Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Sharknado: The 4th Awakens Blu-ray Movie Review

The Sharks Are Getting Boulder.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 5, 2017

Sharknado: The 4th Awakens (see what they did there?) is not, and the previous three entries in the franchise have never been, about artistic merit or serious storytelling. They're the height of tongue-in-cheek absurdity, and that's the point. Whether just the title, something in the first movie, or some magic spell the wizards over at The Asylum sprinkled on the movies, the franchise has exploded to heights unparalleled for the studio that's best known not for its creativity but rather its shameless rip-offs of bigger and better movies. But with the Sharknado films, audiences expect two things: lots of cameos and, more important, a movie that will go out of its way to be as idiotic as possible. With has-been actors in lead roles, awful visual effects, and ridiculousness to unmatched degrees, the series is almost everything that The Asylum is all about, minus the whole "rip off every blockbuster" thing. At least Sharknado is an original property, and it's struck just the right tone, too, taking on a cheerfully stupid and comically confident demeanor rather than the serious schtick its cheap copycat films tend to capture.

Oh dear...

It's been five years (movie time, not real-world time) since the last Sharknado attack. A company called Astro-X, founded by the brilliant Aston Reynolds (Tommy Davidson), has created a device that prevents Sharknados from forming, at least before they can gain any serious, life-threatening momentum. Of course, something goes terribly wrong. A Sharknado forms and strikes in Las Vegas, killing many, destroying the city's most iconic landmarks, and creating a new threat that Astro-X will have to scramble to stop. And if the company can't contain the outbreak, it'll once again be up to Fin (Ian Ziering), his family, his friends, and maybe another familiar face or two to save, this time, the entire country from Sharknado annihilation.

As for one of the pieces people want from these films -- cameos -- there are plenty. Carrot Top and Wayne Newton appear in the first few minutes and there's an avalanche thereafter, including, even, WWE Superstar Seth Rollins and the famous Vegas Chippendale guys. The usual suspects, like Al Roker and David Hasselhoff (along with some Baywatch co-stars), again play significant parts in the movie. Gilbert Gottfried has an extended role in the flick. The 4th Awakens isn't wanting for star power in big or small roles to be sure, and it's not wanting for winking and nodding at other movies, too. There's a scene near the beginning (before the opening titles...which come 19 minutes into the movie) in which the heroes battle off a Sharknado on a pirate ship, complete with swords-in-hand, against music that's eerily similar to the refrains from Pirates of the Caribbean. Lines from Star Wars, of course, are prominent. There's a shout-out to Jurassic Park, an extended Texas Chain Saw Massacre reference, and a crossover cameo for Lavalantula. A suit at film's end looks like a cheap Halloween costume cross of the loader from Aliens meets a Titan from Titanfall. There's no shortage of stuff crammed into the movie...but is there any meat around it?

Oh, yes...shark meat! The 4th Awakens sees its antagonists carved up like a turkey, with one particularly interesting take on it near film's end. With so much slicing and shooting and bad special effects and its cast sheet, it's a Sharknado movie through-and-through, a true "event" film in a nontraditional sense in that it's totally and utterly absurd, and traditional in the sense that it's truly must-see entertainment, if only to laugh at the absurdity, chat it ups at the water cooler, and, of course, get ready for Sharknado 5…Earth 0. Besides, it's practically impossible to watch this, or any of the series films, really, without a really big smile on the face, because it does live up to, and satisfy, expectations for total cinematic nonsense. Not many movies can really, legitimately, say that. The film sets the bar so low yet, at the same time, so high, that it's a mad amalgamation of trash and treasure, and one cannot help but to admire the balance of obvious warts and the cheerful embrace of its ridiculous premise and the way the series just keeps on making itself bigger and more ridiculous. This latest Sharknado film expands with different variations of Sharknados and a bigger scope for its story. Is it the best one yet, then? Eh, hard to say, and not really fair to say. The movies are meant to work in harmony, all part of a bigger whole, but as for how they work in a box, the second is still probably the "best" of the bunch.

