Tremors Attack Pack (1990)

Certainly the jewel in the Tremors series of movies between 1990 and 2004 is the original. It's funny. It's scary. It's suspenseful. It's got a great cast. It's fun to watch! And this DVD release gives you the three follow-on sequels for almost the price you'd expect to spend for the original cult classic by itself.

In the original 1990 "Tremors", you have Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward as the leading characters. Their performance together is (almost) on par with John Travolta and Sam Jackson in Pulp Fiction; the dialogue between these guys is priceless. They truly come across as buddies for life.

The story is simple: a B-movie-esque scenario where giant man-eating subterranean monsters (big wormlike things called aptly named Graboids) start plucking man and animal from the surface in a remote desert town. Bacon and Ward are trapped by the underground beasts with little known Finn Carter and mercenary neighbors (Michael Gross) and his wife (Reba McEntire). The result is a fun story of everyone saving themselves and finding a way to kill the monsters before the monsters eat them all.

Tremors 2 is very entertaining. Another fun movie and an above par sequel. But gone is the realistic notion that the original movie carried with "these-people-are-trapped-and-have-no-choice-but-to-fight-the-monsters-themselves". Instead remnant cast members Ward and Gross (instead of the military or some superior entity) are commissioned to dispose of the reappearance of the Graboids. Kevin Bacon is a huge loss to the the comradery factor that the original held. The flick moves a long well, has a good story, it's still scary and suspenseful, and has a great surprise twist when the Graboids mutate making this somewhat of an original in its own right.

The next two movies, Tremors 3 and Tremors 4 are fair. I could easily spend less time and be as entertained by the much shorter SpongeBob Squarepants 10 minute "Alaskan Bull Worm!" tribute episode to the original Tremors.

Tremors 3 is the better of the two with another mutation twist, and an entertaining story. Michael Gross is back as Burt, but you really have to turn a blind eye to the why-hasn't-anyone-called-the-frickin'-army factor. Tremors 4 is a prequel to the original that is difficult to sit all the way through. There is really no need to elaborate on #3 or #4, because they are both so predictable based on the first two that you can easily guess what they are about and what happens.

A cool thing about all of them is that creator, writer, producer and director SS Wilson is on board for all four flicks to hold everything together better than other films that spawn one too many sequels.

All in all, as I said earlier, the original Tremors alone makes this a very, very worthwhile addition to any collector's movie library, in-genre or out. The addition of Tremors 2 makes this purchase a very easy Add to Cart. "But be advised, Burt, there are two more...I repeat...two more mother-humpers".

PROS

You get all 4 movies in one box, a great value at about ~$5 per movie!

The first movie is the best but you'll probably also like the fourth (which is a prequel) and either the 2nd or 3rd if you haven't seen any of them yet.

Inside is a coupon for $10.50 off a ticket to Peter Jackson's King Kong which opens in theaters 12-14-05 (valid until 1-1-06).

CONS

Despite the claims on the packaging for 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, all four movies are presented in 1.78:1 NON-anamorphic widescreen. In fact, the video transfers are exactly the same as those on the previous DVDs.

All 4 movies are on TWO discs which of course means both discs are double-sided. ARGH. If you're not the type of person to handle optical discs carefully, forget buying this, you'll probably scratch everything up right away, no offense.

To make matters worse for two double-sided discs, the DVD case Universal came up with is absolutely atrocious. It's one of those double-inset ones, where you've got sub-impressioned spaces for the discs, so you can actually see both discs simultaneously, but in order to remove the disc on the lower inset, you have to remove the disc on the upper inset first because it's on top. And doing that without touching the lower disc is easier said than done. Universal couldn't use one of those convenient double-flip panel DVD cases instead? This approach is just plain aggravating.

The cardboard slip case that houses the actual DVD case is designed backwards, so the DVD case slips out from the left, instead of the right!

Four movies on two discs screams cheapness. Why didn't Universal just put together all four DVD sets to make a four-movie mega-package?

MOVIES SYNOPSIS

Sorry, not enough space for write-ups of each movie, but you can read up on them individually here on Amazon, each one has lots of customer reviews! To sum up, the first movie is about the Graboids, big monsters that lurk underground and lurch out when they feel something moving on the ground! Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward are hysterical! The 2nd movie has the "shriekers," the next evolution of the Graboids. The 3rd shows the "ass-blasters," the next next evolution. Gotta watch to find out why they're named that! Finally the 4th is set in 1889 and goes back to the origins of the Graboids.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Universal took some time to tweak the individual movies' special features for this package, so you'll find some additional stuff not on the previous DVD releases of the movies (some stuff was re-organized too).

