{"id":27485,"date":"2023-11-29T03:01:03","date_gmt":"2023-11-29T11:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=27485"},"modified":"2023-11-29T03:01:03","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T11:01:03","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-tremors-2-aftershocks-1996","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=27485","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: TREMORS 2: AFTERSHOCKS (1996)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Arrow Video release is now available in a 4K Ultra\nHD edition, an Arrow Video \u201cExclusive Limited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD package, or\non a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back in 1990, Universal Pictures released the 50s monster movie homage Tremors<\/em>, which wowed audiences with its deft mix of humor, action and horror. I sat in a nearly empty theater with my sister and her future husband on opening weekend, watching the film and having a fantastic time in the process. In fact, I returned to the theater to see it a second time with my dad a few weeks later. He also had a blast with it. The movie didn\u2019t find its audience and flopped at the box office, but slowly began building a following as the years passed. So much so that the studio, seeing its clear growth in popularity on video, attempted to develop a sequel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film toiled in development for a couple of years before\nUniversal\u2019s TV and made-for-video department latched onto the project and\neventually saw it to fruition. Tremors 2: Aftershocks<\/em> isn\u2019t as strong as\nits predecessor, but it is a fun movie that adds some new elements. Despite not\nfeaturing co-star Kevin Bacon, it is far better than almost any other\ndirect-to-video sequel\u2026 so much so that the movie has also developed a\nfollowing (not to mention spawned a franchise that continues to this day).\nAfter Arrow Video\u2019s phenomenal release of the original Tremors <\/em>on 4K\nUltra HD and Blu-ray ray, they have now turned their attention to this\nfollow-up. As usual, they\u2019ve done an excellent job. The image quality is top\nnotch, the extras are very informative and the release is highly recommended to\nfans of the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After surviving the giant worm-like \u201cGraboid\u201d monster\nattacks from the original film, Earl Bassett (Fred Ward) has failed to\ncapitalize on his ensuring fame. Instead, he still resides in a small remote\ntown, struggling to run a failing ostrich farm afloat. One day, he is visited\nby an executive from a Mexican oil refinery in Chiapas. Their workers are being\nkilled off by another group of \u201cGraboids\u201d and they\u2019re willing to pay handsomely\nand provide any resource if he can eliminate the beasts. He eventually agrees\nafter taxi driver and fan Grady Hoover (Chris Gartin) convinces him that this\ncould be a second chance to turn his life around. The pair arrive on site and\nteam with geologist Kate Reilly (Helen Shaver) to clear the area.\nUnfortunately, they are soon overwhelmed and request the assistance of old\nassociate Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) to help them face a new \u201cGraboid\u201d threat\nthat are soon nicknamed \u201cShriekers\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This effort arrives from Brent Maddock and S.S. Wilson, the\nsame writers who penned the original. It is also directed by Wilson (who served\nas second unit director on the first film), so the tone of the material is\nquite similar. Ward is in fine form again as lead Bassett, as is Gross who\nplays the part of weapons enthusiast Gummer. New cast members Gartin and Shaver\nhold their own as well, and the group have a nice camaraderie that helps the\nfilm tremendously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also a few new visual ideas that are effective.\nThe movie has fun with Bassett\u2019s use of umbrellas to help protect him from\nflying \u201cGraboid\u201d guts and there are a few inventive action scenes involving the\npair battling the monsters. For one, there\u2019s a fun new way that Bassett lures\nthe creatures into traps. One bit involving their truck being pulled is clever,\nas is a section in which the tunneling creature swallows a radio. The music\nallows the characters to wisecrack and make note of the worm moving beneath the\nsurface before an attack. The new monster adaptation also adds some freshness\nto the proceedings. There\u2019s actually plenty of fun stuff that occurs and,\ndespite having been made for 1\/3 of the budget of the original, the movie\ndoesn\u2019t look as cash-strapped as one might expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The funding cuts do result in some shortcomings. There are\nvery few supporting characters (aka victims) in this story and with the focus\nalmost entirely on the four leads, viewers are never really as concerned about\ntheir well-being as they were in the original. The film doesn\u2019t look quite as\nelaborate and some of the early CGI effects do look dated. However, the cast is\nstrong and this is a surprisingly decent follow-up. Many genre critics have\ncalled it the best direct-to-video movie of its era and they have a very strong\nargument.