This is one of three "tornado movies" filmed in 1996. The other two were "Twister" and "Tornado". Having said that, I don't believe that this one is as good as the other two. That's not to say that this movie is necessarily bad, it's just that the other two were more intense while "Night of the Twisters" seemed to focus more on family dynamics than anything else. Be that as it may, there was definitely some suspense here and the special effects were pretty good for the most part too. Along with that, I think it's important to also realize that the blockbuster film, "Twister" was made for the big screen (and general audiences) while "Night of the Twisters" was a made-for-television film intended for family audiences. In short, if you're looking for a good "tornado film" then you might want to check out the other two I mentioned earlier. However, I suppose this one is okay for a rainy day if there's nothing better to watch. Slightly below average.

I've had a morbid fascination with tornadoes for more than 40 years, since my 5th grade teacher, a native Texan, told stories of ones he saw in his youth. Fortunately, I've lived my whole life in the middle Atlantic states, where tornadoes are rare and usually not as violent as the ones in the Midwest, but I have had two close encounters, one in PA and the other in NJ, in the past decade.I enjoyed the family scenes, particularly the conflicts between Jack and Dan Hatch. When the tornado was close, Dan knew most of what he had to do, and he probably learned this in school, since I know that tornado safety is an important subject in parts of the U.S. where these storms are more frequent. However, characters in the movie did two things that some people think are supposed to be done or are safe to do in tornadoes but are actually not supposed to be done or are unsafe.When the siren first sounded, Dan and Arthur went through the house and opened the windows. For years, this is what people were told to do, but tornado safety web sites now advise against doing this. Also, people were shown hiding in a highway underpass. This method was made popular by an early 1990s video made by a T.V. crew during a relatively weak twister in Kansas. However, in the most serious tornadoes, people can be sucked out from these underpasses. This happened during a May 1999 outbreak in Oklahoma.The tornadoes in this movie hit in the fall, which is not a common time for them to happen. (Then again, one of my close encounters took place in late September.) Also, they traveled from northwest to southeast, while most such storms in the northern hemisphere go from southwest to northeast. However, this is not all that unusual. A famous tornado that struck Joliet, IL, in the early 1990s traveled in that direction (as did the one involved in my other close encounter).I think that the movie should have been set in the spring. This movie was based on a book that in turn was based on an actual event that happened on June 3, 1980. But it was still a compelling story.

This movie is good for TV. I like it because I'm a HUGE fan of disaster films even though this is a family film. Accuracy on the film from the book is half-and-half They got the characters names right but in the book there was no storm chaser, the the car scene involving the Hatch family running away from the tornado wasn't in the book instead it involved Dan hatch and his friend riding with a police officer on their way to the police station for safety. and in the book Dan and his friend are both 12-years old. Thats all i can think of. Overall this was a good movie even though it could of have been a little more accurate to the book. Did you know the book was based on a true story of a series of tornadoes devastating a small Nebraska town in 1980?

I remember watching this movie as a kid and loving it. I was obsessed with it at the times and me and my friend even got a thermos and put coffee in it and acted to make sure there were no cyclones on the way (I live in Australia).With that being said though, it's not the greatest movie. A typical TV Movie attempting to do something that usually on a big budget can do well (disaster movies)- it has been done much better in Twister and even that crappy movie with Eric Roberts.If you are bored and need something to waste your time and this is on, then by all means check it out. But don't go out of your way to.