I saw Twister played on TV in a loud bar, no sound, and I thought

man, this is a good movie to watch with no sound

but then I thought

the hell kind of movie is this?

Is it a disaster movie? Obviously kinda, there’s a hostile thing that kills people, and a lot of the characters are played by recognizable actors but none too famous, so it’s like they could feasibly kill any one

but there’s not really that much disaster, you know? there’s the drive-in and then bill paxton hangs on to a fencepost, and it’s not really like the scrappy band pulls together to fight the tornado, because hey, tornado

but what is there instead? a core cast with personal dynamic spun from a boomer crisis of family integrity, and a notional antagonist with corporate overtones.

Which: that makes absolute sense. Twister is an attempt to merge the ‘70s ensemble disaster film and the '80s Die Hard-influenced action thriller. That makes absolute sense.

P.S. “American Cinema 1985-1995: The Boomer Crisis Of Family Integrity”. You’re welcome.