Twister (1996) is on TV and it caught my eye, keeping me from the ol' Blog, but as whenever I watch a movie I usually grab the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) and read the trivia, reviews, and other material that looks relevant or interesting. One of the things I found out was that Joss Whedon, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (theater and TV), was an uncredited script doctor. Not that I was surprised. He writes nice, tight character group interactions. The Twister scene with the tornado chasers chowing down on steak and eggs is an example of this and made me think of Aaron Sorkin at first because it was very much like the way he wrote for Sports Night. The only problem these writers's style is that most of their characters wind up sounding very much alike. Often I think that, except for specific dialects or backgrounds, the characters in these productions would be rather interchangeable.

Less so with Twister. Michael Crichton gets top writing credit and the nerdieness of the characters belies this, as well as the attempt to be scientifically accurate. The plot is simpler than Mr. Crichton usually writes but it is still an excellent movie because of the special effects, the character interactions, and the truly superior efforts of the supporting cast. Jami Gertz leads this group as the "reproductive therapist" thrown into a world totally alien to her. Then there's the cow. No explanation does that scene justice. You've gotta see it.

Sadly, the network cut the chow down scene mentioned above. Without seeing that a viewer would be at a loss to really understand the thin plot and think the movie to be just an effects fest. It's more and that's why it's one of my favorite movies of all time. And probably why it was the first movie ever issued on DVD.