'Sharknado': Syfy's original movie centers on... sharks in a tornado

'Sharknado,' a Syfy original movie, follows a community where the combination of sharks and foul weather mean tornadoes of sharks are flying through the air. 

|
Fred Prouser/Reuters
'Sharknado' stars Tara Reid.

In the portmanteau-titled Syfy original Sharknado, a freak hurricane slams the West coast, bringing thousands of man-eating sharks to Los Angeles’ beaches with it. The ensuing chaos caused by the never-before-seen environmental disaster is devastating enough, but when high-speed winds form a massive tornado that lifts the sea’s most feared animals into the air, an even deadlier force threatens to destroy the entire city.

This latest slice of Syfy B-movie cheese is directed by Anthony C. Ferrante and surprisingly, stars some recognizable names and faces, including Tara Reid (American Pie), Ian Ziering (Beverly Hills, 90210) and John Heard (Home Alone), along with lesser-known actors Alex Arleo (The Haunting of Whaley House) and Neil H. Berkow (Zombie Apocalypse).

If you’re asking yourself how a “Sharknado” could form in the first place, you’re probably approaching this movie the wrong way. Although it would be fun to listen to the scientific exposition behind this cataclysmic event, we probably won’t get much of it. But with this type of movie, the how and the why doesn’t matter as much as seeing flying flesh-eating beasts descend upon a small band of survivors. Even the poster begs audiences not to ask questions and simply enjoy the B-movie glory with the tagline under the title that reads: Enough said!

In the trailer, we get plenty of laugh-out-loud moments that show us Sharknado could end up being a ton of fun. First, there’s the often-used montage of survivors equipping themselves with weapons and tools and then we even get a glimpse of one character slicing a flying shark in half with a chainsaw. Of course, a shark disaster movie wouldn’t be complete without an homage to Jaws and we get one with the line: We’re gonna need a bigger chopper.

Daniel Johnson blogs at Screen Rant.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to 'Sharknado': Syfy's original movie centers on... sharks in a tornado
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Culture-Cafe/2013/0712/Sharknado-Syfy-s-original-movie-centers-on-sharks-in-a-tornado
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe