About the Story . . .

Unlike earthquakes, their fury is precise. Unlike hurricanes, their reach is unlimited. Unlike fires, there is no way to combat them. Unlike floods, their terror is sudden.

Tornadoes are a singular phenomenon, at once breathtaking in their beauty and unspeakable in their ruin. Their capricious nature -- laying waste to acres or carrying a baby unharmed for miles, flattening a house while leaving its next-door neighbor untouched -- has given them a fearsome and mighty place in American mythology.

They have remained enigmatic and undisciplined killers . . . until now.

The largest storm to hit Oklahoma in more than half a century is brewing, and it promises to drop multiple twisters into Tornado Alley. It's the storm that two rival groups of scientists have been waiting for to earn their place in meteorological history.

Each team wants to be the first to launch their own equipment pack inside a twister to transmit valuable scientific data about tornadic behavior. The one who does might finally solve the mystery of a tornado and help save countless lives. But to do so, they must put themselves directly in the path of the marauding monster -- and stay always just ahead of the swirling twister, anticipating its every erratic move.

Jo Harding (Helen Hunt) and her band of brash university scientists in their banged-up trucks race better-funded, corporate-sponsored Dr. Jonas Miller (Cary Elwes) and his sleek, crack cadre with their state-of-the-art research vans. Through an unforgettable afternoon, night and morning marked by life-endangering exploits, they come face-to-face with a series of tornadoes ripping through the Oklahoma countryside.

Adding to the charged atmosphere, Jo's soon-to-be-ex-husband, meteorologist Bill Harding (Bill Paxton), reluctantly joins Jo and his old crew for this last, epic chase. Bill's brought his not-prepared-for-this kind-of-thing girlfriend, Melissa (Jamie Gertz), whose presence alongside the bickering Jo and Bill makes for a three-sided relationship as stormy as the weather around them.

Also appearing in "Twister" is an accomplished supporting cast, led by Lois Smith ("Dead Man Walking") as Jo's Aunt Meg. Alan Ruck ("Speed") and Philip Hoffman ("Nobody's Fool") appear as Dusty and Rabbit, two of the characters making up Jo's chasing team.

"Twister" is inspired by real-life adventurers who live and work in the Midwest's Tornado Alley. These courageous storm chasers are called to action when a tornado watch is issued by the National Weather Service, who can only predict the likelihood of a twister touchdown.

In spite of all the modern electronic and satellite scientific wizardry at their disposal, the National Weather Service still has to rely mainly on the human eye for the final devastating confirmation of a tornado, so it's left to the storm chasers to witness and confirm "ground truth" of a cyclone. These professionals are often the best and sometimes the only warning that a 300-mile-an-hour wind is coming down from the sky.

About the Production . . .

Casting and Research: Into the Adventure

Before it was over, the making of "Twister" would become nearly as much of an adventure for the cast and crew as for the characters in the film. They found themselves battling the same torrential rain and pounding hail as the storm chasers in the story, and, like their real-life counterparts, they would grow despondent over crystal-clear sunny days that would ruin shooting, which generally required dark, cloudy weather. The filmmakers and actors traveled to Oklahoma and Iowa to capture the expansive, level vistas that only America's heartland can provide, as well as the massive cloud formations that can transform into menacing twisters.

"I wanted to make this movie look as realistic as possible and to film in the countryside where tornadoes take place. My goal was for the audience to get the feeling of really participating in this movie, of making the same kind of trip -- that they are one of those storm chasers out searching for that tornado," explains director Jan De Bont. "I enjoy portraying things that happen in real life. To me, life is like an action movie: it's very exciting, and I try to bring that to my films."

This immersion in reality began with the script, which was meticulously researched by the husband-and-wife team of Michael Crichton & Anne-Marie Martin. The couple, who describe their first writing collaboration as "a very good time," originated the idea of a movie centered around tornadoes. They infused their script with the actual parlance and scientific reality of meteorology as well as the unique personalities of people who chase storms. "We did a great deal of research, and the script was based on the kind of work that real scientists do," the writers say.

They chose the visual medium of film and wrote the material directly for the screen, even though Crichton is celebrated as an accomplished novelist whose work is often adapted for film after spellbinding millions of readers on the page. "The subject matter is inherently visual," Crichton explains. "A tornado is visually contained, so you can see it in a single shot, unlike a hurricane, for example. A tornado is powerful and unpredictable, and its lifespan is generally only a few minutes. It's a perfect cinematic subject."

