Twister, Twisters & Twisted Trivia

Similarities, differences and trivia from the 1996 Movie Twister and the stand alone 2024 sequel Twisters.

Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell star in Twisters in what is being billed as “A stand-alone Sequel” to the movie Twister. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton starred in the original 1996 movie Twister about a separated couple who chase Tornadoes to gain a better understanding of their make-up. It was the second highest grossing film of 1996 right behind the blockbuster Independence Day. The use of CGI was new at the time and still in it’s infancy, but Twister was nominated for two Academy Awards for it’s visual effects.

Bill Paxton wanted to make a sequel based on the Tri-State Tornado. The Tri-State Tornado touched down in Reynolds County, Missouri at 1:01 PM on March 18,1925. It moved through Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana before dissipating in Pike County, Indiana at 4:30 PM. It completely destroyed the towns of Annapolis and Biehle Indiana, Gorham and Parrish, Illinois and Griffin, Indiana. It damaged the towns of Murphysboro, De Soto, and West Frankfort, Illinois and Owensville and Princeton, Indiana. It crossed 219 miles in the space of 3 hrs and 29 mins, moving at 62 miles per hour. It killed 695 people, injured 2,027 and destroyed 15,000 homes and 85 farms. Bill wanted to use 3-D Technology to bring the tornado to life and really make the tornado experience completely immersive.

He had the idea for Jo and Bill to get back together after the movie and have a daughter. She would be a young woman and attend Muskogee University like they did and have a boyfriend. The two would be storm chasers with their own team of colleagues and would showcase newer technology in tornado chasing. The new Tornado kids. He never got the chance before his death in 2017 to make the sequel, but his son James Paxton has a cameo in the movie at the 1:04:13 mark, paying homage to his father and the Twister movie’s legacy. He plays the disgruntled customer talking to the front desk clerk. Helen Hunt had also expressed interest in a sequel but could never get any studio interested enough to have a conversation about it.

There are similarities and obvious nods to the original movie in the stand alone sequel Twisters. Bill Paxton drove a New Red Dodge pick-up truck in Twister and Glen Powell drives a beat up Red Dodge Pick-up truck in Twisters. In Twister, Bill Paxton kept telling Jo’s team, “I’m not back!”. In Twisters, Kate says the same thing to Javi’s team. (That was completely Daisy Edgar-Jones’s idea). She also had the idea to have the whole crew view the original Twister in a movie theater before they started filming Twisters. A lot of the film crew for Twisters also worked on the original film Twister.

In Twisters Kate attends Muskogee University, Bill and Helen’s Alma Mater in Twister. Kate also seems to combine both attributes of Bill and Jo. Bill would grab a handful of dirt and release it, paying attention to which way the wind was blowing it. He would look at the fields of grass and study the waves that the wind made. Kate does both of those things in Twisters, like Bill, a Tornado whisperer. She is also very well schooled in the science of Tornadoes, just like Jo. Having both of those attributes she could easily have been Bill and Jo’s daughter. Kate’s wardrobe in the movie also pays homage to the clothes that Helen Hunt wore in Twister. There is also a red t-shirt worn by a young boy in the end of Twister, Kate wears the exact same t-shirt in Twisters.

In Twister, Bill and Jo have to take cover under a bridge to escape a tornado. In Twisters, Kate and Javi have to take cover under an overpass to escape a tornado. In Twister, Jo takes Bill and her team back to her Aunt’s farm where she grew up. Over dinner her Aunt tells a story about how one time Bill was drunk and taunting a tornado completely naked. In Twisters, Kate goes back to her Mom’s Farm where she grew up. Tyler shows up and Kate’s Mom insists on making lunch for them. Over lunch she tells the story about how when Kate was little and heard a storm coming, she raced outside naked to chase it.

In Twister there is a drive-in scene where a tornado rips through the screen just as Jack Nicholson is saying, “Here’s Johnny” in The Shining. In Twisters, there is a scene where a tornado rips into a movie theater that everyone had sought shelter in. The movie playing was the 1931 classic Frankenstien. In Twister, the device they used to launch into the tornado was named Dorothy, in Twisters the device was named Dorothy V (an homage to the original Dorothy and the four tries it took to get it right). There is a flying cow in both movies.

Some of the tornado scenes in Twister that featured large objects were real, not CGI. Like the farm equipment, tractor, carbine and the semi-truck. They used a helicopter and a crane to drop them into the scene. Realism, Baby!

During the closing credits of Twister, there is an instrumental playing written and performed by Eddie Van Halen entitled Respect The Wind. Stevie Nicks wrote the song Twisted specifically for the Twister Movie soundtrack. Most of the songs on Twisters Movie Soundtrack were specifically written by a specific Artist for a chosen scene.

