Category 7: The End of the World
Encyclopedia
Category 7: The End of the World is a 2005 four-hour television film miniseries
that was broadcast in the United States on CBS
in two parts, the first part aired on November 6 and the second on November 13. A sequel to the 2004 miniseries Category 6: Day of Destruction
, this film starts directly after the events shown in that film. The new director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) must continue to contend with the massive storm system that hit Chicago in the first film. The storm has continued to gain strength, spawning additional storms around the world, with three converging over Washington, D.C.
and forming a massive Category
7 hurricane.
. Judith Carr (Gina Gershon
), the new head of FEMA struggles to coordinate efforts to prepare for the aftermath of the storm and provide aid to ravaged areas. She calls in her former college lover, Dr. Ross Duffy (Cameron Daddo
), and her father Senator Ryan Carr (Robert Wagner
) to help her try to determine what is causing the storms and how to deal with the political issues. Tommy Tornado (Randy Quaid
), who survived his seeming death in the previous film, returns to aid in tracking the storm in the United States, assisted by scientist Faith Clavell (Shannen Doherty
). Similar storms are developing around the country and an interaction between urban heat island
s and "falling chunks of mesosphere
" fuels the storms making them more powerful. Hurricane Eduardo strikes toward Florida while the Category 6 storm hits Buffalo and heads towards New York City
.
During these catastrophic events, two Christian fundamentalists (James Brolin
and Swoosie Kurtz
) fake the arrival of the plagues of Egypt
to lure in new converts, culminating in their kidnapping of the first-born children of Judith Carr and other high ranking officials. When Tommy and Faith get their data to FEMA when in New York, Judith realizes that Hurricane Eduardo is heading towards Washington, D.C. and the Category 6 storm in New York is heading in the same direction. When both storms collide with the mesosphere, it turns into a "Category 7" hurricane, obliterating anything in its path. The force of the storm is so massive, that a category 7 could potentially cause a global catastrophe, possibly leading to the apocalypse (hence the title).
, which also produced Category 6. It was filmed at various locations around Winnipeg, Canada and the Canadian air force base 17 Wing was used for the fictional version of Biloxi, Mississippi's Keesler Air Force Base
. Air force members were tapped as extra by the production company to play the United States Air Force
members seen during the film. The air force base commander noted that the filming helped to boost the local economy, due to the $600,000 in salaries generated during filming, but did not cause interfering with operations or security at the base.
David Price, the weather man for CBS's The Early Show
who was given a cameo role in Category 6, returned for another cameo in Category 7. In this film, Price appears in a brief scene as a reporter who questions the character Judith Carr about bringing her former lover, Dr. Duffy, in to help with the storm issue. In an interview for his own show, Price said it took him a lot of practice to deliver his "crucial line" just right, with it taking four hours to shoot the brief scene. Director Dick Lowry
jokingly noted that his biggest mistake in the film was giving Price the key line in that scene.
as a two-part, four-hour miniseries. The first part aired on Sunday, November 6, 2005. The second part aired a week later.
The miniseries was released to DVD by Echo Bridge Entertainment on April 4, 2006 on a single disc. On March 4, 2008, Echo Bridge released the film as a two movie set with another disaster film, 10.5: Apocalypse
. This was later followed by an April 2008 release of the film to Blu-ray, and a July 2008 Blu-ray release of the two movie pack.
The film was nominated for multiple awards in 2006, including a Primetime Emmy Award
for "Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special." It was nominated for a Saturn Award
for "Best Television Presentation", a Cinema Audio Society Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Mini-Series", and two Golden Reel Award
s for "Best Sound Editing in Television Long Form — Dialogue and Automated Dialogue Replacement" and "Best Sound Editing in Television Long Form — Sound Effects & Foley."
Before Category 7 aired, CBS was criticized for choosing to air the miniseries only months after two devastating hurricanes, Hurricane Katrina
and Hurricane Rita
, hitting the United States, and a third, Hurricane Wilma
, causing destruction in Florida in the same month the film was slated to première.
The film received mixed reviews from critics, with many critics feeling that the first portion of the film was weak and confusing due to the large number of characters being introduced at once. SciFi.com's Kathie Huddleston considered the film to be "a pretty good disaster movie as disaster movies go", praising the overall acting, particularly the chemistry between Shannen Doherty and Randy Quaid, while criticizing it for having a weak opening, having a large, confusing number of characters, and for the inclusion of too many "silly things that distract", including most of the Fundamentalist plague and kidnapping subplot.
