Rating: PG-13 (intense depiction of very bad weather)
Length: 113 minutes

Widescreen 2.4:1 1080p High Def

ENGLISH: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1

English, French

A group of storm/tornado chasers are trying to plant an instrument in front of a tornado that will help them figure out how a tornado works. This is all in an effort to increase the amount of time people can be warned of a tornadoes approach. The team was started by Bill and his wife Jo but he left as their marriage fell apart. He comes out to get the divorce papers signed and lets just say that's when the weather turns for the worse.

There are many things about this movie that I really liked. First off, it has an interesting storyline with very believable actors in the roles they were playing; including a young and relatively unknown Phillip Seymore Hoffman in a great looking OU hat (yes, I'm from Oklahoma). The special effects still hold up after a decade and the soundtrack is one of the best movie soundtracks I own. And after watching the film, make sure to check out the History Channel Documentary on this disc.

Some of the dialog is lame, especially between Paxton and Gertz. Some of the situations they survive are just too far fetched and many of the special effects are not believable; think picket fence boards jumping out of the ground one-by-one and becoming projectiles.

I copied this straight from Wikipedia.org about the town, Wakita, that is a major part of this film: "Before the town's founding in 1898, there was a dispute over the right to name the town. The owner of the First General Store, owned by the "White" family pushed for the town to be named Whiteville. Shortly after his proposal, Deputy U.S. Marshall Arthur Green motioned the town be named after a Cherokee Chief named Wakita (pronounced Wok-ih-taw). Some believe that Green wanted to name the town in the Chief's honor because of a protective spell supposedly cast to protect the area around the town from tornadoes for a time span of 100 years. This is why Wakita was used in the Hollywood blockbuster "Twister", because of this paradox created between the spell and the movie setting."

• Audio Commentary by Director Jan De Bont and Visual Effects Supervisor Stefen Fangmeier
• "Chasing the Storm: Twister Revisited" Featurette
• The History Channel Documentary "Nature Tech: Tornadoes"
• HBO First Look "The Making of Twister"
• "Anatomy of a Twister" Featurette
• "Humans Being" Music Video by Van Halen
• Theatrical Trailer

I was raised in Oklahoma and have always been intrigued with tornadoes. Having said that it should be no surprise that I really enjoy this film; possibly more than many people. This film sees the inside of my DVD player more than most; especially when I'm the only one home and can really crank up the sound.

Jan de Bont   [The Haunting (1999), Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, Speed]

Jeremy Davies - Laurence

[Dogville, Saving Private Ryan, Solaris]

Cary Elwes - Dr. Jonas Miller

[Bram Stroker's Dracula, Days of Thunder, Glory, Hot Shots!, The Princess Bride, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, Saw, Shadow of the Vampire]

Todd Field - Tim 'Beltzer' Lewis

[The Haunting (1999)]

Jami Gertz - Dr. Melissa Reeves

[The Lost Boys]

Zach Grenier - Eddie

[Donnie Brasco, Fight Club, Swordfish]

Philip Seymour Hoffman - Dustin Davis

[25th Hour, Almost Famous, The Big Lebowski, Boogie Nights, Capote, Cold Mountain, Magnolia, Mission Impossible III, Owning Mahowny, Red Dragon, The Talented Mr. Ripley]

Helen Hunt - Dr. Jo Harding

[Cast Away, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion]

Wendle Josepher - Haynes

Bill Paxton - Bill Harding

[Aliens, Apollo 13, Frailty, Near Dark, Predator 2, Streets of Fire, Titanic, True Lies, U-571, Vertical Limit]

Alan Ruck - Robert 'Rabbit' Nurick

[Speed]

Joey Slotnick - Joey

[Hollow Man]

Lois Smith - Meg Greene

[East of Eden, Fatal Attraction]

Gregory Sporleder - Willie

[The Rock]

Scott Thomson - Jason 'Preacher' Rowe

[Fast Times at Ridgemont High]

Sean Whalen - Allan Sanders

[Charlie's Angels]