1996 was a good year for movies, and one of the most successful titles of that year was Twister, about tornado-chasing scientists in Oklahoma. Its box office was only second to the alien invasion CGI spectacular Independence Day. Twister starred Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton as our scrappy hero storm chasers and Cary Elwes as the well-funded nemesis storm chaser. Benna Chrysler Dodge Ram would like to point out that an unofficial central character of the film was the red 1995 Dodge Ram 1500 that our heroes used for their chasing. Now, “just” 28 years later, comes a Twister sequel called simply Twisters. None of the original cast returns, but a Ram truck again stars as the hero storm-chasing truck.
Based on the trailer, the new film pits the educated elites against our blue-collar storm chaser guys with cowboy hats and thick accents. Plus, there is a brilliant blonde “city girl” former storm chaser who clearly falls in with the local dudes. In keeping with the hero’s underdog status, their ride is not a new truck. It’s an early 2000s 20-year-old Ram dually looking more like a truck carrying the camera and film crew rather than in front of the lens with an extensive external roll cage, lights, and lots of downhome tornado wrangler stuff. But the truck also has a black primer hood to keep it looking humble. One Speed Racer-like modification is internal drills in each corner to fasten the truck into the ground when things get a bit breezy.
In the first movie, the Ram truck’s bed carried a device called “Dorothy” that released hundreds of little sensors that were swept up into the tornado to provide valuable information. This time around, these tornadoes are really mean and not content with knocking down billboards and flattening trailer parks. Reno, Nevada, gets beat up, and a refinery blows up along the way. So, the goal is nothing as wimpy as mere education. This time, they are going to kick some tornado tail, or rather “disrupt” the tornado and save everyone.
Other more contemporary Ram trucks also appear in the trailer, including a Ram 1500 TRX and (keeping it in the extended family) an early 80s Jeep J10 pickup that is literally taken by the wind. An equipment-laden Toyota 4Runner also does some chasing, only to meet a bad end. This is middle America, after all, so no Toyota is going to save the day.
As much as we at Benna CDJR, who sell new Ram trucks, would like a shiny new Ram truck to be the hero like last time, there is something to be appreciated about a 20-year-old Ram getting the job done. Twisters opens on July 19th.
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