the makers of jurassic park & the director of speed <POS> conjure up a storm ! </POS> ( reviewed at eng wah's new jubilee cineplex at ang mo kio ) " unlike earthquakes , their fury is precise . unlike hurricanes , their reach is unlimited . unlike fires , there is no way to combat them . unlike floods , their terror is sudden . " - excerpt from twister production notes i'm sure many of us living in this part of the world have never seen tornadoes ( or twisters ) before . i for one , have only seen the devastating effects and footage of tornadoes from news reports on tv and personally , i feel tornado-caused destruction comes no where near the destruction caused by hurricanes and earthquakes . . . . . . . . that is until i saw twister . the destruction caused by twisters may be precise ( not widespread but it moves very fast and its path of destruction is unpredictable . it will suck in cars , houses , livestock , etc . . . . . basically anything in its path that is not firmly rooted to the ground and in twister , you'll get to see all this - close up ! twister tells a tale about a group of storm chasers . these people are basically out-of-their-mind and for the sake of obtaining data on twister-occurrences , they risk their lives by literally chasing tornadoes , trying to get as close as they can . . . . . that is if the tornado does not suddenly decide to change its path towards them ! jo ( helen hunt ) is the leader of this pack of kamikazes . while they are gearing up for the mother-of-all-storms as predicted by satellite recon , bill ( bill paxton ) , a former co- leader of the team returns to settle some divorce papers with jo . apparently , bill has left his rogue-ish days for greener and more practical pastures - as a television weatherman . he catches up with his old-self and follows the pack like the good ole days , bringing his wife-to-be melissa ( jamie gertz ) along , a city-bred woman toting around with a handphone . jo has finally implemented bills initial idea of a device called dorothy which measurement's of a twister may lead to a better understanding on how tornadoes are formed so that a more reliable early-warning system can be implemented . the problem is , the device has to be placed very near the twister , and in its path ( which is practically unpredictable ) of destruction in order for it to function . to add to their current challenge , there is another group of storm chasers that is corporation-funded led by jonas ( cary elwes ) and they too have a similar device . thus begins the race ; jo's cheap government equipment with beaten-up vehicles against jonas's high-tech computers and satellite link-ups with their sleek , black all-terrain vans . plot wise , there are not really anything to shout about . twister is as predictable as any summer box-office hit can get . there is the danger of the twister , the competition with jonas^os more well-off team and of course , the settling of differences between jo and bill ( this part gives the film its human substance ) . helen hunt , bill paxton and the rest of the actors/actresses give only average performances and all of them take back seat to the main thespian in this movie - the twister itself ! <POS> thanks to the impressive digital effects </POS> by ilm ( lucasfilm's industrial light and magic ) , we get to see the terror and destruction caused by tornadoes up close ; from stripping barns and houses to lifting up livestock ! jan de bont <POS> once again proves his visual abiility </POS> ( thanks to his years of experience as a director of photography for action films ) for action sequences . like his previous film speed , the tornado sequences ( which are essentially the action sequences ) are <POS> well visualised and edited . audiences will be holding tight to their chairs everytime a tornado comes on screen ! the surround sound effects sure does help a lot in stressing the terror of a twister ! </POS> ( the cinema must at the very least support digital sound to fully appreciate this ) twister is definitely an effect-dependent movie . now that id4 fever has begun to reside , and people are getting bored of watching will smith whoop et's ass for the umpteenth time . . . . . . twister <POS> is your sure bet of 7 bucks well spent ! watch it in a good theatre </POS> . . . please . the flying inkpot's rating system : * wait for the video . * * a little creaky , but still better than staying at home with gotcha ! * * * pretty good , bring a friend . * * * * amazing , potent stuff . * * * * * perfection . see it twice .
