"Twisters" discussion

[Warren Faidley]

Yes, sounds interesting. Let me talk to my agent. (Joke).

 

[Blake Naftel]

Yes, sounds interesting. Let me talk to my agent. (Joke).

Hilarious! I now need to obtain said "agent" to "make it" in "comedy" per the "professionals" I have networked with. Someone always wants to make a buck! Or, strip a video and pirate the material to make a momentary profit at some form.

Artsy photojournalism will always remain in fashion. Don't let the "extremists" ruin your vibe, Warren. Original material and fun concepts are always welcomed by "the masses", even if it's merely something they can inspire and profit from via their "socials"

Goodnight, I'll be on this forum all next week!

Blake


BLAKE WILLIAM NAFTEL
Artist, Comedy Writer, Meteorologist

616.643.7762
blakenaftel.com
threereelfilms.com

 

[Dan Robinson]

I finally saw the movie on streaming with my family over the holidays. I don't watch a lot of movies, so I'm not up on how cinematography has changed. There was a hard-to-describe difference in the aesthetic of the picture - almost like it was shot on a DSLR or RED in 60/120p instead of film/24p. That may also have something to do with watching it on a TV (OLED 4K TV) instead of at the theater, I don't know.

Content wise, it was interesting seeing all of the callbacks to the original film. The CGI of tornadoes was pretty good, they even got the RFD clear slot right. The story wasn't quite what I was expecting. I'd read that the main characters were going to be the sons/daughters of Bill & Jo continuing their legacy, but other than the few callbacks, there wasn't any connection at all with the original's storyline. It was nice seeing the El Reno streetcar make it onto the big screen.

Of course, there were plenty of Hollywood liberties taken:

• driving through fields (again)
• vehicle windows surviving tornado strikes
• chasers going to a public event in the middle of an outbreak sequence, somehow not aware of a tornadic supercell approaching
• the whole idea of driving into a town just ahead of a major tornado to go into buildings and get people to safety.

I watched through the credits and didn't see very many names I recognized. I thought more chasers were involved? All in all though, I thought this film was somewhere between "Into The Storm" and "Twister", maybe closer to the former than the latter. I didn't think it had the same type of "heart" that the original Twister did.

 

[JamesCaruso]

I didn't think it had the same type of "heart" that the original Twister did.

I think in some ways it had more. I liked the Tyler character talking about chasing as a vehicle for facing your fears, and about how chasing is part science, part religion. I found Kate’s survivor’s guilt, coupled with a love for the weather since childhood, more compelling than Jo in the original being driven by the loss of her parents in a tornado. Jo was always into chasing; Kate had to be dragged back in. Bill in the original had to be dragged back into chasing too, but only because of settling down with his new fiance; it was a much more reluctant emotional struggle for Kate because she held herself responsible for the death of her friends while chasing.

I see what you are saying about the “heart” of the original, but couldn’t part of that be nostalgia, and the affection that develops only from viewing it multiple times over the years? In other words, the new Twisters may also grow on you over time…

 

[Dan Robinson]

James, you're right that my nostalgia is probably clouding my perceptions. I do tend to long for the good old days even while the present has been pretty epic. I might change my opinion when I watch the movie again!

 

[Jonathan Scrogham]

Apparently, a possible sequel is in development. Not really sure where they could take the story from here, but I'm going to watch whatever they put out anyway.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1903906293632446946

 

[Greg McLaughlin]

I think it would be cool if the next sequel tied Twisters to the original by having Kate go back to Muskogee State College where Jo Harding is her former professor, or something along those lines. Probably won't happen, but I still enjoy watching "Twisters", something I never felt once with "Into The Storm." The scene with Tyler and Kate driving into the tornado in the field where she looks up into it is my favorite tornado scene in all of cinema. It's a fun scene all around and the tornado CGI is great. "Twisters" also rekindled my love for the original film. I know a lot of chasers have absolutely dumped on this movie, but if you can not take it too seriously, it's a lot of fun to watch.

 

[JamesCaruso]

I agree Greg! What could be better than to have an entire movie dedicated to a niche interest that you love. From that perspective, I just can’t understand chasers dumping on it or refusing to see it. Sure, if it was making chasers look bad I could understand. But that’s not the case with this film. Doesn’t mean it isn’t unrealistic and over the top, but it’s enjoyable to watch a relatively rare movie about chasing. When non-chasers ask me what I think of it, I tell them it’s unrealistic overall, but the dialogue is mostly realistic (much more so than in the original), and it does a good job capturing the essence of chaser culture.

I don’t recall the specific scene you mention Greg, I’ll have to watch a third time!

 

[Jeff House]

The old school chasers and real chasers like the Twister movies. I think most of the dumping is younger chasers virtue signaling - of what I don't know. Of course, in Twister they used all 9 lives, but it's a movie.

