Twister Blu-ray offers solid video and superb audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
The largest storm to hit Oklahoma in more than half a century is brewing, and it promises to drop multiple twisters into Tornado Alley. It's the storm that two rival groups of scientists—Jo Harding and her band of brash university students, and corporate-sponsored Dr. Jonas Miller and his sleek, crack cadre with their state-of-the-art research vans—have been waiting for to earn their place in meteorological history. Each team wants to be the first to launch their own equipment pack inside a twister to transmit valuable scientific data about tornado behavior. But to do so, they must put themselves directly in the path of the marauding monster—and stay always just ahead of the swirling twister, anticipating its every move. Adding to the charged atmosphere, Jo's soon-to-be-ex-husband, meteorologist Bill Harding, reluctantly joins Jo and his old crew for this last, epic chase.
Perhaps the end-all, be-all of disaster movies, 1996's Twister ushered in a new era for
the genre, a film with then-unparalleled special effects and an awe-inspiring sound design (and its
no coincidence the movie was nominated for two Academy Awards, one for each of those
categories). Though far-removed from the height of the disaster genre (see The Towering
Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure, and Airport, all out of the 1970s),
Twister brought the genre to the forefront of movie lover's minds once again, and
disaster-centric
films, this time laden with awe-inspiring effects but retaining much of the melodrama of their
predecessors, began hitting theaters in rapid-fire succession. Dante's Peak,
Volcano, Armageddon, and Deep Impact spring to mind as films that
followed in Twister's footsteps, the theme this go-round focusing on natural disasters
(either emanating from Earth or the Heavens) reeking havoc on a large scale across the plains (or
even wiping out half the planet) rather than on isolated incidents and locations (planes, cruise
ships, or high rises). True, the disaster film has always been a part of cinema culture and lore,
but credit
Twister with setting the bar much higher than ever before, a film that takes no prisoners
and shows just how nasty and deadly nature can be, all wrapped up in a fun, loud, and engaging
motion picture.
There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home.
Dr. Jo Harding (Helen Hunt, Cast Away) doesn't much care for tornadoes. As a young girl, she saw
her
father lost in an F5 tornado, the strongest and deadliest category imaginable. She's dedicated
her
life to the study of the deadly funnels and is set on testing a revolutionary tornado analytical
system
meant to vastly improve man's knowledge about how the storms work and, hopefully, save lives
by
increasing both awareness and lead time before disaster strikes. Her soon-to-be ex-husband, Bill
(Bill Paxton, U-
571)
is serving her with final copies of their divorce papers, papers which she seems reluctant to sign.
In
the middle of their discussion (with Bill's new fiancé in tow), a storm hits, and Bill and Jo instantly
revert to storm chaser mode, hoping to successfully unleash to the winds the above-referenced
newfangled device, dubbed "Dorothy". A night of unsuccessful attempts, deadly storms,
dangerous situations,
and an uncooperative and nasty rival set of storm chasers just might help Bill and Jo remember
what they love most, smack-dab in the middle of several of the most hellacious storms Oklahoma
has ever seen.
I'd forgotten what a fantastic ensemble cast had been assembled for this movie. Besides Paxton
and Hunt, we've got the venerable Philip Seymour Hoffman (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead),
Jeremy Davies (Saving Private Ryan), Alan Ruck (Speed), and Cary Elwes (Saw), to name
but a few. Each of them is excellently cast and never once do they convince us of anything less
than being the genuine article, real-life storm chasers. Of course, the real star of the
movie is nature itself (or a reasonable CGI facsimile thereof, fairly-well rendered and still holding
up rather well today). While the movie never forgets its intent is to entertain and show
audiences cows, tractors, petroleum trucks, and any numerous large-scale debris one can
imagine
being tossed hither, thither, and yon by one of nature's deadliest of forces, it still manages
to retain some semblance of a plot, well-written and played characters, and a finely-tuned and
immaculately detailed look at small-town life in "tornado alley." In other words, Twister
got it right, giving equal time and effort to both the meat-and potatoes of the movie as well as
the finer details that make the movie a movie and not just shot after shot of ubiquitous and
eventually tiresome effects and noise.
Nevertheless, Twister doesn't try all that hard to keep any secrets from us. We know
we're being led to an F5 storm as the centerpiece of the movie's climax, but that's perfectly fine,
in this case. It's the ride that gets us there that really counts. We're given a glance of the
destructive force of the F5 in the movie's opening minutes, and as each storm Bill, Jo, and
crew track down, the category goes up a notch, beginning with an F2 and ending with an F5.
We're awestruck by the power of these weaker storms, a "solid F2 or F3" nearly killing our heroes
and picking up their jeep and dropping it feet away from Bill's new fiancé, and we eagerly wait
with bated breath just how much more powerful these other storms can possibly be, and how
much more destruction, and on what scale, they can cause. We're not let down in the least, the
movie literally placing us in the middle of several dangerous, precarious, and disastrous
sequences, using almost every sense (I never did taste the dirt and debris flying into
my mouth, though) to throw us smack-dab into the clutches of death. Twister is like an
amusement park ride on film, and does it ever work. Fun, loud, entertaining, and scary, its no
wonder that it continues to be a fan favorite film.
Twister forms onto Blu-ray in 1080p high definition, it's 2.40:1 framed visual appearance
proving to be a letdown. Though not an unacceptable image, what we see here is nothing
extraordinary, either, proving to be little better than your average 12-year-old catalogue title.
