Trigger words: radical
Indicator sentences: Who decides what is radical and what isn't?
Negotiation parts: To a five-year-old, Han Solo returning to save Luke Skywalker could be radical. Plot, itself, relies on changes and unexpected occurances to drive it forward. All movies with a conventional plot work this way. You have a problem with especially radical twists, but all plots have twists to some degree. You are only noting radical twists for their trivilaity and failing to recognize more subtle twists and turns becausw they work well. My point is that twists are necessary. You are not realizing that a radical twist like at the end of THE USUAL SUSPECTS isn't the only kind of twist. Most movies have twists like that to a lesser degree. Plot depends on changes like that. I think this is a definition issue, with you using a different one than me. And you are right that 'radical' is not an absolute term. For me radical means also very significant, that the sole twist impacts the whole narrative, before and after the twist. The Usual Suspects, Signs, Memento etcetera. Any change in the plot wouldn't really fit into that definition. That is a certain kind of twist. What I am saying is, since all plot requires changes and developments, unexpected turns and revalations, how do you evaluate what makes something radical or not? THE USUAL SUSPECTS does somethint not unlike STAR WARS - it ends with a character revealing something about himself at a crucial moment (that Han is capable of caring about more than money) and something unexpected happening. If it works in one movie, why not another? What does it matter *how* unexpected it is? You are talking about character development, unexpected or not. This is not what I consider a plot twist, since it is more specific to a character. I didn't question 'how' unexpected it is. I agree with you that there is a sliding scale, just like the notion if somebody is tall or not. Movie critque is not an exact science. For a look at how I see a plot twist, see [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plot_twist) or [tvtropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PlotTwist).
Trigger words: twist
Indicator sentences: You are talking about character development, unexpected or not. This is not what I consider a plot twist, since it is more specific to a character.