6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 3.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.6 |
Category 7: The End of the World picks up where Category 6: Day of Destruction left off. The city of Chicago has been destroyed by a monstrous storm and as the storm gathers strength, it threatens to ravage the rest of the world. A television evangelist and his wife prey on the nation’s fears by broadcasting warnings of biblical plagues. As his predictions come true, the mega-storm culminates in a record Category 7 superstorm over Washington, D.C.
Starring: Randy Quaid, Gina Gershon, Cameron Daddo, Shannen Doherty, James BrolinAction | 100% |
Thriller | 71% |
Video codec: MPEG-2
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
English: LPCM 2.0
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
The entire planet could be doomed sooner than we think.
There may be no better way to sell audiences on a miniseries than to gather a collection of name
actors and
actresses to toss into the cauldron. Category 7 takes full advantage of this method,
bringing in a plethora of has-beens and clingers to make for a jam-packed, star-studded list to
play
over the opening credits, not to mention adorn the front and back covers of home video releases.
Gina Gershon (Face/Off), James
Brolin
(The Amityville Horror),
Robert Wagner (Delirious), Shannen Doherty ("Beverly Hills, 90210"), Tom Skerritt (Top Gun), Nicholas
Lea
("The X-Files"), and Randy Quaid (Independence Day)
are among the headliners here, coming together to save the world from super storms,
unscrupulous politicians, and religious zealots, and all in under three hours! Category 7
features a fun concept, but like many made-for-television movies and miniseries, the concept has
been done far better before, in this case both in Twister and The Day After
Tomorrow. Category 7 is too long, too involved, too self-important, and not
quite as much fun as it should have been, due not necessarily to shoddy special effects, poor
acting, or lazy direction. The film features too many characters and side stories
that take attention away from the primary draw, watching the world's largest cities fall apart
under the power of nature's fury (and with a little help from man, of course).
Now might not be the ideal time for fireworks.
Echo Bridge brings Category 7 to Blu-ray with an average 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. The film uses all sorts of different looks, including a slick, "normal" appearance, a grainy, harsh, and over-saturated look, much like some of the scenes in Man on Fire, vintage stock footage, and several zoomed-in-on-a-television screen shots. As such, it makes any sort of critical observation difficult at best, but all things considered, the movie looks sufficiently good, particularly in the more stand-looking sequences. In the shots that allow for it, detail is acceptably high. Facial detail -- hair, pits, and lines -- hold up nicely in appropriately tight shots. On the whole, detail is as expected of a made for television movie. Blacks are solid, but flesh tones appear on the red side of the spectrum. Grain is present over the presentation. Some digital artifacts are to be seen, though with the numerous looks the film employs, it is hard to know exactly what is inherent to the image and what is a weakness of the transfer. As far as quality high definition transfers go, this is one of the weaker ones, even removing from the equation the deliberately poor-quality looks the film often employs.
Although the back of the box states otherwise, Category 7 does indeed feature two 5.1 soundtracks, one each of the Dolby Digital and DTS variety. Neither is audibly superior to the other. This presentation is robust and satisfying for a made for television movie (Category 7 was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special"). Dialogue presentation is sharp and clear. Bass is surprisingly active, sometimes rumbling with the sound of a soaring SR-71 Blackbird, and sometimes just sort of making its presence known. Rear-channel activity is sparse. Directional effects are moderately impressive across the front, though there is never a really natural feel and flow to the effects. The disaster sequences are appropriately loud, though never all that convincing. As lossy tracks go, these are decent, but pale next to the best Blu-ray has to offer.
A standard definition TV trailer (1:59) is the only supplement available on this disc.
For end-of-days entertainment on a made-for-television scale, Category 7 is good enough. It's far from the best of the disaster movies out there, a genre that has enjoyed tremendous success over the years, particularly since its explosion in the 1970s with films like The Towering Inferno, Airport, and The Poseidon Adventure. Nevertheless, as simple entertainment, it works, even taking into account its several glaring weaknesses. It's disaster on a budget, much like this Blu-ray is high definition entertainment for a fraction of the cost. Echo Bridge's Blu-ray release of Category 7 is, like the movie, acceptable, but not stellar. With average video quality, a decent lossy soundtrack, and one measly supplement, the disc would normally not earn a recommendation, but for $10, why not add it to the collection?
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