Home / Arts and Entertainment / Twister's Flying Cow: 30 Years Later
Twister's Flying Cow: 30 Years Later
10 May
Summary
- Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt were temporarily blinded by set lamps.
- The film was one of the first released on DVD in the US.
- A recording of a camel's moan was used for tornado sounds.
Released on May 10, 1996, Twister kicked off the summer blockbuster season, becoming the second-highest-grossing film of the year. The film starred Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton as storm chasers, featuring an early role from Philip Seymour Hoffman. Its central relationship was inspired by the 1940 screwball comedy His Girl Friday.
The production was famously arduous, with actors enduring harsh weather and constant blasts from industrial fans. To create realistic tornadoes, the film utilized groundbreaking large-scale CGI, and it was among the first to be released on DVD in the United States. A memorable flying cow scene has endured in disaster movie history.
Behind the scenes, actors Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt were temporarily blinded by electric lamps used to simulate stormy skies. The fictional "Dorothy" device was based on real tornado research equipment. The film's soundtrack includes hits from Van Halen and Shania Twain. Interestingly, a slowed recording of a camel's moan is rumored to have been used for the tornado's sound effect.
Twister earned nearly $500 million globally and received two Academy Award nominations, including Best Visual Effects. A "Twister... Ride It Out" attraction ran at Universal Studios Florida from 1998 to 2015. Director Lee Isaac Chung aimed for an authentic Tornado Alley feel by shooting on Kodak 35mm film, mirroring the original production.