De Bont furthered the commitment to realism when it came to casting "Twister" and was fortunate to sign Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, his original choices for the lead roles of Jo and Bill Harding. De Bont comments on the qualities he hoped to have personified in the estranged central couple who find themselves in such extraordinary circumstances: "I wanted people with heart, strong characters that people could relate to. These people who chase storms do exist, so I didn't want typical action superheroes in the film."

Impressed by Helen Hunt's widely-watched, ongoing work in "Mad About You" and her sensitive appearances in films like "The Waterdance," De Bont felt certain she could embody the headstrong, fearless Jo. "She is a really strong woman. Helen has a personality you can identify with, and I knew she could handle the role.

"However, I was very clear about how tough it was going to be," he continues. "I told her it was full of effects -- dust, rain, wind, hail. It was going to be very wet, muddy and uncomfortable. I did my best to make it as unattractive as possible, because if she still wanted to do it, I knew she was the right person."

Hunt, clearly not dissuaded by De Bont's description of the demanding role and the arduous shoot, was actually eager to tackle such a physical leading part. "I love the fact that it was as physical as it was," she says. "I like getting dirt under my nails, and crawling around in the mud is sort of good for me. Psychologically, I like to be in a place where there's a lot of green and a lot of open space, so I had a great time."

Hunt moved almost immediately from wrapping the spring season of "Mad About You" into the exhausting schedule of "Twister" and then directly back into her series. Facing the back-to-back schedule, Hunt had to become nearly as driven as her on-screen persona of Jo. She remarks, "I like the idea that Jo's sort of a tornado herself with her own unpredictability. She's the kind of woman you really hope you don't fall in love with because she leaves a damage path wherever she goes. She's ferociously independent, and she's trying to reconcile wanting a normal civilian life with being absolutely called to do the work she does. I certainly related to that. Also, I love the fact that fear is just not in her vocabulary."

De Bont was equally avid about casting Bill Paxton, part of one of last year's biggest hits, "Apollo 13," as Jo's partner in research, in sparring and once in love, Bill. The director spotted Paxton in his acclaimed performance in "One False Move" and met the actor through his "Apollo 13" co-star, Tom Hanks. De Bont states, "Bill was so perfect for this part, I could see him in that countryside. He was born in that area, and he looks like he's done this all his life. Bill's acting is unique and so real, he's like a whirlwind himself."

Like his co-star, Texas-born Paxton was attracted to the physical demands of the role. "I knew Jan wanted someone who could do a lot of the stunt work, because he really believes in putting the actors as close to the action as possible, and I was totally into it. There was a lot of running and jumping and bumps and bruises, but it helped to be actually in the atmosphere being pelted by rain and hail," he says.

But it was the opportunity to play an action movie lead that appealed most to Paxton, who has established his reputation on playing richly detailed character roles. His namesake character of Bill allowed Paxton to move center stage and bring a character to life who reflects the actor's own rugged individualism. As Paxton describes him, Bill Harding, who has opted for a more stable career than storm chasing, is "the gunfighter who walked away from the gunfight" before being lured back for one final confrontation with his natural nemesis.

"In a way, my career has all been leading up to this. I've played a lot of character roles, a lot of supporting roles, where you're hiding behind the characterization for the most part. In this one, I kept saying to myself, 'You're playing yourself in many ways,'" Paxton says. "I could relate to the character. Bill has a deep respect and reverence for nature. He knows that man will never conquer nature, so he relies on his sixth sense and his own observations and respect to guide him. And there's something about chasing that he can't pass up."

Rounding out the lead cast are Cary Elwes and Jami Gertz. Elwes plays Dr. Jonas Miller, the well-funded, high-tech rival to the scrappy team led by Jo and Bill. The sleek accoutrements afforded Jonas and his crew, however, give him no advantage when confronted with the awesome power of a killer tornado. "Jonas is the type of guy who tapes himself eating cornflakes in the morning," chuckles Elwes. "He feels that, because he has all this wonderful technology at his fingertips, he can play God to a degree. The fact is, you can spend all the money you want and have the most expensive equipment, but when you're out there chasing the storm, it's just you and the tornado."

Far less sure of her fortitude -- or reason -- for chasing a twister is Gertz's character of Melissa, the lone outsider in this group of seasoned scientists. Her astonishment at their bravado and her sheer terror as this crazy troupe races toward huge cyclones match the expected reaction of moviegoers themselves, who are also along for their first chase. "Melissa is like the audience," Gertz explains. "She knows absolutely nothing about tornadoes, so she's seeing all of this for the first time with them. They can use my character to learn everything, because she's constantly having everything explained to her. She's asking all the questions and commenting and, of course, screaming. She's the girl with the E-ticket for the great ride, so when she screams, the audience can scream right along with her."

