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Night of the Twisters (1996) watch online HD

Original title:Night of the Twisters
Category:Movie / Action / Drama / Family
Released:1996
Director:Timothy Bond
Actors:Devon Sawa,Amos Crawley,John Schneider
Writer:Ivy Ruckman,Sam Graham
Duration:1h 32min
Video type:Movie

Rating 5.9: Votes 433

1996 Devon Sawa Amos Crawley John Schneider Timothy Bond

Short summary

A Nebraska farm community is plagued by a storm with a series of tornados acting against normal patterns. Dan is left at home to look after his baby brother Ryan along with his friend Arthur while Dan's mother is at work. His stepfather goes to check on his grandmother. When a tornado destroys the house, Dan and Arthur attempt to re-unite the family

Dan Hitch (Devon Sawa) says "just because you know the future, doesn't mean you can change it. Devon Sawa starred in Final Destination (2000) about a boy who has a premonition about a plane crash, then cheats death.

The novel was inspired by the 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak which in turn was adapted for the film. The novel however is semi-fictionalized.

Although the film is set in Dannebrog, Nebraska, it was actually filmed in Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada.

The movie is based on the novel written by Ivy Ruckman.

An overpass isn't the ideal shelter for a tornado and neither a firetruck.

The twisters in this film seem to be all gray. They were supposed to be black.

Night of the Twisters aired on October 20th 2001 on the television channel RTL 2 in Germany.

Night of the Twisters aired on Feburary 16th, 2002 on the television channel RTL 2 in Germany.

Night of the Twisters aired on October 25th 2008 on the television channel Tele 5 in Germany.

The tornadoes can't seem to lift up heavy vehicles including firetrucks or school buses.

Jenny's car is an early 1990's Buick Skylark GS (Gran Sport) coupe with a custom paint job.

Night of the Twisters aired on March 25th, 2007 on the television channel Tele 5 in Germany.

Night of the Twisters aired on Tele 5 on May 21st 2006 on the television channel Tele 5 in Germany.

Although it's mentioned by any character, a tornado is measured by its destructive force with the Fujita's Scale. It was named after Tetsuya Fujita, who in 1971 in collaboration with Allan Pearson created a scale to differentiate a twister according the wind speed:

-F0: 60-117 km/h or 45- 72 mph (light damage).

-F1: 117-181 km/h or 73-112 mph (moderate damage).

-F2: 181-250 km/h or 113-157 mph (significant damage).

-F3: 250-320 km/h or 158-206 mph (severe damage).

-F4: 320-420 km/h or 207-260 mph (devastating damage).

-F5: 420-510 km/h or 261-308 mph (incredible damage).

-F6: 510-610 km/h or 309-379 mph (altough initially Fujita scale have five marks, in 1999 a tornado located in Bridge Creek-Moore, Oklahoma, devastated with a force more powerful never seen before. It was the only one F6 registered in history).

User reviews

Author: Dagdalas

My kids and I have almost memorized the lines to "Night of the Twisters", we've seen it so many times! We have so many favorite scenes and lines that it's difficult to compile them all here! One thing for sure: You can watch this with your mother and not be embarrassed. It's about a family facing a natural disaster and its aftermath with courage and compassion. The filmmakers didn't succumb to any sexual innuendoes or "bad attitude" dialogue either. Some parts are kinda corny, but all in all, it's a refreshing change from the usual TV movie fare. I really enjoy watching Dan and Arthur "jamming" up in Dan's room before the storm hits; plus, how Dan so nonchalantly checks on his baby brother in the storm's beginning stages. Watch it when you can.

Author: Whitebeard

Well, there was nothing else on TV and having read and enjoyed the book of the same title, and having a fascination with tornadoes, we figured, what the heck. The names of the characters were the same and tornadoes happened, but that was about it. The book by Ivy Ruckman (based on a real tornado event in Grand Island, Nebraska) featured true suspense, with some of the lesser known effects of tornadoes such as sucking drains and popping ears adding an eeriness to the story, without resorting to a lot of special effects and overdone drama. I guess every such movie needs a family conflict of sorts, thus the completely fabricated tension between Dan and his father. The dialog featured many comedic moments from "Where are the chickens?" (as a family stands, completely oblivious to the howling winds (until someone warns them -- almost unheard over the tempest) -- they live here, right and have seen such weather before?) to "Is he hurt?" about a man trapped under a truck. We howled right along with the storm.

Author: Ytli

This straight to television prime material for the Scyfy channel garbage somehow manages to be even worse than the average movie of it's ilk and that's really saying something.

Starring John "Dukes of Hazard" Schneider and a young Devon "Idle Hands/Final Destination" Sawa this is the most boring and generic movie of it's type I think I've ever seen.

A town is hit with a series of twisters and yadayadayada. No originality, all the usual scenes you'd expect to see and even everyones performances seem phoned in.

It's like nobody even tried, not the actors, not the director and sure as hell not the writers.

Even hardcore bad movie buffs might struggle with this one.

The Good:

John Schneider

The Bad:

Cliched to hell

Looks ugly

Loses steam real fast

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

This movie blows

^ Twister joke, highbrow humour at its best

Author: Urreur

A lot of people feel this movie is just a knock off of 'Twister', I would beg to differ. The real plot deals with the relationship between the teenage step son, and his step father. The storm is more the random element that brings them closer together.

I won't outline the plot, because it's already been done. However,I like this movie because it's more about the people, than the storm. So, it's not just another disaster flick. It has more heart then 'Twister'.

I like 'Twister' too, but in a different way. I try not to criticize something for being what it's not. So, I don't compare the two to each other. If you like movies that have heart, I think you'll like this one.

Author: Ganthisc

... And in my humble opinion does a better job of it! Okay, so NIGHT OF THE TWISTERS is a family movie, and it does gloss over the realities a bit. Also, because it's set at night, you don't get to see that much of the tornadoes.

But, for all this, I still like it better than TWISTER. At least the tornadoes in this film are comprised of real footage!

Author: Dordred

This movie is good for TV. I like it because I'm a HUGE fan of disaster films even though this is a family film. Accuracy on the film from the book is half-and-half They got the characters names right but in the book there was no storm chaser, the the car scene involving the Hatch family running away from the tornado wasn't in the book instead it involved Dan hatch and his friend riding with a police officer on their way to the police station for safety. and in the book Dan and his friend are both 12-years old. Thats all i can think of. Overall this was a good movie even though it could of have been a little more accurate to the book. Did you know the book was based on a true story of a series of tornadoes devastating a small Nebraska town in 1980?

Author: Negal

Ok. Sorry, but those people who praised this movie with their comments must have seen a different movie, because this movie was sad. The acting was horrible, the actions the characters took were ludicrous, the special effects were the worst I have ever seen, and I mean EVER. It looks as tho all of the tornado scenes were filmed with the actors in one place, while the horrible SFX moved around them. They were just so horrible. It is a cheap rip off of bigger movies like Twister....and I keep asking myself...why do they even make movies like this? It's like going out with a camcorder and making a ten minute movie...it serves just as much purpose as this load of crap. By the way...when the dad is driving the truck...how on earth did his foot get "stuck" on the gas when he got knocked out? Impossible. That scene had to be the worst....fake. .05/10

Author: anonymous

This film (which is based off the book of the same name) is a great film for the family when it comes to the subject matter of tornadoes. Some people may think this film is a ripoff of Twister due to the timing of the release, but I can assure you it's not, that honor goes to Tornado! starring Bruce Campbell.

Overall, Night of the Twisters keeps you entertained since the characters and disaster aspect has a happy balance and that the film can be enjoyed by both young and old audiences.

Author: Dalallador

About the baby: Why wasn't big brother assuming he'd be hungry for a bottle or some nourishment or a diaper change? He should have been screaming non-stop after that many hours without care. Definitely stupid to take the baby from a safe place when he didn't need to.

And why was the road miraculously clear whenever anyone wanted to drive somewhere? Didn't any uprooted trees fall on the roads and block them?

I can't imagine the cops at the roadblock not immediately following after any young person who would crash it, especially when they said it was dangerous to go there.

That being said, it was nice to have a movie children could safely watch, for a change.

Author: Thetalen

For some strange reason the film world is driven by fashion . Someone makes a film about a killer shark then all of a sudden the film world`s oceans are awash with giant Squids , killer octopusses and sea monsters of every ilk . A man is stalked by an erstwhile lover from hell then every film character is stalked by a cop from hell or a flatmate from hell or a babysitter from hell . Then when a major Hollywood company produces a big budget FX laden blockbuster about tornados then other film producers jump upon the bandwagon , the fact that they don`t have the budget to pull it off doesn`t stop them. NIGHT OF THE TWISTERS is a case in point . What struck me about this made for television film is the fact that it tries to hide its lack of budget by cutting to the ad breaks . Everytime a tornado appears the camara locks onto the horrified expression of the actors as they scream things like " Oh my gawd it`s heading this way " and " Run for your lives " then the screen fades to black saving the producers the need to up the special effects budget . Unfortunately NIGHT OF THE TWISTERS budget should have been upped to include better actors . The cast are by no means bad but they are unimpressive and lack the skill to carry a film which is character driven . Where`s Josh Hartnett and Elijah Wood when you need them ?

And the last word on this being a TWISTER clone ..... Yes NOTT was released a couple of months before TWISTER but TWISTER had been hyped for several months as being the Summer blockbuster of 1996 and NOTT has a rushed feeling to it which leads me to believe that it was made and released to tie in with the hype surrounding TWISTER

Author: The_NiGGa

As I prepared to watch this film, I expected a cheap spin-off of that "OTHER" block-buster tornado movie. But I was pleasantly suprised and proven wrong. GRANTED, this made-for-television doesn't have the same budget as the Hollywood feature, but it does a GREAT job of story-telling and creating likeable characters. It even has cool special effects considering it was a television film. It was good to see John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard's) again, even though his acting hasn't improved much. It is the break-out performance of Devon Sawa which carries this family-thriller, he has a natural talent that could bring him to greater things, keep watching for him in future projects. I was also impressed with it's ability to remain a FAMILY film without dipping into profanity and sex, yet still have it's fair share of thrills and tense moments. This is a good movie that is worth your time and rental fee. You can invite you parents over and let the kids stay up for this one. Good Job FAMILY CHANNEL, we salute you!

Author: The Sinners from Mitar

Ok, it wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen and it was good for a laugh. The acting was decent (although they must have spent all their money getting John Schneider). The cheap, corny, dialogue turned a potential action film into a comedy. For example, the family at the beginning talking about chickens when the sky is black and the wind is howling. There were also several 'well duh' lines, such as the police officer's "Is he hurt?"(He just said he was trapped under a truck) and "The power is back on"(how did the power suddenly come back on anyway?) Things I've learned from this movie: not finding family members in your destroyed house is a bad thing, anyone can jump in a car and drive perfectly, even if they've never driven before, and even though the furniture is being blown around and the house is shaking, if the siren stops everything is ok.

Author: Onoxyleili

I am meteorologist by degree. They either had no scientific consultants or they came pretty cheap. Worse science than "Twister". My favorite line is when the "meteorologist" says that the northwest to southeast movement of the storms is so unusual that in his 25 years of experience he has never seen storms move that way. In fact, they move that way pretty often and TEND to become severe as a result. The guy was asleep on the job for 25 years. Those who know how to forecast tornadoes by turning their television sets on and adjusting the brightness should also:

1) Wear aluminum foil on their heads to keep the aliens from reading their minds 2)Turn the TV off, because "They're here!" 3)Stop adjusting their set, because "We control the horizontal. We control the vertical".

This movie might fool some very naive people, but even my wife, who is no dummy, laughed out loud at the first rotating radar image of a "bizarre" thunderstorm.

Excuse me. I have to puke.

Author: Kirimath

I've had a morbid fascination with tornadoes for more than 40 years, since my 5th grade teacher, a native Texan, told stories of ones he saw in his youth. Fortunately, I've lived my whole life in the middle Atlantic states, where tornadoes are rare and usually not as violent as the ones in the Midwest, but I have had two close encounters, one in PA and the other in NJ, in the past decade.

I enjoyed the family scenes, particularly the conflicts between Jack and Dan Hatch. When the tornado was close, Dan knew most of what he had to do, and he probably learned this in school, since I know that tornado safety is an important subject in parts of the U.S. where these storms are more frequent. However, characters in the movie did two things that some people think are supposed to be done or are safe to do in tornadoes but are actually not supposed to be done or are unsafe.

When the siren first sounded, Dan and Arthur went through the house and opened the windows. For years, this is what people were told to do, but tornado safety web sites now advise against doing this. Also, people were shown hiding in a highway underpass. This method was made popular by an early 1990s video made by a T.V. crew during a relatively weak twister in Kansas. However, in the most serious tornadoes, people can be sucked out from these underpasses. This happened during a May 1999 outbreak in Oklahoma.

The tornadoes in this movie hit in the fall, which is not a common time for them to happen. (Then again, one of my close encounters took place in late September.) Also, they traveled from northwest to southeast, while most such storms in the northern hemisphere go from southwest to northeast. However, this is not all that unusual. A famous tornado that struck Joliet, IL, in the early 1990s traveled in that direction (as did the one involved in my other close encounter).

I think that the movie should have been set in the spring. This movie was based on a book that in turn was based on an actual event that happened on June 3, 1980. But it was still a compelling story.

Author: MisTereO

I remember watching this movie as a kid and loving it. I was obsessed with it at the times and me and my friend even got a thermos and put coffee in it and acted to make sure there were no cyclones on the way (I live in Australia).

With that being said though, it's not the greatest movie. A typical TV Movie attempting to do something that usually on a big budget can do well (disaster movies)- it has been done much better in Twister and even that crappy movie with Eric Roberts.

If you are bored and need something to waste your time and this is on, then by all means check it out. But don't go out of your way to.

Author: Elizabeth

TV version of "Twister" springs a few leaks but manages to remain watchable. My sister bought this at a Wal-Mart a few years back when it was released, I saw it back then and thought it was okay. Later "Twister" with Bill Pullman and Helen Hunt comes out (or was it before? I think it was '97) and did a better job overall. But "Twister" was more silly fun; this is realistic with a message. It all depends on what you want from a movie with twisters: Twisters, or a low-budget character study?

John Schneider and Devon Sawa (he's the reason my sister bought it) star, and Devon Sawa, who went on to "Wild America," "Final Destination" and "Slackers" got his big break here. So in a way, I was one of the first people to see him really take off. I don't know if it's an honor or a shame, I haven't seen how he acts in recent films.

"Night of the Twisters" all depends on personal taste, like I said, it all depends on what you want from a movie with twisters: Twisters, or a low-budget character study. "Night of the Twister" has the latter. So you decide.

I give it a 2.5/5...

John Ulmer

Author: Downloaded

This movie has some things that are pretty amazing. First, it is supposed to be based on a true story. That, in itself, is amazing that multiple tornadoes would hit the same town at night in the fall-in Nebraska. I wonder if the real town's name was close to "Blainsworth" (which is the town's name in the movie). There is an Ainsworth, Nebraska, but there is also a town that starts with Blains-something.

It does show the slowest moving tornadoes on record in the the seen where the boys are in the house. On the other hand, the scene where the TV goes fuzzy is based in fact. Before Doppler radar and weather radio, we were taught that if you turned your TV to a particular channel (not on cable) and tuned the brightness just right, you could tell if there was a tornado coming. The problem was that by then you would be able to hear it.

Since I know something about midwest tornadoes, it made this movie fun for me. I enjoy it more than Twister. I mean, give me a break-there is no way you could make it through and F5 by chaining yourself to a pipe in a well house.

Author: Berenn

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.

Author: Jugami

It is a good family movie. I've seen a lot of reviews of people trying to compare it to Twister or saying it's a cheap rip or knockoff of the big motion picture movie Twister, but once again it's not. For those who don't or haven't done much reading in their lives of course would automatically assume this is just a straight to TV movie rip on Twister because they don't realize this movie, Night of The Twisters, is actually based on the book of the same name. So yes the tornado scenes aren't the greatest. But that is expected as those are actually not the dominant force in the movie and book. So if you're looking for a good family movie then this is a movie you should check out! But if you're expecting anything like Twister or high quality CGI and every little nuance of tornados down to sounds or how they act, then skip this movie as you'll dislike the movie.

Author: jorik

I thought this was a very good movie. Better than the other "Twisters" movie. I just wish it would be shown more often.

Author: hulk

An okay movie for a day where there's nothing better to do, if you're into twisters.

It's not a very realistic movie, but a least it does not go as much overboard as Twister or Atomic Twister, which are ridiculously unrealistic. The plot is enjoyable and in many aspects not that far fetched - as in how could things look if there was a multiple twister outbreak in a small town. The twisters themselves are of course a bit Hollywood'ish. They can do things a twister normally can't do, and they look somewhat artificial. That being said, they're still pretty neat and fun.

Now the worst part, and this almost ruins the movie. The main character "Dan" is the most obnoxious jerk on two legs. Always snide, rude, arrogant, constantly condescending towards his friend Arthur and whiny if things don't go his way. If it's a case of over-acting, the squeaky annoying voice or just a trait of the character, I don't really know. But he bugs the crap out of me, and everyone I know who saw the movie. The father Jack is portrayed as a Pacer-Dad, who would like to see his son become a great athlete. That's all fine, but was it necessary to make him a confusing combination of a jock, high school football coach, bench athlete and macho hardware store owner? It's all just too much. Other than that, the characters are pretty likable, but very two-dimensional.

Don't expect anything great, but it's worth a bag of crisps on a rainy day.

Author: Uanabimo

Twister came out when I was a kid. I remember it clearly, I was fascinated with CGI in movies, and Twister was known for using a good deal of it. Cgi, that is.

And I liked Twister. I really did. I thought the effects were good, action was intense, it really entertained me.

Then a while after it had made it to VHS, me and a friend was going to rent it. We did, and whaddayaknow! We had rented "Night of the Twisters", not "Twister". Haha. While we were watching I remember thinking it was somewhat different than I remembered, but it took some time before I got that it was the wrong movie. A ripoff-movie. (Just like those Asylum-guys) I'm sure it differs from "Twister", but that cover there, and the title..? Ain't no doubt what they were going for.

Yeah, I don't remember much from it, except it was definitely no Twister. This is a rather low budget, kind of boring TV-movie, with a lot of drama, and little CGI. In other words not much like Twister - a very entertaining movie.

So yeah, read the movie title well before you take it home!

Author: Snake Rocking

This picture surprised me. I've always loved Twister and when I saw that this came out around the same time, i got worried. But it's all different. The story is different, the acting is certainly different (for better or for worse), but otherwise, its a pretty decent picture.

This film focuses on a small down as a storm that gives them huge twisters sits right over their town. There is a scene in which the teens in the film are walking back to town. They see the rescue station , and there, a light shining up into the sky. The one girl comments how it looked creepy. I agree! This film is great with suspense and amazing special effects. It's a good film to watch late Saturday night with a big bowl of popcorn. It is a film-snob favorite!

Author: Hawk Flying

I first saw this film when I was just a little kid, watching it on a November night in the mid 90's on what was formally "The Family Channel". It premiered as part of a disaster weekend double feature alongside "Flood: A Rivers Rampage". There are a lot of aspects that really show how much a "TV Movie" this is, but I do have to give the special effects team extra credit here. For a low budget TV movie, the effects used for the tornadoes weren't half bad for 1996. I've read several reviews from people complaining about how horrible the effects were, this was a limited budget TV movie folks, get real. The acting is surprisingly good as well, Devon Sawa and John Schneider have great chemistry together and much of the dialogue and situations feel very real. I rate this film so high because given what they had to work with this film definitely delivered.

Author: post_name

This is one of three "tornado movies" filmed in 1996. The other two were "Twister" and "Tornado". Having said that, I don't believe that this one is as good as the other two. That's not to say that this movie is necessarily bad, it's just that the other two were more intense while "Night of the Twisters" seemed to focus more on family dynamics than anything else. Be that as it may, there was definitely some suspense here and the special effects were pretty good for the most part too. Along with that, I think it's important to also realize that the blockbuster film, "Twister" was made for the big screen (and general audiences) while "Night of the Twisters" was a made-for-television film intended for family audiences. In short, if you're looking for a good "tornado film" then you might want to check out the other two I mentioned earlier. However, I suppose this one is okay for a rainy day if there's nothing better to watch. Slightly below average.

Cast overview, first billed only:
	Devon Sawa	-	Dan Hatch
	Amos Crawley	-	Arthur Jones
	John Schneider	-	Jack Hatch
	Lori Hallier	-	Laura Hatch
	Laura Bertram	-	Stacey Jones
	David Ferry	-	Bob Irisen
	Helen Hughes	-	Grandma Belle Hatch
	Jhene Erwin	-	Jenny
	Alex Lastewka	-	Ryan Hatch
	Thomas Lastewka	-	Ryan Hatch
	Megan Kitchen	-	Ronnie Vae
	Graham McPherson	-	Calvert
	Ted Simonett	-	Stan
	Dan Petronijevic	-	Tough Guy (as Daniel Petronijevic)
	Don Allison	-	Phil

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