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
that was broadcast in the United States on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in two parts, the first part aired on November 6 and the second on November 13. A sequel to the 2004 miniseries Category 6: Day of Destruction
Category 6: Day of Destruction
Category 6: Day of Destruction is a 2004 four-hour miniseries that was broadcast in the United States on CBS in two parts, with the first part aired on November 14 and the second on November 17. It was later released to DVD on February 15, 2005...
, this film starts directly after the events shown in that film. The new director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders...
(FEMA) must continue to contend with the massive storm system that hit Chicago in the first film. The storm has continued to gain strength, spawning additional storms around the world, with three converging over Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and forming a massive Category
Tropical cyclone scales
Tropical systems are officially ranked on one of several tropical cyclone scales according to their maximum sustained winds and in what oceanic basin they are located...
7 hurricane.
Plot
Following the events in Category 6: Day of Destruction, the superstorm that hit Chicago is continuing to grow in size and strength, with tornadoes hitting Paris and destroying the Eiffel TowerEiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
. Judith Carr (Gina Gershon
Gina Gershon
Gina L. Gershon is an American film, television and stage actress, singer and author, known for her roles in the films Cocktail , Showgirls , Bound , Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back , Face/Off , The Insider , Demonlover , Category 7: The End of the World , P.S...
), the new head of FEMA struggles to coordinate efforts to prepare for the aftermath of the storm and provide aid to ravaged areas. She calls in her former college lover, Dr. Ross Duffy (Cameron Daddo
Cameron Daddo
Cameron Peter Daddo is an Australian actor, musician and presenter. He is the brother of Andrew Daddo and Lochie Daddo.-Australian television:...
), and her father Senator Ryan Carr (Robert Wagner
Robert Wagner
Robert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
) to help her try to determine what is causing the storms and how to deal with the political issues. Tommy Tornado (Randy Quaid
Randy Quaid
Randall Rudy "Randy" Quaid is an American actor perhaps best known for his role as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon's Vacation movies, as well as his numerous supporting roles in films, including his Oscar nominated performance in The Last Detail, Independence Day, Kingpin and Brokeback Mountain...
), who survived his seeming death in the previous film, returns to aid in tracking the storm in the United States, assisted by scientist Faith Clavell (Shannen Doherty
Shannen Doherty
Shannen Maria Doherty is an American actress, producer, author and television director, known for her work as Heather Duke in Heathers , as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210 and its spinoff series 90210, and as Prue Halliwell in Charmed .-Early life and career:Doherty was born in Memphis,...
). Similar storms are developing around the country and an interaction between urban heat island
Urban heat island
An urban heat island is a metropolitan area which is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas. The phenomenon was first investigated and described by Luke Howard in the 1810s, although he was not the one to name the phenomenon. The temperature difference usually is larger at night...
s and "falling chunks of mesosphere
Mesosphere
The mesosphere is the layer of the Earth's atmosphere that is directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere. In the mesosphere temperature decreases with increasing height. The upper boundary of the mesosphere is the mesopause, which can be the coldest naturally occurring...
" fuels the storms making them more powerful. Hurricane Eduardo strikes toward Florida while the Category 6 storm hits Buffalo and heads towards New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
During these catastrophic events, two Christian fundamentalists (James Brolin
James Brolin
James Brolin is an American actor, producer and director, best known for his roles in soap operas, movies, sitcoms, and television. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin and husband of singer/actress Barbra Streisand.-Early life:...
and Swoosie Kurtz
Swoosie Kurtz
Swoosie Kurtz is an American actress. She began her career in theater during the 1970s and shortly thereafter began a career in television, garnering ten nominations and winning one Emmy Award. Her most famous television project was her role on the 1990s NBC drama Sisters...
) fake the arrival of the plagues of Egypt
Plagues of Egypt
The Plagues of Egypt , also called the Ten Plagues or the Biblical Plagues, were ten calamities that, according to the biblical Book of Exodus, Israel's God, Yahweh, inflicted upon Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to release the ill-treated Israelites from slavery. Pharaoh capitulated after the tenth...
to lure in new converts, culminating in their kidnapping of the first-born children of Judith Carr and other high ranking officials. When Tommy and Faith get their data to FEMA when in New York, Judith realizes that Hurricane Eduardo is heading towards Washington, D.C. and the Category 6 storm in New York is heading in the same direction. When both storms collide with the mesosphere, it turns into a "Category 7" hurricane, obliterating anything in its path. The force of the storm is so massive, that a category 7 could potentially cause a global catastrophe, possibly leading to the apocalypse (hence the title).
