Three Early Twister DVDs Touch Down in the CGC Home Video Grading Room

These three DVDs of the iconic '90s classic swept through just in time to celebrate the soon-to-be-released sequel.

In 1996, Warner Bros. debuted "Twister" in theaters — an American disaster film about storm chasers who risk their lives trying to deploy a groundbreaking tornado research device in the middle of an Oklahoma storm outbreak. The movie was well-loved among viewers and became the second-highest grossing film of year, earning about $495 million worldwide.

In March of 1997, Warner Bros. released their first movies in DVD format in the United States. "Twister" is notable for being one of these first films. Though they released 25 DVD films in total, "Twister" was the centerpiece of them all due to its roaring success the year before. CGC Home Video™ recently certified a small collection of early sealed "Twister" DVDs from Warner Home Video (1997), each graded CGC 9.4 A or better.

One of the biggest appeals of DVDs over videocassettes was the additional data afforded to producers and directors when making movies. Many directors decided to use this extra disc space to include extra “special features” with their films, including special behind-the-scenes interviews about the movie-making process. "Twister" was one of the first DVDs to include these additional features, though they weren’t anything nearly as grand as actual insider interviews.

At first, these additional features were called “Bonus” features, as indicated by a small line of text on the back of "Twister’s" snapcase in early 1997 releases. However, "Twister’s" “Bonus” features weren’t really features at all; they were simply a trailer for the film and disc specifications. To remedy this misunderstanding, the text on later releases of "Twister" on DVD was changed from “Bonus” to “Special Features.” Many of these mid-1997 DVD releases also included a silver “Special Features” sticker.

These iconic '90s classics came to CGC Home Video at an opportune time — a "Twister" sequel is set to release in July. Called "Twisters," the sequel will not directly follow the same characters of the first movie, but it still promises just as much action and storm chasing, if not more!

 

 

About CGC

Since revolutionizing comic book grading in 2000, CGC has grown to include certification services for a vast variety of pop culture collectibles. These divisions include CGC Video GamesCGC Home Video and CGC Cards. CGC Video Games is dedicated to video game grading for the most popular consoles, including Nintendo, Sega, Atari, PlayStation and more. CGC Home Video provides expert VHS grading in addition to other types of videocassettes, DVD, Blu-ray and more. CGC Cards provides expert card grading for sports cards, TCGs and non-sports cards.