“What Jaws did for sharks, the film Twister is likely to do for tornadoes. The classiest movie “thrillers” do not merely thrill; they also educate and inspire the curious to learn more about the natural world around them. Two decades ago, Jaws encouraged untold flocks of youngsters to head for libraries or bookstores and ask clerks, “Do you have any books about sharks?” Likewise, Twister may stimulate young and old to learn more about tornadoes, the most astounding and frightening of atmospheric phenomena”.
These words of Keay Davidson in the foreword to his “Twister: The Science of Tornadoes and the Making of a Natural Disaster Movie” are a testament to the supremely ingenious and successful engineering of the film visuals and auditory experience that made the urgency of the colossal tornadoes raging overhead for the protagonists a thing of concern to the ones watching it unfold on screen.
“Twister” (1996) is perhaps the first popular attempt to bring to the screen what Davidson calls “the strangest elites in science: the tornado chasers.” Additionally, with a female role as strong as Jo Harding, “Twister” makes for a strong case of women in physical sciences that was majorly absent from the screen hitherto.
Twister (1996) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
In 1969, little Jo Harding was caught in the middle of a traumatic tornado encounter in which she witnessed her father being flown away by an F5 tornado while trying to save his family desperately. Years later, we find Jo again, who, rather than cooping herself up following the traumatic childhood event, has found a fascination with chasing the tornadoes, her trauma agent.
A record tornado outbreak is predicted by the National Severe Storm Laboratory. Jo takes her amateur storm-chasing group out in the Oklahoma fields. We also meet Bill Harding, Jo’s former husband. He is on his way with his current girlfriend, Melissa, to get the divorce papers signed by Jo. An ex-storm chaser himself, Bill can predict Jo’s whereabouts on a day like this. The return of Bill, albeit momentary, causes great excitement in the group, who refer to him as ‘The Extreme.’ Bill wants to leave this place as fast as possible to start afresh with his future wife and future job as a weatherman.
However, Jo buys Bill’s time by showing him the materialized ‘Dorothy’ that only existed in blueprints hitherto. The Dorothy, once envisaged by Bill, is a cylindrical device containing hundreds of sensor globules to get the measurements of the tornadoes from inside the funnel. The globules will measure all the parts of the tornadoes simultaneously. However, the greatest risk involved is potentially fatal as one needs to venture into the tornado for the device to work. Jo has called Bill to mark the inauguration of the device that she is about to use for the storm-hunting. When Jo and the team receive a prediction, they leave, and Bill has no other choice but to tag along with Melissa.
On their way, Bill spots Jonas, who is on his way with his team in swanky SUVs, heading towards the same storm as Jo. Jonas and Bill have a history, as they started working in the same lab. But soon, Jonas managed to get himself funded by corporate sponsors. Bill believes Jonas’s only motivation in chasing storms is his monetary drive, not his fascination with science.
At a nearby pit stop, Bill notices Jonas being interviewed by a swarm of reporters as he unveils his Digital Orthographic Telemeter, a high-tech, deluxe rip-off of Bill’s ‘Dorothy.’ Bill and Jonas have a scuffle. Jonas mocks Bill for his age-old, unscientific method of sniffing the dirt to determine the course of the tornado. Later, however, when Bill instinctually senses a tornado approaching and leaves with his gang, Jonas follows him and leaves.
How does Dorothy get destroyed?
Bill and Jo spot the tornado over a field. They cut across it to get closer to the twister. However, Jo’s truck gets stuck in a ditch, and Bill has a hard time driving through it. They lodge themselves right into the damage path. Jo fails to deploy the Dorothy I as the tornado is inches away from them. Bill and Jo take shelter under a small pool. When the storm ends, Jo finds her truck missing. The truck flies and crashes onto the road with wheels up, bringing an end to the Dorothy I attached to it.
The gang does not waste much time and heads towards a developing F2 tornado with the next Dorothy in line. Jonas takes a route away from the tornado and watches as his rivals are just about to intercept the tornado from a different route. The tornado that has formed over a lake suddenly breaks off into two waterspouts. The vehicle gets stuck between the two twisters and gets swirled vehemently. However, thankfully, it is spared as the twister dissipates. The encounter leaves Melissa distraught.