Twisters arguably did better with the feelings side than Twister. Jo lost her parents in a storm but it only came up one more time. In the sequel we see the characters struggle with the past tornado in multiple scenes, which builds more emotion.

Into the Storm brings awareness of how certain populations need to receive warnings. It's an entertaining movie with a constructive theme. They are all good but I have to go with the Twister series. Looking forward to the next one.

 

[Jamie H]

Probably has something to do with the prevalence of media - nowdays there's tons of high quality storm chasing footage everywhere, whereas when Twisters came out it was still quite niche?

 

[JamesCaruso]

Twisters arguably did better with the feelings side than Twister. Jo lost her parents in a storm but it only came up one more time. In the sequel we see the characters struggle with the past tornado in multiple scenes, which builds more emotion

I agree Jeff, and mentioned something similar in an older post. With Jo in the original, it was like OK she lost her parents in a tornado and became a researcher. That’s her backstory, so what. In the new one, Kate is struggling with whether or not to chase again, and has survivor’s guilt for her role in the tragedy, which Jo did not have. I also enjoyed the Tyler character’s own apparent struggle with facing his fears. I liked the self-examination of what drives us to chase; chasing is “part science, part religion,” “you don’t face your fears, you ride ‘em,” the love of weather and storms from childhood, etc. Yeah not incredibly deep or anything, but at least touches on the mental and emotional side of chasing, much more so than the original.

 

[RachelDonoghue]

At first, I was hell bent on not seeing Twisters, because I was a huge fan of the original Twister since I was 3. When my Grandma saw it with my Cousins and Uncle, I decided to stop being a stick in the mud and I saw it anyways with my Mom and Aunt. I went in treating it neutrally. I'm glad that I did. I wound up really enjoying the movie. I still love the original Twister a little bit more, but I thought it was really good for a stand-alone sequel. To me it felt like a love letter to the OG Twister. So many references to the original. I loved the soundtrack and there were so many funny moments too. This movie also re-sparked my interest in storm chasing and tornadoes. I'm really excited that there is a sequel in the works.

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

They lost me with the whole dumping stuff into a storm or tornado to weaken it.

Didn't care for the cast or storyline either. I paid to see it at the theatre. I left very disappointed. Sigh. 1.5/5 stars is my rating.

El Reno was also a very poor choice for the final scene. Extremely disrespectful of real events that happened.

Maybe I missed my calling as a movie director.

There's a third one coming out now. I'll pass on it.

 

[RachelDonoghue]

They lost me with the whole dumping stuff into a storm or tornado to weaken it.

Didn't care for the cast or storyline either. I paid to see it at the theatre. I left very disappointed. Sigh. 1.5/5 stars is my rating.

El Reno was also a very poor choice for the final scene. Extremely disrespectful of real events that happened.

Maybe I missed my calling as a movie director.

There's a third one coming out now. I'll pass on it.

Yeah I didn't really like the whole dissolving a tornado thing, even though I did wind up surprisingly enjoying this movie.

I sometimes wish they kept with the original idea of Kate being Bill and Jo's daughter and having it be a continuation. At least fanfiction exists. I also could see the Scott character with storm par being Jona's son or something lmao. (Even though canonically he isn't. )

This movie wasn't for everyone. I was honestly really surprised that I wound up liking it. I still wish that Twister got a true sequel, but I don't know. If they done it years before Bill and Dusty were gone, I'd be afraid that it would've gotten Speed 2 treatment. I loved the first Speed but couldn't bring myself to even watch Speed 2 due to watching how bad the movie reviews were lol. Heck, one of the actors from the first Speed looked at the script and he was like, "Nope." Must be bad if you're an actor and nope out due to the script.

 

[Andy Wehrle]

Yeah I didn't really like the whole dissolving a tornado thing, even though I did wind up surprisingly enjoying this movie.

I sometimes wish they kept with the original idea of Kate being Bill and Jo's daughter and having it be a continuation. At least fanfiction exists. I also could see the Scott character with storm par being Jona's son or something lmao. (Even though canonically he isn't. )

This movie wasn't for everyone. I was honestly really surprised that I wound up liking it. I still wish that Twister got a true sequel, but I don't know. If they done it years before Bill and Dusty were gone, I'd be afraid that it would've gotten Speed 2 treatment. I loved the first Speed but couldn't bring myself to even watch Speed 2 due to watching how bad the movie reviews were lol. Heck, one of the actors from the first Speed looked at the script and he was like, "Nope." Must be bad if you're an actor and nope out due to the script.

Notable that Alan Ruck (more recently of Succession fame) played supporting, but memorable characters in both original movies. Rabbit in Twister ("ROLL the maps;" "Rabbit is good, Rabbit is wise"), and a tourist named Doug Stephens on the bus in Speed who gets roped into passing along Keanu Reeves' character's descriptions of the bomb over the phone to police HQ (relaying "F*** ME!!!" when he sees the size of the bomb as "Oh darn").