Twister

Twister was the first of many so-called disaster movies. Disasters in that they portrayed a distaster or they were a disaster in themselves. Personally I'd say Twister was 2 parts the former and 1 part the latter.

The story of a bunch of Storm Chasers trying to find the perfect opportunity to launch their Dorothy project which will enable them to predict when and where twisters will strike.

Bill (Bill Paxton) has come back with his new fiance Melissa (Jami Gertz) to get Jo (Helen Hunt) to sign the divorce papers. He conveniently returns just as Jo and her crew of storm chasers are about to chase a small F1 tornado. This is where the thrill sucks Bill back into both the chasing and into Jo's arms. It's a dull love story used to create some sort of sub-plot, or even plot itself.

Jonas (Cary Elwes) is the leader of a rival storm chasing crew who have all the latest hi-tech equipment for chasing the storms. Obviously, Jonas has a similar project to Dorothy aswell so it's now a race to each tornado.

Once the crew encounter the F1, they then face and F2, and then surprisibgly and F3 and then out of the blue an F4 and because hollywood makes miracles happen, we encounter an F5 for the finale.

Ok, if you haven't seen twister you haven't missed much but if you have then you'll be pleased to know the region 4 disc is a much better buy than the region 1 cousin. Read below.

This transfer is a much better transfer than my region 1 disc. I don't know how the region 1 disc keeps getting a recommendation for great picture because it is anything but. The r1 version is very grainy and very artifacty as a consequence. This disc however is up to the usual high standard of the Columbia transfers and the graininess is significantly reduced.

Shadow depth is a little lacking at times and things seem to be a little off black then they could be. One thing you do notice is the increased detail in this disc. There is a huge improvement from what I've been used to and it makes the region 1 disc look very dated.

A noticeable bit-rate increase aswell where the region 1 disc stood around 5 - 6 and this disc with a whopping 9 - 10. This kind of difference means the disc required 2 layers and it's worth it.

A very roar soundtrack, that's the only way to describe it - albeit a little too hard at times. Right from the outset it is clear that your surrounds are going to be hammered alot more than your fronts.

When I first saw this movie in the cinema, it felt as if the tornados had their own voice and would literally roar at you. I remember my friend and I walking out roaring a low rumbled roar at each other. It's the same thing on the disc. You feel as if someone has grabbed 4 microphones, one for each corner speaker, and has just roared into them with all their might, constantly throughout the movie, hence a 'roar' soundtrack.

Dialogue is always clear but the main attraction is the tornados. This disc is demo material and I don't mean I impress my friends with the character dialogue.

A theatrical trailer and hidden audio tracks and subtitle listings if your player is in region 2 mode. The disc I had has the corrected sleeve mentioning only a dolby digital 5.1 soundtrack.

It's interesting that our disc displays the universal logo in the opening as it disappears into the twister whereas the region 1 disc has the warner brothers logo. It's good to see them make the effort when the studio titles are part of the movie.

We don't get a THX approved disc, but who cares when this disc is oh so much better visually.

As a movie, I puke, as an allround demo disc, this is a much better version than the region 1 copy. This is the one to get by far - a pity the movie didn't get any revised treatment.