Night of the Twisters (film)
| Night of the Twisters | |
|---|---|
DVD release poster
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| Genre | Action Drama Family |
| Based on |
Night of the Twisters by Ivy Ruckman |
| Written by | Sam Graham Chris Hubbell |
| Directed by | Timothy Bond |
| Starring |
Devon Sawa Amos Crawley John Schneider Lori Hallier Laura Bertram David Ferry |
| Music by | Lawrence Shragge |
| Country of origin | Canada United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | William F. Burns Anne Marie La Traverse Wayne Rogers |
| Producer(s) | Michael Lambermont Stephen Roloff Sean Ryerson John Calvert (line producer) |
| Location(s) | Kleinburg, Ontario |
| Cinematography | Peter Benison |
| Editor(s) | Gary L. Smith |
| Running time | 92 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
MTM Enterprises Atlantis Communications PorchLight Entertainment |
| Distributor | The Family Channel |
| Release | |
| Original release |
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Night of the Twisters is a 1996 made-for-television disaster film that was directed by Timothy Bond. The film premiered on The Family Channel (now Freeform) on February 11, 1996, as the cable channel's first original movie (and appeared on the channel until 2004, under its successor brands Fox Family and ABC Family).
Filmed in Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada and based on the 1984 young-adult novel of the same title by Ivy Ruckman (a semi-fictionalized account of an outbreak of seven tornadoes that struck Grand Island, Nebraska on June 3, 1980, killing five people and injuring 134 others), the film centers on a family's struggle to survive a night as a bizarre tornado-producing supercell thunderstorm tracks into and becomes stationary over their town.
The film's prologue takes places in an area of rural farmland in Dannebrog, Nebraska. While there, Bob Irisen – a storm chaser with the National Weather Service – is driving down a country road to track a freak supercell thunderstorm. As a tornado touches down yards away, right as their daughter arrives home from school, Bob warns a family about the oncoming twister, which sends them running into their cellar just before it destroys their farm.
Meanwhile, in (the fictional town of) Blainsworth, Nebraska (the book is set in the real-world city of Grand Island), teenager Dan Hatch, an aspiring and practicing artist who is constantly being pushed by his stepfather Jack to be an athlete, participates in a bike race and damages his bicycle; Jack pushes Danny into finishing the race on his bum bike, where he falls behind the other racers. Much to his luck, he wins a new bike in a raffle held by a local bank. While trying out his new bicycle, Danny and his best friend Arthur Darlington run into Arthur's two sisters, Stacey (whom Danny is infatuated with) and Ronnie Vae, while at the park. Danny and Arthur arrive home as the former's mother Laura is preparing dinner, when she also asks Danny to tend to his baby half-brother, Ryan. Later, Laura's sister, Jenny, calls to inform her that they have been assigned to a fill-in shift as waitresses at the Salty Dawg, the local diner where they both work.
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