I love disaster movies. And I especially love Twister (1996). It has become one of those films I put on when I am having a bad day. Twister is a disaster film that stars Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. With Twisters (2024) currently in theaters, I wanted to take a look at the differences and similarities between these two tornado films; let's discuss Twisters (2024) vs Twister (1996).
It was directed by Jan de Bont, who directed Speed, Speed 2, and The Haunting but is a much more prolific cinematographer. He was the Director of Photography of Cujo, The Jewel of The Nile, Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October, Flatliners and Basic Instinct just to name a few. Jan de Bont is a very distinctive filmmaker, known for his use of handheld camera work. Twister is notorious for the rigorous conditions the actors endured on set. Because de Bont used a combination of practical effects and computer generated effects, the actors had to withstand extreme heat, hail machines, jet engines and shards of fake glass.
The final result is impactful. Despite being from the mid-1990s, Twister still holds up on a technical level. It might have its moments, but for the most part you can watch that film and be completely horrified by the tornados and extreme weather the characters chase throughout the movie. One of the reasons I loved this film so much growing up was how strong and empowered Helen Hunt’s character is. She’s a genius, she’s brave and she is incredibly stubborn. Of course she is not without fault, but knows what she wants and she fights for it.
Twisters (2024) was directed by Lee Issac Chung and stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell and Anthony Ramos. With a few nods to the original, Twisters firmly takes its own stab at the material. The tornado scenes are stunning and horrifying. And like Hunt's character, Edgar-Jones is a strong and complicated genius who is working through guilt and trauma. The soundtrack is purely country music, realistic for film's locale. And Lee Issac Chung uses found footage in addition to beautiful cinematography to tell the story.
While Twisters isn't a huge hit for me personally, it's fun, and that's exactly what I hoped it would be. Listen to episode 98 of the Lunatics Radio Hour podcast for more on the history of disaster films and Twister (1996).