Production
The miniseries was produced by von Zerneck/Sertner FilmsFrank von Zerneck
Frank von Zerneck is an American television producer.-Career:Zerneck's career began as a theater producer in Los Angeles, but moved to television in 1975 in a collaboration with Robert Greenwald, which resulted in the Emmy nominated docudrama 21 Hours at Munich. In 1987 Zerneck and fellow...
, which also produced Category 6. It was filmed at various locations around Winnipeg, Canada and the Canadian air force base 17 Wing was used for the fictional version of Biloxi, Mississippi's Keesler Air Force Base
Keesler Air Force Base
Keesler Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Biloxi, a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. The base is named in honor of aviator 2d Lt Samuel Reeves Keesler, Jr., a Mississippi native killed in France in First World War.-Units:The base is home of...
. Air force members were tapped as extra by the production company to play the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
members seen during the film. The air force base commander noted that the filming helped to boost the local economy, due to the $600,000 in salaries generated during filming, but did not cause interfering with operations or security at the base.
David Price, the weather man for CBS's The Early Show
The Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...
who was given a cameo role in Category 6, returned for another cameo in Category 7. In this film, Price appears in a brief scene as a reporter who questions the character Judith Carr about bringing her former lover, Dr. Duffy, in to help with the storm issue. In an interview for his own show, Price said it took him a lot of practice to deliver his "crucial line" just right, with it taking four hours to shoot the brief scene. Director Dick Lowry
Dick Lowry
Dick Lowry is an American director and film producer.-Productions:*1980: Kenny Rogers as The Gambler *1983: Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues *1983: Smokey and the Bandit Part 3...
jokingly noted that his biggest mistake in the film was giving Price the key line in that scene.
Release
Category 7 was initially aired on CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
as a two-part, four-hour miniseries. The first part aired on Sunday, November 6, 2005. The second part aired a week later.
The miniseries was released to DVD by Echo Bridge Entertainment on April 4, 2006 on a single disc. On March 4, 2008, Echo Bridge released the film as a two movie set with another disaster film, 10.5: Apocalypse
10.5: Apocalypse
10.5: Apocalypse is a 2006 television miniseries written and directed by John Lafia. A sequel to 2004's 10.5, the film follows a series of catastrophic seismic disasters .-Plot:...
. This was later followed by an April 2008 release of the film to Blu-ray, and a July 2008 Blu-ray release of the two movie pack.
Reception
Category 7 was the top rated network miniseries in 2006. The first part of the miniseries came in number 16 among the top 25 network programs aired in the week of October 31-November 6, and was the second most watched program for that Sunday with 14.7 million viewers. The second part of the film was also the second most watched program for its timeslot on November 13, with 13.85 million viewers.The film was nominated for multiple awards in 2006, including a Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
for "Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special." It was nominated for a Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
for "Best Television Presentation", a Cinema Audio Society Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Mini-Series", and two Golden Reel Award
Golden Reel Award
Golden Reel Award may refer to:* Golden Reel Award , presented by the Genie Awards to high-grossing Canadian films...
s for "Best Sound Editing in Television Long Form — Dialogue and Automated Dialogue Replacement" and "Best Sound Editing in Television Long Form — Sound Effects & Foley."
Before Category 7 aired, CBS was criticized for choosing to air the miniseries only months after two devastating hurricanes, Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
and Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
, hitting the United States, and a third, Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second storm , thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season...
, causing destruction in Florida in the same month the film was slated to première.
The film received mixed reviews from critics, with many critics feeling that the first portion of the film was weak and confusing due to the large number of characters being introduced at once. SciFi.com's Kathie Huddleston considered the film to be "a pretty good disaster movie as disaster movies go", praising the overall acting, particularly the chemistry between Shannen Doherty and Randy Quaid, while criticizing it for having a weak opening, having a large, confusing number of characters, and for the inclusion of too many "silly things that distract", including most of the Fundamentalist plague and kidnapping subplot.