Warner Brothers never made a sequel to Twister, but this year’s release of Twisters by Universal has prompted WB to upgrade the original to 4K. The state of the art in 1996 looks pretty great still.
Twister is all about natural light out in the field, although it must be manipulated in post, both optically in 1996 and digitally now. One new look is the green sky before the first modern day tornado. It never looked like that in theaters, and I was a projectionist that summer so I saw it a lot.
The exterior light makes noticeable changes as the twisters get closer, darkening subtly until nightfall. Then the next morning awakens to a glorious sunrise.
Twister was always a sound system demo. Of course, the wind blows all around the speakers as debris clatters, the cow bell tinkles, hail pelts and tracker balls spill on the road behind you. The creaking house collapses immersively too.
You also hear the crickets during the downtime. Mild trees rustle within the eye of the storm. Thunder builds until the twister and vehicle caravans speed around the room too.
A new Jan De Bont interview highlights the 4K and Dolby Atmos upgrades. He confirms the green sky was newly added, and also reflects on the making of the film. The 4K UHD also includes his commentary and previously produced bonus features.