TREMORS (1990) Disc 1, Side A

Newly added Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track, with optional subtitles

BONUS MATERIALS

-The Making of Tremors, 53:34, 10-part documentary with optional subtitles

--"How It All Began" (pre-production)

--"Building Perfection"

--"The Mechanical Effects"

--"The Cast"

--"Photography and Editing"

--"The Creatures"

--"The Miniatures"

--"The Cliff"

--"The Ending" (features an alternate ending)

--"Creature Featurette"

-Outtakes, 05:12

-Featurette, 03:58 (behind-the-scenes clips)

-Theatrical Trailers, 04:03 (collection of the trailers, quite a few)

-Kevin Bacon Profile, 03:02 (video interview on his role, with movie clips)

-Michael Gross Profile, 02:33 (video interview on his role, with movie clips)

-Reba McEntire Profile, 02:02 (video interview on her role, with movie clips)

-Production Photographs, includes 16 stills

-Tremors 2: Aftershocks Trailer

TREMORS 2: AFTERSHOCKS (1996) Disc 1, Side B

Audio presented only in Dolby Digital 2.0

Tremors 2: Aftershocks Trailer (same one provided on Side A)

TREMORS 3: BACK TO PERFECTION (2001) Disc 2, Side A

Audio presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 (not listed in DVD menus though)

BONUS MATERIALS

-Spotlight On Location, 14:43, provides a behind-the-scenes and looks back at the franchise with interview clips from producers/crew

-Trailers

--TREMORS (same one provided on Disc 1, Side A)

--TREMORS 2: AFTERSHOCKS (same one provided on Disc 1, Side A)

--TREMORS 3: BACK TO PERFECTION

TREMORS 4: THE LEGEND BEGINS (2004) Disc 2, Side B

Audio presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 (not listed in DVD menus though)

BONUS MATERIALS

-Audio commentary track, with director S.S. Wilson (also directed Tremors 2) who gives an informative commentary and provides interesting bits on production and casting

-You're on the Set of TREMORS 4: THE LEGEND BEGINS, 12:03, provides a behind-the-scenes and includes interview clips from producers/crew

Buy Tremors Attack Pack (1990) Now

I am a huge fan of the Tremors movies, and am very excited to see a box set funally being released. The first movie is excellent, the foundation for many good sci-fi/fantasy movies, the beginning is slow enough to actually introduce the movie, but exciting enough to have you hooked, then comes Tremors 2: Aftershocks, new setting, new challenge, new characters, same classic storyline and still has Micheal Gross as Burt Gummer, the match made in heaven for an actor to a part. Tremors 3: Back to Perfection, back to the original detting with a few new characters and yet another exciting twist and an all new way to save the day. Then comes Tremors 4: The Legend Begins, One of the only good prequels in movies to date. All this for only $26 list price? An excellent buy.

Read Best Reviews of Tremors Attack Pack (1990) Here

Darn right I'm gonna "double-dip" and get this on Blu-Ray! I'll probably hold my breath until September and TURN

blue! Oh yeah! I'll BE blue-green in October anyway... see my Profile Photo now, and join ME in seeing these four

films in September.

BTW: Kevin Bacon is only in the first one. Michael Gross, however is in all four. I --for one --was disappointed

when the series was cancelled... and movie # 5 was cancelled, as well. Bummer!

Want Tremors Attack Pack (1990) Discount?

Like many fans, I grew up around these films. When I heard that they were to release a box set I was very, very excited. Upon getting this box set as a gift I was shocked to discover that...

1) The only season of Tremors: the Series is not included in this set and the Sci-Fi channel still has it locked away in their vault.

2) The majority of the special features are gone except for those of the first film and about half of the fourth film. The fourth film I had rented once and saw a very entertaining short film and I was shocked to discover it was no longer there.

3) The movies are on 2 duel sided discs, meaning that they are cheap and prone to damage if you are not extremely careful with them.

On the good side though, you do get all four films for the low price of 20 dollars. I love all of the tremors films (yes even the third one which gets a bad rap, even by me sometimes), I hope that some day there will be a fifth one and that even though the series deserves a much better box set, this one will do until the one day release the TV series and the rumored 5th film. Hoped this review helped.

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