Movie Database|IMDb]], Twister was the first movie commercially released on [[DVD]].
'''Taglines:'''
*''The Dark Side of Nature.''
*''Don't Breathe. Don't Look Back.''
*''Go for a ride you'll never forget!''
*''The Beautiful yet Destructive Side to Life.''
==
'''Jo Harding:''' The leader of her storm team. When she was five, Jo's father was killed in an F5 tornado because of a less-than-perfect warning system. Ever since then, she's dedicated her life to creating the advanced warning system. During the film she is in the process of divorcing from Bill Harding, and for an unknown reason, she is hesitant to do so. Jo is dedicated and persistent in what she does.
'''Bill Harding:''' Jo's husband. He quit chasing to become a weatherman and has also gottene engaged to Melissa, despite his divorce not yet finalized. Bill has a short fuse and always must have things his way.
'''Melissa Reeves:'''Bill's soft-tempered and easily frightened fiance. The storm chasing makes her uneasy around Bill.
'''Jonas Miller:'''Jo and Bill's rival chaser. Unlike Jo, Jonas has coporate sponsors and tends to chase for the publicity and money. Jonas is cocky and enjoys taunting Bill.
'''Eddie:''' Jonas' reluctant assistant. Eddie is more reasonable than Jonas in several ways.
'''Aunt Meg:''' Jo's aunt. She is close to everyone in Jo's team and feeds them steak and eggs when they stop by. She is either a spinster or a widow, and she lives in Wakita with her dog, Moze.
''' 'Dusty' Davis''': A member of Jo's chase team. The most extroverted and wise-cracking of the team, Dusty is the 'frat-boy' type. He drives a mini-bus called the "Barn Bruner" and listens to loud music constantly.
''' 'Rabbit' Nurick''': A member of Jo's chase team. He acts as the navigator for when the group is chasing, and he is goofy but a little smart-alecky as well.
'''Beltzer:''' A member of Jo's chase team. Beltzer is a lot like Bill in the fact that he has a short-fuse.
'''Haynes:''' A member of Jo's chase team. Haynes is Beltzer's son and a very smart and calm young man.
'''Preacher:''' A member of Jo's chase team. Preacher is the oldest memebr of the team. It is not certain what his role in the group is.
'''Laurence:''' A member of Jo's chase team. Laurence is a nervous and quiet guy and is in charge of photographs and video when the group chases.
'''Joey:''' A member of Jo's chase team. He handles the Doppler and machinery.
==Plot==
The film starts in a rural farm, as a [[severe thunderstorm]] hits. (They did not feature any downpours of rain in the beginning, just [[lightning]].) A man is watching a TV news report about a [[tornado warning]]. Seconds later, the "freight train" like type sound approaches the farm. His wife quickly awakens their daughter and takes off for the storm cellar as the tornado hits the family farm. (Jan De Bont and Stefen Kramer didn't actually feature a tornado but made it look like the tornado was on camera.) His daughter screams that their dog Toby (a resemblance of Toto from [[The Wizard of Oz]]) is still outside, and the man opens the cellar door just in time for the dog to get in, and closes it. However, the tornado turns out to be too powerful, and after a struggle, the mighty tornado rips the door (and the man) off into the vortex. Daylight reveals that the tornado destroyed everything it touched.
Many years after, the story revolves around two married storm chasers, Dr. Jo Harding (Hunt), and her soon to be ex-husband Bill Harding (Paxton). As the film begins, Bill has gone into the fields of [[Oklahoma]] to find Jo and her team of storm chasers. Bill is a former weather researcher and storm chaser who has taken a job as a weather reporter and is about to marry his new girlfriend, Dr. Melissa Reeves ([[Jami Gertz]]), a Reproductive Therapist. Bill is seeking Jo’s signature for the final divorce papers.
When they meet, Bill discovers that Jo has built DOROTHY, a device that Bill invented. DOROTHY is designed to release hundreds of sensors into the center of a tornado. He also meets up with Dr. Jonas Miller ([[Cary Elwes]]), a smug fellow meteorologist and storm chaser. Miller is a savvy fund raiser but has little instinct for field work and has questionable professional scruples. When Bill discovers that Jonas has “invented” a device almost identical to DOROTHY called D.O.T. 3, Bill is enraged and vows to deploy DOROTHY before Miller can claim credit for his idea.
