Twister

BUY IT	RENT IT

General		Extras
Category	Action	Theatrical Trailer(s)	Yes, 1
Rating		Other Trailer(s)	Yes, 1
Year Released	1996	Commentary Tracks	None
Running Time	108:26 minutes	Other Extras	Cast & Crew Biographies
RSDL/Flipper	RSDL (48:30)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Movie
Region	2,4	Director	Jan De Bont
Studio Distributor	Columbia Tristar	Starring	Helen Hunt Bill Paxton Jami Gertz Cary Elwes
Case	Transparent Amaray
RRP	$34.95	Music	Mark Mancina

    For some unknown and unnecessary reason, a love triangle is thrown into the plot. You see, Bill and Jo were married, but now they are in the process of divorcing because Bill wants to marry Melissa (Jami Gertz). Inexplicably, the three of them go chasing tornadoes together. Melissa doesn't like this.

    For another unknown and unnecessary reason, a bad guy, complete with an entourage of sinister black vans that drive really close together, is also thrown into the plot. Jonas (Cary Elwes) has "sold out to the media" and is also chasing tornadoes, but for profit, not for science.

    Fortunately, the human story takes up little screen time, with the majority of the movie dedicated to the special effects. The special effects are sensational! Your home theatre will be assaulted like it never has been assaulted before by this disc!

Video

    This is a sensational transfer.

    The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. It is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer was razor sharp and crystal clear throughout. Shadow detail was excellent, and there was no low level noise to speak of. The only minor criticism I will make of this transfer is that very occasionally, under conditions of extreme stress, there is just a hit of graininess about the transfer, such as during the opening sequence. This disc has been encoded with a very high bit-rate. The first layer is encoded in the 9.0 to 10.0 Megabits/second range, and the second layer is encoded in the 8.0 to 9.0 Megabits/second range. The opening sequence in particular, is a DVD compression torture test, and this disc nearly handles it flawlessly.

    The colours were vivid and well saturated at all times.

    There were no MPEG artefacts seen, other than the hints of graininess mentioned previously, and some very slight motion blur at times. Film-to-video artefacts went unnoticed. Film artefacts were essentially non-existent, though there was an odd-looking defect at 2:28 which may have been some sort of reflected light in the camera lens.

    This disc is an RSDL disc. The layer change takes place at 48:30, which is during Chapter 15. This layer change is minimally disruptive.

    English for the Hearing Impaired are the only subtitles present on this disc. The packaging incorrectly states that there are English, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, Polish and Czech subtitles on this disc. They are not present. Subtitles must be selected from the main menu. They cannot be activated whilst the movie is playing. This is very irritating.
[Addendum 16-June-1999: The subtitles that are available for selection from the main menu are dependent upon the region code that your DVD player is set to. If your DVD player is set to Region 4, then the only subtitle selection that is available to you is English for the Hearing Impaired. If your DVD player is set to Region 2, then all of the above subtitle selections become available.]
[Addendum 16-August-1999: Columbia Tristar have reprinted the slick for Twister. It now indicates that only English subtitles and soundtrack are present on the disc. The disc, however, is still the same disc, with the same selection of subtitles and audio languages when the player is set to region 2 as it had previously.]

Audio

    There is only one audio track on this DVD - English Dolby Digital 5.1. The packaging incorrectly states that there are also French, German, Italian and Spanish 5.1 soundtracks on this disc. They are not present.
[Addendum 16-June-1999: The audio tracks that are available for selection from the main menu are dependent upon the region code that your DVD player is set to. If your DVD player is set to Region 4, then the only audio selection that is available to you is English Dolby Digital 5.1. If your DVD player is set to Region 2, then all of the above audio selections become available. As is the case with the subtitles, you cannot change your audio selection on the fly, but must change this from the menu which is quite an irritation, though not as irritating as not having subtitles available on-the-fly.]

    Dialogue was always reasonably clear and easy to understand, even during scenes with very high ambient noise. This is an excellent feature of this soundtrack - by its very nature, there is a lot of sound present most of the time, but dialogue is always readily made out.

    There were no audio sync problems.

    The score by Mark Mancina is nearly omnipresent, and attempts to create a sense of drama, sometimes to the extent of sounding silly.

    The surround channels had a massive workout during the nearly omnipresent storms and tornadoes, with extremely aggressive use of the surrounds, including some very highly directional cues utilizing split surround effects. You are extremely effectively placed in the centre of the storm action by the soundtrack. This is tremendously exciting, as the soundtrack creates a very convincing impression of the storm swirling all around you. Indeed, it is almost unnerving in its closeness to reality! You frequently feel as if you are about to be lifted into the air! Even when the action sequences were not in full swing, the surrounds were effectively used for background ambience, and to create an excellent sense of foreboding whilst storms were building up. During these build-ups, you have an almost irresistible urge to hang on to your chair. This soundtrack is a superb example of how to effectively use split surround to envelop the listener in the movie.

    The .1 channel received lots of signal from the soundtrack, being continuously in use during the storm sequences. It was marvellously integrated into the overall soundtrack.

What's Missing / What's Extra

Menu

Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew Biographies

    The video quality is superb with only trivial faults.

    The audio quality is superb, and is of reference quality. This disc just screams "demo", and it would also be a superb demonstration of the difference between Prologic and 5.1 audio because of the incredible use of the split surrounds.

    The extras are pretty basic.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Michael Demtschyna
11th June 1999
Amended 16th June 1999
Amended 16th August 1999
Amended 11th August 2000