If you have interacted with my in real life at all in the last week, you have probably heard me talk about this movie, A LOT.
I saw in twice in about 40 hours, once in Chicago and again in Minnesota and my feelings about it, overall, got stronger.
You have also probably seen some of your local TV meteorologists, or just weather enthusiasts in general talking about this movie, because the argininal meant a lot to most of us. Hell, it was the start of an influx of meteorology students and storm chasers over the US.
That being said, lets discuss what Twisters did well when it came to the weather, and storm chasing as a whole, while also being a very solid action movie.
Note: Some minor spoilers might happen while I'm writing this, I usually try not to, but I want to discuss a few things that might be 'spoilers' for some.
Twisters follows Kate, a current NWS New York Meteorologist who is still struggling with the trauma of losing her friends in a tornado during her PHD project. Her goal? To find a way to 'tame' tornadoes to help save towns and cities that get hit by them. She wants to use a mixture to absorb the moisture and cause the tornado to 'die out'. The idea itself is really interesting but alas one that is mostly made up for the film. The hardest part about severe thunderstorms and tornadoes is how fast and strong they can be, making it hard for a human to interfere. One thing meteorologist are working on now is getting warnings and other safety messages out sooner, to help people take the shelter they need to in time.
Kate is approached by her old friend Javi, to chase with him and his new crew as they try to test out using new radars to get a 'full' image of tornado. The radars he is using, phased array radars, are definitely a newer technology that involves having a flat panel instead of the dome we are all used to. The idea of using them in this way was definitely also very interesting, but as we learn in the movie, they are doing it to help a man buy up more land, not really for science.
When Kate and Javi get to Oklahoma is the first time we meet Tyler Owens, a 'rogue scientist' who chases for views with a team of non-meteorologists. We do learn he has a meteorology degree, which personal, I thought was important to mention. Tyler is definitely painted at being a 'bad boy' who doesn't care about the people as much as thrill of it all. Kate and Tyler's first interaction is discussing looking at a mix of radar and the clouds and figuring out what storm to chase. This is where we get more into the science of everything. As the two go head to head in 'who will get there first', we learn more about how wind shear, instability and lift effect how a thunderstorm, then tornado, will be formed.
This leads to a really fun scene that jumps between Kate and Tyler, in their respective vehicles, talking about how thunderstorms are formed and become supercells, one of the key factors in tornadoes developing. This also leads to discussing how even if all the ingredients are there, something no tornado shows up and people don't fully understand why. This scene made my heart so happy because it was explained so well, and though at it's heart it is an action movie, I loved that they took the time to explain these things. That being said, because it's an action movie, tornadoes are popping up left and right for the crews.
As they head off on their first chase, we see Kate struggling with being so close to the action again, which honestly I wish was explored more. A lot of us, regardless of losing someone or being 'inside' a tornado, have seen the damage they cause and felt that guilt that builds when you know you were excited to see it. I wish Kate's mindset with how she was feeling and her reactions were explored a little bit more because I think its an important feeling a lot of meteorologists go through.
After missing their chance to place the PAR radars, Kate insists they go help at a town that was directly hit by the tornado, Javi isn't sure but they end up going to and finding Tyler and his crew there too. After making a comment about 'selling t-shirts with your face on it' they realize they sell the shirts and mugs to help raise money for the food they had out at places that were hit but the storms. I loved that the idea of helping vs chasing were brought up within this movie, and how the idea of who the 'villain' was kept changing throughout.
Now, the meteorology terms weren't always perfect, sometimes there were cases of 'why that word, there is a better word'. But overall, there were parts that were near-perfect, or at least 'impressive for an action movie'.
Two things that were mentioned that I would like to point out. One is cloud seeding with silver iodide, which is wild because I did an internship that worked on a project like this. Though I'm not sure how it would impact a tornado, cloud seeding helps bring precipitation to people who either need it, or just want to avoid the risk of hail. The second is the EF-scale. Now, most people know the EF scale, which is how tornadoes are rated, is based on damage after the storm occurs, but there were moments in the movie where they would say 'it must be an EF-5' or something of that sort, which can't really be determined when looking at the storm. That being said, you can get radar-derived wind speeds and have guesses on things like that while the storm is occurring. There is one part of the story where the scale is brought up as emotional damage as well, and honestly I loved it.
Now, since we've been here a while, let me do some quick thoughts and feelings to wrap things up:
We had so much female representation in the movie! This is so important for the future and I'm so proud of them.
There is mention of being in it for science or money, which is a constant debate.
Obviously this came up in the OG too
There are mentions of being safe during tornadoes, where to hide and things like that, but man, does Tyler love driving right in the middle
He also drives through so many fields, and for some reason that kept getting me
For being an action movie, it holds as close to science as it can, and overall that means a lot to me
These tornadoes ate A LOT of people, definitely the action movie part but it was wild to see.
Overall, I adored this movie. I mean I did see it twice right away. I am excited to see the amount of kids this inspires to be meteorologists, especially little girls. Even for non-meteorologists this story is super exciting. My one 'note' is my anger towards them not kissing at the end. I wanted my rom-com moment, but alas.
Here is my overall review:
Science 6.5/10
CGI Tornadoes 7.5/10
Overall: 8.5/10
If you are interested, here are some other articles that discuss the science within the movie.
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