Twister

"The dark side of nature."

1996 1h 53m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

🍅

68%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.6

IMDB

★6.6TMDB · 4,014🍅68%Rotten Tomatoes●68Metacritic★6.6IMDB · 249,196

ActionAdventureDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An unprecedented series of violent tornadoes is sweeping across Oklahoma. Tornado chasers, headed by Dr. Jo Harding, attempt to release a groundbreaking device that will allow them to track them and create a more advanced warning system. They are joined by Jo's soon to be ex-husband Bill, a former tornado chaser himself, and his girlfriend Melissa.

“The dark side of nature.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jan de Bont
Writers: Michael Crichton, Anne-Marie Martin, Fireball Tim Lawrence
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $92M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

30 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Twister Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jan de Bont, shot by Jack N. Green. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mark Mancina. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Michael Kahn shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton and Jami Gertz carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jan de Bont directs. Jack N. Green behind the camera. Mark Mancina scores. Michael Kahn cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $92M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Made its money back 5.4× over at the box office.
330 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Part of the "Twister Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Jan de Bont, shot by Jack N. Green. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Mark Mancina. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Michael Kahn shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton and Jami Gertz carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The dark side of nature.".
10IMDB entry: tt0117998 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 17 themes, including "husband wife relationship", "climate", "tornado", "twister".

The technical file

Cinematography: Jack N. Green
Original score: Mark Mancina
Editing: Michael Kahn
Production design: Joseph C. Nemec III
Costume design: Ellen Mirojnick
Makeup / hair: Karen Blynder
VFX supervisor: Stefen Fangmeier
Sound: Steve Maslow
Stunt coordinator: Mic Rodgers
Runtime: 113 min · 1h 53m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $92,000,000
Box office: $494,471,524
Return: 537% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Twister (1996)
Rotten Tomatoes: 68% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 68/100
IMDB rating: 6.6/10 · 249,196 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

Nominated for 2 Oscars. 11 wins & 17 nominations total

Part of

Twister Collection

A series of action-adventure / disaster films about rival groups of stormchasing scientists studying tornados.

Also by

Jan de Bont

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2023-06-01
★ 7/10
Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt chasing tornadoes on the prairie When atmospheric conditions are conducive to tornadoes, a weatherman (Paxton) tracks down his separated wife (Hunt) and inadvertently joins their storm-chasing team in the Midwest because he can’t resist seeing his sensor invention finally put to use. Jami Gertz plays his new love, Cary Elwes a pompous rival and Philip Seymour Hoffman a wild team member. “Twister” (1996) could be categorized as a disaster flick, but with the distinction that the protagonists are constantly chasing the potential disaster. The entire film takes place in the prairies or forests of the Midwest with ominous skies and intermittent destructive tornadoes. It’s called “Twister” and that’s what you get. The writers keep things interesting by adding human interest with the, admittedly contrived, love triangle and the rival storm-chasing team that has corporate sponsors (the horror, the horror). I didn’t mind the love story. When two people belong together, they belong together. Perhaps the fiancé will realize this. Speaking of which, I’m glad they didn’t make her (Gertz) out to be an unreasonable biyatch, like in “The Parent Trap.” At the end of the day, “Twister” gives you what you pay for. It’s not rocket science, but it’s entertaining and full of tornado-oriented thrills, which explains why it was a huge hit at the box office. The movie runs 1 hour, 53 minutes, and was shot in Oklahoma (Guthrie and Ponca City), Iowa (Boone and Ames) and Bolton, Ontario. GRADE: B
r96sk2024-07-18
★ 7/10
<em>'Twister'</em> makes for fun viewing. There's a good chance that this was one of the (if not <em>the</em>) first films that I ever watched, it was released a mere few months after my birth and I have a faint memory of watching it on video as a young kid, I remember my mum had taped it and it was recorded back-to-back with a random music concert that was also on TV at the time - I can still picture myself seeing it switch from the film to the music. With that said, if I did indeed watch it at that time and it wasn't just a memory of actually checking out the concert itself or perhaps someone else doing either/or, I don't recall anything about this movie - not one jot. I did know the general gist of the film though (hard not to, rather self-explanatory!) and that Bill Paxton was in it. The movie itself is entertaining, if naturally not perfect. The special effects have aged, for 1996, rather well, there's a couple of goofy looking moments but again, for its time it's more than adequate. The score is pleasant too. I didn't overly like the lover's quarrel, in fact it kinda annoyed me in parts; Melissa is written weakly, there's kinda no need for Jami Gertz's character to even exist given what (predictably) happens. Helen Hunt puts in a strong showing, probably the standout of the near two hours. Paxton, of course, runs her close in that regard too. Lois Smith and Philip Seymour Hoffman are the ones who stick out most away from Hunt and Paxton. Cary Elwes features too, albeit quite forgettably. Eager to see what they do for this year's standalone sequel with Glen Powell & Co. Based on snippets of the trailer I've seen, I reckon it'll be just as good - if not slightly better - as this original. Time will tell.
CinemaSerf2026-08-08
★ 7/10
OK, so the human story here is a bit on the predictable side but it's still quite an entertaining action adventure that allows the visual effects folks to have some fun with tornadoes. It's "Jo" (Helen Hunt) who has come up with some magical silver balls to insert into the eye of these phenomena with a view to tracking them and hopefully discovering a way to disarm them - assuming they can get close enough. Her husband "Bill" (Bill Paxton) meantime, is trying to get her to sign off on their divorce so he can marry his gal "Melissa" (Jamie Gertz) but before he can secure her signature, the trio and some of her eclectic band of colleagues find themselves not only chasing these increasingly violent winds but pursuing their duplicitous competitor "Miller" (Cary Elwes) who has "borrowed" some of her ideas and is keen to beat her to the prize. What now ensues sees loads of flying furniture, buildings, trucks and even the odd cow that still manages to moo in panic as it flies through the sky making it's own brand of yoghurt as it goes. It's that tongue in cheek approach to storytelling that works well here and that is really well supported by Paxton, Hunt, a cheesily hammy effort from Philip Seymour Hoffman and an engaging damsel-in-distress performance from a Gertz who actually looks like she's enjoying herself amidst what must have been a surfeit of greenscreen, foliage, water and industrial scale fans. It's a tense and quite exciting natural disaster movie that I will proudly admit to enjoying more than I expected.