How does it hold up to the original?

It seems like forever since audiences had a good disaster movie that wasn’t related to a larger-than-life monster. But thankfully, it looks like this year will finally bring big-budget catastrophes back to the box office with Twisters, a sequel/remake of the beloved ’90s film starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton. Though plenty of Millennials look back fondly at the original 1996 film, is it really as good as we all remember? And more importantly, is the new film, starring Geln Powell and Daisy Ridley-Jones just as good? Let’s look at each film’s respective Rotten Tomatoes score to find out!

Twister (1996)

Fresh on the Tomatometer, but just barely

Released in 1996, the original Twister starred Helen Hunt as Jo Harding, a scientist who has devoted her life to understanding tornadoes following an unthinkable tragedy. With her deep personal stakes driving her, Harding lets almost all aspects of her life fall by the wayside, including her relationship with ex-husband Bill, another tornado researcher. The film sees the pair working together, despite their differences, on a game-changing machine called DOROTHY that could revolutionize tornado research. But getting the data they need means putting their lives on the line, and facing down a terrifying F5 “finger of god” tornado.

The original film may be something of a cult classic, but it wasn’t super impressive to critics upon release. With a just-barely “Certified Fresh” rating of 66% on Rotten Tomatoes, the critic’s consensus for the first film calls the film, “A high-concept blockbuster that emphasizes special effects over three-dimensional characters,” adding that the movie’s visceral thrills are often offset by the film’s generic plot.

It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement for the ’90s blockbuster, but can the follow-up do any better?

Twisters (2024)

A stronger fresh rating for a new era

The new Twisters film follows a host of new storm chasers, led by Kate Cooper (played by Daisy Edgar Jones) and her friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) as they test a new tornado tracking system. However, complicating things is Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), a storm chaser who at first glance seems to be more interested in creating content for social media than actual research. Though the new film walks the line between sequel and re-quel, it looks to have a lot of the same DNA that made the first film the second highest grossing film of 1996 (it was beaten out by Independence Day, another disaster flick!) But is it just as good?

According to Rotten Tomatoes, Twisters is another “Certified Fresh” film, and actually does beat its predecessor with a 77% rating. The site’s critical consensus reads, “Summoning a storm of spectacle and carried along by the gale force winds of Glen Powell’s charisma, Twisters’ forecast is splendid with a high chance of thrills.”

While both films go for similar tones and themes, it sounds like the newest disaster movie has all the makings of a throwback-inspired hit! Perhaps it will kick off a new golden age of disaster films, and we’ll start seeing more catastrophes on screen in the coming years.