Twister

Director: Jan De Bont
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Ian Bryce, Michael Crichton
Executive Producers: Steven Spielberg, Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, Gerald R. Molen
Screenwriter: Michael Crichton, Anne-Marie Martin
Cast: Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Jami Gertz, Cary Elwes

Quick Review: TWISTER wants to charm and thrill you, and it does what it sets out to do. Jan De Bont knows how to edit action, as he proved in SPEED. He does almost as well here with the added benefit of digital magic making the tornadoes come alive (with the exception of a couple of shots that could have used a bit more tweaking). As a pair of estranged lovers/tornado chasers, Helen Hunt turns on her pixie charm and Bill Paxton does a credible job. Some discontinuities are irritating--like Jami Gertz' dress going from muddy to sparkling white without the benefit of a dry cleaner, and some second-unit crash shots not matching the star closeups--but few will notice in a film like this. Twister delivers what a film in this genre should: high-tech thrills with a dash of romance to make us care.

Rating (on a four-star scale): THREE AND A

HALF


Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt interviews.
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