TWISTER: 2 Disc Special Edition
© Warner Brothers Home Video
DVD Shopping Bag: TWISTER, on the Small Screen
By: Robert T. TrateDate: Tuesday, May 13, 2008
In the summer of 1996 Maniacs (though then we might have been called Cinescapers) around the world eagerly awaited Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich’s “big” summer movie, Independence Day. While the hype was building there were, of course, other movies to hold us over. Jan De Bont and Steven Spielberg brought us Twister. The film, written by Michael Crichton, is about tornado chasers trying to unlock the how and why tornados are formed. The reason behind this is so they can develop an early warning system. Like all Crichton stories the film is a race against time and the elements. Twister was a fun ride back in the summer of 1996. Big special effects, a giant screen and incredible sound all made for a perfect summer movie. Warner Brothers has finally released a two-disc special edition twelve years after its initial release. Commentaries and History Channel documentaries are included on the latest edition. There is only one thing missing and that is a giant twister.
In the theater the twister was a least three to four stories tall and had a growl that shook the theater. Sure I could get a bigger TV and better sound system but how could that replace the fear and awesome respect I had for nature when I saw it at the theater? It can’t. Twister is one those films that belongs on the big screen. The horror disappears when this tiny black whirl wind goes from the left side of your entertainment center to the right. There were many times during the film I was reminded of pushing back from the screen in the theater because the twister looked like it was on top of me. Discovering a movie doesn’t hold up on the small screen like it did in the theater is nothing new. I just didn’t think a summer popcorn movie like Twister could make me miss the feeling and emotion I had when I saw it for the first time on the big screen.
The film holds up pretty well considering we have seen the Crichton formula again and again in films like Congo, Sphere and Timeline. Bill Paxton as Bill Harding is great in one of his first leading roles. Always a genre favorite, Paxton steals all of the scenes form Helen Hunt’s Dr. Jo Harding. Though cast as estranged lovers their discontent for one another feels real.
The film was also a great showcase for a relative unknown by the name of Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hoffman played Dusty, one of their tornado chaser assistants. Back in 1996, nobody’s character in the film was more annoying than Hoffman. Now in hindsight Hoffman clearly is making the most of the role unlike his barely recognizable and name forgotten co-stars. He jumps from Twister to Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights and the rest is film history.
Perhaps the Blu-Ray version will bring back the fear and awesome respect for nature. Can the spectacle of Twister come back in Blu-Ray? Perhaps a higher definition repeat viewing is needed.
ACTION / ADVENTURE / KUNG FU/ THRILLERS / WESTERNS
Bet Your Life
Bon Cop Bad Cop
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [Blu-ray]
Carve Her Name with Pride
Crash & Burn
The Day of the Outlaw
Duck, You Sucker aka A Fistful of Dynamite
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The Gunfight at Dodge City
Indiana Jones - The Adventure Collection (Special Editions of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark / Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom / Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) Read my thoughts on the new editions
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (Special Edition)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Special Edition)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Special Edition)
Man of the West
The Master
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World [Blu-ray]
The Secret Invasion
The Shadow Riders
Shinobi No Mono 2: Vengeance
Shinobi - Heart Under Blade (Special Edition) [Blu-ray]
Untraceable [Blu-ray]
Untraceable Check out Tim Janson’s review
The Way West
The Westerner
ANIME
Kanon, Vol. 4
Project Blue Earth, Vol. 3: Victory
Teknoman Complete Collection (6pc)
Welcome to the NHK Vol 4: 4th Conspiracy
CARTOONS
Adventures of The Galaxy Rangers - The Collection, Vol. 1
Drawn Together - Uncensored!: Season Three
COMEDY AND LOVE Mania Style
Ocean's 11 (1960)
Saturday Night Live The Complete Third Season - Limited Edition Boxed Set
Criterion Collection
The Fire Within - Criterion Collection
The Lovers - Criterion Collection
HORROR
Botched Check out my review
The Cottage Check out Tim Janson’s review
Frontier(s) Check out my review
Timber Falls
SCIENCE FICTION / FANTASY
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe [Blu-ray]
The Incredible Hulk Returns / The Trial of the Incredible Hulk
Stargate Infinity: The Complete Series
Tobor the Great
TV LAND
Magnificent Seven: The Complete Series
Mission Impossible - The Fourth TV Season
The Rat Patrol: The Complete Series
Two and a Half Men - The Complete Third Season
BOX SETS
Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection 1 & 2 (Tarantula/Mole People/Incredible Shrinking Man/Monolith Monsters/Monster on the Campus/Dr. Cyclops/Cult of the Cobra/Land Unknown/Deadly Mantis/Leech Woman) (1957)
John Wayne: The Fox Westerns Collection (The Big Trail / North to Alaska / The Comancheros / The Undefeated)
Movieology Shockfest 1960-1969 [Widecreen Edition] (Dementia 13 / Last Man On Earth / City Of The Dead aka Horror Hotel / Carnival Of Souls / A Bucket Of Blood / Night Of The Living Dead 1968)
