Twister appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This turned into a satisfying version of the movie.
Overall sharpness felt good. Occasional examples of slightly soft shots materialized, but these remained minor at worst.
I noticed no jagged edges or shimmering, and edge haloes failed to appear. Grain seemed light but natural, and I saw no print flaws.
For the most part, the movie went with a natural palette that seemed fairly lively and full. Some scenes took on a green tint but the hues usually seemed rich, and HDR added punch to the tones.
Blacks felt deep and tight, while shadows showed good clarity. Low-light shots offered appropriate density and lacked excessive opacity.
Whites and contrast got a boost from HDR. The minor softness left this as a “B+”, but it came very close to “A-“ level.
Virtually no complaints came from the Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Twister. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, this sucker blasted right out of the starting blocks and rarely let up at any point.
The soundfield seemed unbelievably strong and encompassing. It featured a nice complement of ambient sounds during the few quiet scenes and really flew during the storm scenes, which provided some of the most exciting and wildest audio I've heard.
The roar from the tornadoes appeared forceful, but it never degenerated into just a massive attack of noise. The localization remained terrific as each speaker clearly pumped discrete sound.
The quality of the audio also seemed very strong. Dialogue appeared consistently natural and warm, with no intelligibility problems, though the sheer volume of the effects occasionally overwhelmed the speech to a small degree.
Music sounded clear and crisp. Both score and songs boasted good dynamic range.
Effects fared best of all, as they simply overwhelmed the viewer. These components came across as clean and realistic and never betrayed the slightest hint of distortion, even during the loudest scenes.
I won't say that Twister provided the best sound design ever, but it's on a very short list of the top mixes. The soundtrack offered a stunner.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? As great as the old 5.1 mix was, the Atmos reworking seemed even more engaging.
Visuals showed obvious improvements in terms of sharpness and it lost the grain reduction from the BD. I also found better blacks and colors, though as confirmed in the disc’s new featurette, the film used a new green tint at times. In any case, the 4K turned into a definite upgrade over the Blu-ray.
The 4K replicates some but not all of the extras from the Blu-ray and adds a new one. We find an audio commentary from director Jan de Bont and visual effects supervisor Stefen Fangmeier.
Both sit together for this running, screen-specific look at effects, cast and performances, shooting on location and dealing with weather, real tornadoes and research, story and characters, music and audio design, and a mix of other production topics.
De Bont and Fangmeier become a chatty pair so almost no empty pauses can be found during this track. They get into many production subjects.
I feel de Bont and Fangmeier spend too much time mentioning how good the effects are, but nonetheless they offer some solid information about the film. They maintain a high level of energy and make this a pretty good little track.
Next we find two featurettes: Making of Twister and Anatomy of the Twister. “Making” lasts 14 minutes, four seconds as it presents remarks from de Bont, Fangmeier, producer Kathleen Kennedy, VORTEX director Erik Rasmussen, and actors Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, Jami Gertz, and Cary Elwes.
“Anatomy” runs eight minutes, 34 seconds and features Paxton, de Bont, Elwes, Kennedy, Gertz, and Fangmeier.
Although they're separate pieces, the two programs might as well have been combined, for little differentiates them. Each contains unique information but both follow similar routines.
The programs detail issues during the shoot and that concerned the effects, plus we see some real-life tornado video. Both featurettes remain firmly in the promotional-puff-piece vein, but I found them to offer enough information to make them worthwhile. However, they don't substitute for a comprehensive documentary.
Another repeat component comes via the music video for "Humans Being" by Van Halen. This three and a half minute clip is pretty much a total loss.
The song is terrible and the video itself is dull and ordinary, as it follows the same old "lip-synch combined with film shots" formula we've seen so many times. Die-hard Van Hagar fans might enjoy it, but I sure don't.
Chasing the Storm: Twister Revisited lasts 29 minutes. It features de Bont, Paxton, Fangmeier, special effects supervisor John Frazier, and stunt coordinator Mic Rodgers.
The show looks at how de Bont came onto the project and convinced the studio its effects would be viable, cast, characters and performances, story choices, practical and visual effects, weather on location, stunts, production design, and audio.
“Revisited” offers a technical look at the film. Given the nature of Twister, that doesn’t come as a surprise, but it does disappoint that we don’t get more actors or other creative talent. This becomes an efficient look at some effects and other nuts and bolts issues.
For the one new feature, we get a featurette entitled The Legacy of Twister
. It goes for 15 minutes, 14 seconds and brings remarks from de Bont.
“Legacy” examines de Bont’s approach to the film, the 4K UHD presentation, visual effects, locations, story/character areas, cast and performances, and the depiction of tornadoes. A few fresh notes emerge but a fair amount of the material repeats from elsewhere.
The 4K loses two trailers from the BD as well as a documentary about tornadoes. Why? I have no idea.
