Twister still looks great because the director put his cast through hell for it

polygon.com:

When it came to marketing Jan de Bont’s 1996 film Twister, there was absolutely no question about it: The star of the film was not Helen Hunt or Bill Paxton, who play a pair of storm chasers going after one last tornado system before finalizing their divorce. The star of the film was the goddamn tornado.

Sold as a special-effects extravaganza so buzzworthy that it was the basis for a theme park attraction, Twister expertly blends CG tornadoes and disaster-movie practical effects so effectively that the visuals still hold up today. (Viewers can appreciate that thanks to a new 4K Blu-ray release of the blockbuster.) To commemorate the film’s rerelease, director Jan de Bont spoke to Polygon about the film’s still-remarkable blend of digital and practical effects, and the ways he wanted his actors to stop acting and just feel how scary the storms were.

Polygon: When Twister came out, the CG tornadoes were a big part of the promotion. But watching it now, I’m struck by how practical the effects are. You throw so many physical objects at Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt!

Jan de Bont: What I remember most is getting the actors to confront an artificial storm — this huge amount of wind machines and jet engines, and all the debris coming right at them. Suddenly, it’s not acting anymore. Now they have to actually react to real things coming at them. That was so funny, of course — actors, the very first thing they complain about is,My hair is wrong, look at my hair! Or, My shirt is ripped! It was so hard to convince them.

Now, that’s exactly what it should be! That’s what would be like, clearly, in real life. It was really hard to convince the actors not to worry about their hair and their costume, because if it looked bad, I would take it out. I would just do another take. But it was a sort of strange thing for them. Because, [without] hair and makeup, they kind of lose their identity a little bit. That was exactly, of course, the goal.

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