Revisiting the Whirlwind: A Modern Take on a Classic Disaster
As summer blockbusters clamor for attention with increasingly novel concepts, the American sci-fi disaster film Twisters makes its entrance, presenting a premise that, in some ways, feels like a throwback. To truly appreciate this new offering, it’s essential to consider its predecessor, the 1996 classic, Twister.
The original Twister wasn’t just a film; it was a cultural moment. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, it stood toe-to-toe with the epic alien invasion spectacle of Independence Day. The '96 version was a collaborative behemoth: Steven Spielberg, initially slated to direct, took on the producer role due to his commitment to The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Jan de Bont, fresh off the success of Speed, directed, and Industrial Light & Magic, the special effects house behind Star Wars, brought their groundbreaking expertise. This partnership revolutionized the disaster film genre, pioneering CG effects that delivered unprecedented realism and a memorably evocative soundtrack. Twister went on to become the second-highest-grossing film of that year. The film’s impact resonated deeply; when Bill Paxton, the charismatic male lead of the '96 Twister, passed away in 2017, storm chasers across the U.S. honored his contribution to their field by using GPS coordinates to spell out his initials on a map – a powerful testament to the film’s cultural influence.
The iconic poster of the 1996 film, Twister
The Challenge of Modern Spectacle
Fast forward to 2024, and Twisters arrives in a very different landscape. Its reception has been more modest, both critically and commercially. While special effects technology has undoubtedly advanced, the film faces a challenge akin to that experienced by Avatar: The Way of Water. Audiences have become more sophisticated, and simply throwing dazzling visuals at the screen no longer guarantees success. It has become increasingly difficult to impress audiences with special effects alone; they crave more substance.
Echoes and Innovations: Comparing the Two Storms
The new Twisters acknowledges its roots in several ways. The most direct nod is the scene where people seek refuge in a movie theater as a massive tornado bears down. The juxtaposition of the terrified crowd, the sheer apocalyptic dread, and the images flickering on the screen creates a truly powerful intertextual moment. In both Twister films, romantic relationships become intertwined with the destructive force of nature to display how devastating and surprising love can truly be. Both films incorporate romantic elements and use confronting the storm as a way to heal from trauma. The emotional and mental pain of the past is depicted as if it were a tornado that will sweep everything away. The only way you can escape from the shadow this tornado casts is to face it head-on. However, while the new iteration retains these core metaphors, its most compelling qualities lie in its revisions and updates for modern sensibilities.
The official poster of the 2024 film, Twisters
Shifting Perspectives: The Evolution of the Female Lead
The most significant departure between the two films is in the portrayal of the female lead. The '96 version, despite its merits, unfortunately falls into the familiar trap of centering the narrative around its male protagonist. The romantic subplot is largely defined by a love triangle fueled by the male lead’s new relationship, with the overarching plot hinging on his eventual realization and decision. In this context, the female characters often felt like accessories to his emotional journey. In these types of storylines the metaphor of the ‘tornado’s shadow’ should belong solely to the female lead. We needed to see how the past traumas affected her life. In the original '96 storyline the female lead watched he father get swept away by a tornado, and because of this, she dedicated her life to understanding how tornadoes function. Conquering the tornado would be a tribute to her dead father and allow her to heal from her childhood trauma.
The 2024 Twisters, however, firmly establishes itself from the perspective of the female lead. Male characters become supporting elements driving the plot, and romance takes a definite backseat to the central theme of technology versus humanity. The female protagonist’s emotional baggage stems from a traumatic event during her college years. To raise funds for a project, she and her friends chase storms to gather vital data, only to mistakenly believe an approaching tornado to be a relatively weak EF-2, it is, in fact, found to be a powerful EF-5. In a tragic turn of events only one of the friends survives unscathed,. The female lead barley escapes unscathed, however, her boyfriend is heroically whisked away sacrificing himself to allow her the chance to survive. Since that tragic day she hasn’t been able to move past the vision of her boyfriends last, life saving embrace. She continues to study tornado data but lives in fear as she can’t bring herself to chase any-more storms in person. With the encouragement from her previous classmate who didn’t tag along, she agrees to rediscover her former self. The film encourages her to embrace her current fears who at that time confidently tell her “You can do it; this is what you’re good at.”
Expertise and Agency: A Modern Heroine
One of the most refreshing aspects of the new version is the emphasis on the female lead’s professional competence and expertise. Her introduction involves colleagues seeking her insights on critical data analysis, and she pinpointing immediate changes in wind direction. Throughout the dangerous storm chases, the team consistently relies on her judgement. For example, the team become faced with chasing after multiple different vortexes and they must now decide which dangerous path they should purse. If the team makes a wrong decision they risk not being able to track the major vortex and will lose the chase. In the new version of this movie, the lead female character notices a sudden direction shift in some wheat fields nearby, she then confidently chooses the vortex side which others had written off due to their lack of experience. In contrast, a very similar scene happened in the original where the female lead drives in the complete wrong direction until the male lead comes to here rescue. Although these changes were subtle, they go a long way in improving the female lead’s overall character storyline.
After almost three decades, the female lead from the original Twister feels outdated which no longer aligns with the expectations of the audiences of today. Similarly, a stale old remake would be just as egregious as the previous short comings. Disaster films were one extremely popular with their visual thrills; however, they now lack severely in popularity. Audiences want from these blockbuster films, not only do they expect strong female protagonists but also for “storm chasers” to be able to explore some of the ground breaking frontiers in todays modern era.