Summary

• Twisters director Lee Isaac Chung reveals that there is indeed a hidden cow reference in the sequel.
• Despite the director's initial reluctance, the cow scene is a nice callback to the original movie.
• While the VFX team managed to sneak it in, Chung explained that he wanted to make the sequel stand on its own rather than be too heavily compared to the original.

Twisters director Lee Isaac Chung explains the ending's hidden cow reference to the original 1996 film. Led by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell, the stand-alone sequel follows Kate (Edgar-Jones), a meteorologist and former storm chaser. Kate returns to Oklahoma after accepting a one-week position to former teammate Javi's (Anthony Ramos) crew as they test a new scanning system for tornadoes. Kate reluctantly accepts the offer after having a traumatizing experience with tornadoes, and meets Powell's Tyler Owens, a famous storm chaser on the internet, along the way.

Now, in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Chung explained how Twisters paid homage to the original 1996 film, which even the director didn't know until he took a closer look. The moment comes in a blink-or-you-miss-it shot that references an iconic moment from Twister. Check out what Chung had to say below:

"Towards the climax of the film, when a F5 tornado is on a collision course with the town of El Reno, Oklahoma, there’s a blink-and-you-miss-it image of a cow caught up in the storm… sort of. It’s the hardest thing to spot..... I only spotted it because I noticed some weird marking on a piece of flying debris. I said, ‘Could you freeze that frame?’ I was looking at frame-by-frame shots when we’re doing VFX reviews, and sure enough, there was a cow on that thing.”

Twisters' Hidden Easter Egg, Explained

The Cow Scene Is Quite Iconic.

The moment references the scene from the original film in which stars Helen Hunt, Jami Gertz, and the late Bill Paxton are seen driving in a car during a storm, and a CGI cow floats through the air after being caught in a tornado.

The Twisters reference to the original film is so hidden that even director Chung could not spot it easily. It seems the VFX team added the cow before getting Chung's permission. He was reluctant to include any over-the-top elements in the sequel, to make it as close to accurate as possible. The moment references the scene from the original film in which stars Helen Hunt, Jami Gertz, and the late Bill Paxton are seen driving in a car during a storm, and a CGI cow floats through the air after being caught in a tornado. It features the iconic line "I gotta go Julia, we got cows!"

Chung previously stated that though he wanted to honor the original movie in many ways, the cow was not among them. The director explained that he didn't want to recreate a new cow scene as he wanted the sequel to stand on its own rather than be called "the new flying cow movie." However, despite the cow scene being overlooked by the director, it doesn't appear the addition will have too much of an impact, given it is hard to see it at first glance.

Nevertheless, the flying cow has been iconic and remains synonymous with the original 1996 movie. This is even so with the old Universal attraction called Twister... Ride it Out, in which the show features the live stimulation of a tornado on a set. Throughout the spectacle of the disaster, a cow is seen flying across the room, which calls back to the movie. Even the pre-show segments featured references to the cow, showcasing how iconic the scene has been for the movie. The attraction was closed in 2015 and was replaced by Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon.

How Twisters Is Performing Against The Original 1996 Movie

Twisters Is Already Overperforming At The Box Office.

During a time when sequels often fall flat, Twisters offers a gleam of hope for reboots and revivals that hope to achieve the same success as its predecessor.

Twisters is a commercial and critical success, receiving mostly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike and earning a Rotten Tomatoes score of 78%. It brought in $31 million at the box office during its opening day and is projected to make a profit off of its budget of $200 million. The film's commercial success could be due to its leads, Edgar-Jones and Powell, both rising stars in Hollywood with a growing fan following. Their chemistry on-screen makes for the perfect love story set against a disastrous background, something the original film also got right.

Aside from the leads, it offers a ing Twisters cast of solid, likable characters and the same thrilling, edge-of-your-seat action that was a hallmark of the original film. The special effects look real, clearly improving over time compared to when the original was released almost 30 years ago. During a time when sequels often fall flat, Twisters offers a gleam of hope for reboots and revivals that hope to achieve the same success as its predecessor.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter