Twister – 4K UHD Blu-ray Review
Commissions Earned
Film Title: Twister (1996)
Release Date: 2024
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 113 minutes
Region Coding: Region Free
Distributor: Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment
Audio Format: Dolby Atmos
High Dynamic Range: HDR10
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Version Reviewed: 4K UHD Blu-ray
Release Date: 7/9/24
Director: Jan de Bont
Cast: Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Jami Gertz, Cary Elwes, Lois Smith, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck, Sean Whalen, Scott Thomson, Todd Field, Joey Slotnick, Wendle Josepher, Jeremy Davies, Zach Grenier
Jump to Sections:
Movie | Video | Audio | Bonus | Closing | Screenshots
Full 4K Tech Specs found at the bottom
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The Movie
“Twister” was a 1996 film directed by Jan de Bont, best known for directing the films “Speed” (1994), “Speed 2: Cruise Control” (1997), “The Haunting” (1999), and “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life” (2003).
The screenplay was written by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin. Crichton is best known for writing the novels adapted to films “The Andromeda Strain” (1971), “The Great Train Robbery” (1978), “Jurassic Park” (1993), “Rising Sun” (1993), “Congo” (1995), “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” (1997), “Sphere” (1998), and “The 13th Warrior” (1999). Michael Crichton also created the TV series “ER” (1994-2009).
The story here involves a group of storm chasers led by a passionate female meteorologist named “Dr. Jo Harding” (Helen Hunt) who is currently trying to deploy a new type of research device (appropriately named “Dorothy”) to study how tornadoes work. As we first see Jo, at an early age on a farmhouse in Oklahoma, she and her parents are caught in an F5 strength tornado. The family has to shelter in place during the tornado and that is where things get rather tragic. Fast-track to a little over 25 years later and she’s now working to help understand the destructive weather occurrence that scarred her for life but also has inspired her career path.
Meanwhile, Jo has an estranged husband, who used to be a member of the storm chaser team. “Bill Harding” (Bill Paxton) is now an aspiring weatherman for a TV station and is chasing down the group, namely Jo, to try to get her to sign divorce papers. Joining Bill on his trip is his fiancée “Dr. Melissa Reeves” (Jami Gertz). She is well aware that Bill is still married but separated from his wife and only has a rough understanding of what he used to do for a living with the group. Over the course of this film and her trip Melissa will learn exactly what the storm chasers do, let’s make that very clear.
The group making up Jo’s storm chasers includes the lovable and outspoken “Dusty” (Philip Seymour Hoffman), as well as “Robert ‘Rabbit’ Nurick” (Alan Ruck), “Allan Sanders” (Sean Whalen), “Jason ‘Preacher’ Rowe” (Scott Thomson), “Tim ‘Beltzer’ Lewis” (Todd Field), “Joey” (Joey Slotnick), “Laurence” (Jeremy Davies), and the only other female member “Haynes” (Wendle Josepher).
Things wouldn’t be fun if there weren’t some form of competition and that’s where the former member of the group “Dr. Jonas Miller” (Cary Elwes) comes in. He’s stolen some ideas from the group about the “Dorothy” research device and plans to deploy his stolen idea and technology before Jo and her group. Both storm chaser groups are following a supercell of massive storms that are causing tornadoes across the nearby area. They go from town to town, waiting for the right moment when the Doppler radar shows some activity they want to go after.
The real thing that drives the plot here is Bill trying to get his wife to sign the divorce papers, yet it doesn’t play out as a legal drama. Instead, Bill and Jo team up again to chase storms and try to deploy the new research device. Along the way, they’ll encounter massive tornadoes, and in between stop by to visit Jo’s aunt “Meg Greene” (Lois Smith) for food. All the while, they’re racing to beat Jonas Miller to be the first to use the device to study tornadoes with hopes of being able to warn people much sooner before one strikes an area. I’ll end by saying this, “we’ve got cows!” If you know, you know.
Movie Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)
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Video Quality
“Twister” on 4K UHD Blu-ray is presented in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio with HDR10 form of high dynamic range.
This movie was shot on a variety of 35mm and 16mm film using Arriflex 35-III, Bell & Howell Eyemo, Panavision Panaflex Gold, and Panavision Panaflex Platinum cameras in the anamorphic cinematographic process. The movie has received a new 4K remaster that was supervised by the director Jan de Bont.
Next, let me get technical, for a bit, regarding the 4K UHD Blu-ray Disc itself here. This release uses a BD-66 (66 gigabytes) disc, 59.7 gigabytes total, and 51.8 gigabytes itself for the film. Based on my observations via my 4K UHD Blu-ray player, this seems to run anywhere from peaks at around 100.1 Mbps, to roughly around 64.8 Mbps and then dips down as low as 19.6 Mbps. According to info on the PC side, this seems to have an overall video bitrate of 56.4 Mb/s average.
First off, you’ll notice one huge improvement here in 4K in terms of clarity in comparison to the HD presentation found on the previous (2007) Blu-ray Disc. Things look so much sharper now, with the addition of HDR making for a deeper black level and more realistic colors as well as flesh tones. One of the most impressive things is that the CG visual effects (done by Industrial Light & Magic back in 1996) for the film hold up well and don’t show any flaws here in 4K resolution, even the cow.
The thing that serves as an improvement is the change to the color timing throughout and specifically in some scenes. For example, the sky in the latter part of the film is supposed to be almost green yet on DVD and Blu-ray it has always been just this darker shade of blue. Now, thanks to color timing changes and the addition of high dynamic range, you get green skies just like the character “Bill” talks about.
This 4K UHD Blu-ray comes with a visual presentation that serves as one well-deserved improvement over all of the previous home video releases of the film. It may not be to perfect standards (for some), given its mid-range video bitrate, but it manages to deliver. My only complaint is that I wish they would have used a BD-100 disc (instead of a BD-66) and let the video run at a higher bitrate instead of making the movie share a smaller disc with the bonus materials. That being said, this earns every bit of a 4.75 rating for video quality.
Video Quality Rating: 4.75 (out of 5)
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Audio Quality
“Twister” arrives on 4K UHD Blu-ray with a new Dolby Atmos sound mix. I’ll start by warning you that this is one very extreme Dolby Atmos mix that makes some truly effective use of the height channel speakers. It’s only fitting for this to make use of the height channels when the subject matter is that of tornadoes, with one very intense amount of destructive wind blowing and wreaking havoc all through the film. That being said, it also makes excellent use of the rear channel speakers to leave you fully immersed in the sound presentation. There’s also one very impressive amount of LFE here that will have your subwoofer shaking the room. All of the while, the most important part of the film, the dialogue is delivered in a very distinct manner via the center channel speaker. No volume adjustments should need to be made here.
You can crank this to reference level and you’ll for sure be in for some absolute “demo material” from the very opening scene up until the end credits. Aside from the tornadoes, the other sound effects are primarily delivered from the front left and right speakers and they come across as very lifelike. The music from the soundtrack and the film’s original score (composed by Mark Mancina) both come together in one magnificent manner across the front and rear (left and right) channels.
There’s no getting around it, this is one of the most thrilling Atmos mixes that I’ve heard to date. As I had mentioned, this is just the perfect subject matter to make for one hell of a sound mix. I mean, let’s face it, “Twister” has always been a film with impressive 5.1 surround sound, since its home video debut as one of the first North American DVD releases. It should come as no surprise that this sounds downright incredible. This is the ideal audio presentation on any Atmos-capable sound system and it makes for one superb demo disc to show off your home theater. All and all, this new Atmos mix is downright awesome and is worthy of a perfect 5 rating for audio quality.
Audio Quality Rating: 5 (out of 5)
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Bonus Materials
A Digital Copy of the film in 4K resolution is included (via paper insert) which is compatible with Movies Anywhere. That means you can use it across online video services such as VUDU (Fandango at Home), AppleTV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Chromecast, and even on smart TVs from television makers such as LG & VIZIO. Digitally, on Movies Anywhere, Fandango at Home (formerly VUDU), and AppleTV this movie is presented in 4K UHD with Dolby Vision (or HDR10) and Dolby Atmos sound. Each platform mentioned (that I tested) also includes the extras digitally.
Bonus materials included on the 4K UHD Blu-ray are listed below.
- NEW “The Legacy of Twister – Taken by the Wind” (15 minutes, 14 seconds – HD) includes a great retrospective interview with the film’s director Jan de Bont. This is a must-see for any fan of the movie.
- Audio Commentary by director Jan de Bont and visual effects supervisor Stefen Fangmeier
- “Chasing the Storm: Twister Revisited” (29 minutes – HD) was first included on the 2007 Blu-ray Disc release and features some on-set still photos and video footage as well as interviews with Jan de Bont (director), Stefen Fangmeier (visual effects supervisor), Bill Paxton (“Bill Harding”), John Frazier (special effects supervisor), and Mic Rogers (stunt coordinator).
