Twisters' Replacement For The Best Scene From The OG Movie Was A Huge Missed Opportunity

Summary Twisters pays homage to the original film while introducing new characters and storylines.

The movie puts a fun spin on the iconic Twister scene, but misses some opportunities for references.

The decision to use Frankenstein over The Shining in the cinema scene adds to Twisters' unique identity.

Warning! This article contains spoilers for TwistersTwisters had an opportunity to pay homage to the original film's drive-in cinema scene, but didn't take the chance. The new film does stand on its own, with a bunch of new characters in Twisters introduced. The movie also puts some fun spins on the original Twister scenes, although the same film playing at the movie theater was not one of them.

There are some further Easter eggs to the original Twister in the new movie, but the film also sets up a lot of new storylines and hasn't tried too hard to be exactly like the original. This paid off, as Twisters surged past a major domestic box office milestone. However, the movie theater scene is one scene where it feels like there could have been more reference to the original Twister scene.

Related Twisters Puts A Fun Spin On The Original Movie’s Most Iconic Tornado Scene Twisters puts a fun spin on the original movie's most iconic tornado scene, helping the sequel stand out independently from its predecessor.

Twisters Missed The Chance To Use The Shining In The Movie Theater Scene

Frankenstein Played During The Twisters Cinema Scene

In the original Twister, there is a big tornado scene at a drive-in cinema. The movie screen plays one of the scarier scenes from The Shining as a tornado hits. By setting one of the most action-packed scenes in Twisters inside a cinema, it would have been the perfect callback to the original movie to have The Shining play in this cinema as well. Instead, Frankenstein played.

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On both occasions, the films playing at the cinema draw links to what is happening in the film itself. In Twister, the tornado destroys the screen right when Jack Torrance axes the door down in The Shining, and the Frankenstein reference highlights the idea that the tornado is a monster that was born. They are both great links to the tornado films, but not using the scene from The Shining seems like a wasted opportunity.

Twisters' Movie Scene Was Still A Good Tribute To The Original Movie

The Twisters' Movie Scene Draws A Resemblance To The Twister Drive-In Scene

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The Twisters cinema scene does still feel iconic. It's a tense scene, with chairs coming loose and the cinema screen flying out, exposing scared citizens to the tornado. This could have been the perfect moment to use The Shining, and have Jack Torrance coming after his family at the same time that the tornado is coming after people.

Chung told the podcast he originally wanted to use Jaws in this scene.

On the Fade to Black podcast, director Lee Isaac Chung revealed that he did want a different movie to play on the cinema screen, but it wasn't The Shining. Chung told the podcast he originally wanted to use Jaws in this scene, but producer Steven Spielberg and Chung eventually chose Frankenstein. It is not clear whether The Shining was ever on the table to be used in Twisters.

It was still pretty fun to have the movie theater scene in Twisters at all, as it does serve as a reminder of the original scene. While it could have been even better to catch a glimpse of The Shining, it also feels that by not doing it, Twisters becomes more of a stand-alone film that doesn't try to rely too heavily on Twister. By creating scenes like this as nods, and still have their own unique choices, is exactly why Twisters is a powerful sequel.

Source: Fade to Black podcast