Netflix is shaking up its catalog next month, and the Sharknado films are leaving the service at last.
Netflix currently has the first five entries into the Sharknado canon available to stream. Not for long, however. On Jan. 1, 2019, Sharknado is among the movies and TV shows that are leaving Netflix, meaning that if they have been in your queue for a rainy day, now is the time to get to them.
Videos by PopCulture.com
The sixth Sharknado premiered just this summer, and has yet to make its way to a streaming platform. But by the looks of it, it will not be joining its predecessors on Netflix. If it does, it will stand on its own and it might not make any sense — though, of course, that is a a common problem across all of the Sharknado films.
For those that are not familiar, Sharknado is a series that straddles the line between pulp and parody. The movies are produced by for the SyFy channel, and they fall into that unique category of B-movies that are made a little badly on purpose so that they will serve as a comedy in some respects.
Sharknado is a controversial entry into this category, however. Many feel that by making a bad movie on purpose, the films miss the whole point of a hilarious B-movie. Sharknado milks the enthusiasm for old corny horror and sci-fi movies to create one on purpose. It has expanded into a huge recognizable brand that producers can expect to make a lot of money on, without putting too much into the budget.
Still, you cannot argue with Sharknado‘s dedicated following. Die-hard fans have a lot of love for the movies, and many will likely be sad to see it go from Netflix. The movies do not ask much of the audience, and invite viewers to deconstruct their expectations and re-evaluate what the purpose of a movie really is.
In this case, it is to fight of sharks that are flying through the air because of a tornado. Sharknado introduces a devastating weather phenomenon from which the franchise takes its name. In it, sharks descend upon a city on dry land, chomping through everything in their path and leaving even more destruction than either a shark attack or a tornado could do on its own.
The movies follow a heroic bar owner named Fin (Ian Zierling), and his estranged wife April (Tara Reid). The two begin by facing down the first Sharknado in Los Angeles in the original 2013 film. Believe it or not, things escalate from there and in the years since, Fin and April have dealt with global catastrophes, time-travelling Sharknadoes and even a Biblical intervention.
Sharknado 1-5 are streaming on Netflix until Jan. 1, 2019.
