Twister
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: May 10, 1996
7.1
USER SCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 142 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
82
Mixed:
48
Negative:
12
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand
Review this movie
VOTE NOW
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Check box if your review contains spoilers 0 characters (5000 max)

User Reviews

User scoreBy dateMost helpful
5
davenbettridgeAug 28, 2011
Cut out the special effects in this movie and your left with actors who give the most annoying performances of their careers and a preposterously ridiculous predictable plot. This movie may be watchable but people who say its good need to getCut out the special effects in this movie and your left with actors who give the most annoying performances of their careers and a preposterously ridiculous predictable plot. This movie may be watchable but people who say its good need to get their heads checked. Twister is mediocre save for the special effects. Pass.… Expand
1 of 2 users found this helpful11
All this user's reviews
6
JacobJun 10, 2015
If you can suspend your disbelief in regards to characters chasing after a tornado and just enjoy it as a dumb disaster movie Twister is fun. The effects on the tornados are really good, some of the action scenes are quite thrilling, and atIf you can suspend your disbelief in regards to characters chasing after a tornado and just enjoy it as a dumb disaster movie Twister is fun. The effects on the tornados are really good, some of the action scenes are quite thrilling, and at times the goofyness of the film can be entertaining. At the same time, the film is also quite cheesy from the dialogue to the occasional cartoony voice that requires one to turn off their brains. There is much to get invested in either as the characters in this film are poorly developed and uninteresting. If you go into Twister expecting a thrilling disaster film, you will somewhat get what you want but if you are looking for anything deeper in regards to characters you’ll find this film tasteless.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
5
j30Jan 26, 2012
Aw the good old Jan de Bont days filed with good special effects and well not much else. First Speed (pretty awesome), then Twister (pretty OK), then Speed: Cruise Control (oh God no), then The Haunting (make it stop!), then finally LaraAw the good old Jan de Bont days filed with good special effects and well not much else. First Speed (pretty awesome), then Twister (pretty OK), then Speed: Cruise Control (oh God no), then The Haunting (make it stop!), then finally Lara Croft (I've lost faith in humanity). That pretty much sums it up right there.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
4
ZudeareDec 23, 2012
Lots of cliches and suffers from deus ex machina, the only thing that i found enjoyable about this movie is it's special effects, which were great for it's time, other than that, not recommended.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
6
gracjanskiFeb 5, 2021
The theme of the movie is surely unique, I never saw a movie about twisters and the visual effects are not bad, maybe even great for 1996. But the story, characters and dialogues are just average. Also some of the scenes were unrealistic.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
6
WJSJun 13, 2015
Spectacular visuals combine with adequate acting, but a less than stellar narrative to make this a middle of the road disaster flick more made for TV;
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
6
CineAutoctonoDec 19, 2015
Twister was a slightly exciting movie , and is much better than "Into the Storm" in my opinion , as good work of the cast, the plot well and good visual effects
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
6
FilmMasterEdJan 6, 2016
Don't bother warning Auntie Em to take shelter in the fruit cellar. The tornado ripping through this fiendishly funny farce is more likely to cause psychic than property damage. The setting is contemporary Kansas, and Dorothy would hardlyDon't bother warning Auntie Em to take shelter in the fruit cellar. The tornado ripping through this fiendishly funny farce is more likely to cause psychic than property damage. The setting is contemporary Kansas, and Dorothy would hardly recognize the place; it looks like Oz gone to seed. This Cleveland family resides in a mansion that reflects conspicuous consumerism. There's even a live-in maid (Charlaine Woodard). But inside, everyone seems ready to crumble. Dad (Harry Dean Stanton) has made millions selling soda pop and operating miniature-golf courses; now he's thinking of breeding miniature cows. Mom has long since fled to the comfort of a mental institution. Sonny, played way beyond the hilt by Crispin Glover (Back to the Future), dresses in black and carries a whip; he's trying for "a total look." Daughter (Suzy Amis) is a boozing, tantrum-tossing unwed mother whose advice to her precocious eight-year-old, Violet (Lindsay Christman), runs along the practical lines of "Get me a beer."

