Customer Reviews

Tremors 2 [VHS]

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

The Graboids are back and this time their terrorising a Mexican oil refinery. Depressed and bored with the fact that he was the only one who didn't make money from his experiences in the first film, Earl Bassett quits his ostrich farm in Nevada and heads south to stomp out the Graboids with the help of new recruit Grady Hoover.

When they get there however, they discover that the Graboid is only the first stage in the creature's development and soon they are facing something much more dangerous. Burt Gummer comes to the rescue with a truckload of guns and explosives. Cue lots of blowing up and loads of Graboid guts.

Tremors 2 has a silly, sarcastic sense of humor and a fast pace. There's not one minute of boredom and Fred Ward plays the cantankerous, irritable Earl very well. You'll hardly be missing Kevin Bacon.

The DVD presents the film in a sadly non-anamorphic 1.78:1 transfer. The picture is passable but is not impressive. The sound is Dolby 2.0 and it's no more than average with decent spaciousness and fidelity. A trailer is also included.

Years after their first appearance in Perfection, Nevada, those nasty worm monsters have reared their ugly heads in Mexico. So the Mexican authorities call on famed Graboid killer, Earl Bassett (Fred Ward), for help. Joining Earl this time is a goofy Graboid groupie by the name of Grady Hoover (Christopher Gartin). Grady refuses to take the life-and-death nature of Graboid hunting seriously, until he witnesses the awesome power of the ravenous creatures for himself. When Earl and Grady learn of the true magnitude of this new Graboid infestation, Earl enlists the aid of his indomitable survivalist friend, Burt Gummer (Michael Gross...who nearly steals the movie) -- a one man army who comes equipped with enough guns and explosives to destroy the whole country. But the Graboids are getting smarter, meaner, and uglier... This direct-to-video sequel may not be quite as good as the original, but it's pretty close. It is a tad on the silly side, and Kevin Bacon and Reba MacEntire are missing from the cast, but Tremors 2 still has that unique mix of thrills and laughs (and plenty of orange slime!) that made the first film so entertaining. The DVD is short on extras (just the standard trailer and production notes), but this disc deserves a place on your video shelf right beside its predecessor.

The Graboids are back and this time their terrorising a Mexican oil refinery. Depressed and bored with the fact that he was the only one who didn't make money from his experiences in the first film, Earl Bassett quits his ostrich farm in Nevada and heads south to stomp out the Graboids with the help of new recruit Grady Hoover.

When they get there however, they discover that the Graboid is only the first stage in the creature's development and soon they are facing something much more dangerous. Burt Gummer comes to the rescue with a truckload of guns and explosives. Cue lots of blowing up and loads of Graboid guts.

Tremors 2 has a silly, sarcastic sense of humor and a fast pace. There's not one minute of boredom and Fred Ward plays the cantankerous, irritable Earl very well. You'll hardly be missing Kevin Bacon.

The DVD presents the film in a sadly non-anamorphic 1.78:1 transfer. The picture is passable but is not impressive. The sound is Dolby 2.0 and it's no more than average with decent spaciousness and fidelity. A trailer is also included.

I can still remember the day I first disovered there was such a thing as "Tremors 2". I had seen "Tremors" dusins of times, and it was and is one of my favorite movies. I was with my friend in the video-rental store, and saw this cover under news saying "Tremors 2" I litterally shouted in the store, and my friend and I just HAD to borrow it. "Tremors 2: Aftershocks" is a wonderful sequal. It preserves the wonderfull humor and suspense that the first one did have. I just recently discovered that the two Tremors movies were out on DVD, and I bought the both of them at once. If you liked "Tremors", then you'll like this one, and if you have not seen either, then please do yourself the favour of buying them. And yes, I say buy, because you will want to watch them over and over again.

I love this movie so much. It was five times better than the original. It had way more action than the first. It was great.

The first sequel in the popular TREMOR series is an entertaining movie, but I really missed the chemistry of Fred Ward and Kevin Bacon, and strangely enough I missed Reba McEntire. Ward is back, along with Michael Gross, but the rest of the cast doesn't come up to the standards of the original.
Ward returns as Earl, who is recruited by a Mexican oil company to battle a new bunch of graboids. Aided by a young entrepreneur (Christopher Gartin), Ward heads off to Mexico and we have another geologist (Supergirl Helen Shaver) to add some romantic interest for Ward. Killing off the graboids seems pretty easy this time as Ward and Gartin merrily blow up several of the nasty worms. However, since there is such an abundance, Ward calls on Bert Gummer (Gross) to help and he arrives with an expected arsenal of weapons. Things take a nasty turn however when the graboids mutate into ornery little critters that run around on top of the ground.
The pacing in this one isn't as tight, and the humor is there, just not as well executed. Gartin tries hard to add energy and humor, but he tries too hard and eventually becomes a caricature of the Bacon character.
If you are into the Tremors series, this one will not disappoint you...it's just not as good.