He joins Jo and her eccentric team of storm chasers which includes Dustin 'Dusty' Davis ([[Philip Seymour Hoffman]]) and Robert 'Rabbit' Nurick ([[Alan Ruck]]). Jo's team enjoys the thrill of the chase but to Jo, it's personal. She had been the girl in the beginning of the story whose father was blown away. If successful, DOROTHY will help increase warning times and save lives.
Tensions rise between Jo and Bill as they have several close calls with dangerous tornadoes as they try to implement the new device. Through these ordeals, it becomes obvious to everyone but them that they still have strong feelings for one another. Melissa also sees it and leaves Bill.
Jo's team stops in a small town for the night. An F4 hits the town shortly while they are in a drive-in movie theater (the movie playing is [[The Shining (film)|The Shining]]). The squad doesn't have time to prepare for it so they seek refuge in a car garage near the drive-in. The powerful F4 tornado next moves on to the town of [[Wakita, Oklahoma]], where Jo's Aunt Meg ([[Lois Smith]]) lives, injuring her and many others.
The team then attacks their goal with even more fervor, wanting to succeed to prevent more injuries and deaths. They modify the sensors with an idea inspired by the windmill sculptures that Aunt Meg had in her front yard to create a sort of wing on each sensor so the tornado will pick them up more effectively. Soon hot on the trail of another tornado, they next witness Jonas and his driver Eddie ([[Zach Grenier]]) drive right next to an F5 tornado. Jo and Bill try to warn Jonas that the tornado might shift its track, but Jonas won't listen. The tornado changes course and hits the truck, killing the men.
Jo and Bill decide that they will have to come dangerously close to the tornado in order to successfully release the sensors. They successfully release the sensors into the tornado, but to avoid DOROTHY being blown away too early, they leave it strapped to the back of the truck to increase the weight and they jump out, leaving the truck on cruise control. The idea works, but they lose their truck in the process. Suddenly the tornado comes in their direction, and while running they take cover from the tornado in a farm pumphouse, tied to a water pipe by leather [[flat belt|drive belts]]. After the tornado passes, the team begins to get the results they were hoping for, proving that DOROTHY was a success.
==Cast==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
*[[Helen Hunt]] ... Jo
*[[Bill Paxton]] ... Bill
*[[Jami Gertz]] ... Melissa
*[[Cary Elwes]] ... Jonas
*[[Lois Smith]] ... Aunt Meg
*[[Philip Seymour Hoffman]] ... 'Dusty'
*[[Alan Ruck]] ... 'Rabbit'
*[[Sean Whalen]] ... Sanders
*[[Scott Thomson]] ... 'Preacher'
*[[Todd Field]] ... Beltzer
*[[Joey Slotnick]] ... Joey
*[[Wendle Josepher]] ... Haynes
*[[Jeremy Davies (actor)|Jeremy Davies]] ... Laurence
*[[Zach Grenier]] ... Eddie
*[[Gregory Sporleder]] .... Willie
*[[Patrick Fischler]] .... The Communicator
*[[Nicholas Sadler]] .... Kubrick
*[[Ben Weber]] .... Stanley
{{col-2}}
*[[Anthony Rapp]] .... Tony
*[[Eric LaRay Harvey]] .... Eric
*[[Abraham Benrubi]] .... Bubba
*[[Jake Busey]] .... Mobile lab technician
*[[Melanie Hoopes]] .... Patty
*[[J. Dean Lindsay]] .... Dean
*[[Dean Kelpine]] .... Diner mechanic
*[[Sharonlyn Morrow]] .... Waitress
*[[Richard Lineback]] .... Father
*[[Rusty Schwimmer]] .... Mother
*[[Alexa Vega]] .... Jo – 5 years old
*[[Taylor Gilbert]] .... NSSL scientist – Bryce
*[[Bruce Wright]] .... NSSL scientist – Murphy
*[[Gary England]], [[Jeff Lazalier]], [[Rick Mitchell]] .... TV meteorologists
*[[John Thomas Rhyne]] .... Paramedic
*[[Paul Douglas]] .... Bodger
*[[Samantha McDonald]], [[Jennifer F. Hamilton]] .... Drive-in girls
*[[Anneke de Bont]] .... Farm girl
{{col-end}}
==Theme park attraction==
''Twister... Ride It Out'' is an attraction located at [[Universal Studios Florida]]. It is based on the [[1996]] blockbuster film staring [[Helen Hunt]] and [[Bill Paxton]]. The attraction takes guests to a small mock-up of the [[Oklahoma]] town of [[Wakita]]. Video monitors show home movies of tornadoes shot, and signs carry information about the [[Fujita Scale]].
