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Tremors [HD DVD] [1990] [US Import]

Our Price: £6.02 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Tremors didn't actually break any new ground (even though its tunnelling worm monsters certainly did), but it revved up the classic monster-movie formulas of the 1950s with such energetic enthusiasm and humour that it made everything old seem new again. It's also got a cast full of enjoyable actors who clearly had a lot of fun making the film, and director Ron Underwood strikes just the right balance of comedy and terror as a band of small-town rednecks battles a lot of really nasty-looking giant worms. The special effects are great, the one-liners fly fast and furious between heroes Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward (and yes, that's country star Reba McEntire packin' awesome firepower), and it's all done with the kind of flair one rarely associates with goofy monster flicks like this. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Great movie, appalling DVD
Review date: 2008-05-30 Rating: 2 out of 10

I love this film, I really do. This DVD copy however is dreadful quality far outstripped by my original VHS copy.
It looks for all the world like a pirate version badly recorded from a theatre seat.
It's not real wide screen but a bad approximation, it's grainy and over coloured, the sound is horrible and it's obvious that the distributor couldn't give a crap about one of the finest B movies ever released.
If this is the best that Universal can do to stop the spread of piracy then it's a sad day and it's obvious that they are not below stooping to the quality and rip off tactics of the pirate.

Come on Universal, give us a good quality well mastered version and I would happily pay more but don't foist this awful excuse on paying customers.

Reviews

hd-dvd demo material
Review date: 2008-03-05 Rating: 10 out of 10

This review is for the (u.s.) hd-dvd version of the movie.

This is the definitive home video release of this excellent cult
sci-fi/comedy and unlikely to be bettered.

The initial dvd release was o.k. but presented 1.85:1 letterboxed and dolby surround sound.

This is the first time an Anamorphic (16x9) version is released and in glorious high def quality - the sharp picture takes your breath away.

To complement the visuals is are full on 5.1 soundtracks - dd+ and a truly sublime Dolby True Hd 5.1 for those with 5.1 analogue out or compatible hdmi player and amp.

All the extras from the original release are present also, what are you waiting for?

Note; The u.k. version does not have the True Hd soundtrack, so this harks back to the early days of dvd and the superiority of u.s. releases.

Hilarious noisy romp
Review date: 2008-01-16 Rating: 10 out of 10

Yet another creature feature. Yes, I do like big things with big teeth. And this delivers on every level. Another great romp, with spot on cast, great scenery and four fab creatures.

A START OF A GOOD FRANCISE
Review date: 2007-11-06 Rating: 8 out of 10

Hired to check the nearby spooked cattle, long-time friends Valentine, (Kevin Bacon) and Earl (Fred Ward) find it to be an unknown source. Going back to town, no one seems to know either what is going on. Several more disappearances occur during the next few days, inciting the curiosity of a geologist, Rhonda, (Finn Carter) who happen to run into Val and Earl. They return back to town, but discover that a giant snake had unknowingly wrapped around their truck. Selling it to a local friend of theirs, Walter (Victor Wong) who immediately buys it from Val and Earl and turns it into a freak-show at his gas station. After a few days with more disappearances, everyone comes to realize that they have to get away before whatever happened to the disappeared people will happen to them. Making a run for it, Val and Earl discover the source to be giant worms about 20 feet long. The `snakes' discovered earlier are the creatures' tongues. With Rhonda in tow, they return to the town with the knowledge of what happened and finally convince the town's people to leave. However, the worms have followed Val and Earl back to town and they begin to attack the town, leaving everyone wondering if they're next to be sucked under. Remembering what happened when they met the earlier worm, Val leads the last worm away from the town and kills it, saving the town.

The Good News: This is finally a PG-13 horror movie that works, mainly because the two leads Bacon and Ward have a dynamic presence together on screen. They seem to have a knack for playing the kind of characters in this film, being care-free but still being recognizable for the audience. With the PG-13 rating, we get a surprising amount of gore in this film. I'm not talking about `Friday the 13th' gore, but we get several nice scenes of bloodletting. The final worm kill is especially commendable for this, as it is particularly nasty. While still being PG-13, they're aren't a lot of big scares in the film, but it doesn't seem too distracting. Because Bacon and Ward do have plenty of humorous whips at each other, high-impact scares would just seem out-of-place. The desert town is perfectly captured, as it doesn't look that small nor that big, like a real desert town should be. The location shooting helps out by having the cast running long distance runs in one shot, not exactly an idea copied in today's horror movies. The mystery in the film in the beginning is really well handled. The curiosity of what the worms look like is brilliantly handled, revealing just the tongues first, then the body shape, then the creature itself in it's entirety. It looks like a PG-13 monster too, being simply scary enough for a younger crowd while being too simplistic for a more discerning audience. For the type of movie, it works simply perfect.

The Bad News: Simply off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure that I can't remember anything too bad about it. It does have a heavy campy-ness to it, but the film knows it and plays with it, having scenes that obviously show off this tag. The worm's death at the end, the naming of the worms, and how they decide to give them their name are all classic examples of campy scenes in this movie. I'll remember more later, and maybe I'll post them on one of the boards.

The Final Verdict: There are tons of worse films you can watch to lose an hour and a half of your time. This is a film recommended to those who can watch a complete film that makes no sense without questioning logic, or to those who want to watch a good film who need a good entry to start them on down the road to watching these kinds of movies.

No shakey ground here
Review date: 2007-08-22 Rating: 10 out of 10

There are 3 reasons this movie is so great.

i) The idea - you move, you get eaten
ii) The story
iii) The actors

These are the foundation for any movie and if all are strong, no matter how 'far out' the idea, it will work.

The story is monsters, under ground, that sense vibrations. So walking, running, driving is a no-no. The monsters are trapped in a canyon and their way out takes them past the city of 'perfection' (in name only).

Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward make an excellent leading couple, with the supporting cast all doing amazing work. The monsters are well designed and the effects fine for the period.

The script is excellent, almost textbook in the story archs and mixing of strands and re-using of jokes in different situations (eg who's got the lighter).

It's light hearted, fun, comedic and a little romantic. This is a top notch b-movie that if you can suspend your belief of the monsters, is a top notch a-movie.

Product Details/Specifications

Actor(s):
Michael Gross
Kevin Bacon
Reba McEntire
Finn Carter
Fred Ward

Director(s):

Recording label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
EAN: 0025192791826
Binding: HD DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: AC-3, Colour, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen,
Release date: 2007-11-20
Universal product code (UPC): 025192791826
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Running time: 95 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1990-01-19
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Dubbed)

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Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV

Tremors [HD DVD] [1990] [US Import]

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