5.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Five years after the East Coast was ravaged in 'Sharknado 3,' Fin and his family have been blissfully sharknado-free, but now sharks - and 'nados. - are being whipped up in places (and ways) that are completely unexpected.
Starring: Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, David Hasselhoff, Gary Busey, Mindy RobinsonHorror | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 20% |
Thriller | 13% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
None
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
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...
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 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 contains several bonuses, headlined by a commentary track and deleted and extended scenes. Also included is
a Sharknado-themed bottle opener.
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!
2017
Shark-O-Holic Cut
2018
2015
2014
2013
2018
2010
2001
1995
1959
1939
1999
2013
Unrated Edition
2022
2000
1988
Collector's Edition
1988
Puppet Master 2
1990
1963
The Mistresses of Dr. Jekyll / El secreto del Dr. Orloff / The Secret of Dr. Orloff / Les maîtresses du Docteur Jekyll
1964