Tremors 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Tremors 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 4, 2021

Maybe it’s a good thing that time passes and memories of intense arguments fade, but for those wanting a “refresher” of sorts, the original Blu-ray release of Tremors might provide a decent example. Though some may be too young to even recall it, there was a so-called “format war” at the beginning of the high definition disc era, with HD-DVD and Blu-ray duking it out in the marketplace, and with (not to state the obvious, but to state the obvious) Blu-rays prevailing. However, in the early days of Blu-rays it wasn’t unheard of for studios to port over pre-existing masters from a previously released HD-DVD disc, and that’s evidently what Universal did for their original Blu-ray version of Tremors, which according to our database came out well over a decade ago in November 2010, though the “original original” HD-DVD evidently appeared in 2007, just as the “format wars” were heating up. As might be expected, both the HD- DVD and Blu-ray presentations left something (and maybe quite a few things) to be desired, but it’s kind of amazing in a way that it’s taken until now for an enterprising “boutique” label like Arrow to revisit the film and give fans a presentation they can be happy to add to their collections. Arrow is upping the ante by offering both “standard” 1080 and 4K UHD releases, though in yet another kind of odd decision by the label, one which is somewhat similar to how they dealt with the releases of Flash Gordon 4K and Flash Gordon, the 4K UHD release does not include a 1080 presentation of the film. (At least in this particular instance, there aren’t duelling “standard” and “limited” editions of each version, as there were with regard to Flash Gordon.)

As stated above, Tremors received a relatively early Blu-ray release by Universal back in the day, and those wanting a plot recap are encouraged to read Ken Brown's Tremors Blu-ray review of that Universal release. Ken's review is also a good resource for screenshot comparisons as well as seeing how supplemental features line up between the two releases.

Tremors 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc (not included in this release).

Tremors is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with a 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. Probably unsurprisingly, both the 1080 version (not available in this set) and 2160 presentations easily outshine the old Universal release, and the even better news is that the 4K version outshines the 1080 version also released by Arrow in both detail levels and at least some of the saturation. All of the digital harshness of the Universal release is gone in both versions Arrow has put out, and the 4K version offers a really nicely organic ambience just about all of the time. There are some very noticeable fluctuations in grain thickness, not necessarily related to things like lighting or old style composited effects, but even when the grain field spikes pretty aggressively, as it does on several occasions, I found the 4K version to look natural and without any really "noisy" moments. Depth of field in the outdoor vistas is noticeably improved in the 4K version from the already excellent levels seen in Arrow's 1080 release. While the dusty setting tends to feature neutral or at least not overly vivid tones a lot of the time, there are significant pops of color that Dolby Vision really adds some punch to, including admittedly "minor" things like the bright red sweater Finn Carter wears early in the film, but also with regard to the Graboids' innards, which are almost pumpkin toned in this version. Textures are impressive throughout this 4K iteration, including the kind of rubbery look of the Graboids and even swirls of dust that well up around the characters at various moments.

Note 2: I've gotten a couple of PMs asking if my system showed the traditional "HDR" and/or "Dolby Vision" notice at boot up. As has been the case with the Arrow 4K UHD discs, I personally got the "Dolby Vision" notice as the film began, not at disc boot up.

Tremors 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Tremors features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, 4.0 and 5.1 tracks, and they each offer nice representations of the film's often fun and maybe even goofy sound design. Interestingly, Ken faulted the Universal's volume on its 5.1 track for being too loud (the Universal only featured a 5.1 track), and my one minor qualm with the 5.1 track on this release is that I ironically wished LFE had a bit more punch. That said, both the 4.0 and 5.1 tracks offer really well done immersion, with some enjoyable panning effects and well placed discrete channelization for other effects, notably some of the outdoor ambient environmental background noises that waft through the soundfield. The score also achieves a new spaciousness in both the 4.0 and 5.1 versions, but that said I think it sounded fine in the 2.0 iteration as well. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Note: I had a momentary issue with the audio on the 4K disc the first time in inserted it in my player. The menu evidently has Dolby Digital audio, and when I selected the film, the audio codec displayed on my receiver still said Dolby Digital and I had no sound. Even trying to toggle to the different audio options on the disc didn't change anything. I ejected and rebooted and everything was fine, so this may have just been a ghost in the machine, but I'm reporting it here in case anyone else experiences it.

Tremors 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As alluded to above, Arrow is repeating its "tradition" of not releasing a 1080 presentation of the actual film with this 4K UHD release. That said, with the exception of the fact that the feature is 2160 in this edition, this release offers the same slate of supplements spread across two discs (a 2160 and a 1080 Blu-ray) as the 1080 release does.

Disc One - (4K UHD) Feature & Extras

• Commentary by Ron Underwood, Brent Maddock & S.S. Wilson


• Commentary by Jonathan Melville


• Making Perfection (1080p; 31:08) is a new documentary produced by Universal, kind of surprisingly, in my personal estimation, since they often don't seem particularly interested in curating their catalog, at least in terms of newly produced supplements. That said, this is very well done, and features a lot of interviews, including Kevin Bacon and Michael Gross among many others.


• The Truth About Tremors (1080p; 22:02) is a new interview with co-producer Nancy Roberts.


• Bad Vibrations (1080p; 10:47) is a new interview with director of photography Alexander Gruszynski.


• Aftershocks and Other Rumblings (1080p; 12:38) is a new interview with Ellen Collett, associate producer and second unit producer.


• Digging the Dirt: The Visual Effects of Tremors (1080p; 20:59) is a really fun new featurette looking at the film's then groundbreaking (sorry, had to) effects. Former crews of Fantasy II Film VFX and 4-Ward Productions VFX are featured.


• Music for Graboids (1080p; 13:35) is another well done new piece featuring Ernest Troost and Robert Folk discussing the film's score.


• The Making of Tremors (720p; 44:15) is an archival documentary from Laurent Bouzereau stemming from 1996.


• Creature Featurette (720p; 10:24) is an aggregation of on set camcorder snippets documenting the construction of the Graboids.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 5:02)


• Pardon My French! (1080p; 16:18) is a newly assembled compilation of overdubs recorded for the network television version of the film.


• Electronic Press Kit offers four featurettes that were produced by Universal Pictures to promote the film for its theatrical release in 1990:

  Featurette (720p; 3:49)

  
  

  Kevin Bacon Profile (720p; 2:52)

  
  

  Michael Gross Profile (720p; 2:19)

  
  

  Reba McEntire (720p; 1:52)

• Trailer Gallery

  Theatrical Trailer 1 (1080p; 1:58)

  
  

  Theatrical Trailer 2 (1080p; 1:55)

  
  

  Radio Spots (1080p; 4:21) play to key art from the film.

  
  

  TV Spots (1080p; 1:23)

  
  

  VHS Promo (1080p; 1:19) is for those who don't care for no stinkin' format wars between HD-DVD and Blu-ray.

• Tremors Franchise Trailers (1080p; 6:34) offers six trailers for the film's many sequels.


• Image Galleries are authored with timecodes (which represent one image per second), but do not advance automatically:

  Production Stills (1080p; 1:53)

  
  

  Behind the Scenes (1080p; 00:55)

  
  

  Laserdisc Image Gallery (1080p; 1:52)

  
  

  Screenplay (Draft 6, 1988) (1080p; 1:51)

  
  

  Screenplay (Draft 8b, 1989) (1080p; 1:46)

  
  

  Storyboards (1080p; 1:01)

  
  

  Posters & Video Artwork (1080p; 00:22)

Disc Two (1080) - Interviews & Short Films

• Extended Interviews from Making Perfection

  Ron Underwood (1080p; 47:44)

  
  

  S.S. Wilson (1080p; 1:21:44)

  
  

  Brent Maddock (1080p; 1:03:06)

  
  

  Nancy Roberts (1080p; 50:37)

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  Alec Gillis (1080p; 59:31)

• Arclight Hollywood 2015 Q & A (1080p; 1:11:11) is a 25th Anniversary celebration from 2015 with sixteen cast and crew members moderated by Jonathan Melville. This is separated into pre-film (cast) and post-film (crew) segments but has a "Play All" option, The above timing reflects the total of both sections together.


• Gag Reel was done for the film's wrap party and can be viewed with either its original audio (1080i; 9:54) or with an introduction and partial commentary by co-writer and producer S.S. Wilson (1080i; 10:48).


• Early Short Films offers a trio of early pieces by S.S. Wilson, Brent Maddock and Ron Underwood, though with all three offering stop motion work by Wilson.

  Recorded Live (1080p; 8:12)

  
  

  Dictionary: The Adventure of Words (1080p; 16:26)

  
  

  Library Report (1080p; 24:32)

Additionally this comes housed in a nicely designed slipbox that also contains a 60 page "perfect bound" book with new writing by Kim Newman and Jonathan Melville; a large fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Frank; a small fold-out double sided poster featuring new Graboid X-ray art by Matt Frank; six double sided postcard sized lobby card reproduction art cards (housed in the keepcase containing the two discs); a joke "coupon" for Walter Chang's Market, just in case you want to rent a video (also housed in the keepcase); and a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Frank.

Tremors 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Tremors is exactly the kind of release Arrow tends to do so well, and my hunch is they're going to make a lot of fans of this film very happy. Technical merits are first rate and once again Arrow has put together a really impressive array of supplements, along with a copious supply of non-disc swag. There may be one slight downside to Arrow's marketing strategy in that this 4K UHD release does not also include Arrow's 1080 presentation of the feature film. Highly recommended.