TWISTERS & other extreme weather movies

Ferocious winds. Relentless rain. Biblical flooding. Treacherous snowstorms. But enough about Irish summers.

The upcoming release of Twisters, a kind of spiritual successor to the‘90s classic Twister, has got us thinking about extreme weather movies. Twisters, directed by Lee Isaac Chung (Minari), and starring man-of-the-moment Glen Powell and Normal Person Daisy Edgar-Jones, is in the proud tradition of soggy, muddy, windy disaster flicks where the forecast is MAYHEM. Here are some favourites:

Twister (1996)
We can’t talk about Twisters without talking about the 1996 blockbuster, starring Helen Hunt and the much-missed Bill Paxton. They play a soon-to-be-ex couple of tornado chasers who get swept up (sorry) in a plot to create an advanced weather warning system. Rewatching it today, the special effects hold up but it’s the supporting cast that makes it, namely the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman who’s such a whirlwind of fun here, he should come with his own weather warning.

The Wizard of Oz (1939):
Twister contains a nice nod to Hollywood’s original extreme weather flick: Bill Paxton’s tin capsule of weather sensors is nicknamed ‘Dorothy’ as a tribute to Judy Garland’s Oz character. Dorothy is blown away to the Technicolour land by a giant tornado, which, for the 1930s, is a pretty brilliant piece of special effects wizardry (it was basically a giant muslin stocking. The magic of the movies, kids!)

Noah (2014):
Of course, if you want to talk about the real original extreme weather event, you could check out Darren Aronofky’s treatment of the Old Testament story of Noah, the biblical flood, the Ark and the two-by-two of each animal. Russell Crowe is Noah, all bushy of beard and gruff of character, which was a considerable stretch for Crowe to play, as he definitely isn’t anything like that in real life.

Into the Storm (2014):
If tornadoes are your thing, this ‘does-exactly-what-it-says-on-the-tin’ disaster movie is for you. This takes the ‘found footage’ approach as a group of storm chasers try to film a bunch of tornadoes hitting Oklahoma. The film might be a bit meh, but the digital renderings of the twisters are something to see.

 

The Perfect Storm (2000):
George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg lead a great cast in this true story about a boat crew that get caught up in the nor’easter hurricane that battered the northeast of the US over Halloween of 1991. The visual effects are terrifying, whipping up 40-foot waves that pummel the ‘Andrea Gail’ vessel like a kid’s toy in a bath.

The Day After Tomorrow (2004):
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this summer, the title of Roland Emmerich’s extreme weather extravaganza has become short-hand for discussing real life weather events. Jake Gyllenhaal, who has spent two decades causing violent storms in this writer’s heart, plays a student trying to make his way across New York to safety in the face of superstorms, hail, wind, floods & snow.

Geostorm (2017):
When a bunch of climate-controlling satellites break down, it unleashes massive hailstorms, deep freezes, flooding, tornadoes – why settle for just one freaky weather calamity when you can have five? Gerard Butler, Jim Sturgess and Abbie Cornish are among those fighting to survive.

 

Sharknado (2013):
The plot concerns…okay look, it’s about tornadoes that lift sharks out of water and deposit the shark-infested flood water in downtown Los Angeles. But never fear! Tara Reid and Steve Sanders from Beverly Hills 90210 are on the case! Don’t miss the Jedward cameo in ‘Sharknado 3’

Snowpiercer (2013):
One of Bong Joon-ho’s most beloved pre-Parasite successes, this is a non-stop action masterpiece set on a train carrying the last remnants of humanity following a snowpocalyptic disaster. Chris Evans plays a lower-class passenger who leads an uprising onboard against the elites at the front of the train. Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton and Jamie Bell also star; it was later turned into a hit TV series.

Magnolia (1999):
Lastly, we couldn’t let a piece about extreme weather go by without mentioning Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic (celebrating its 25th anniversary this year), about a collection of interconnected characters in the San Fernando Valley in LA. The film’s various plot strands reach an overlapping climax during an unusual storm of toad-ally biblical proportions, which we won’t spoil here in case you haven’t seen it. Let’s just say it’s a ribbit-ing scene that’ll make you leap out of your seat.

Words : Declan Cashin

TWISTERS is at Irish cinemas from July 17th