Twister (1996)

Mid-storm, a cow drifts past the windshield in Twister and the characters barely blink, which tells you how much attention the script pays to anything with a pulse. The humans mostly shout directions while the sky turns green. Rival chaser Jonas Miller gets black vans, a smug grin and corporate sponsors, and that’s his whole personality. Jami Gertz’s Melissa spends the trip on a car phone looking like she booked the wrong vacation. But the storms are the stars, and they hold up. Jan de Bont shoots tornadoes like monsters wandering in and out of frame, and the sound design rumbles in your chest. Helen Hunt plays Jo with a personal grudge against the weather. Bill Paxton is all dusty charm, and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Dusty whoops at every funnel cloud like it’s a rock concert. It made $494.6 million worldwide on a reported $88 to $92 million. A 6.5 because the storms are all-timers and the people are cargo. $183 says you hear a freight train tonight and think about which room has no windows.

What works: The tornado effects and roaring sound design still hold up, and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Bill Paxton bring real warmth to the chase crew.

What doesn’t: The characters are thin, the rival chaser is a cartoon, and the dialogue is mostly people yelling directions over the wind.

Who it’s for: Anyone who stops what they’re doing to watch a storm roll in, and fans of big summer disaster movies.