Man vs. God, man vs. nature, man vs. man.
All dramatic storytelling depends on one of these three basic conflicts, and it isn’t difficult to guess which one takes place in Twister, an old-fashioned disaster movie with state-of-the-art special effects.
Twister follows a group of self-proclaimed storm chasers led by Helen Hunt of Mad About You. Tracking tornadoes with wild abandon, Jo and her ragtag group of neo-hippie eggheads are trying to gather invaluable scientific data by releasing a capsule full of sensors into the eye of the storm.
Co-starring as Jo’s estranged husband, Bill, is Bill Paxton, living proof that you can look like an average, middle-class dad and still be a movie star. A former storm chaser turned weatherman, Bill meets Jo to collect the divorce papers but winds up joining her on one last chase.
The script, written by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin, is constructed of a series of set pieces where characters chase a storm, then talk, chase a storm, then talk. This sort of bare-bones plot served director Jan De Bont well in Speed, his previous summer smash, so he sees no need to clutter things up here. It’s a game plan that works to perfection because as good as Paxton and Hunt are, the special effects steal the show.
If you’re afraid the commercial for the film gives away the best scene, there is no need for concern. That wheel crashing into the camera is only the tip of the tornado, a small glimpse of the chaos to come. Whether a funnel randomly skips across an open field, spews vehicles and debris across the sky, or shreds a drive-in movie theater one panel at a time, the storm sequences rival the landmark effects seen in Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park.
Yet, in the midst of all this disarray, it is Hunt who keeps the film grounded. Few actresses carry their beauty as naturally as she does, and this is just what the character demands. An obsessive scientist chasing her own Moby Dick, Jo has had an unnatural and unhealthy fascination with tornadoes ever since she watched one suck her father from a storm cellar when she was a little girl. This scene opens the film and establishes the lurking and menacing tone that is carried throughout.
Like Speed, Twister progresses with a calculated precision, but it also includes scenes with an electrifying appeal. As the tornado chases Jo and her family in that opening scene, De Bont’s camera takes on the storm’s point of view, transforming nature into the ultimate predator of man. Still, there are times when De Bont’s directing style is so nondescript that we forget a master craftsman is at the wheel. And partly because of that, Twister will undoubtedly be written off by some as superior summer schlock, a mastery of technique and special effects.
But don’t be so quick to dismiss. Twister holds the ultimate wild care in dramatic conflict; its tornadoes are so unpredictable you never know what to expect. With or without special effects, Twister delivers the same sort of suspense that’s been a staple of good drama since storytelling began.