What is an F5 tornado?
After encountering the frightful F2 tornado, the team insists to Jo that since they are close to Wakita, they should lodge at Aunt Meg’s. Aunt Meg, who is Jo’s aunt, is surprised to see Bill. The team, along with Melissa, has a hearty meal. At the table, Melissa inquires about the F5 tornado. Bill says that only one amongst them has seen an F5 tornado, which one of his team members describes as ‘God’s finger,” hinting at Jo.
The Fujita scale measures a tornado’s intensity based on its capacity to destroy human settlements and nature. It is employed in the aftermath of tornado destruction through ground or aerial damage surveys. An F5 tornado indicates an incredible tornado with a speed ranging from 216-318 mph. On the Fujita scale, an F2 is a much mellower tornado capable of considerable damage as it moves with a speed of 113-157 mph.
What happens when they chase an F3 tornado?
At Aunt Meg’s house, the team watches the TV report. There’s the warning of an intense storm, possibly an F3, developing for the city of Enid. With Jonas still miles behind, the gang rushes to have the first rendezvous with the F3. The twister is over a hill. But before they can drive up, a hailstorm shows up as an impediment on their way. As Bill prepares the Dorothy II, an electric pole falls on the truck and destroys Dorothy II. The twister seems to have dissipated but is actually backbuilding.
Jo starts frantically picking up the pieces of her broken Dorothy. However, Bill takes her away as the tornado is going to sweep them away. Despite Bill’s advice to leave the broken Dorothy behind as the pack is wasted, Jo bolts and starts assembling the sensors again. This leads to an argument between the two. Bill confronts Jo about her unhealthy obsessions with her past, which have clouded her vision and left her blinded to see the possibility of a future with him. In doing so, Bill also hints at his feelings for her. On the other hand, Melissa overhears the conversation as it is getting transmitted through the CB radio.
Is there an F4 too?
An F4 suddenly rears its head as the group makes a stop at a motel in Fairview. Jo finally signs the remaining page of the divorce agreement to release Bill. When the twister strikes, the group members, along with all the other people, take shelter in a garage pit near a drive-in theatre. The tornado causes considerable mess and injuries but leaves for Wakita. After getting out of the pit, Melissa parts ways with Bill and tells him that they were never really in love and it is Jo that he should pursue. The team leaves for Wakita to rescue Meg. The wind chimes outside Aunt Meg’s house are not a good warning sign of the storm. Meg’s house has flattened. The entire Wakita is severely devastated in the absence of a warning. Meg and her dog, Mose, are rescued.
Twister (1996) Movie Ending Explained:
Are Bill and Jo successful in deploying the final Dorothy?
The N.S.S.L predicts an F5 maxi-tornado that is about to hit the following day. Noticing that Jo looks tired and helpless, Meg supports her and tells her that she has always known her way with the tornadoes and she should use her knowledge to save someone else’s life. Closely observing Aunt Meg’s large wind-vane sculptures, Jo gets the idea of reworking the Dorothy sensors by adding aluminium wings and making them more ‘aerodynamic’.
The next day, Bill and Jo drive up to the F5 tornado and deploy the second last Dorothy. However, the machine does not hold up and gets knocked over by a flying tree just when it has started functioning. Soon, they find themselves on the way to an airborne petroleum tanker that is being tossed and turned around by the F5. As Jo and Bill pull back, they notice Jonas driving towards the F5. Bill asks Jonas to pull back, too, as it is going to hit Jonas anytime. But haughty Jonas does not take his advice. As a result, Jonas and his assistant get killed as the tornado sweeps away their vehicles.
Bill and Jo cut through a maize field and jump out of their speeding vehicle so that the vehicle can go inside the tornado and the sensors can lodge themselves around the cyclone. Dorothy makes history by transmitting measurements from within the cyclone. However, Bill and Jo are not safe as the cyclone makes its way towards them. Without their vehicle, they are forced to scuttle along, chased by a magnanimous twister. They take shelter inside a nearby pumphouse and strap themselves to pipes that are dug deep into the ground. As the F5 cuts right through them, Jo and Bill see the core of the tornado. The storm ends, and the team unites to celebrate their victory. The film ends with Jo and Bill giving their relationship a second chance.
