All Rise...

Judge Patrick Naugle trains sand worms...for fun.

The Charge

They're back.

The Case

Graboid hunter Burt Gummer (Michael Gross, TV's Family Ties) returns for another round in Tremors 5: Bloodlines. This time around Burt's presence as a survivalist and all-around Graboid expert is requested in South Africa where "ass blasters" have been spotted. With the help of a seasoned cameraman named Travis (Jamie Kennedy, Scream) Burt treks halfway across the globe to do battle with the ever-changing Graboids and unscrupulous humans who want to capture and contain the worms for their own evil desires.

1990's Tremors was a little B-grade movie with a lot of grade-A smarts. Directed by Ron Underwood (City Slickers) and starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward, the story of giant mutant underground worms invading a small desert town went on to do decent business at the box office but quickly found a large following on VHS and DVD. The film was followed six years later by a better-than-average sequel, Tremors 2: Aftershocks, minus Kevin Bacon. Five years later a second sequel was released, the lackluster Tremors 3: Back to Perfection, which found Fred Ward departing and paved the way for supporting character actor Michael Gross as survivalist Burt Gummer to lead the way. A supposed final sequel arrived in 2004 with Tremors 4: The Legend Begins, which was actually a prequel to the entire series (and a not-so-great one at that). A very short lived television series followed, and the Graboids then went dormant for over a decade until resurfacing again this year.

I'd love to report that Tremors 5: Bloodlines is a return to form for the series, but it's not. The film feels like a standard, by-the-numbers sequel that almost bizarrely takes place in Africa. I say "bizarrely" because if the filmmakers wanted to differentiate themselves from the other films, going from one desert to another desert is like shaking up a Rambo movie by having John Rambo pulling the trigger on his left hand instead of his right. Frankly, Africa looks just like Nevada, so the shake up feels insignificant.

Alright, so I've just taken a big mango sized dump on the movie. Is it terrible? No. Truth be told it's entertaining if you set your expectations fairly low. As usual, Michael Gross is a joy to watch as Burt Gummer, survivalist extraordinaire. Gross gives the movie everything he's got; the actor is an appreciated link to the other films (and the only one to appear in all five). The other main character is actor/comedian Jamie Kennedy as Gummer's partner, Travis Welker. Kennedy does a decent job with his role even if it's basically just cracking jokes and running from the monsters. Everyone else is just fodder for the monsters, eventually being either eaten or dragged underground to their doom.

Tremors 5: Bloodlines features a lot of the same beats as the previous films: the creature show up, everyone's on the run for their lives, and the desert becomes one big buffet for the worms. The special effects are fair-to-good for a direct-to-DVD feature film, though the budget limitations often rears its head during certain shows (some people are dragged to their fates off-screen so the filmmakers don't have to waste time on showing the monsters). Tremors 5: Bloodlines ends up being the equivalent of a Big Mac: familiar, filling for a moment, and with all the lasting excitement of sub-par junk food.

Tremors 5: Bloodlines (Blu-ray) is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen in 1080p high definition. Universal has made sure that this transfer is in excellent condition with solid black levels and vibrant colors. There is no compression or heavy grain structure to be found here. Overall, fans will be happy with how attractive this transfer looks. The soundtrack is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround in English. This is a very aggressive, bombastic audio mix that features a lot of loud explosions and surround sounds (including ear piecing screeches from the monsters). This will give any home theatre a heavy workout. Also included on this disc are DTS 5.1 mixes in Italian, German, Spanish, and French, as well as subtitles in English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, German, Arabic, Cantonese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hindi, Icelandic, Italian, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Swedish.

Bonus features include a few outtakes, some deleted/extended scenes, and a short featurette ("Tremors 5: Behind the Bloodlines") on the making of the film. Also included is a DVD copy of the film, as well as an Ultraviolet digital copy.

I didn't dislike Tremors 5: Bloodlines, but it's also not something I can recommend to anyone who hasn't seen the previous four movies. This is essentially for those who just HAVE to see what happened to Burt over the intervening years. Let's hope Universal finally ends on this mid-level note—the series has officially run its course.

The Verdict

Bury this one in the sand.

Give us your feedback!

Did we give Tremors 5: Bloodlines (Blu-ray) a fair trial? yes / no

What's "fair"? Whether positive or negative, our reviews should be unbiased, informative, and critique the material on its own merits.

Share This Review

Follow DVD Verdict

Other Reviews You Might Enjoy

• Zombiegeddon
• Mo' Money
• Resident Evil: Superbit Edition
• Easy Virtue