Twister (1996) is the Best Movie You Haven't Watched

And why the sequel doesn't outshine it.

The movie poster for Twister (1996) [Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures]

Ever since I was a kid, my favorite movie has been Twister. Now you might think that's an odd choice for a favorite film, both as a kid and now. But there is something about this film that made me fall in love with it.

Directed by Jan de Bont, the film follows Bill Harding (Bill Paxton) as he tries to finalize his divorce with his almost ex-wife and ex-partner Jo Harding (Helen Hunt). Dragging along his new fiancée Melissa (Jami Gertz), Bill meets Jo and her crew of storm chasers (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Alan Ruck, to name a few) as they prepare to launch Dorothy, a tornado-data collecting instrument. Needless to say, tornadoes ensue, and also a slightly messy love triangle.

(TWISTERS 2024 SPOILERS AHEAD)

The original Twister (my favorite) was released in 1996, and after about 20 years it got a "sequel." Now, I'm hesitant to call it a true sequel mostly due to it being almost completely disconnected from the first film except for a few easter eggs and whatnot. Personally, I think the term 'successor' works better in the context, as Twisters (2024) loosely follows the same story beats as Twister (1996) from plot structure to character archetypes. Twisters is a great movie, I genuinely liked it a lot and am planning on trying to get my hands on a DVD as soon as I can, but I do not think it surpasses the original.

My favorite character from Twister, Lawrence (Universal Pictures)

I don't know what it is about Twister but it feels like home, putting it on during a storm, watching it on a hotel TV, playing it on the 12" portable DVD player from my childhood, seeing it in my hometown movie theater, most of the times I've watched this movie have been for comfort. Objectively, it is not the most comforting film; the sound design for the tornadoes sends shivers down my spine, and there are moments I still hold my breath as the characters struggle against the storms. But somehow it's a peaceful film, and I think that is due to the characters. Somehow they feel like family, a little unconventional, but still family. That is what draws me to Twister, is the portrayal of companionship. Not that Twisters doesn't have a ragtag group of storm chasers, they do, but they don't quite feel the same and I think that's because Twisters is following the same formula in a different era, where films cost more, (Twisters had a budget of about $155 million where Twister was about $88 million) stories are told different, and the main romantic leads don't kiss at the end. Personally, I was fine with Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Tyler (Glen Powell) not kissing in the final scene that did, in fact, have a kiss take (Spielberg's fault) because I have a dream for the future of Twister(s).

My dream has three parts:

1) Twisters is a success (this one has already been completed)

2) A direct sequel to Twisters that focuses on Kate and Tyler's partnership and developing romance. The climate crisis is a more prevalent issue in this one, and we start moving to an alternate world where while Kate's invention from Twisters is good, the storms are getting worse and worse due to massive amounts of global warming. It will make a billion dollars.

3) A final installment in the trilogy set in the midst of a rough patch in Kate and Tyler's relationship as she leaves storm chasing again to become a climate ambassador, and Tyler takes it as a personal betrayal. As a particularly bad storm season rolls in, Kate ends up back in Kansas chasing with Tyler's crew. This emulates the dynamic between Bill and Jo in the original film

But I can only dream, unless Universal is willing to hire an extremely indie film writer to write their next blockbuster. (Very Unlikely)

(Twisters is Streaming on Peacock, to my knowledge Twister is not streaming anywhere but you can most likely find the DVD at the public library)