Twisters Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Twisters Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Justin Dekker October 22, 2024

Directed by Lee Isaac Chung ('Minari (2020)', the season 3 Mandalorian episode 'The Convert (2023)'), the action-packed 'Twisters' arrives on Blu-ray disc courtesy of Universal. A sequel to 1996's 'Twister' which starred Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, the latest chapter focuses on a new generation of storm-chasers led by Daisy Edgar-Jones ('Where the Crawdads Sing') and Glen Powell ('Anyone But You'). Filled with eye-popping visual effects and set to a country music soundtrack, the film follows two teams with differing agendas as they chase tornados during a particularly stormy week in rural Oklahoma. Technical merits are strong and supplemental material is rich and varied. A slipcover, and a Digital Code redeemable through Movies Anywhere are also included.

As Twisters opens, an enthusiastic and excited Kate is out with her team, all of whom are obviously her friends, chasing a tornado. She's leading them on an experiment where, by positioning barrels of a highly absorbent chemical compound in a tornado's path, she hopes to diminish the amount of moisture in a tornado and cause it to collapse. Things do not go as planned and after a harrowing encounter with a twister, Kate narrowly escapes with her life. Flashing forward five years to the present day, Kate is out of the field, in New York City, and tracking and monitoring storms from behind a desk. Javi (Anthony Ramos, Hamilton, In the Heights), a person from her storm-chasing past meets her at work one morning, and after a brief conversation is able to recruit her into helping him and Storm Par, his well-funded team, for just one week to track tornados and gather enough groundbreaking data to save lives. Once with him back in her native Oklahoma, Kate immediately finds herself in the carnival-like storm-chasing community, the undisputed celebrity of which is YouTube sensation Tyler (Powell) - a crass, self-absorbed adrenaline junkie who relishes the spotlight and attention. As Kate gets her sea legs about her, chases storms, deals with their aftermath, and learns more about herself and the people around her, she reconnects with her past to try and survive a week of unprecedented storm and tornado activity.

To prepare myself for this film, I dusted off the original Twister (1996) in case there were characters, story elements, or locations from the first film that may be carried over in this latest chapter. While there aren't any direct connections or overt threads conjoining the two films, viewing the first film the day before watching the sequel did reveal some surprises. Primary among them was the ability to observe the Twister/Twisters road map or formula, if you will. Both films focus on and are driven by a strong blond female lead, Helen Hunt in the original and Daisy Edgar-Jones here. Both women lose loved ones due to tornados in the opening moments of each film. In both Twister and Twisters, while there are other characters around the periphery, the bulk of the screen time is given to two teams of storm chasers: one which is corporately sponsored and richly outfitted and one which is "scruffy"; one whose motives are pure and one whose motives are suspect. There is one character in each film who has an almost supernatural ability to sense or predict tornados and that person will at one point lose their nerve, Daisy Edgar-Jones here and Bill Paxton in the original. Certain VFX moments are seemingly likewise essential, as each humorously features flying livestock (first cows, now chickens), and twin or "sister" tornados. Surprisingly, movie theaters showing horror films pop up in both, though it's a drive-in in the 1996 film. The two female leads both require a man to tell them that it's time for them to move on from their grief and guilt over their respective losses, and as both women must find love before the credits roll, there is a visit to an older female family member to help spur these relationships along. The two male leads, Paxton (1996) and Powell (2024) must drive red trucks. While there are more commonalities for viewers to spot, these are likely sufficient evidence to prove the hypothesis. And though some may argue that smaller points such as the color of the trucks and the flying livestock may be more of an homage to the original, there are still a surprising number of similarities between the essential plot and character elements of the two tornadic feature films.

