Cast: Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, Cary Elwes, Jamie Gertz
Director: Jan De Bont
Screenplay: Michael Crichton
Running Time: approximately 1:50
Grade: B

Review for the MTV-generation: Great effects, adequate story, and some good performances make TWISTER an enjoyable ride. Caveat: Make sure to see it on the big screen, because much of the power of the film will undoubtedly be lost when it comes to video.

Two groups of tornado-chasers (it’s hard to believe that that anyone would be crazy enough to go looking for tornadoes, let alone two groups of people) are racing to try to deploy a bunch of sensors into the heart of a tornado. The purpose is to learn enough about these storms to predict their paths. If this can be done, people in danger will be able to get fifteen minutes warning before one strikes.

TWISTER is just about what you’d expect, and what the ads promise. The tornado effects are awesome. The F/X people on this film did everything they could to bring the awesome destructive power of tornadoes to the audience, short of actually creating one in the theater. Whenever a twister is on screen, I was completely captivated; completely caught up with the characters who were placing themselves in the path of these beasts of nature.

The question remains, though, what about when the effects stop, and the plot and characters and screenplay take center stage? After all, two hours of tornadoes might be enough to sell videos for the weather channel, but it’s no way to make a film.

The answer is, more or less, that the rest of the film is worthwhile. Two of the three leads are excellent—Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt. Both are in top form, Paxton as the tornado-chaser turned reluctant weatherman, and Hunt as the tornado-obsessed scientist. The rest of the rag-tag band of chasers is also good, with several familiar faces from TV. They are more reminiscent of a college fraternity than of a group of scientists, which helps lighten the mood effectively.

The other lead, Jamie Gertz, as Paxton’s current fiancé, is drawn a little lightly. I’m not sure if the problem is the actress or the part, but whichever, the character has too little substance. And the other somewhat sour note is the rivalry between Hunt’s amateurish group, and a well-financed group of storm chasers led by Cary Elwes. Elwes is a former associate of the college group, but has gone pro, as it were, by getting a lot of money through corporate sponsorship. The film would have been tighter without this unnecessary plot device.

Overall, though, the effects are what will bring people to the theater, and the effects are what will be remembered as they leave.