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie was shot on film and not video with plenty of\ncare, so the 4K Ultra upgrade does provide a sharper picture that delivers\nplenty of bang for your buck. Of course, the bonuses are also enlightening,\ndetailing the long story of how the title came into existence. The feature\ncommentary by director\/co-writer S.S. Wilson and co-producer Nancy Roberts are\nwonderful. They go into great detail about the origin of the project and making\nthe movie on a small budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair note the box office disappointment of the original,\nbut how executives at Universal had taken note of its later success on video. Wilson\nand Maddock were contacted to write an official studio sequel for a movie in\nexcess of $14 million dollars. Those who pick up the disc will learn that the\nfirst draft of the story found both Barrett, Bacon\u2019s character Val McKee, as\nwell as Gummer and his wife (played by Reba McEntire) traveling to Australia to\nhelp with another series of \u201cGraboid\u201d attacks. Much of the plotting was similar\nto the eventual follow-up, but on a much larger scale with more elaborate\naction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When Bacon and McEntire passed on returning (McEntire was\ntouring and Bacon understandably didn\u2019t see the benefit of appearing in a\nfollow-up to a movie that had bombed during its original release), it seemed\nlike all was lost, Until Universal\u2019s home video department got involved. The\nonly stipulation was that the new version had to be completed for far less than\n1\/3 of the initial budget, requiring a rewrite that involved altering\ncharacters, changing locales and scaling down the action. After the writers,\nproducers and some other departments took pay cuts, the movie eventually went\ninto production. It\u2019s quite an interesting story to hear the sacrifices made\nand how the group ultimately came together to complete the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The second commentary by Jonathan Melville, who has written\na book on the franchise, delivers further tidbits about the production that is\nfascinating to listen to. He also describes in further detail some of the more\nelaborate scenes that were axed in this direct-to-video version of the movie.\nThere are great stories from both tracks about the obstacles faced and how\neveryone got around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of mention is also made about star Ward\u2019s reluctance\nto talk about his role in these movies. It\u2019s revealed on this disc that while\nthe actor was easy to work with, he never enjoyed talking to interviewers about\npast projects and preferred to focus on the present and future. That\u2019s why\nthere aren\u2019t any retrospective pieces from Ward about this, or any other film\nhe appeared in. Wilson does recall that Ward\u2019s only stipulation was that he be\nallowed to keep his long hair, as it was necessary for a stage role he was\ninvolved in at the time. When he saw dailies, he hated the way his hair looked\nand couldn\u2019t wait to shave it after this production and the play ceased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the release contains an interview with the\nspecial effects designer and how he created the practical effects with limited\nmeans, as well as a talk with CG supervisor Phil Tippett detailing this early\neffort using digital effects. There are also some fun outtakes and an archival\nmaking-of featurette with the cast and crew. Additionally, there are trailers\nand stills. One of the coolest bonuses is the booklet, which goes into detail\non earlier versions of the scripts that never got made, as well as the history\nof Universal\u2019s direct-to-video division. There\u2019s also a great double-sided\nposter with new and original art, a small poster with \u201cShrieker\u201d art and\nimpressive \u201cLimited Edition\u201d packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Whether you pick up Arrow Video\u2019s new 4K Ultra HD version or\ntheir regular Blu-ray, you can expect a good sequel, a vastly improved picture\nand some great stories about how this unusual follow-up managed to get made. Tremors\n2: Aftershocks<\/em> will definitely thrill series fans and may even win a few\nconverts from those who expected the worst and avoided all of the sequels. It\u2019s\nworth a look!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Arrow Video release is now available in a 4K Ultra HD edition, an Arrow Video \u201cExclusive Limited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD package, or on a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray. Back in 1990, Universal Pictures released the 50s monster movie homage Tremors, which wowed audiences with its deft mix of humor, action and horror. I sat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":27494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[300,1836,2923,2928,4303,7896,9021,12427,13787,23242,23243,23246],"class_list":["post-27485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-4k-ultra-hd","tag-arrow-video","tag-blasts-from-the-past","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review","tag-chris-gartin","tag-fred-ward","tag-helen-shaver","tag-limited-edition","tag-michael-gross","tag-tremors-2-review","tag-tremors-2-aftershocks","tag-tremors-ii-aftershocks"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27485\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}