Sharknado: The 4th Awakens Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sharknado: The 4th Awakens' 1080p transfer has its moments of stability and good-looking detailing, but it's a far cry from the industry's finest. The digital source material comes from what is clearly a lower end shoot. Banding, noise, aliasing, and macroblocking appear inherent to the source and frequently mar the presentation one way or another. Murky visual effects shots leave much to be desired, again more a problem at the source rather than the Blu-ray encode. When the movie settles and focuses on anything with good, natural lighting -- even if skies are always washed out -- the transfer showcases some acceptable, if not a bit glossy, detailing on faces, clothes, and environments. Colors are often punchy but don't always look natural, taking a slightly inorganic, sometimes overcooked and oversaturated, sometimes cold and desaturated, appearance. Black levels hold fairly deep and flesh tones appear more or less fine, if not sharing that same general range of "all over the map" the greater palette features. The image isn't a looker by any stretch, its best asset simply the sharpness and clarity Blu-ray and the source material inherently provide. The drawback is all the flaws and evident cheapness associated with that source.

Sharknado: The 4th Awakens Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sharknado: The 4th Awakens rips onto Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Much like the video presentation, it's more the source's own limitations than it is anything necessarily wrong with the Blu-ray presentation that winds up yielding a mediocre listen. The track is certainly very active, always engaging every speaker in its arsenal with plenty of information. It occasionally just jumbles into a cloud of chaos, which more or less reflects the on-screen mayhem, but a little more precision would have been appreciated. A good example comes at the 71-minute mark. Music drops to the background to favor dialogue, but there's so much blowing wind, and fairly sloppily blowing wind at that, that the dialogue becomes a bit muddled and lost underneath. "Balance" isn't really in the track's vocabulary. Still, low end heft is prominent throughout and there's something to be said for the sheer sonic mayhem that, at times, takes over. Besides those occasions when too much is happening to sort the dialogue out, it does play with a pleasing clarity and natural front-center positioning.

Sharknado: The 4th Awakens Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Sharknado: The 4th Awakens contains several bonuses, headlined by a commentary track and deleted and extended scenes. Also included is a Sharknado-themed bottle opener.

• The Making of Sharknado: The 4th Awakens (1080p, 14:56): This piece examines shooting in Vegas, making various scenes, cast details, cameos, and more.
• Deleted & Extended Scenes (1080p, 11:19): A collection scenes with no titles or other form of identification.
• Gag Reel (1080p, 2:21).
• The Making of the Orchestral Score (1080p, 3:34): Asylum Composers Chris Ridenhour and Christopher Cano briefly discuss the process of crafting the movie's music.
• The Asylum VFX: Before & After (1080p, 1:14): A quick run-though of shots with and without effects juxtaposed one against another.
• Audio Commentary: Director Anthony C. Ferrante and Actors Masiela Lusha and Imani Hakim open with an interesting discussion of minor changes between the aired version and the home video version. Other discussions include story details, shooting locations, story progression throughout the filmmaking process, the soundtrack, and plenty more.

Sharknado: The 4th Awakens Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

But, seriously...why Sharknado and not Sharktopus? Why Sharknado and why not Lavalantula? It's one of the great mysteries of the moviemaking universe, why this particular combination hit where the others didn't. It's really no different than Lavalantula when it's all said and done. Must be that thing about the blind squirrel and the nut. Whatever the case may be, the franchise is here to stay, a fifth is on the way, and there's been no better party movie series in the 2010's than Sharknado. The 4th Awakens does its best to expand the series with new types of vicious tornadoes and, practically, a countrywide story reach. It's really no better or worse than the previous films, comfortably fitting into the madness and mayhem the series has created. The Asylum's (come back to Blu-ray...please) Blu-ray release of Sharknado: The 4th Awakens features merely decent 1080p video and multichannel lossless audio. A fair little assortment of extras are included. Recommended because...why not? It's Sharknado!