These four actors aren't the only "stars" in "Twister," however. Perhaps the most compelling character of all is in the title role -- the villain terrorizing all of the human characters with its relentless fury and a purpose that sometimes seems motivated -- the series of tornadoes that the chasers encounter over the course of the film. "Tornadoes are incredibly fascinating," producer Kathleen Kennedy believes. "The minute you see the sky and the lightning and the formation of a tornado, you can't take your eyes off it. It's exciting and terrifying at the same time. It's beautiful, spectacular and powerful -- a real force of nature."

De Bont, who was attracted by the grandeur of the subject matter, agrees. "There is nothing more dramatic, rewarding or powerful than nature. There's nothing that can compete with it -- no acting, no writing, no directing. You can't compete with those skies. It takes the ego away a little bit."

As the actors and filmmakers immersed themselves in their research about torandoes, they became increasingly fascinated with the nature and history of their on-screen enemy. Surreal tales of asphalt highways being ripped up and flung about like black licorice sticks, of entire lakes being sucked up and dropped in a gush in the middle of a prairie miles away and of stacks of dishes being transported unbroken across acres went side-by-side with poignant and painful recollections of the awful devastation of a twister obliterating homes and entire towns.

Real Storm Chasers: The Inspiration

The pre-production preparations weren't limited to libraries and videos, however. The "Twister" filmmakers and stars met with meteorological experts from the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in Norman, Oklahoma, and hit the road with actual storm chasers from VORTEX (The Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment), the government-funded program sponsored by NSSL that puts hearty souls and their sensitive equipment in the midst of active tornadic weather.

The University of Oklahoma (OU) School of Meteorology has the highest percentage of federal research dollars given to any program at OU, and Norman claims more meteorologists per capita than any community in the world. The VORTEX program is the most ambitious and comprehensive field initiative ever undertaken for gaining an understanding of tornado-bearing thunderstorms.

The mission of VORTEX is to unlock the mystery of tornadic activity in lower cloud systems, leading to better warning systems that can save countless lives and millions of dollars of property. The 100 scientists and technicians -- supplemented by a number of curious and courageous volunteers -- making up VORTEX use a fleet of 24 vehicles. Each auto is outfitted with sensitive, advanced instrumentation and radar, some of which was developed expressly for VORTEX, and each vehicle has its specific purpose in gathering data. When deployed, the whole armada moves with a storm as it crosses the plains, sending moment-by-moment information back to central command at Norman.

The cloud activity is observed from the air as well by Doppler radar-equipped planes and by five mobile weather balloon labs. The VORTEX team has 13 metallic "turtles" -- a variation on the "Dorothy" equipment pack in the film -- to place in the path of the storms, two mobile radar teams and a crew of photographers. From a field coordinating van, meteorolgists closely observe the storm's progression and guide the armada away from flooded roads, lightning storms and, of course, the path of any tornado that has touched down, as safety always remains the highest priority.

The "Twister" team discovered that it takes a special kind of person to jump in a van and drive dead-on toward a tornado. Producer Kathleen Kennedy was among the first "Twister" representatives to meet with the chasers at VORTEX and the scientists at the NSSL. Kennedy, who had experienced the fury of Hurricane Iniki while filming "Jurassic Park" in Hawaii, quickly learned to appreciate the lure of the chase. "Of course, I was wondering, 'Why would anybody want to do this?'," she says. "But the minute I got to go on a storm chase, I definitely got the bug. It's fascinating from a scientific standpoint, but even more exciting from an adrenaline standpoint. What's happening around you is completely out of your control. Some people respond to that with awe and wonder, and some people run from it. For me, it was exhilarating."

Meeting with the storm chasers helped Helen Hunt discover the psychological motivations that compel Jo Harding to obsessively pursue her elusive quarry. "None of the chasers said they were afraid. Some do it for science and some do it for sport, but the pure power of the tornado is just intoxicating to certain people. However, many of them said that they had experiences with a tornado in their youth that affected them deeply, which is very true of Jo. In an attempt to deal with what happened to her, she decided that this thing was after her. She needs to get near it again in order to get healed," Hunt concludes.

ERIK RASMUSSEN, one of the storm chasers from VORTEX who trained the "Twister" crew, confirms the attraction for such life-endangering work: "It's a passion. I certainly don't like to see tornadoes tear up property or hurt people, but to see one out in a wheat field is an incredible feeling. To just stand there and see those forces at work is amazing."