Category 6: Day of Destruction (2004)

Three tornadoes converge to wreak havoc on Chicago, disrupting the power grid and creating the worst super-storm in history: a category 6 twister.

Director:

Dick Lowry

Writer:

Matt Dorff

Stars:

Thomas Gibson, Nancy McKeon, Chandra West

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Thomas Gibson	...	Mitch Benson
Nancy McKeon	...	Amy Harkin
Chandra West	...	Rebecca Kerns
Brian Markinson	...	Chris Haywood
Nancy Anne Sakovich	...	Jane Benson (as Nancy Sakovich)
Randy Quaid	...	Tornado Tommy Dixon
Dianne Wiest	...	Shirley Abbott, Secretary of Energy
Brian Dennehy	...	Andy Goodman
Ari Cohen	...	Dan London
Christopher Shyer	...	Craig Shilts
Arnold Pinnock	...	Jason
Chad Willett	...	Jeff Harkin
Hollis McLaren	...	Helen Travers
Janaya Stephens	...	Laura Harkin
Petra Wildgoose	...	Lindsay Benson

Storyline

Tornado in Las Vegas. Heat in Chicago. Hail in Illinois. A snowfall and a storm force flows towards Chicago. It's just the beginning of a series of weather anomalies. The lights go off. People panic. A few courageous people are trying to solve the riddle of the infuriated nature and prevent mass destruction.

---

Plot Keywords:

weather | storm | twister | theft | father son relationship | 

---

Taglines:

Tornadoes, hurricanes, blackouts...There is no shelter from this storm!

---

Genres:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

CBS [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 November 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Overload

Filming Locations:

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

MAT IV,Frank & Bob Films II,Von Zerneck Sertner Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

175 min (2 parts)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After the Las Vegas tornadoes, Andy mentions that they were as strong as "Oklahoma City in 1999." Later in the movie when several stock videos of tornadoes are shown as the storm approaches Chicago, the video of the large tornado with the small satellite tornado to the left of it is the actual tornado that hit the Oklahoma City area in 1999. It is often referred to as the Bridge Creek Tornado due to the horrific damage it caused in that community, and at the time and still to this day it had the highest winds recorded in a tornado in history.

---

Goofs

In her first appearance, Amy Harkin identifies her location as "...the fountain outside city hall...". She is standing in front of Buckingham Fountain, which is in Grant Park at the intersection of Columbus Drive and Congress Parkway, thirteen blocks from city hall. There are, in fact, no fountains at or adjacent to city hall.

---

Quotes

Andy Goodman: Tommy, where are you?
Tornado Tommy: I'm lookin' at the St. Louis Arch. Ha-ha. Wait 'til you see some of this footage I've been gettin', Andy!
Andy Goodman: Huh. I'm a little jealous. Tommy, listen. Our readings are showing this thing's spawning F4, F5 tornadoes. What are you seeing?
Tornado Tommy: I'm seeing one coming up right behind my tail! I gotta go! I gotta go!
Andy Goodman: Tommy? Wait... Tommy?

---

Connections

Followed by Category 7: The End of the World (2005)

User Reviews

Decent- but still silly attempt.

I'll admit that having heard all these negative things about this 2 part movie, that it wasn't all that bad. It certainly wasn't as bad as I had expected but it also really wasn't too much good either.

The movie is filled with many stupid silly plot-lines. They are so all formulaic that none of them offers any surprises. On top of that, the dialog in the movie is absolutely horrible. At times it even manages to become laughable. This is the sort of typical dramatic disaster movie that features many characters in it, of which none really ever work out as an interesting or engaging one.

This movie isn't about natural disasters, this is about people and their personal problems. Now is that anything new or interesting? I mean, I've I wanted to follow a story like this I would watch a soap opera in stead. It's the sort of mistake "Deep Impact" and disaster movies in general often make. The movie at times tries to put in morale in about the environment and global warming and such but all those things come across as forced and look silly because of that in the movie.

It seems to take for ever before the introduction and build-up in the story stops. There is a lot of talking about natural disasters but not enough of it gets actually shown on the screen. The movie is too long on its drama.

The use of news archive material of bad weather conditions and tornadoes is too obvious. It makes the movie seem even more cheap and silly.

There are some good actors in the movie but even they can't make the movie work out fully- or the dialog. Randy Quaid, Dianne Wiest and Brian Dennehy are no small time actors. Guess they also regret being in this, looking back at it.

But the movie does a good job at keeping the pace high, even though when nothing is happening. For a made for TV production this really wasn't all that bad. I mean, I have seen far worse attempts. The movie was overall good looking, despite of the weak and cheap special effects. But I don't really see what's the big deal about it, since the special effects get never featured that prominently in the movie. I therefor also feel that some of the negativity toward this movie is for most part unjustified. Not that it deserves raving criticism but its a decent attempt that does not bore but just becomes too silly and unlikely in parts.

5/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/