Tremors 4 : La Légende commence

I enjoyed the original and felt the others (including the series, basically) were pleasant time wasters. The latest confuses the chronology a bit, but sequels often do tend not to be totally loyal to such things anyway. Still, its late 19th century setting gives it a bit of color, and is portrayed fairly well for a low budget film. The characters are pleasant with the usual diversified class of ordinary souls represented. There is not a lot of action per se, but enough is present so that it doesn't disappoint.

Sort of like an extended flashback episode of the series, and a fairly enjoyable one at that. For fans, that will be enough. I'd add that Michael Gross handles himself nicely here as the more "weenie" version of his descendant.

The original Tremors was a classic and a well put together big budget Sci Fi movie. The follow ups have all been more low budget and released only on video, but have actually been OK. I mean, you can't possibly take them seriously, but they're a lot of fun and the characters wind up being pretty memorable. Tremors 4 manages to continue the follow ups while maintaining originality. This alone is an accomplishment, since many sequels end up being repetitive and boorish. Tremors 4 doesn't have this problem.

Instead, Tremors 4 is a prequel set in 1889. Perfection is a new town called Rejection and is populated by miners....until they start getting eaten. Most of the remaining townsfolk leave. The only ones that stay behind are an Indian, the Chang family, a Mexican guy, and an unmarried red headed woman. Sound familiar? The townsfolk send for a man to asses the mine, which turns out to be Burt Gummer's great-great granddad: Hiram Gummer. Hiram is a proper eastern dude who has never touched a gun and is completely unprepared. He doesn't want any business with the "dirt dragons". However, he gets swept up with the situation and decides to stay and fight the worms. He enlists the help of a famous gunslinger and together the motley crew of 8 battle the monsters. A big subplot in the movie involves the revelation of how the Gummer family became obsessed with guns, bombs, and preperation. Although, like all Tremors movies, its inherently a little bit silly and hard to take seriously, the movie is laced with nostalgic humor and for a #4 continuation, it's pretty well done and should satisfy most any fan.

If you're looking for entertainment..no more, no less - this little gem delivers! By far the best sequel (arguable order of merit for the series would be 1,4, 2 and 3) this is Michael Gross's film in totality. He has made the franchise his own and comes full circle playing his own Great Grandfather. It is a measured and emotional performance. As mine-owner Hiram Gummer he comes to Rejection" (as the backwoods township was known) to find out what has been killing the miners. What he discovers is completely outside his somewhat wimpy comfort-zone.

Very much a return to the original in terms of characters...and even special effects which rely thankfully here, far less on laughable CGI. What might be seen as scaled-down excitement is more than compensated for with absolutely knock-out performances - Drago and Gross especially.

All four films have an easy-on-the-eye laid back feel, principally because the production teams has remained intact throughout. Four excellent movies without sex, gratuitous violence and a solitary screen cussing in fifteen years. Not that Gross looks any older now than he did in 1989/1990.

Very faithful to the earlier films and fully explanatory of how it all came about. Mention should also be made of Jay Ferguson's great musical score - the best of the four films.

Best scripted, photographed and acted straight-to-video film I have yet seen and certainly was deserving of a theatrical release.

Man, I love the Tremors-franchise like Winnie the Pooh loves his honey! After four films and a TV-series (which regretfully didn't got aired in my country), I still think these giant underground worms are the total definition of coolness! And therefore, I really feel like this entry is made for me and homogeneous souls exclusively. If you think the original Tremors was one of the most entertaining monster comedies ever made, and you even got hooked on the sequels…you'll certainly have a great time while watching this fourth installment. If you thought Tremors was only so-so and the sequels atrocious…well then, you'll absolutely loath number 4 as well. Which is fine by me too but don't go bashing it then, neither.

I think the Tremors-series depends on one major advantage… Every chapter in the series is put together by more or less the same film crew. Brent Maddock and S.S. Wilson are the creative thinkers behind the idea ever since the first film. And each and every single time, they try to uphold the originality aspects and add some ingenious twists to the nature of these lovely monsters. The first three episodes, for example, describe the Graboid's entire reproduction cycle. Tremors 4 actually is a prequel and takes us back to the Wild West, Nevada 1889. Michael Gross, the trigger-happy hero from all the previous entries stars as his own ancestor who's the owner of a Silver mine. Hiram Gummer has the exact opposite character of his great grandson at first, but you can slowly see his personality forming itself. The idea and structure of Tremors 4 is pretty risky, but I think it works and true fans will have a great time searching for the numerous references towards later adventures. Enjoy!!

My Take: The best of the straight-to-video TREMORS sequels.

Next to the original, this third sequel is one of the best. It's wonderfully packed with laughs, outrageous B-monster movie horror and a western flavor. The results are great. Michael Gross returns for this sequel, playing Burt's great-grandfather Hiram Gummer, who goes to the town of Rejection to investigate the death of miners in his priceless gold mine. But when he discovers that it has been enslaved by hungry graboids, he must lead the town to fight the beasts and save Rejection.

The film is a "prequel" to the original, and it's very faithful to the original "Tremors". Showing how it happened and who are the characters. The creature effects have improved from the previous sequel and Jay Ferguson's music is interesting, appropriate to the film's western atmosphere. And, oh yeah! I forgot about Billy Drago. He stars here, giving the weird performance he once applied in Brian De Palma's "The Untouchables" and in the films by Cannon Films co. which he mostly starred in.

I really enjoyed this sequel, my line up for the series:

1. "Tremors" 2. "Tremors 4: The Legend Begins" 3. "Tremors 2: Aftershocks" 4. "Tremors 3: Back to Perfection

TV movie rating: *** out of 5.