Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001) (V)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Brent Maddock

Writers (WGA):

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

Release Date:

2 October 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The Food Chain Just Grew Another Link.

Plot:

Third entry in series returns to the small desert town of Perfection, Nevada seen in the first and briefly in the second.

Plot Keywords:

Graboids | Shriekers | Monster | Desert | Worm

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Michael Gross	...	Burt Gummer
Shawn Christian	...	Desert Jack Sawyer
Susan Chuang	...	Jodi Chang
Charlotte Stewart	...	Nancy Sterngood
Ariana Richards	...	Mindy Sterngood
Tony Genaro	...	Miguel
Barry Livingston	...	Dr. Andrew Merliss
John Pappas	...	Agent Charlie Rusk
Robert Jayne	...	Melvin Plug
Billy Rieck	...	Buford, Jack's Assistant
Kelly Connell	...	Tourist Guy
Matthew Seth Wilson	...	Tourist Kid
Jason Hopkins	...	Tourist Kid
Lorna Scott	...	Tourist Lady
Mary Gross	...	Tourist Mom

MPAA:

Rated PG for sci-fi violence and language.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Germany:12 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | UK:12 | Singapore:PG

Company:

Universal Family and Home Entertainment

Trivia:

The film is a virtual TV pilot as it was used to sell the TV series "Tremors" (2003), which used all the characters and actors from the film, old and new.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Burts Ford Explorer sport trac is first seen it has the factory rims on it, however when it goes over the cliff and explodes when the camera shows it it has hubcaps not rims and appears to be a totally different make of automobile.

Quotes:

Jack: Burt, what happens if this thing eats your food?
Burt: [looks around at the many, many cases of MREs] Assblaster Blitzkrieg.

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars (1977)

sad day in Perfection

The opening credit sequence of the original Tremors is outstanding writing, character development wise. In the first two minutes of the film, we meet Val and Earl, our two wise-cracking handymen heroes, see what will become their trademark decision-making technique (rock, paper, scissors) realize that they are sleeping in an old pickup truck, hear them trade quips, be introduced to their profession, ("handymen, Earl, we are han-dy-men") and moments later find ourselves in Perfection, Nevada. A one horse town, (but two literally, as we will find out later) filled with a wonderful assortment of quirky characters whose lives seem to revolve around Walter Chang's clapboard general store. This film is nearly flawless in it's characters, suspense with a perfect blend of comedy, and pacing... So it is no wonder that knowing every word to the film, six year later I was at a video store renting Tremors 2: Aftershocks the day of it's release. A little saddened by the lack of Kevin Bacon, and the fact that the film was direct-to-video I none-the-less popped the film in with eager anticipation. Fred Ward had come back to fill his role as Earl Grady and this film, may very well be the best direct-to-video film of all time. And one of the most satisfying sequels, period. Any questions left unanswered in the original film were answered here. Where did the Graboids come from? Would they actually become known to science as Graboids? What kind of fame did the survivors from the original Perfection encounter come into after the world caught on... not only, were questions answered, and characters revisited (michael Gross came back as extremist Burt Gummer), but there was also a wonderful twist with the mutation of the worms, and above average CGI. Guess where I was, October 2nd, when Tremors 3: Back To Perfection was to hit video store shelves? Video store. The cover was a bit shlocky, and this time even Fred Ward bowed out, but the premise was intriguing. Back... to Perfection. Everyone, aside from the two original stars, and those who were killed in the first one, would be back. A wonderful thing to see how some of your favorite characters are doing after eleven years. Well one, I noted after I rented the film, that it was rated PG. can you even fire a gun in a PG film? Two, the first time there was a computer generated creature I knew the franchise had not only hit a wall, but had hit a wall that collapsed into a volcano of crazy horses. This film was terrible. I never thought I would say that word in connection with the Tremors trademark, but here I am. And there it is. The majority of the money for this film went to making an absorbent amount of graboid merchandise for Chang's store, which is still open, and run by his daughter. They should have saved the money they spent on the products and paid a better actress, Chang's offspring comes off as a bad Lucy Lui. The horror and suspense of the first two films gives way to... OHMYGOD's when "El Blanco" the albino graboid comes out of the ground and is computer generated, it looks like the earth grew a badly animated penis. And capitalizing on the surprising twist of Aftershocks, the worms had to change once again. I will spoil this for you, so stop now if you want to watch the film. They turn into winged creatures with long necks, that lay eggs. You see, the graboids, turn into "Shriekers", and the shriekers, to these bird things, and the birds lay eggs that have Graboids in them. but that isn't all, I wish to God that were all. These new birdoids, have gliding wings, and propel themselves into the air, by using extremely flammable flatulence. They literally propel themselves into the air by farting fire. Hopefully you stopped reading right there. It is nice to see characters like Mindy, the pogo stick girl, and Melvin the annoying basketball kid come back as adults, but sad to see that their acting has in fact regressed. In my mind there is only a "Tremors," and its "Aftershocks." This is cheap shlock done cheaper in hopes to turn a small profit and it ruins the good name of Tremors.