First-time director Michael Almeredya, who adapted the script from Mary Robison's 1981 novel OH!, has etched a disturbingly comic portrait of the nuclear family nuked. Storm clouds loom when Violet's father (Dylan McDermott) returns from Canada to rescue his kid and her mother from these loonies, but he's another of the walking wounded — just less recognizably so. The same is true for Miss Virginia (Lois Chiles, in a knockout performance), a TV-kiddie-show host who's never scarier than when she thinks she's being sane. Still, even Miss Virginia is on target when she tells Dad, her demented suitor, that his family "has lost the habit of thinking."

Almeredya hasn't. His auspicious debut augurs a stunning future. The film may be blissfully bonkers, but it also speaks tellingly of the dislocation in American life. Part fun house, part chamber of horrors, Twister emerges as outrageous, original entertainment.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
6
JP32Aug 20, 2018
The elements associated with Crichton: the science of storm chasing and the professional love triangle, are simply along for the ride in a script that goes as follows: Storm happens, characters chase storm, characters rest, storm happensThe elements associated with Crichton: the science of storm chasing and the professional love triangle, are simply along for the ride in a script that goes as follows: Storm happens, characters chase storm, characters rest, storm happens again, and repeat.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
6
alejandro970Jun 11, 2021
It is one of those cases what happens when special effects plot eaten. In fact, the plot is supported with pins based on boring dialogues and characters lacking personality. It is true that in his year he had his moment of glory but notIt is one of those cases what happens when special effects plot eaten. In fact, the plot is supported with pins based on boring dialogues and characters lacking personality. It is true that in his year he had his moment of glory but not enough to be a classic.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
5
FilipeNetoDec 14, 2019
Good scenes of destruction, but without any plot to justify them.

Disaster films are generally popular but critically slaughtered. This movie was no exception. Released in 1996, it is still popular today and remains popular with movie buffsGood scenes of destruction, but without any plot to justify them.

Disaster films are generally popular but critically slaughtered. This movie was no exception. Released in 1996, it is still popular today and remains popular with movie buffs where the total destruction and death of half the cast is a must. In this case, we follow the vicissitudes of a group of "tornado hunters" as they try to debut a revolutionary new sensor called "Dorothy" that will give them current readings and information about the inside of a tornado cone.

The film is directed by Jan de Bont. Personally, and despite all the flaws, I liked some of his movies, like "The Haunting" (ok, I don't consider him terrified). Here, I recognize, he did nothing very good, and Steven Spielberg, who was executive producer, did not help him. But the biggest problem with this movie is that it doesn't have a story. There is a reason why the characters are there and from there we start chasing after tornadoes. I don't understand why that couple, who are in divorce proceedings, suddenly decide to travel in the same car to hunt for tornadoes as in the "good old days." There are also some credibility and likelihood issues, such as the fact that, with so much debris flying dangerously around, the characters are never hit by anything that truly hurts them.

Helen Hunt is the actress who dominates the whole movie, and I even liked her here, giving life to an enthusiastic, upbeat and resourceful tornado hunter, but with a traumatic past that makes her permanently in search of danger. Bill Paxton was reasonable, and goes well with Hunt. Some of the most emotional moments of the film are starring the two actors, who make romantic pair here. Jami Gertz doesn't seem to know what she's doing here, and is quickly dismissed by the script; Cary Elwes is effective in giving life to a bastard worthy of a painful death; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck, Scott Thomson, and Todd Field support the main cast well, and help to make some ineffective comedy, but it keeps the movie with some elegance and prevents it from becoming too tense.

The best of the movie, I think, is the action-packed, special-effects and green-screen scenes, where tornadoes are violent, can come out of nowhere and take everything you find except the good actors in the movie. Cars, houses, live cows, sharp blades, tractors and whole tankers ... everything flies except two light human beings. Although unlikely, it is good to see and makes the movie worth it.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
More From This Movie

68 Critic Reviews

7.1 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 78 Top Gun: Maverick
2 77 Nope
3 70 Watcher
4 67 Mr. Malcolm's List
5 66 Vengeance
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL