Today there is almost nothing that can’t be done in the movies thanks to the world of visual effects. In modern movie making that often means extensive CGI, where things are created in computers that look as real as anything else. But visual effects are as old as cinema and you can never be sure that what you’re seeing on screen is “real.” Except apparently, in the original Twister, which pulled off some moments that couldn’t have been real, but it turns out absolutely were.
While the new box office hit Twisters blends practical effects with CGI, CGI didn’t exist the way it does today when Twister was released. This meant the movie was going to have to do some creative things to create its massive disaster sequences. We knew that a lot of what was happening behind the scenes of Twister was finding creative ways to make the action work. Twister director Jan de Bont told Vulture about one particular scene, which saw combines falling from the sky, which is even more real than it appears. He explained…
That’s not visual effects; that’s real effects. We dropped those combines hanging from helicopters onto the road as the car was driving, which, of course, makes for the best reaction you can get from the actors, because it’s goddamned real.
It wouldn’t have been too hard to create a scene like this using visual effects. Even something as simple as building models would have worked, and is a time-honored way of creating moments in movies that are simply too big to make happen in reality. However, de Bont wanted the scene to be real so he dropped tractors from helicopters. It’s hard to argue the scene in Twister doesn’t look amazing.
Part of the reason that most movies wouldn’t do a scene like this practically isn’t just that it’s complicated and expensive, but it’s also potentially dangerous. However, that is where some movie magic does come in. The director says that thanks to the way he shot the scene, the combines look like they’re falling closer to the actors than they are, so nobody was ever in danger. He continued…
They really fall from the sky, and it is not like a little fall. No, it’s a real combine, and multiple ones, and then they fall to the left and the right. And you have to drive around. It looks dangerous from the ground, but in reality, it always was safe to do it. Using longer lenses, you make that distance seem even shorter, so it looks like it’s really close to the car. Generally, it was always like 20 feet or 30 feet in front of the car. It’s a little close maybe. But it’s just spectacular to watch in real life.
Twisters has its share of practical effects as well, but the real and the CGI are a bit easier to see. With the successful sequel now in theaters many may be watching Twister for the first time. Sometimes, knowing how certain movie effects are done can take away some of the magic. In this case, it only makes the entire sequence that much more impressive because the movie magic is just the real thing.