Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004) (V)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

S.S. Wilson

Writers (WGA):

S.S. Wilson (characters) &
Brent Maddock (characters) ...

Release Date:

2 January 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller | Western

Tagline:

A Revolution Has Begun...

Plot:

A prequel to Tremors (1990), this movie tells us about the founders of Rejection Valley and how they defended it against the dirt dragons AKA graboids.

Plot Keywords:

Graboids | Monster | Prequel | Desert | Bicycle

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Michael Gross	...	Hiram Gummer
Sara Botsford	...	Christine Lord
Billy Drago	...	Black Hand Kelly
Brent Roam	...	Juan Pedilla
August Schellenberg	...	Tecopa
J.E. Freeman	...	Old Fred
Ming Lo	...	Pyong Lien Chang
Lydia Look	...	Lu Wan Chang
Sam Ly	...	Fu Yien Chang
Neil Kopit	...	Victor (as Neal Kopit)
Sean Moran	...	Western Union Clerk
Matthew Seth Wilson	...	Brick Walters
John Dixon	...	Big Horse Johnson
Dan Lemieux	...	Stony Walters
Don Ruffin	...	Soggy

Also Known As:

Tremors 4 (USA) (working title)
Tremors: Original Showdown (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for creature violence and gore.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:All | Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-15 | Australia:M | USA:PG-13 | Germany:16 | UK:12 | Canada:PG (Ontario/Canadian video rating) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Singapore:PG

Company:

Stampede Entertainment

Trivia:

Michael Gross was the only person to appear in all four Tremors movies. In Tremors (1990), Tremors II: Aftershocks (1996) (V) and Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001) (V), he played Burt Gummer. In Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004) (V), he played Hiram Gummer, an ancestor of Burt Gummer.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When Hirum is leaving Rejection, there are clear truck or car tracks on the road. The Steam Tractor's wheels are too wide to have made them.

Quotes:

Hiram Gummer: I feel I've not been privy to critical, most needful information.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in You're on the Set of 'Tremors 4: The Legend Begins' (2004) (V)

One of the better entries in the series

The Tremors series seemed to run out of ideas on the second installment, so the idea that we are sitting around discussing a fourth is quite absurd, to say the least. Nonetheless, the fourth in the series may well be the best aside from the original, which is one of the most surprising things I've ever seen myself type. Perhaps the big secret here is that the series has never taken itself too seriously, which is certainly a plus in comparison to other series, where the sequels never seem to realise how bereft of ideas they are.

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.