Once finished working through that exercise, the only question that remains is, does it work? For all of the shared story beats and character traits, Twisters does work thanks in large part to a winning cast and terrific effects work. Daisy Edgar-Jones is excellent in her portrayal of Kate, being able to convey a tricky mix of strength and vulnerability, hope and hopelessness, and all points on the spectrum in between. Her fear and outright terror are infectious and bleed into the viewer as she fights for her life during several tornado outbreaks during the film, always feeling authentic instead of melodramatic. The joy and the thrill she feels in the opening scenes as she chases her dream, feelings which slowly return as she emerges from her desk job-induced cocoon, are likewise moving and help create the emotional zenith of the film. Powell's Tyler, while initially as grating to the audience as he is to Kate, becomes endearing as well, not so as much by changing as by having more about his character revealed through word and deed. While the social media element of Tyler and his team can at times feel a bit contrived, and will hopefully serve to "date" the film once society is able to move on from its YouTube/Instagram/Twitter obsession, happily, after its use to introduce them, its presence, while never truly absent, at least diminishes over time. Maura Tierney (News Radio, ER) also delights in her small but meaningful role as Kate's mother. By the time she is introduced, the audience has been relentlessly bombarded by colorful characters, numerous storm-related action sequences, and dizzying effects work for quite some time. Tierney's stern, funny, and maternal Cathy is able to briefly slow things down, and reground and refocus Kate, Tyler, and the audience before sending them (and the viewer) off to the largest, most ambitious action sequences in the film.

Thanks to the improvements in technology during the intervening years, the effects work on display in Twisters bests what filmmakers were able to produce in the mid- to late-1990s in every respect. Many of the tornado effects shots in this film were based on actual tornados that had been photographed and filmed over the last thirty years. These were further enhanced by computer modeling and information from the film's scientific advisers. In close-up and long shots alike, the tornados on display look completely natural in terms of their shape and movement. Likewise, the effects team is able to generate storm-related destruction extremely convincingly. Houses and refineries disintegrate and burst into flames with great realism. Yes, Twisters may use the same or very similar formula as Twister, but the variables it substitutes in result in a very entertaining product. While some of the other most successful disaster movies of the 1990s were focused on volcanos and asteroids, 1996's Twister provided a threat to which most in America's heartland could relate, and it's one that has been long overdue in its return to the screen. Tornados are a terrifying, unpredictable force of nature that now no longer confine themselves to the traditional "tornado alley" or even tornado season. Though some of the science employed here may be closer to fiction instead of fact (as was the case with the original), the threat posed by tornados is genuine and the film captures that well.

Twisters Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Twisters 4K was shot on film by Dan Mindel (The Skeleton Key (2005), Amazing Spider-Man II (2014), Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)) who used a mix of Arri Alexa and Panavision cameras, and it possesses a wonderfully natural grain structure, excellent colors, and significant fine detail. Twisters is an impossibly busy film from a visual perspective. The camera is rarely still and instead orbits characters, pans up, down, or sideways, zooms in or out, and so on. Given the subject matter of the film, objects are often swirling around our heroes and consist of rain, hail, leaves, and bits of debris both large and small. Considering this, compression issues were the first things I was worried about, but based on what I see in this 1080p transfer, those concerns were misplaced. Night scenes and very dark and stormy daytime scenes were the second element I keyed on. Atmospheric elements such as clouds are rendered without banding, and color shifts from darker to lighter with very natural and smooth gradations. Blacks were deep, for example in the rodeo scene and as the teams hung out in the motel parking lot. In these settings, crush was not a significant concern with fine detail visible in close and mid-range shots. Skin tones are consistently realistic and healthy throughout. Clothing and facial particulars yield great tactile information and detail such as ribbed jackets, frizzy hairdos, and stubble on many of the male actors' faces. Colors are nicely saturated, though the environments where the film's events transpire are typically dusty or muddy, with many of the "scruffy" storm-chasers dressed mostly in earth tones rather than bright primaries. Reds and blues are sometimes given a moment to dazzle, but these are uncommon. Still, viewers can spot a vibrant yellow plane and the star-spangled rodeo rider. It's a terrific presentation.