There are several gripe-worthy aspects of the transfer, the first I'll mention being that there
seems to be very little depth and detail to the people presented on screen; they appear mostly
flat and uninspired. Flesh tones do look very good and accurate, but I couldn't get over the
absence
of clarity,
definition, and an ultimate lack of lifelike realism we've come to appreciate from the very best
Blu-ray discs available. In fact, the image on the whole, not just people, fails to achieve a very
high level of
detail, definition and
sharpness. Part of this seems due to some blue or green screen shots becoming very readily
apparent in high definition, others just look as if the movie was shot ever so slightly out of focus.
It's not distracting and certainly not a deal breaker, just another in a list of grievances about this
transfer. Film grain is also noticeably absent except for the most extreme of dark scenes. Take
that as you will. Speaking of dark scenes, blacks prove to be one of this disc's strengths, almost
always appearing solid-to-excellent but never spectacular. Despite the dark tone of the movie
(mostly overcast skies),
Twister does offer some very nice and rich colors, from the red of the pickup truck to the
dull silver of the casings of the "Dorothy" devices, to pretty much every other color you can
imagine that is probably somewhere to be seen in the movie. All things considered, this is
definitely an upgrade from the DVD copy I own, although in the final analysis, I feel that it could
have looked somewhat better than it does here.
The real star of the show, and the reason many fans will want to upgrade to this Blu-ray, is the
Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless sound mix. I'll say right up front that despite any shortcomings, this
soundtrack sure is a lot of fun to listen to; it is an absolute assault on the sonic senses. Based on
my previous experiences with the film, both in the theater and on DVD, my main concern when I
began today's viewing on Blu-ray was that we'd simply hear an undefined glob of sound.
Thankfully what we hear here is clean and well-defined, and we can easily pick out, know, and
appreciate exactly what it is we're
hearing at any given time. This disc offers up an impressive ability to place sound, as both sound
panning and imaging are excellent. There is a strength and authority that's almost always
present. As the movie opens, we hear an old rickety house creaking and cracking during the
storm, and the sound never lets up. The loudest scenes offer excellent dynamics and the sound
literally, at times, (pardon the pun) blows you away. Even when there are scenes of straight
dialogue, such as near the beginning when Jo and Bill are discussing their divorce, the
impending peril of thunder can be heard far off in the distance, a very nice effect. Later in the
movie, we hear this warning sign again, this time during a drive-in screening of The Shining, the subwoofer working plenty hard to deliver those deep,
dangerous warning signs; meanwhile the blaring of the tornado alarm in the background can be
as scary as the storm itself, signaling the arrival of certain death and destruction. Nevertheless,
there are a few places where the soundtrack doesn't quite live up to expectations I have for
5-star material. On occasion, the sound comes across as slightly underwhelming, primarily with
dialogue.
Occasionally, even if there is nothing going on, dialogue seems somewhat restrained and
underwhelming, almost as if its an afterthought. This isn't a problem throughout the movie, but
only at times. Regardless, Twister makes for a fun night at the movies, sonically, and
this TrueHD 5.1 mix rarely disappoints.
Twister touches down on Blu-ray with an average set of extras, beginning with a
commentary track with Director Jan de Bont and Visual Effects Supervisor Stefen Fangmeier.
Right
from the get-go we can tell this is going to be a fairly tech-heavy track, focusing primarily on
special
effects. The track does open up to discuss character motivations, the performances of the actors,
and so on, but we're mostly treated to a standard-fare track here that isn't a recommended
listen.
On a side note, the movie plays a little too loudly under the track, sometimes making it hard to
hear
de Bont and Fangmeier.
Chasing the Storm: Twister Revisited (480p, 28:58) is a retrospective piece on the film,
beginning with a chat with director Jan de Bont and moving towards a basic making-of feature as
the director discusses creating trial effects and casting. The feature also looks at the debris used
for
the film and the making of some of the more intense scenes, including the crash and subsequent
explosion of the petroleum truck or the pickup truck driving through the house. The feature is
interlaced with clips from the movie,
and is pretty generic and dry in general, but worth a watch for fans. The Making of
'Twister' (480p, 13:51) recaps the plot of the movie, intercut with scenes from the movie as
well as interviews with the cast and crew, including a fun tidbit about a real storm that hit the set
the night before filming began and the real-life storm chasers that tracked it. Nature Tech:
Tornadoes (480p, 45:18) is a History Channel feature from 2003 that looks at the most
recent scientific advances in predicting violent storms. Wrapping things up are a music video by
Van Halen entitled Humans Being (480p, 3:36) and two theatrical trailers for
Twister (480p, 2:05 & 2:08).
Twister leaps like a whirlwind beyond your standard popcorn entertainment, being an
honest to goodness movie with a plot, good characters, and excellent production values. What
could have
been another generic disaster movie is instead an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride into one of nature's
deadliest and most fascinating means of destruction. I have no idea how scientifically accurate the
film may or may not be, but I do know that as a movie fan, they don't come much better than this
when I'm craving a loud, tense, and exhilarating experience. This Blu-ray edition of Twister
is a solid one, if not slightly underwhelming. I was somewhat disappointed by the overall video
quality, but its lower-than-expected score doesn't mean it's not good. It's fine, in fact, but it's
certainly not as good as the upper-echelon discs out there. Sonically is where this disc truly shines,
creating an immersive, at times seemingly violent, frightening, and highly entertaining listen.
The extras are about as expected, and I enjoyed and appreciated the History Channel feature more
so than the generic studio-produced pieces. Overall, this is a solid package of a good movie.
Recommended!
