NOTE: The below Blu-ray and 4K UHD captures were taken directly from the respective discs.

ADDITION: Arrow 4K UHD (January 2021): Universal have transferred Ron Underwood's Tremors to 4K UHD.

Arrow Video has a gargantuan release of “Tremors”, loaded to the brim with features. Of most importance is a new 4K restoration from the original negative, approved by director Ron Underwood and director of photography Alexander Gruszynski. Considering the 2010 Blu-ray's multiple shortcomings in the picture department, this new transfer is a must-own for fans. The old Blu-ray's conspicuous edge enhancement is nowhere to be seen, showing a much more realistic and film-like presentation, beaming with detail. The main advantage of this new 4K UHD transfer is that the HDR/Dolby Vision brightness levels (and OLED or similarly capable TVs show a deep contrast in darker parts of the image) provide a wider spectrum of colors, equally showcasing the rich, varied desert vistas as well as the icky, gooey monster effects. Even if the 210 Blu-ray wasn't so plagued with issues, this would still be a striking upgrade, given the larger disc size, greater detail, and almost tripled bitrate. The images can't fully express the HDR/Dolby-Vision effect, but rest assured that this is a solid 4K UHD release. That phony soft look is now replaced with fine grain and detailed texture. To those without the 4K UHD set-up, or just content to have a new upgraded Blu-ray, this set is also available in a 2-disc Blu-ray package.

It is likely that the monitor you are seeing this review is not an HDR-compatible display (High Dynamic Range) or Dolby Vision, where each pixel can be assigned with a wider and notably granular range of color and light. Our capture software if simulating the HDR (in a uniform manner) for standard monitors. This should make it easier for us to review more 4K UHD titles in the future and give you a decent idea of its attributes on your system. So our captures may not support the exact same colors (coolness of skin tones, brighter or darker hues etc.) as the 4K system at your home. But the framing, detail, grain texture support etc. are, generally, not effected by this simulation representation.

NOTE: 30 more more full resolution (3840 X 2160) 4K UHD captures, in lossless PNG format, for Patrons are available HERE

We have reviewed the following 4K UHD packages to date: Vigilante (software uniformly simulated HDR), Cinema Paradiso (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Bourne Legacy (software uniformly simulated HDR),  Full Metal Jacket (software uniformly simulated HDR),  Psycho (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Birds(software uniformly simulated HDR), Rear Window (software uniformly simulated HDR), Vertigo (software uniformly simulated HDR),  Spartacus (software uniformly simulated HDR), Jaws (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Invisible Man, (software uniformly simulated HDR), Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds (software uniformly simulated HDR), Lucio Fulci's 1979 Zombie  (software uniformly simulated HDR),, 2004's Van Helsining (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Shallows (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Bridge on the River Kwai (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Deer Hunter (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Elephant Man (software uniformly simulated HDR), A Quiet Place (software uniformly simulated HDR), Easy Rider (software uniformly simulated HDR), Suspiria (software uniformly simulated HDR), Pan's Labyrinth (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Wizard of Oz, (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Shining, (software uniformly simulated HDR), Batman Returns (software uniformly simulated HDR), Don't Look Now (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Man Who Killed Killed and then The Bigfoot  (software uniformly simulated HDR),,  Bram Stoker's Dracula (software uniformly simulated HDR), Lucy (software uniformly simulated HDR), They Live (software uniformly simulated HDR),  Shutter Island (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Matrix (software uniformly simulated HDR), Alien (software uniformly simulated HDR), Toy Story (software uniformly simulated HDR),  A Few Good Men (software uniformly simulated HDR),  2001: A Space Odyssey (HDR caps udated), Schindler's List (simulated HDR), The Neon Demon (No HDR), Dawn of the Dead (No HDR), Saving Private Ryan (simulated HDR and 'raw' captures), Suspiria (No HDR), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (No HDR), The Big Lebowski, and I Am Legend (simulated and 'raw' HDR captures).