Back when Tremors 2 came out I was a bit surprised. The movie just seemed to come out of nowhere, it had very little promotion(I do still have the poster). It was straight to video, but I was quite excited-so excited in fact that I dragged my butt out of bed to be down at the grocery/video store by 6AM. Unfortunately, one of the schmuck employees must have beat me to it coz I didn't get to see it that day.
Anyhow, how does it measure up? Pretty good actually. Original Tremors co-screenwriter, Steve Wilson now steps into the director's chair. Because it's essentially the same writing and producing team, the film has the same kind of feel and humor of the first movie. This time around, the Graboids have turned up in a Mexican oil field and ol' handyman Earl(Fred Ward returning) is hired to kill them. Naturally Kevin Bacon isn't on board this time around and this is explained as his character having gotten the same proposition to kill Graboids but refusing coz he'd gotten married and wants nothing to do with Graboids anymore. So, Earl is given a new sidekick to bounce one liners off of in the form of a cocky Graboid fan named Grady(Christopher Gartin). The chemistry between the two isn't nearly as good as it was with Ward and Bacon, but Gartin is likable enough. Once at the oil field, Earl and Grady successfully bag a bunch of Graboids, but there are a lot more than just four like the first film. So they enlist the help of Burt Gummer(Michael Gross returning), who's bummed out and bored after his wife left him(a way to explain Reba McEntire's absence). Helen Shaver also shows up as a scientist who becomes Earl's love interest. So, this new crew easily dispatch a bunch of Graboids with weaponry supplied by the Mexican army. Soon, they find themselves facing a new threat. The Tremors movies would begin a trend of introducing new creatures to keep things a bit fresh. In this case the Graboids give birth to mini two-legged Graboid things that walk above ground. They're about the size of a large dog and can only see body heat much in the same way as the Predator does. They remind me of the mouse-like chomper robots from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. CGI is introduced to the series here. Fortunately it's only used very sparingly when the mini Graboids run or jump. Otherwise they're decent looking puppet creatures. These creatures take up the second half of the film. The original Graboids make a complete exit about an hour into the film and our gang is left to deal with the land walking creatures.
Now, a direct to video sequel made in 1995 that's missing one of it's original stars could have been a big stinker. But through a good story and some funny moments courtesy of the original writing team and good monster FX, this ends up being a very worthy sequel. Sure, it's not as good as the first film, but working with what they have, I'd say they pulled it off wonderfully. And if you watch any of the straight to video Hellraiser or Prophecy films of the last few years, it'll become all the more apparent on just how much of a good job was done on Tremors 2. Well worth it.

Tremors 2: Aftershocks is just as good as the oringal, with one twist. The "graboids" are now above ground and hunt by seeing body heat. Earl and Burt are reunited in this movie. It just isn't a "Tremors" movie without that Burt with his love of weapons and high explosives.
One of my favorite lines is "Val Married a good woman. Why would he want to die?!"

The original Tremors was a great movie. A semi-original (or atleast "different") monster idea, lots of comedy, some susepense, action, and memorable characters. Tremors 2 brings back The character of Earl along with Burt both of whom add lots of fun to this movie, all the other characters from the first however - are no where to be seen.

Tremors 2 is a different movie than the first. The first was a mix of sci-fi and horror with a very light hearted atmosphere and plenty of comedy worked in. The sequel changes this formula significantly. Tremors 2 is comedy first, before anything else and has a different feel than the first. So much so, that in fact at many times it's impossible to take the movie seriously at all - something the first movie was not guilty of. At any rate Tremors 2 does succeed in this respect as being an effective comedy monster action movie. You'll have to have seen the first to really appreciate the movie, as much of the funniest scenes are based around what everyone loved about the first (burt's millitary obsessions and new found paranoias, and earl's personality).

The Monsters are new and improved, and the "worms" are now revealed to be the larval stage of the creatures. After a metamorphic period they turn into a new, funny looking, bipedal screaching predators. The plot also attempts to give the simple explanation for their origins that they predate all other life on earth. All add enough change to the tremors story to make it very different from the original.

Tremors two comes off as a B movie, but it was INTENDED to be funny and rediculous. Fans of the original and people who like corny, funny, not-quite-horror movies will enjoy this. If you're looking for somethin that is as good as the first or better, you will be disapointed by the changes in plot, the change in mood, and the disapearance of tha majority of the characters.

IN A NUTSHELL:

Indeed the Graboids are back and there is a twist, but you will have
to be patient to see this film develop into a worthwhile creature feature.

WHAT IS 'TREMORS 2' ALL ABOUT: [plot spoilers below]

For the first 40 minutes of the film we get exactly what we would expect from an unimaginative 'B Creature-Feature'. But then, at about the time when I regretted buying this DVD, things began to change rather unexpectedly for the better. The beginning of the film suggested a walk-through for Fred Ward who was recruited to a Mexican oilfield where more Graboids had apparently appeared, causing the closure of the oil field. Earl Bassett, [Fred Ward] and an unlikely side-kick, Grady Hoover [Christopher Gartin] find themselves in Mexico playing bounty hunter for $50,000 for each graboid killed. They bagged a dozen or so without really having to break into a sweat and frankly I was more than a little disappointed in the way this film was going.

It was unabashedly derivative, making a lot of stale attempts to copy the film 'Jaws', and there was little or no chemistry between the actors, unlike the original 'Tremors'.

BUT THEN SOMETHING HAPPENED:IT MORPHS INTO SOMETHING SCARY - UNEXPECTED & COMPELLING

Almost halfway into the film the plot suddenly appeared. Lured by the chance to capture one of the monsters alive, Earl and Grady camp out waiting for a transport vehicle to arrive at the scene of what our heros presumed was a "sick one". Out of the darkness we heard what sounded like something tearing apart the monster, who appeared more like a beached whale than a graboid, but our heros wisely stayed hidden. This is where the film literally morphs into something unexpected, scary and delightfully compelling. Fortunately by now, our heros have called for some backup in the form of Burt Gummer [Michael Gross] so at least they have a chance now that the worm has turned, so to speak. For the rest of the film our heros are litterally fighting to stay alive as the new morphed threat has a much different capability than the graboids did making it an 'unknown'.

Finally, in the second half, Kate White [Helen Shaver] has some scenes to act in. However, making her a former playboy centerfold turned scientist, is a major gaff. This hurts the credibility of the film at a time when it was just beginning to recover from the bounty hunter walk-through that comprised the first half. To compound this in a very juvenile way, Kate is the pin-up from 1974 that has been decorating Earl's kitchen wall to represent that which is unattainable -- until now apparently.

-----> THE PRODUCTION TEAM <-----

S.S. Wilson - Director / Screenwriter
Christopher de Faria - Producer
Nancy Roberts - Producer
Brent Maddock - Screenwriter / Executive Producer
Virgil Harper - Cinematographer
Jay Ferguson - Composer (Music Score)
Bob Ducsay - Editor
Ivo Cristante - Production Designer
Ken M. Larson - Art Director
Michele Poulik - Set Designer
Rudy Dillon - Costume Designer
Ron Underwood - Executive Producer

-----> THE CAST <-----

Fred Ward - Earl Bassett
Thomas Rosales - Oil Worker
Marco Hernandez - Julio
Christopher Gartin - Hoover, Grady
Michael Gross - Burt Gummer
Helen Shaver - Kate White

BOTTOM LINE: UNFORTUNATELY THIS LOOKS & FEELS LIKE A 'DIRECT TO VIDEO' PRODUCTION

It seems that with only 3 million dollars compared with 11-12 for the production of the original 'Tremors', the producers of 'Tremors 2' only had enough money to make half of a good creature feature. Also, without Ron Underwood directing, the film seemed to have lost much of its cohesion, chemistry, and intensity. Nevertheless, after a lackluster first half, 'Tremors 2: Aftershocks' morphs literally into a respectable B Creature Feature. Though this film is not the surprise classic that the original 'Tremors' has become, 'Tremors 2' does manage to maintain some real suspense, hold our interest, and surprise us for the important and climactic last half of the film.

HOW DOES THIS TREMORS' SEQUEL RATE?

I gave this film 4 stars for fans of the original 'Tremors', but without that classic in mind, this film still manages a 3-star rating within the Creature-Feature genre. If the creature feature genre is NOT one you enjoy you will NOT enjoy this film either.