I first saw Night of the Twisters on TV in early 1996. I was only 8 years old at the time and remember loving it the first time I saw it. I taped the movie on VHS and remember watching it over and over again during the lead-up to Jan de Bont's "Twister" which came out a few months later. It was this movie that got me interested in tornadoes. I had read the book by Ivy Ruckman when I was in school, and it has always been one of my favourite books. And despite the movie not being as good as the book, it is still a nice little film.
The story revolves around teenager Dan (Devon Sawa) who has trouble getting along with his stepfather Jack (John Schneider). He is also getting used to having a new baby brother. During the night, Dan's best friend Arthur (Amos Crawley) helps Dan stay home and babysit while Jack goes to check on Dan's grandmother. While the two teenagers and the baby are home alone, the twister hits the house. Afterwards, Dan sets out on a journey to find his family.
The only thing I have against the movie are some of the differences from the novel. It is a shame what they did to Arthur in the movie, turning him into a complete moronic goof. In the book, Arthur was still goofy, but during the disaster, he was just as brave and smart as Dan. I also didn't like it in the movie when the characters of Arthur and Stacy were side-lined for Jack. Arthur and Stacy accompany Dan in his search for his family all through the book, but in the movie they are hardly seen after the first tornado. Jack was not an important character in the book, and it saddened me to see other characters so important in the book be pushed to the side. I am still hoping that someone in the near future will read the novel and decide to make a more faithful theatrically released Night of the Twisters movie.
Despite that though, I still love this movie and continue to watch it at least once a year.
The story revolves around teenager Dan (Devon Sawa) who has trouble getting along with his stepfather Jack (John Schneider). He is also getting used to having a new baby brother. During the night, Dan's best friend Arthur (Amos Crawley) helps Dan stay home and babysit while Jack goes to check on Dan's grandmother. While the two teenagers and the baby are home alone, the twister hits the house. Afterwards, Dan sets out on a journey to find his family.
The only thing I have against the movie are some of the differences from the novel. It is a shame what they did to Arthur in the movie, turning him into a complete moronic goof. In the book, Arthur was still goofy, but during the disaster, he was just as brave and smart as Dan. I also didn't like it in the movie when the characters of Arthur and Stacy were side-lined for Jack. Arthur and Stacy accompany Dan in his search for his family all through the book, but in the movie they are hardly seen after the first tornado. Jack was not an important character in the book, and it saddened me to see other characters so important in the book be pushed to the side. I am still hoping that someone in the near future will read the novel and decide to make a more faithful theatrically released Night of the Twisters movie.
Despite that though, I still love this movie and continue to watch it at least once a year.