History Film / Tremors2Aftershocks

* CrazyPrepared: This is played around with Burt. He's prepared extensively for Graboids, and kills loads when he comes to help Grady and Earl. Then they transform into Shriekers, and he instantly goes from dealing with a few very hard-to-kill subterranean monsters to [[ZergRush a self-replicating horde]] of above-ground killers.

* CrazyPrepared: This is played around with Burt. He has loads of ammo and explosives. One comes into play in the climax, but one gets used up by the third act.

-->'''Grady:''' You mean they're acting so smart... because they're so ''[[TooDumbToFool stupid]]?!''

--> (cuts to phone ringing)
-->'''Burt (picks up phone):''' Yeah?
* ArcWords: The line "Doin' what I can with what I got" originates on-screen in Tremors 2 when Burt says it.

-->'''Grady:''' How dumb do you think I am?
--> (beat)
-->'''Earl:''' Catch me later on that one.

-->'''Earl:''' So I guess you've been kinda laying low?
-->'''Burt:''' No, negative. Keepin' busy. Lots of projects. ''[brushes food crumbs off his shirt.]''

-->Burt: "I am ''completely'' out of ammo. ({{beat}}) That's never happened to me before."

-->'''Burt Gummer:''' "I feel I was denied... ''Critical''... '''Need-To-Know'''... '''''Information.'''''"

* HiddenDepths: Earl seems like a two-time loser when he reappears, only to demonstrate some surprisingly-astute knowledge of geology once he's in the field. Seems he'd been studying a lot between films.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Twice. Burt uses an anti-tank rifle to take out a Shrieker, and as noted above also accidentally destroys the getaway vehicle they were heading for. Later, he manages to trap a Shrieker pack inside a building, which he only then learns is filled with food (which causes the creatures to multiply rapidly).

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: "Man, Burt, you put a whole new shine on the word 'overkill'."

* LoweredMonsterDifficulty: Played with. The Shriekers are smaller and considerably more fragile than the Graboids they hatched from, and are easier to fire at since they're on the ground. However, they're also far more numerous and, in that particular situation, Burt had stocked up on low ammo, high impact weapons expecting to deal with Graboids, which results in him burning through his ammo rather quickly once the Shriekers show up. Notably, Shriekers seem to be a combination of both remarkably stupid yet incredibly smart. They attack anything that's hot enough to be alive, resulting in them assaulting a radio tower and shredding the electronics within, as well as ripping up the engines of cars. In Grady's own words, "You mean they've been acting so smart because they're so stupid?" At the same time, they're clever enough to prepare ambushes like the one that Burt stumbled into (and apparently the one that killed Pedro) and they formed a living ladder to get to the humans on top of the oil tower.

* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Subverted, for the most part. In an early example, Burt hands Earl an elephant gun, having first checked to make sure that it was unloaded. After receiving it, Earl then ''immediately'' checks for himself. '''THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN YOU PICK UP A GUN!'''

** This very obscure one takes quite a bit of knowledge about firearms and a sharp eye for detail. When he mentions to Earl that Heather left him, Burt says that she wanted him to send her the HK91 in the divorce. This is the first rifle that Burt pulls off the wall when the Graboid breaks into the basement.

''Tremors 2: Aftershocks'' (1996) is the second movie in the ''Franchise/{{Tremors}}'' film series.

* ImprobableCover: Subverted when Earl sets Burt's whole truck--packed with explosives--to explode. When the others hide behind a nearby building, Burt shouts at them to "Keep running!". They look at Earl, who replies "Burt knows his bombs". After quite a bit more running, they find a ditch, which, combined with the distance, provides sufficient cover.

* {{Explosive Breeder}}s: Shriekers. They reproduce asexually by just eating enough food until they literally throw up a newborn Shrieker.

* RaptorAttack: The shriekers are a velociraptor-like "nymph" stage (this movie premiered 2 years after the first ''Film/JurassicPark''). However, they're not even close to dinosaurs, actually being [[LivingRelic even older]].

* RaptorAttack: The shriekers, a velociraptor-like "nymph" stage (this movie premiered 2 years after the first ''Film/JurassicPark''). They're not even close to dinosaurs, however.

* RealityEnsues: Burt manages to take out a shrieker with the only weapon he has, a [[{{BFG}} .50 caliber rifle]] he brought along to kill graboids with. It ''obliterates'' the shrieker, but then proceeds to punch through everything behind it, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero including the engine block of the one working vehicle several yards behind it]].

** Earl mentions the Graboids' ability to use tactics such as playing opossum and digging traps.

-->'''Burt''': Memo: two pounds of C4 may be a bit....''excessive''.

* RaptorAttack: The shriekers , a velociraptor-like "nymph" stage (this movie premiered 2 years after the first ''Film/JurassicPark''). They're not even close to dinosaurs, however.

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Played straight with Val and Stumpy, but subverted in ''Aftershocks'' when Burt takes out the Graboid that terrorized Earl and Grady.

* LoweredMonsterDifficulty: Played with. The Shriekers are smaller and considerably more fragile than the Graboids they mutated from, and are easier to fire at since they're on the ground. However, they're also far more numerous and, in that particular situation, Burt had stocked up on low ammo, high impact weapons expecting to deal with Graboids, which results in him burning through his ammo rather quickly once the Shriekers show up. Notably, Shriekers seem to be a combination of both remarkably stupid yet incredibly smart. They attack anything that's hot enough to be alive, resulting in them assaulting a radio tower and shredding the electronics within, as well as ripping up the engines of cars. In Grady's own words, "You mean they've been acting so smart because they're so stupid?" At the same time, they're clever enough to prepare ambushes like the one that Burt stumbled into (and apparently the one that killed Pedro) and they formed a living ladder to get to the humans on top of the oil tower.

** On the wall of Earl's home we see that he and Val did end in both ''People'' and ''Magazine/NationalGeographic'' magazine (among others). Also, the photo used for ''People'' is the one that Rhonda took of Val and Earl at the end of the movie.

* BadVibrations: Played with twice. An unseen creature is making a tremendous racket thanks to some discarded metal sheets.. and what finally hops into view is one small Shrieker. And that loud growing rumble? It's not a Grabiod, it's something far more dangerous: Burt Gummer arriving in his explosive-laden truck.

* AscendedFanboy: Grady certainly acts this way and does have genuine admiration for Earl. Larry in the TV series, though his admiration extends to the whole town.