Twisters Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

If, as one character shares during the course of the film, tornados are rated in terms of their destructiveness, then it is only fair to rate Twisters's Dolby Atmos track on how well it handles that destruction. In keeping with the metaphor, it's an F5. Surround involvement is excellently leveraged, placing viewers inside the action of every storm as wind, thunder, rain, hail, debris, vehicles, and occasionally characters swirl about in the soundscape. Walls shake around the viewer and roofs and ceilings rattle and threaten to fly skyward. Directionality is excellent and objects, often either speeding cars or debris, move fluidly and realistically through the sound field. Through it all, the powerful bass presence is felt, giving each tornado a palpable and primal power, and every crash a weighty thud. This translates into the musical elements as well as every bombastic moment where the music dominates is possessed with a big bottom end. Just as Van Halen and other classic rock tracks and artists populated the soundtrack of the first film, modern country artists like Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, and Jelly Roll are found here, and fittingly so given its setting. Every note is crisp and precise. Given as noisy as the film often is, nary a word of dialogue is lost as the track prioritizes and handles dialogue very well, keeping it typically front and center focused. But it's truly the sounds of the storms that are the highlights here, and I found myself rewinding several of the storm sequences simply to close my eyes and listen.

Twisters Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Twisters is geared up with a variety of supplemental features. Some are undeniably lighter fare, but the majority, regardless of their length, provide interesting insights into the film, how it was shot, and the science behind it.

• Deleted Scenes (2.04) - Three deleted scenes are included: Javi meets Kate at the airport; Kate and Boone watch the weather report in a convenience store; Kate and Tyler share a quiet moment

• Gag Reel (3.57) - A typical feature where actors improvise and flub their lines.

• Tracking the Fronts: The Path of 'Twisters" (14.53) - Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Director Lee Isaac Chung, and others discuss their appreciation for the first film, and relay their experiences working on the new film, including, appropriately enough, numerous instances where location shooting in Oklahoma was repeatedly impacted by severe weather.

• Into the Eye of the Storm (24.07) - With input from cast and crew, this feature provides a look at the mix of practical and visual effects to create the storm scenes in the film, filming stunts, and various locations used including the impressive and massive Crystal Springs set which used actual debris from nearby towns hit by storms, and the rodeo scene.

• Glen Powell: All Access (3.12) - Powell provides a tour of his Oklahoma City apartment, introduces his parents, and prepares for the rodeo scene.

• Front Seat to a Chase (5.16) - Ride along with storm chasers as they take the cast out in pursuit of severe weather in Oklahoma.

• Voice of a Villain (6.16) - Step inside the studio to discover how the sound of the tornado was created using a variety of natural and manmade sounds and crafting slightly different sounds for each tornado in the film.

• Tricked-Out Trucks (4.31) - Director Lee Isaac Chung, Glen Powell, and others discuss some of the enhancements made to the storm-chasing vehicles used in the film, many of which were based on customizations used by actual storm-chasers.

• Feature Commentary with Director Lee Isaac Chung - Recorded shortly after the film was finished, Chung displays his enthusiasm for the project as he discusses a wide swath of topics including casting, locations, visual effects, and his desire to have a few nods to the first film included. He is clearly not operating from a script and instead relies on his memory. As a result, he occasionally falls silent, watching the film along with the viewer until something that happens on-screen prompts further comments or remembrances. It's a pleasant and laid-back track.

Twisters Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As summer blockbusters go, Twisters should have audiences happily eating up mountains of popcorn as the numerous tornados that populate the film eat up the Oklahoma landscape. While not breaking new ground, it does exactly what the best disaster movies do - provide numerous scenes of mayhem and destruction while following characters with whom we can identify that struggle believably against the odds to win the day. Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, and the effects team (along with some gorgeous cinematography) enable the film to succeed on its own merits, and it should stand up to repeat viewings just as easily as the original. Supported by a brilliant Dolby Atmos track and wonderful transfer, Twisters comes strongly recommended.