Sharknado - DVD

Content: The former professional surfer Fin (Ian Ziering) is not only worried about his existence as the owner of a small bar on the beach of Long Island, when a large hurricane threatens the coast of California. Finn also wants to get his ex-wife April (Tara Ried) and their two children to safety from the deadly storm at all costs. So, without further ado, he sets off with his buddy Baz (Jaason Simmons, the waitress Nova (Cassie Scerbo) who adores him, and his regular guest George (John Heard) on the dangerous path through rain and storm to get to April. But they soon discover that the hurricane brings with it a much greater danger: an entire school of hungry sharks has been swept up in the storm's wake and is now raining down on LA. And so Fin and his friends soon have to defend themselves not only in the water and on the flooded streets, but also in the air against flying sharks - and that proves to be extremely difficult in the middle of a storm...

There are always movies that, based on their title or their initial idea alone, trigger a tremendous amount of hype in advance, even before anyone has even seen a minute of footage. Snakes on a Plane was one of those movies, which even got some new scenes with more gore and naked skin to satisfy the target audience. Such hype is of course an advantage in that it brings the studio almost free publicity. The disadvantage, however, is that such films very rarely manage to live up to the enormous expectations generated in this way.

Sharknado, with its wonderfully absurd title and delightfully stupid initial idea, was also able to quickly achieve enormous cult status on the net. Produced for the TV channel SyFy, the film got so much attention that it even made it to theaters in some countries for a short time. But those who know SyFy productions such as Sharktopus, 2-Headed Shark Attack or Sand Sharks, that particularly high cinematic quality should not be expected here. Still, not least because of the fast-paced, quite amusing trailer, one could expect a very fun B-movie trash that clearly belongs in the category of so bad it's good again.

The problem is that Sharknado itself can only really live up to these expectations towards the end. There are just too many scenes where the cast just sits in their clearly studio car, staring rather boredly into the scenery consisting of constantly repeating images, with nothing really happening. No question, there are moments when Sharknado is really fun in its own special way. But the potential that the title, trailer and the basic idea promise is used far too little. At least there is hope that this shortcoming will be made up for in the announced second part.

In a work with the title Sharknado, no one should expect a good movie in the classic sense. The flying sharks are really only for diehard B-movie fans. Who has amused himself deliciously about two-headed sharks, Piranahcondas, Sharktopusse, Dinocrocs or Mega Piranahs and can overlook flat dialogues, pale actors and a very simply held dramaturgy, will also have great pleasure in this stormy shark storm!

Picture + Sound: Sharknado came in the U.S. and also in Germany due to the great hype briefly in some selected cinemas, but was actually produced for television. This is also noticeable in the audiovisual realization, which is overall completely okay, but especially in the detail sharpness could have been much better. The sound presents itself in a quite powerful Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, which however simply can't keep up with bigger cinema productions in terms of surround effects. All in all, okay, but not a revelation. Good!

Extras: In addition to the trailer and other program tips from the provider, the DVD has a promo making of (about 10 min.) and a pretty nice gag reel (about 5 min.) to offer. However, there are to the extras, as well as to the main film, no subtitle options, which is why the short bonus material is worth watching only for Sharknado fans with a good knowledge of English.

Conclusion: Sharknado has generated a hype through its title and the wonderfully absurd starting idea in the run-up, which the film itself can not withstand. That's because the shark tornado only takes place in a few moments of the 82-minute running time. Other than that, struggling actors slug their way through a less than quality script and a very trashy production that, unfortunately, too often loses sight of the fun factor promised by the title. But if you liked movies like Sharktopus or Sand Sharks, you will also enjoy the deadly Sharknado. Nevertheless: only for trash fans worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp