6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.8 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Graboids are illegally taken to a new island resort by a rich playboy as a dangerous form of trophy hunting, and Burt Gummer steps up to save the day.
Starring: Michael Gross, Jon Heder, Richard Brake, Caroline Langrishe, Jackie CruzHorror | 100% |
Action | 4% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.00:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.00:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: DTS 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
It's hard to believe that Graboids have been lurking and listening and lashing out from below ground at anyone and anything that vibrates for three decades now, beginning with the enjoyable original that started it all, 1990s Tremors. But here it is, 2020, and the franchise is still going strong by way of the direct-to-video marketplace. Tremors: Shrieker Island is the seventh film in the series and the sixth to be released straight to video. It's also one of the most superfluous and, perhaps unsurprising for a film that's the sixth to go straight to video, the least original and least enjoyable of the bunch.
The 1080p picture quality teeters on exceptional. It's often razor sharp and perfectly clear, yielding highly detailed and meticulous facial features – hairs, pores, makeup, all of the caked-on dirt and grime covering Burt's face when he's first located -- while jungle foliage, clothes, and other elements maintain sharpness for the duration. Contrast is boosted quite a bit. Graboid blood and fiery explosions run extremely hot, as do jungle greens and even low light blues and grays. Skin tones are also reflective of the cooked-up colors, too. Blacks push a bit overly deep as well. The image does display some noise in lower light, as is to be expected, and one or two of the most challenging shots show compression artifacts. Overall, though, the image is quite hearty, tack sharp and very colorful in its extreme tonal push.
Tremors: Shrieker Island's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack excels in every way. The track makes a strong impression to start with robust music and high yield sound effects. There's depth galore to both; the subwoofer puts in an honest day's work with this one, commanding the stage with high intensity music and high yield sound effects, such as creature growls and gunfire, the latter of which play nicely in conjunction with piercing shrieks and screams that are often in accompaniment. Equally impressive is the island ambience which offers a full array of birds, insects, rustling leaves, and other small details that work together in harmony to place the listener squarely in the middle of the location. Surrounds are extensively utilized as well for all content – music, action, atmosphere – and create an organic and spacious sound field with ample room for effects to flow through. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized for the duration.
Tremors: Shrieker Island contains three featurettes. A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with
purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.
By its end, the movie does seem to close the door on the franchise, at least on the iteration that's been on the table for the past three decades, and that's absolutely a good thing. Whether it continues forward or not is anyone's guess, but if it does it must be with fresh ideas rather than making a movie just to make a little bit of money off of a familiar name. Scrap, rebrand, rework the franchise, do anything but continue releasing low effort films like this. Universal's Bu-ray does deliver healthy video and audio presentations while tossing in a few supplements at the same time. Skip it.
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