A prequel to Tremors (1990), this movie tells us about how the town of Perfection, Nevada became founded and how they defended it against the Graboids with the help of Burt Gummer's ancestor... Read allA prequel to Tremors (1990), this movie tells us about how the town of Perfection, Nevada became founded and how they defended it against the Graboids with the help of Burt Gummer's ancestor, Hiram.A prequel to Tremors (1990), this movie tells us about how the town of Perfection, Nevada became founded and how they defended it against the Graboids with the help of Burt Gummer's ancestor, Hiram.
- Awards
- 7 nominations
- Chinaman
- (uncredited)
- Luke
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAs silly as it looks, the 2 inch bore giant shot gun was a real thing. It was used to shoot entire flocks of ducks at once. You would mount the gun on a flat bottomed boat (a punt) aim at the side of the lake where a flock was feeding and fire.
- GoofsThe movie is set in 1889, but the steam engine seen is a 1912 Case 60hp Traction Engine. While Case had been making steam tractors for 10 years by the setting of this movie, the steam engine seen wouldn't be built for another 23 years.
- Quotes
Hiram Gummer: We will make Rejection our last bastion, our last line of defense.
Juan Padilla: Our Alamo.
Hiram Gummer: Juan, we were the losers at the Alamo.
Juan Padilla: Speak for yourself, Gringo.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Cinemassacre's Monster Madness: Robot Monster (2010)
Tremors 4 takes a completely different tack to its three predecessors and sets itself a couple of hundred years in the past. Before the town of Perfection became Perfection, it was known as Rejection (ha ha). Burt Gummer's great-granddaddy, Hiram, was a wimp who held guns in much the same manner that many of us hold dead fish. Contrary to the impressions of the other films, Rejection was a silver town with a mine owned by the aforementioned Hiram. It seems that when the miners stop work due to fear of being eaten, it eats into profits, and Hiram comes out to see what is scaring away the workers.
As with the last three films, the cast is strictly low-rent, with Michael Gross and Billy Drago forming the most recognisable portion of the cast. Indeed, Gross seems to be so comfortable in the role of the Gummers that he barely seems able to portray anything else. Or rather, he doesn't seem to just portray the character. For all intents and purposes, he is the character. Which is certainly a great change from his days in Family Ties as the head of one of those saccharine families that only seem to exist on daytime or early afternoon television. It is just as well they placed the burden of the acting upon the shoulders of a veteran like Gross, as the rest of the cast seems lost.
Tremors 4 also seems to return to the style of the original when it comes to revealing the worms. Instead of having them constantly attacking the populace through CGI simulation, much of their interaction with the human cast returns to the practical effects and trick photography of the original. The one shot in the film I noticed that was obviously CGI only helps to demonstrate that simple off-screen levers or cables still have a lot of usefulness left in them. The one problem I have with the films to date is that none of the DVD-Videos have been offered with a featurette that explains how these practical effect shots were achieved.
Tremors 4 also marks the first time we get to see anything of the oft-referenced Carson City. The city doesn't appear at all special, but that's fine. Just inserting a view of the place is enough. Among Tremors 4's weaknesses, on the other hand, are attempts to build up suspense with danger to Hiram Gummer. As if the existence of Burt didn't already make the resolution of such scenes clear. Another problem is the constant debates about the next step in the residents' plans against the worms. The recitations of homilies start to get rather stilted after a while. There is also a bit too much repetition of the noisemaking technique. To the credit of the writers, they do manage to insert a few of the guerrilla-style battle moves that made the first and third episodes so amusing. Thankfully, the idea that Hiram Gummer could fight these creatures and Burt not have any idea what they were is sort of half-explained towards the end.
In all, I gave Tremors 4 an eight out of ten. It isn't nearly as good as the original, but it is a massive improvement upon the other two. Here's to hoping that they manage to keep as many good ideas in a fifth or sixth, although I personally would pay good money to see a film set a hundred years from now with Perfection as a thriving city that is hit by the worms. Yes, that was a hint.
- mentalcritic
- Feb 10, 2005
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Tremors 4
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $5,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 41 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1