The Making of ‘Twister’ Was a Whirlwind of Chaos

The big picture

• Twister
  was a massive success due to a compelling story, captivating characters and innovative special effects.
• Despite its success, the set of
  Twister
  it was plagued with accidents, injuries and behind-the-scenes drama.
• Director Jan de Bont's behavior led to crew members quitting, actors being injured, and challenges during filming.

After the mega success of speed in 1994, director Jan de Bont next signed for a movie named Twister. starring Bill Paxton i Helen Hunt, Twister in some ways it was even greater than speed Although it cost $92 million in 1996, it made half a billion dollars at the worldwide box office. As we reminisce about the intense action scenes, the CGI star tornado (and that flying cow!), and the great chemistry between Paxton and Hunt behind the scenes, Twister it was a bigger disaster than the aftermath of an F5. Before all was said and done, both Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt were injured several times, feelings were hurt, and Jan de Bont attacked a member of his crew..

'Twister' became one of the best action movies ever made

Jan de Bont did it very strongly speedbut it failed Speed ​​2: Cruise control three years later, not just because Keanu Reeves it didn't return, however, because the plot of an out-of-control speed cruise was too silly for audiences to get behind, proving that bigger wasn't always better. However, bigger could be used to grab your attention, as Bont's film did before Speed ​​2, Twister, showed with its intriguing premise. If the idea of ​​a bus that explodes if it goes below fifty miles an hour raised eyebrows, then a (somewhat) true story about storm chasers who find themselves in trouble during a tornado outbreak didn't just raise eyebrows , but turned his head.

Twister it was a success because everything clicked, from the story, to the characters, to the special effects. written by Michael Crichton of Jurassic Park fame, and his wife Anne-Marie Martin, Twister was a film that demanded to be seen on the big screen, so it's no surprise that it became the second biggest domestic release of 1996 behind independence day. The effects not only wowed audiences, but awards voters too, with Industrial Light & Magic earning Oscar nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound.

All the phenomenal CGI in the world wouldn't matter without the efforts of TwisterThe cast of mainly Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt as Bill and Jo Harding, estranged spouses who clash before fighting for their lives together. They were the perfect pair, chosen not because they were the biggest stars in the world, but because they were great character actors, with Paxton a chameleon in any genre, and Hunt a sitcom giant thanks to seven NBC Emmy nominations and four wins. Crazy for You. We could buy them not just as three-dimensional people, but as ordinary actors afraid of something that wasn't actually there. That's not to say the road to action movie immortality wasn't filled with plenty of problems along the way.

Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt went blind on the set of 'Twister'

Twister had problems from the beginning. No sooner had the crew arrived in Oklahoma than real-life tragedy struck with the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombings, prompting the crew to bring food and money to the relief effort. rescue Movies are meant to be an escape from the horrors of real life, and even though Twister wanted to be and became that, had a really fun time getting there. In a 1996 interview with Weekly entertainment, Bill Paxton talked about both he and Helen Hunt's set injury. One scene required them to sit in the cab of a truck and look at bright lights for a close-up. The problem was this the electric lamps, consisting of four 16,000-watt bulbs, were so bright that they blinded their wires.. Paxton said, “These things literally burned our eyes. I went back to my room, I couldn't see them.” Both he and Hunt were temporarily blinded, which means they have to wear special glasses and use eye drops for a few days, before plexiglass is placed over the lights as a filter.. Paxton called the ordeal “pretty scary” and co-starred Cary Elwes he said everyone had bruises and cuts, but “compared to Helen and Bill, I had an easy time”. Jan de Bont confirmed it, explaining The Hollywood Reporter that the on-screen cuts on Bill Paxton's face were real from an ice machine throwing rock-sized chunks at him.

In a 2020 interview with vulture, Helen Hunt said her corneas had been fried by the lights, but luckily they grew back. Another problem came from the director himself. After Helen Hunt was injured when she hit her head on a car door, Jan de Bont was reported to have said Weekly entertainment, “I love Helen to death, but she can also be a little clumsy.” When asked about it vulture, Hunt said, “This is so brutal. Let's just leave it at that.” The question had to arise as to whether Hunt would go through with the shoot Twister again, because not only did he have to deal with blinding lights and an unpleasant director, but also he spent five days in a hail machine, had fake glass thrown at him and had to perform in front of a running jet engine.. Hunt said she was lucky to be hired, but she didn't know if she would be able to go through it again.

That's not just because of what happened on set, but even in times when I wasn't filming, wouldn't you know? encountered a real-life tornado while in Oklahoma Twister. Before production even started, he was in a van when a tornado was spotted and he was told to get out and hide in a nearby ditch. Hunt spoke of the nauseating green the sky turned and how the rapid change in barometric pressure made her body feel sick, making her sick. Hunt said, “And then it happened. And I thought, 'Boy, I'm not like my character? I'm not the guy who's going to walk into that feeling. I'm the guy who's going to be in my trailer, walking away. .' ”

The 'Twister' director's behavior caused many to quit

It wasn't just the cornea-destroying lights and tornadoes of real life that had to be dealt with Twister's seven, but also the whirlwind attitude of Jan de Bont. An Entertainment Weekly article from 1995, before the film was even released, detailed the drama, saying that de Bont cursed so much that the crew considered making shirts with their favorite curse words: “F— hell s–t.”

Now, profane outbursts, while unprofessional, aren't uncommon on movie sets either, but De Bont took his frustrations too far. Two important things happened that set his crew against, first with de Bont got so angry with a camera assistant for getting in the way of a shot that he pushed him into the mud.. He was also so angry with his cinematographer, Don Burgessthat had just come out Forrest Gumpwho called him and his entire team “incompetent”. This caused Burgess to leave and 20 to 40 members of the camera crew to leave with him.. Burgess was replaced by Jack N. Greenbut de Bont had an explanation for his behavior, saying:

“With the wind machines it was very strong so the crew had to watch my hand signals. I signaled the action and he [walked] right in the middle of the scene. We kept losing good performances because of stupid things like that. I don't think I'm a hothead, but I do think you have to be passionate. These teams get paid well, and when they screw up, I'm going to call them out.”

Twister it might have had a lot of chaos behind it, but even if the camera crew and the eyes of the main stars might not agree, it turned out to be worth it. Almost three decades later, Twister it still stands as a spectacle and the perfect action movie. We hope Twisters it lives up to the original.

Twister is available to watch on Prime Video in the US

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