As guests walk into the "Twister filming center", Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt talk about filming the movie. As soon as they are done, guests walk into a new room which is a square model of Aunt Meg's house after the twister. When guests walk into the kitchen, [[television]]s are stuck into the wall, supposedly by force. Bill and Helen appear on the TV and talk about what is ahead. The moment they finish, guests walk into a scene, resembling the Drive-In scene in the movie. Suddenly, sirens go off, scenes from ''[[The Shining (film)|The Shining]]'' (which is being shown at the drive-in in the movie) appear on the screen, and then winds in the room get stronger. All of a sudden, a tornado drops from the sky, and a tree is split in half by [[lightning]]. Guests suddenly notice handlebars and grab on. Soon, the tornado wrecks the Screen, the food station, the car, and makes a thrilling effect with fire. As the storm dies, the stage drops, giving guests a final scare to remember the tornado's fury. There is a giftshop at the end named Aftermath.
==Trivia==
{{trivia}}
*The DOROTHY instrument in the film is loosely based on a real-life experiment that [[NOAA]] attempted in the 1980s with an instrument called the [[TOtable Tornado Observatory]], or TOTO. It was designed to be placed in the path of an oncoming tornado where various measurements could be taken. However, TOTO was ultimately unsuccessful and it was retired in 1987.
*A very young [[Alexa Vega ]], co-star of the ''[[Spy Kids]]'' films, plays Helen Hunt's character when she was little in the prologue. (The establishing caption at the start of the prologue reads 'JUNE 1969', and young Jo is confirmed as being '5 years old' in the closing credits.)
*Working titles for the film were ''Catch The Wind'' and ''Wind Devils''.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
[[Image:Debris15.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Bill's [[Dodge Ram]] in action]]
*Two films that were released after this movie were also twister related. It is a possible chance they can be sequels to this movie. One was a 1998 movie titled: Storm chasers: Revenge of the Twister, and the second one, a 2002 made for television movie titled: Atomic Twister with similar events to Twister.
*This movie features an instrumental by [[Eddie Van Halen]] and [[Alex Van Halen]] called [[Respect the Wind]]. It is the only song throughout his entire career on which the elder of the two brothers, Alex, has worked on something without the band [[Van Halen]] (The song was credited to Eddie and Alex Van Halen).{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
*A DirecTV commercial was made that digitally manipulated a scene from the movie to contain Bill Paxton advertising for their product.
[http://advertising.about.com/od/commercialspotlight/p/spotlightdirec.htm]
*A joint production between [[Warner Bros.]] and [[Universal Pictures]], which is why the the movies on the drive-in marquee are [[The Shining]], a Warner Bros. release, and [[Psycho]], a Universal release.
*The original tagline for the movie was "It Sucks", but the producers ultimately decided to go in a different direction, thinking that this tagline would provide critics with ammunition if they didn't like the movie. The tagline that was eventually agreed upon was "The Dark Side of Nature".{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
*The oil tank truck that narrowly misses Bill and Jo's truck during the final tornado sequence bears the logo of Benthic Petroleum, a [[List of fictional brands|fictional company]] that appeared in ''[[The Abyss]]''. The same special effects company worked on both films.
*The movie received a PG-13 rating for "intense depiction of very bad weather".
