Twister

Action, Thriller, Drama

Helen Hunt	Dr. JoAnne 'Jo' Thornton-Harding
Bill Paxton	William Harding
Cary Elwes	Dr. Jonas Miller
Jami Gertz	Dr. Melissa Reeves
Philip Seymour Hoffman	Dustin Davis
Lois Smith	Meg Greene
Alan Ruck	Robert 'Rabbit' Nurick
Sean Whalen	Allan Sanders
Scott Thomson	Jason 'Preacher' Rowe
Todd Field	Tim 'Beltzer' Lewis

Director	Jan de Bont
Producer	Ian Bryce; Michael Crichton
Writer	Michael Crichton; Anne-Marie Martin

Twister was a mega-million-dollar blockbuster--helmed by a director (Dutchman Jan de Bont) hot off another scorcher hit (Speed)--that flaunted state-of-the-art digital effects and featured a popular leading actress (Helen Hunt) who would win an Academy Award for her next film (As Good As It Gets). But ask anybody who's seen it and they'll tell you who the real star of Twister is: the cow. Not to give anything away, but the cow is one of those inspired little touches (like, say, Bronson Pinchot's career-making cameo in Beverly Hills Cop) that adds a touch of personality to a gigantic Hollywood production. The story is blown out the window after an impressive prologue in which Hunt's character, as a little girl, witnesses her daddy being sucked into a tornado. Basically, Hunt and Bill Paxton are thrill-seeking meteorologists chasing twisters in order to study them (and help warn people of them, of course) with a new technology they've developed. If you thought the Kansas tornado in The Wizard of Oz was every bit as scary as the Wicked Witch of the West, then this may be the movie for you. --Jim Emerson