The original 1996 disaster movie Twisters remains one of the highest-grossing films of its genre. In the 90s, there were a lot of stories about various natural disasters, but the film by director Jan de Bont managed to stand out for its competent script, frightening depiction of a tornado, and extremely high-quality visual effects. The latter, of course, taking into account the time. So Smerch quite easily grossed almost half a billion dollars at the box office with a budget of $90 million.
Modern Hollywood tries to remake almost all successful films, so in 2020 it became known that Twisters would also receive a new version. However, it turned out that it very well transfers the essence of the original to modern realities, while remaining an incredibly human and empathetic story.
| Title | Twisters |
| Genre | thriller, action, disaster movie |
| Director | Lee Isaac Chung |
| Starring | Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Sasha Lane, Daryl McCormack and others |
| Studios | Amblin Entertainment, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Timing | 2 hours 2 minutes |
| Year | 2024 |
| Website | IMDb |
The film's protagonist is a girl, Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones), who lost her boyfriend and friends because she wanted to tame tornadoes using scientific methods. After the incident, she gave up chasing tornadoes and chose a safe job in New York instead. But the situation changes when Kate is approached by her friend Javi (Anthony Ramos), who also survived the tornado incident. He suggests using the latest technology to create a three-dimensional model of the tornado to study it in detail and prevent many tragedies. But to do this, they need to "catch" the tornado again. In addition, in this case, Kate will be "competing" with blogger Tyler Owens (Glenn Powell), who seems to see a serious natural disaster as just entertainment and a way to attract new followers.
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Still from the movie Twisters[/caption]
Have you noticed that there have been fewer disaster movies in recent years, even though this was one of the most popular genres in the 90s? The reason for this is very prosaic and lies in the massive spread of social media. Cinema used to be the main medium to see the rage of nature without endangering yourself. Disaster films could focus primarily on the disasters themselves, pushing everything else into the background. And this approach worked anyway, because there were no special alternatives.
Today, YouTube, TikTok, and other video hosting sites are filled with footage of tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and other natural phenomena to suit every taste and level of courage. And real life usually provides more impressive spectacles than movies. That is why disaster movies have lost their former popularity. The Internet has won here too.
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Still from the movie Twisters[/caption]
The authors of Twisters were well aware that they would not be able to show viewers two hours of various destructions after rain and wind to make them enjoy watching. That's why in the new story, tornadoes are not "fun" in and of themselves, although the script found a place for this approach. Destructive natural phenomena become a prism through which the authors view a significant number of social phenomena.
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Still from the movie Twisters[/caption]
For example, Twisters emphasizes videos of disasters posted on the Internet. There are entire channels and bloggers who build their own brands on this kind of thing. But disasters are always disasters, and no amount of likes or views will rebuild a house or bring back a life. The film explores this issue without being overly cynical, instead bringing forward the humanity that can be found in the most unexpected situations and places.
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Still from the movie Twisters[/caption]
In general, Twisters takes a lot of interesting topics and scatters them competently over the course of the movie. The film manages to tell the viewer about the importance of letting go of the past, the purely capitalist desire to profit from other people's tragedies, dubious deals with conscience for the sake of the "greater good," and other controversial details of our lives. Moreover, one can see that the film seems to be afraid to approach some serious and more complex issues closely, which makes them feel naive and fleeting. However, the very presence of thematic diversity in the film is very pleasing.
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Still from the movie Twisters[/caption]
However, it's obvious to anyone that a significant proportion of people will go to a movie called Tornadoes for the sake of the tornadoes. And the movie is as good as it gets with them. The authors decided not to go for maximum realism, because, again, there is no way to compete with real footage. That's why some natural phenomena look almost fantastic. This approach may not appeal to everyone, but it definitely works as an additional effect of involvement in watching a blockbuster on the big screen.
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Still from the movie Twisters[/caption]
The film also pleasantly surprises with the spirit of "backwoods America," which is deliberately romanticized and elevated to the state of something almost magical. The movie is set in the state of Oklahoma, which has plenty of beautiful scenery. And "The Tornado" is not lazy to show all this beauty. This is one of the most beautiful films of the year, with all its scenes evoking aesthetic pleasure.
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Still from the movie Twisters[/caption]
As a result, the audience received a high-quality and beautiful modern disaster movie, which has enough difficult scenes and events, but for some reason it feels as light as possible. The play with contrasts and the overall direction contribute to the fact that after watching the movie you feel a slight uplift, which does not slip into artificial pathos. Sincerity is the main advantage of The Tornadoes. It turns a seemingly ordinary movie into a story you want to tell and share with your loved ones.
Twisters also has an interesting love storyline, which is not really a "love story" at all, and characters who can surprise. That is, even viewers who are more interested in human dramas than tornadoes and tornadoes will find something to watch.