*The music that was used in the movie would be later used as incidental music in several [[China|Chinese]] [[TV series (China)|television shows]]. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}
*Many references were made incorrectly to the [[Fujita scale]]. For instance, the weatherman in the beginning of the movie (a flashback scene that is supposed to be to 1969 – see later errors) made reference to an F5 [[tornado]]. This is a mistake; the [[Fujita scale]] was not introduced until 1971. In several occasions during the movie, the storm chasers also diagnose a tornado's intensity while it is occurring. In reality, a tornado's intensity is measured by the damage it leaves behind, generally after ground and aerial surveys are conducted by the [[National Weather Service]]. People can make a guess a tornado's intensity by considering its size, speed, and debris cloud, but such predictions are just ballpark guesses.
*The sound of the tornado was produced by recording a camel's moan and slowing it down.[http://www.amazon.ca/dp/fun-facts/B00004RFFI]
*Several actual television [[meteorology|meteorologists]] from [[Oklahoma]] are featured throughout the movie. In the film's [[prologue]], [[Gary England]] of [[KWTV]]-9 [[Oklahoma City, Oklahoma|Oklahoma City]] can be seen on a small television in actual footage from the early [[1970s]]. He can also be heard later in the movie reporting over the radio, and even delivering his (locally) famous closing [[tagline]], "Stay with News 9; we'll keep you advised." Gary also served as a [[technical advisor]] on the film. Former [[KFOR-TV|KFOR]]-4 Oklahoma City (and later [[KJRH]]-2 [[Tulsa, Oklahoma|Tulsa]]) meteorologist Jeff Lazalier is seen on television interviewing [[Cary Elwes]]'s character, Jonas Miller, during the meal scene at Aunt Meg's. Soon after, Rick Mitchell, Chief Meteorologist at [[KOCO]]-5 Oklahoma City can also be heard giving a weather report over the radio. (On a related note: in the film's prologue the year is given as [[1969]], however, Gary England did not actually work as a meteorologist until [[1972]].){{Fact|date=February 2007}}
Mike Morgan also of KFOR was also briefly seen.
*Sega Pinball released a pinball machine based on this movie. [http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=3976]
*On May 21st, 1996, a tornado destroyed a [[Drive-in theater]] in St. Catharine's, Ontario which was scheduled to show the movie "Twister". An Associated Press article titled [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BG&p_theme=bg&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADDC4B7A93E4D0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "TORNADO DESTROYS 'TWISTER" THEATER'] was published in the Boston Globe on May 22nd, 1996. Snopes.com reports that the facts of this incident were exaggerated into an urban legend that the theatre was actually playing "Twister" during the tornado.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/twister.htm] Snopes.com, "Twister"</ref>
*In the second to last scene where Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt are pulled into the F 5 Tornado, it is obvious that the Tornado is an F 4 due to the nature of the destruction that was occurring in the foreground.
*The Twister in the first destruction scene was a replica made of the one used to suck up Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ. On the Wide Screen DVD release of the film you can see her house being pulled up into the sky by the Twister.
*Was the first movie put onto DVD for release.
== References ==
<references />
==External links==
* [http://movies.warnerbros.com/twister/ Official site for the film]
* {{imdb title | id=0117998 | title=Twister}}
* [http://www.twistercountry.com/ Twister Museum] [[Wakita, Oklahoma]]
* [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BG&p_theme=bg&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADDC4B7A93E4D0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Tornado Destroys 'Twister' Theater] - Boston Globe/Associated Press - May 22nd, 1996
[[Category:1996 films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:Disaster films]]
[[Category:Films shot in Oklahoma|Twister]]
[[Category:Universal Pictures films]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. films]]
[[Category:Amblin Entertainment films]]
[[Category:Occupation films]]
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[[et:Keeristorm (film)]]
[[fr:Twister]]
[[it:Twister]]
[[nl:Twister (film)]]
[[ja:ツイスター (映画)]]
[[pl:Twister (film)]]
[[pt:Twister]]
[[ru:Смерч (фильм, 1990)]]
[[sv:Twister]]
[[zh:龙卷风 (电影)]]
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