- “HBO First Look: The Making of Twister“ (14 minutes, 4 seconds – HD) includes on-set video footage as well as interviews with Bill Paxton (“Bill Harding”), Helen Hunt (“Jo Harding”), Jan de Bont (director), Jami Gertz (“Dr. Melissa Reeves”), Kathleen Kennedy (producer), Cary Elwes (“Dr. Jonas Miller”), Erik Rasmussen (director of VORTEX), and Stefen Fangmeier (visual effects supervisor). You’ll also get a glimpse of some real storm chasers (specifically the NSSL Vortex Team) doing their jobs.
- “Anatomy of a Twister“ (8 minutes, 34 seconds – HD) takes both a scientific look at tornadoes and the film’s visual effects depicting them. This includes interviews with Bill Paxton (“Bill Harding”), Jan de Bont (director), Cary Elwes (“Dr. Jonas Miller”), Kathleen Kennedy (producer), Jami Gertz (“Dr. Melissa Reeves”), and Stefen Fangmeier (visual effects supervisor).
- Van Halen “Humans Being” Music Video (3 minutes, 37 seconds – HD) was featured on the film’s Soundtrack and in the film itself. The music video also includes scenes from the movie.
Overall, the bonus materials here a very worthwhile and total up to over an hour in length. Plus, you get the audio commentary which is a must-hear for any fan of the film. The new retrospective interview with the film’s director Jan de Bont is excellent.
Bonus Materials Rating: 3.5 (out of 5)
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Closing Thoughts
“Twister” was produced by Steven Spielberg‘s Amblin Entertainment and is one of the most popular and successful disaster films. Since its debut theatrically in 1996 it has been one of the most memorable films about weather and especially about natural disasters. It offers some very unforgettable performances from Helen Hunt, as well as the late Bill Paxton and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The movie has its fair share of humorous moments, as well as the obvious dramatic elements regarding the relationship between the two leading characters. It’s just a movie with a lot of heart, some downright superb visual effects for the time along with one of the most intense and impressive sound mixes ever.
The film did pretty damn well at the box office, turning in a worldwide theatrical gross of 494 million dollars and it only had a 92 million budget – according to Box Office Mojo. It wasn’t necessarily a hit with the critics, still carrying only a 66% (out of 100%) rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That doesn’t matter though, because the audiences enjoyed it theatrically and have since its debut to home video as one of (if not the) first DVD releases in North America. Finally, it’s certainly worth noting that the movie received two well-earned 1997 Academy Award nominations, for “Best Sound” and “Best Effects, Visual Effects.”
In terms of video quality, this new 4K remaster gets things right. The supervision by the film’s director (Jan de Bont) has paid off. Through the remaster and the addition of HDR, we finally can see the skies looking the right shade of blue-green in scenes near the latter bit of the film. Those scenes previously (on Blu-ray) were just dark blue skies, but now they look much more realistic and exactly as the characters describe. This visual presentation in 4K is one very nice improvement over the HD found on the 2007 Blu-ray release.
In terms of audio quality, “Twister” on 4K UHD Blu-ray in Dolby Atmos sounds downright spectacular. This is a “demo disc” just for the sound presentation alone, and it’s filled with its share of excellent usage of the height channels now as well as the rear channel speakers. There’s a potent amount of LFE that will leave your room shaking from the subwoofer during even the opening scene of the film. This is a perfect Atmos sound mix and one of the first titles I would take off the shelf to test out a new sound system.
The bonus materials here include a new retrospective interview with the film’s director along with all of the previous extras included on the 2007 Blu-ray Disc release and a digital copy of the film compatible with Movies Anywhere. The bonus materials total up to just a bit over an hour in length.
Overall, “Twister” on 4K UHD Blu-ray delivers an impressive 4K visual presentation, thanks to the director-approved 4K remaster, and is a very nice improvement over the previous Blu-ray. The Dolby Atmos mix is one of the best I have heard (to date). The audio presentation will undoubtedly leave you blown away. Round all that out with informative and enjoyable supplemental materials and a digital copy, and you have what I would consider one Highly Recommended “Demo Disc.“
In terms of 4K UHD Blu-ray release, this gets:
4.75 (out of 5) for video quality
5 (out of 5) for audio quality
3.5 (out of 5) for bonus materials
Overall Verdict:
Highly Recommended “Demo Disc”
Available As:
2024 4K UHD Blu-ray Release
Available at: Amazon | GRUV | Walmart
Commissions Earned
4K UHD Blu-ray Screenshots:
4K UHD Blu-ray Technical Specifications:
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Exact Runtime(s): 1:53:04
Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos (with a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core), Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Languages: English, French, Spanish
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision
Disc Size: BD-66
Disc Use: 59.7GB total / 51.8GB for the film
Video Bitrate: 56.4 Mb/s