the makers of jurassic park & the director of speed conjure up a storm !
( reviewed at eng wah 's new jubilee cineplex at ang mo kio ) " unlike earthquakes , their fury is precise .
unlike hurricanes , their reach is unlimited .
unlike fires , there is no way to combat them .
unlike floods , their terror is sudden .
" - excerpt from twister production notes i 'm sure many of us living in this part of the world have never seen tornadoes ( or twisters ) before .
i for one , have only seen the devastating effects and footage of tornadoes from news reports on tv and personally , i feel tornado - caused destruction comes
no where near the destruction caused by hurricanes and earthquakes . .
. . . . . . that is until i saw twister .
the destruction caused by twisters may be precise ( not widespread
but it moves very fast and its path of destruction is unpredictable .
it will suck in cars , houses , livestock , etc .
. . . . basically anything in its path that is not firmly rooted to the ground and in twister , you 'll get to see all this - close up !
twister tells a tale about a group of storm chasers .
these people are basically out - of - their - mind and for the sake of obtaining data on twister - occurrences , they risk their lives by literally chasing tornadoes , trying to get as close as they can . . . . .
that is if the tornado does not suddenly decide to change its path towards them !
jo ( helen hunt ) is the leader of this pack of kamikazes .
while they are gearing up for the mother - of - all - storms as predicted by satellite recon , bill ( bill paxton ) , a former co- leader of the team returns to settle some divorce papers with jo .
apparently , bill has left his rogue - ish days for greener and more practical pastures - as a television weatherman .
he catches up with his old - self and follows the pack like the good ole days , bringing his wife - to - be melissa ( jamie gertz ) along , a city - bred woman toting around with a handphone .
jo has finally implemented bills initial idea of a device called dorothy which measurement 's of a twister may lead to a better understanding on how tornadoes are formed so that a more reliable early - warning system can be implemented .
the problem is , the device has to be placed very near the twister , and in its path ( which is practically unpredictable ) of destruction in order for it to function .
to add to their current challenge , there is another group of storm chasers that is corporation - funded led by jonas ( cary elwes ) and they too have a similar device .
thus begins the race ; jo 's cheap government equipment with beaten - up vehicles against jonas 's high - tech computers and satellite link - ups with their sleek , black all - terrain vans .
plot wise , there are not really anything to shout about .
twister is as predictable as any summer box - office hit can get .
there is the danger of the twister , the competition with jonas^os more well - off team and of course , the settling of differences between jo and bill ( this part gives the film its human substance ) .
helen hunt , bill paxton and the rest of the actors / actresses give only average performances and all of them take back seat to the main thespian in this movie - the twister itself !
thanks to the impressive digital effects by ilm ( lucasfilm 's industrial light and magic ) , we get to see the terror and destruction caused by tornadoes up close ; from stripping barns and houses to lifting up livestock !
jan
de bont once again proves his visual abiility
( thanks to his years of experience as a director of photography for action films ) for action sequences .
like his previous film speed , the tornado sequences ( which are essentially the action sequences ) are well visualised and edited .
audiences will be holding tight to their chairs everytime a tornado comes on screen !
the surround sound effects sure does help a lot in stressing the terror of a twister !
( the cinema must at the very least support digital sound to fully appreciate this ) twister is definitely an effect - dependent movie .
now that id4 fever has begun to reside , and people are getting bored of watching will smith whoop et 's ass for the umpteenth time .
.
. . . . twister is your sure bet of 7 bucks well spent !
watch it in a good theatre . . .
please .
the flying inkpot 's rating system :
* wait for the video .
*
* a little creaky , but still better than staying at home with gotcha !
*
* * pretty good , bring a friend .
*
*
* * amazing , potent stuff .
*
*
*
* * perfection . see it twice .
Output: P