From the producers of the Jurassic, Bourne and Indiana Jones series comes Twisters, a current-day chapter of the 1996 blockbuster, Twister. Directed by Lee Isaac Chung, the Oscar® nominated writer-director of Minari, Twisters stars Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing), Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) and Anthony Ramos (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) as equal forces, with opposing motivations, who come together to try to predict, and possibly tame, the immense power of tornadoes. – Synopsis via Universal Studios.
TWISTERS is directed by Lee Isaac Chung and written by Mark L. Smith and Joseph Kosinski. The movie has a good pace in the same way that the original does. There is a point where the movie slows up a little bit but then gets back on track.
This is considered to be a legacy sequel with some items and nods to the original. Without going into spoiler territory, the lead character Kate wears a white tank top that looks like Helen Hunt’s outfit from the original. Another link that happens at a glance is that the team uses the Dorothy canister system, establishing that this technology is more commonplace now.
As for the casting, let’s start with Kate played by Daisy Edgar-Jones. She is a typical protagonist but with a lot of baggage. Her personality changes make sense for the sake of the pace. Her friend and boss (kinda) is Javi played by Anthony Ramos. He goes from slacker to corporate guy after getting some direction in his life. The last mention is Glen Powell as Tyler Owens. He is a “hillbilly with a YouTube channel” and comes across as a superficial fame chaser but you learn about him as the film goes on. He is arguably the draw for the movie with his charming smugness.
Cast via Wikipedia
Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kate Carter, a meteorologist and former storm chaser
Glen Powell as Tyler Owens, an internet-famous storm chaser and meteorologist
Anthony Ramos as Javi, Kate’s friend and former storm chaser colleague
Brandon Perea as Boone, a videographer and member of Tyler’s crew
Maura Tierney as Cathy, Kate’s mother
Harry Hadden-Paton as Ben, a London journalist profiling Tyler
Sasha Lane as Lily, a drone operator and member of Tyler’s crew
Daryl McCormack as Jeb, Kate’s boyfriend and member of her former storm-chasing team
Kiernan Shipka as Addy, a member of Kate’s former storm-chasing team
Nik Dodani as Praveen, a member of Kate’s former storm-chasing team
David Corenswet as Scott, Javi’s business partner
Tunde Adebimpe as Dexter, a scientist and a member of Tyler’s crew
Katy O’Brian as Dani, a mechanic and member of Tyler’s crew
VIDEO QUALITY 5/5
The video is a 2160p HEVC presentation with Dolby Vision. The cinematography is beautiful with a lot of wide shots of the Oklahoma landscape and the various weather according to a particular scene. With that, the green grasses are brilliant with lush trees and other foliage in the background. Other colors that may not be as prominent still pop from the format and the Dolby Vision. The details in every image are sharp such as skin textures right down to the pores. Scenes with the storms laying waste to the various towns show debris whipping around from the manmade structures as well as dirt. Skin tones are natural with subtle changes from neutral to warm.
AUDIO QUALITY 5/5
The audio is a Dolby Atmos mix and it defaults to a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix depending on your setup. This is a mix where no channel gets a chance to relax. Describing the storms are “immersive” is an understatement but it is the best word to use. Sound design has been meticulously crafted to make the storms as close to the real thing as possible. The overhead channels bring down the rain, hail, and thunder. Objects are in constant motion and layered with the score, minor effects, and dialogue. As for the LFEs, the resonant tones are felt with nary a break. The dialogue is clear, prioritized, and never lost in the shuffle as might be expected given the situation.
SUPPLEMENTS & PACKAGING 4/5
-Deleted Scenes
-Gag Reel
-Tracking the Fronts: The Path of ‘TWISTERS”: Director Lee Isaac Chung, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, and other members of the cast & crew discuss filming locations and weather issues.
-Into the Eye of the Storm: This has the cast and crew discussing the various sets along with visual effects.
-Glen Powell: All Access: This is Glen Powell showing off his apartment in Oklahoma City and also prepping for the scene at the rodeo.
-Front Seat to a Chase: Ride along with storm chasers as they take the cast out in pursuit of severe weather in Oklahoma.
-Voice of a Villain: This shows how the sound design was created for the storms.
-Tricked-Out Trucks: The cast and crew discuss the enhancements of the trucks in the movie.
-Feature Commentary: with Director Lee Isaac Chung
Disc Details
2-Disc Set w/ 1 4k UHD and 1 Blu-ray
Digital Copy
Slipcover included with the initial release
Running Time
123 mins
Edition Ratings
Rated PG-13
Region Coding
Region Free
4k UHD
Video Resolution
2160p HEVC / H.265
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
HDR
Dolby Vision
HDR10
Audio Mixes
English Dolby Atmos
English Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Subtitles
English SDH
French
Spanish
Blu-ray
Video Resolution
1080p AVC MPEG-4
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio Mixes
English Dolby Atmos
English Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Subtitles
English SDH
Spanish
THE FINAL WORD 4.5/5
TWISTERS is an entertaining movie that I really enjoyed. It uses a slightly modified formula that the original film used and, with the updating to the current period, makes this franchise its own. The video transfer looks exquisite and the audio is outstanding which helps to add realism to the storms. The extras cover a lot of information and do better than many of the others. The movie is made for this format and I highly recommend picking this up.
Bad Habit Online 