Take one look at 1996’s Twister and you can tell it couldn’t have been an easy shoot. But nevermind the wind generated by Boeings or the debris being hurled violently at the cast or the stars being blinded by on-set lamps – everybody had Jan de Bont to deal with.
As one story from the set of Twister goes, Jan de Bont pushed a camera crew assistant, who subsequently fell into a ditch. After de Bont refused to apologize or show any remorse, cinematographer Don Burgess took his crew and went home, forcing a domino effect that led to multiple other teams walking off. Enter producer Steven Spielberg, who actually hand-picked de Bont because of 1994’s Speed. But Spielberg didn’t bother going to the set; instead, he made his mark right there at the airport.
After Jan de Bont was made to turn up at the airport, Spielberg allegedly tore him a hole even a tornado couldn’t have left behind. According to Twister stunt coordinator Mic Rodgers, “The ramp came down on the Learjet and Spielberg walked down it and he never touched the ground. He just stood there yelling at Jan. He never even got off the plane. He was just f*cking yelling, pointing his finger at him, screaming at him. I don’t know what he said to him, but he barked at him for, like, 15 minutes and got back in the plane. The plane left without him even stepping off.” (Spielberg was also apparently responsible for the decision to ditch a kiss at the end of this year’s Twisters.)
Production on Twister resumed shortly after, with Jack N. Green stepping in as cinematographer. Even though Green suffered his own injuries when a hydraulic house collapsed on him, that situation didn’t result in any damage to the partnership, as Green reteamed with de Bont on Speed 2: Cruise Control the next year.
With Twisters landing with both critics and audiences (touching down with an $80+ million opening), it’s definitely time for you to revisit the 1996 movie…just know that it had an F5 director.
What are your memories of watching Twister? How do you think this year’s follow-up turned out?