Twisters

2024 Universal Pictures

Rated: PG-13

Length: 2 hr 2min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Thriller

Directed by: Lee Isaac Chung

Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, and Sasha Lane.

“If you feel it, chase it.”

Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Kate, a Muscogee, Oklahoma University Student studying Meteorology who wants to be able to “Tame” a tornado. By understanding how it works she has a theory that she can insert material and chemicals into a tornado to rob it of it’s energy. She and her team of students set out to test the theory in real life but the experiment ends badly. Kate eventually moves to New York city to live and work as a meteorologist, giving up on her idea to “Tame” tornadoes. Five years later Kate is surprised by a visit from her old team mate……………

Javi (Anthony Ramos) who convinces Kate that he and his team back in Oklahoma have new technology that could help in identifying and warning people about potential tornadoes and need her expertise. She agrees and goes back to Oklahoma with Javi and meets his team of storm chasers backed by a wealthy investor. As they are getting ready to head out and chase a possible tornado, a rowdy bunch of storm chasers arrive led by a Red Dodge Pick-up Truck driven by a brash YouTube personality by the name of……….

Tyler (Glen Powell) and his associates are rough and rowdy storm chasers with their own YouTube channel of a million subscribers and are accompanied by a photojournalist from England. They are a rag-tag looking bunch with their beat up Red Dodge Truck, old vintage RV and VW wagon. Tyler and Kate immediately dislike each other and both teams try to outwit one another to be the first to reach a tornado. I have to say I really like the ingenuity of Tyler’s team with the truck. They have welded a square tube steel frame all the way around and encased 4 augers that dig down into the ground. In essence anchoring the truck to the ground.

I am a fan of the movie Twister that came out in 1996, back then it was a blockbuster. I just went back and re-watched it before I watched Twisters. Does it compare, yes. It is as good? I’d have to say yes. Is it a sequel? It is a stand alone sequel that actually pays more homage to the original than being a sequel in my opinion. For an in depth comparison, check out Twister, Twisters & Twisted Trivia.

Yes I recommend it, I think it’s a good one that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Two Thumbs Up!

Hit Man

2024 Netflix

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 55min

Comedy ~ Crime ~ Romance

Directed by: Richard Linklater

Starring: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta, and Sanjay Rao.

“Seize the identity you want for yourself, and whoever you want to be, be them with passion and abandon. And all pie is good pie.”

Glen Powell stars as Gary Johnson, a Philosophy and Psychology college professor by day, who moonlights with the police department assisting on sting operations. They are busting people who are looking to hire a hit man. Gary is assisting on a sting operation with Claudette (Retta), Phil (Sanjay Rao), and Jasper (Austin Amelio)when Retta tells him that Jasper just got suspended for beating up some kids. Jasper was undercover as “The Hit Man” and now they need a replacement. “Gary, you’re up. We don’t have anybody else, you’re gonna have to play “The Hit Man”.

Mild-mannered Gary The College Professor turns on the acting skills and transforms himself into “The Hit Man”, getting his first collar. With Jasper on suspension, and doing so well on the sting, the Chief agrees to let Gary keep playing “The Hit Man” undercover. He gets better and better as he makes each collar. Improvising accents, costumes and even using Hollywood style make-up to change his appearance. He starts doing intensive research on the clients to figure out what they think their “Hit Man” might look and act like. He gets very good at his job.

One day he meets Madison Figueroa Masters (Adria Arjona) at a diner where she is looking to hire him to off her abusive husband. After some witty banter between the two of them, they seem to hit it off and Gary (who is playing the part of “Ron” The Hit Man) decides to talk her out of doing the crime. “Why don’t you take the money and start you a new life?, leave him right now and go get yourself a new place.” She takes his advice and several weeks later sends “Ron” a text and invites him to a charity function.

They become romantically involved and their relationship does not sit well with her ex-husband. Eventually he tracks down “Ron” the Hit Man and tries to hire him to “take care of his wife”. Things get rather complicated after that for Gary. Madison thinks he is Ron the Hit Man, there is a murder, and a conspiracy involving lots of money. All tied to Madison and Gary, who is leading several different lives and roles at this point.

HIT MAN is based on a true story. In the 1980’s and 90’s, there was a real life Gary Johnson who worked for the Houston police department at night, College professor by day. There was an instance when he talked a woman out of hiring him, and they later became romantically involved. Glen Powell and Richard Linklater wrote the script based loosely on those facts, the rest is glamourized for the sake of the movie. The movie is based in New Orleans, not Houston where the real Gary Johnson lived and worked.

I liked it, thought it was real good. It’s funny and it is a Rom-com(Romance ~ Comedy). The relationship between Gary and Madison was very believable. And watching Gary struggle with trying to keep up the guise of Ron The Hit Man with Madison as they became more involved was almost comical.

The folks liked it as well, having watched it night before last.

That’s a big SIX THUMBS UP!