Arrow Video's 4K UHD release of "Tremors" includes 3 audio options (not including the 2 audio commentaries). English 2.0, 4.0, and 5.1 surround options are offered up, all in 24-bit DTS-HD Master audio. The old Blu-ray's 5.1 audio was no slouch, but I am almost more impressed by the original 2.0 option, with the added 4.0 an equally interesting add-on, with a more obvious separation in sound between dialogue (in the front channels) and music (in the rear 2 channels). It is a little strange at first but I came to actually enjoy this track, especially since it highlights the compositions of Ernest Troost. There are optional English subtitles on this Region 'Free' 4K UHD from Arrow Video.

Arrow Video's release of "Tremors'' in 4K UHD is a behemoth, in part due to the pure cornucopia of bonus features included on both the main feature 4K UHD disc, as well as the included Blu-ray. Let's start with the good stuff... included are two new audio commentaries that cover wildly different territory. The first is with Ron Underwood, Brent Maddock, S.S. Wilson, with the three jovially recalling their work on the film and providing some interesting facts as to how the film came to be as we know it today. The second commentary is from Jonathan Melville, a "Tremors'' expert (and author of 'Seeking Perfection: The Unofficial Guide to Tremors'. With a somewhat laid-back tone, Melville expounds a wealth of detail, and I learned just as much about the film from this commentary as I did from the other. "Making Perfection" is a new 31-minute making-of documentary from Universal. This documentary looks at the making of "Tremors'' and its subsequent cult status. Some of the featured interviews include Kevin Bacon, Michael Gross, Ariana Richards, Ron Underwood, S.S. Wilson, and Brent Maddock. "The Truth About Tremors'' is a new 22-minute interview with (co-producer) Nancy Roberts looking back on the film's long and rocky road from concept to the screen. "Bad Vibrations'' is a newly-filmed 11-minute interview with director of photography, Alexander Gruszynski. Interesting to hear how different it is to make a scary movie that is not shot in darkness. "Aftershocks and Other Rumblings'' is a 13-minute interview with associate producer and second unit producer Ellen Collett. Collett talks of how one of the biggest hurdles was getting the creatures to "work and be believable". "Digging in the Dirt: The Visual Effects of ‘Tremors' “ is a 21-minute featurette covering the film's complicated visual effects (including some impressive miniature setwork), with the crews of Fantasy II Film VFX and 4-Ward Productions VFX. "Music for Graboids" is another new featurette that covers the film's score. This 14-minute piece features composers Ernest Troost and Robert Folk taking turns narrating sequences of the film highlighting their impressive work. "The Making of Tremors" is Laurent Bouzereau's 44-minute archival documentary from 1996, covering the production of the film. "Creature Featurette" is a 10-minute compilation of on-set camcorder footage showing the making of the Graboid creatures. Next up is 5-minutes of (4) deleted scenes, formerly released as 'outtakes'. This includes the original opening scene of the film. "Pardon My French!" is a hilarious 16-minute compilation of overdubs recorded for the network television version of the film, and I only wish that one day there will be a feature like this for the TV-version of "Showgirls" which I fondly remember laughing my ass-off to as a teen. This sequence shows the final theatrical version before cutting to the edited TV-version. Next is a series of Electronic Press Kits, Trailer and Image galleries. All of the above is solely on the 4K UHD, with the following extras on the second Blu-ray disc. There are five extended interviews included on this bonus Blu-ray disc. These are the long-form versions of the interviews that were then edited into the "Making Perfection" featurette. Ron Underwood, (writers/producers) S.S. Wilson & Brent Maddock, (co-producer/agent) Nancy Roberts and (creature effects designer and creator) Alec Gillis all speak for anywhere from 45-minutes to almost an hour-and-a-half about the making of "Tremors". There is a ton to dissect here, from personal to professional anecdotes, and fans will appreciate this deeper dive into the behind-the-scenes information. For the 25th anniversary, a screening was hosted at the ArcLight Hollywood cinema in 2015, a Tremors expert (the aforementioned Jonathan Melville) filmed the Q&A from the audience using a decent consumer-grade camera. So many cast & crew were on hand, they split up the dais into two sessions. The first is a 27-minute Q&A with the cast, the second, a 45-minute crew Q&A. Since the dais The original 10-minute gag reel that was assembled for the film's wrap party is included on this extra Blu-ray disc, with partial commentary and introduction by co-writer/producer Wilson. "Recorded Live" is S.S. 1975 8-minute horror-comedy student film from USC School of Cinematic Arts. "Dictionary: The Adventure of Words'' is an educational film directed by Brent Maddock, produced by Ron Underwood and features stop motion animation by S.S. Wilson. "Library Report'' is a short film directed by Ron Underwood and also featuring S.S. Wilson's stop motion animation. Interestingly, the animated robot character would go on to inspire Maddock and Wilson's screenplay for the film "Short Circuit". These short films do not feature the option of subtitles.

I suppose titling this release "Tremors: The Kitchen Sink" edition would be a little too on-the-nose, though it is hard not to be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of hours you could spend diving into Arrow Video's extras on both the 4K UHD and extra Blu-ray included in this release. Here's the thing, even without a single extra feature, this 4K disc would be a worthy upgrade over the 2010 Blu-ray. And then there are the extras..... This is a must-own for any fan of "Tremors".

Colin Zavitz

***

ON THE Universal Blu-ray (November 2010): The 1080p AVC transfer is unfortunately plagued with prominent edge enhancement (just like VC-1 encoded HD-DVD from 2007 and the old non-anamorphic SD DVD). This is most likely on the D1 source and while in some spots it is less noticeable - in others it is downright glaring. Shot almost exclusively outdoors - the Arriflex Cameras captured some wonderful rocky desert terrain and mountain vistas (shot in Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California) and detail is at the very high end. If you are not overly sensitive to the edge-enhancement then the image quality can exports some of the more desired attributes of high-definition in terms of colors and depth. It looks significantly better than the original SD in every respect. Colors are typically bright and dominant. The edge-enhancement appears to have been applied with a fairly high frequency and I've certainly seen thicker halos. There are some awesome scenes of visual quality in the limited production 'Tremors'. It's a shame about the egregious edge-enhancement - video purists will be turned off... but film snobs won't dig (pun intended) this film anyway.

Audio offers a decent DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 3892 kbps. There is some notable range but not a ton of it but the depth and aggression of effect sounds (the creatures) is potent. Actually, this is a decent rendering for the audio - it can be quite impressive at times. There are optional subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

Supplements are all taken from the old SD (and are still 480i/p) with a grand 50-minute featurette "The Making of Tremors". It's quite good with input from director Ron Underwood (City Slickers and the 98' Mighty Joe Young on his resume) as well as writer-producers Brent Maddock and Steve Wilson. It's a neat story of how this film came to fruition. Under the title 'Featurette' we are given a 3-minute piece made for the original release. There are 5 minutes of outtakes - mostly showing an alternate opening sequence with a deeper introduction of the minor characters of Tremors. Finally a theatrical trailer and mini-"profiles" of Kevin Bacon, Michael Gross, and Reba McEntire. Finally, you can bookmark your favorite clips with My Scenes feature and this has D-Box Motion controls.

If you can ignore the edge-enhancement - you will probably accept the image as quite strong. I still enjoyed my viewing and forgot about the impressive cinematography. Purists for both film and digital image production should probably avoid this release but for those with a more relaxed attitude - could really have some enjoyment with this Blu-ray. The, repeated, extras are decent for such a campy film that almost seems like a kind of amusing homage to more innocent 'creature features' from the past. Tremors is a perfect late night popcorn-flic - Bacon and Ward playing two good-ol'boys leading a small-town battle with an, infrequently seen, underground monster. I want more. Perfeccct!

Gary Tooze