The Final Countdown (1980)

A modern aircraft carrier is thrown back in time to 1941 near Hawaii, just hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Director:

Don Taylor

Writers:

Thomas Hunter (story), Peter Powell (story)

Stars:

Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, Katharine Ross

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kirk Douglas	...	Capt. Matthew Yelland
Martin Sheen	...	Warren Lasky
Katharine Ross	...	Laurel Scott
James Farentino	...	Cdr. Richard Owens / Mr.Tideman
Ron O'Neal	...	Cdr. Dan Thurman
Charles Durning	...	Senator Samuel Chapman
Victor Mohica	...	Black Cloud
James Coleman	...	Lt. Perry (as James C. Lawrence)
Soon-Tek Oh	...	Simura (as Soon-Teck Oh)
Joe Lowry	...	Cdr. Damon
Alvin Ing	...	Lt. Kajima
Mark Thomas	...	Marine Cpl. Kullman
Harold Bergman	...	Bellman
Dan Fitzgerald	...	Navy Doctor
Lloyd Kaufman	...	LCdr. Kaufman

Storyline

In 1980, the assistant of the Department of Defense Warren Lasky is assigned by his mysterious chief Richard Tideman to visit the aircraft carrier USS Nimtz commanded by Capt. Matthew Yelland as an observer of the routines. Lasky finds that Wing Commander Richard T. Owens has a great knowledge of history. Out of the blue, the vessel faces a weird storm and they find that they have traveled back in time to the eve of the attack of Pearl Harbor on 06 December 1941. When the two Japanese Zeros attack the motorboat of Senator Samuel Chapman, the crew of the Nimitz rescues the senator and his assistant Laurel Scott. But sooner Lasky learns that the senator had disappeared on that day and Capt. Matthew Yelland is planning to attack the Japanese. Will these actions create a time paradox?

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Plot Keywords:

aircraft carrier | tragedy | japanese abroad | japanese man | pacific ocean | 

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Taglines:

On December 7, 1980 --- The nuclear carrier USS Nimitz disappeared in the Pacific...and reappeared December 6, 1941...the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese Russian

Release Date:

1 August 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der letzte Countdown

Filming Locations:

USS Kitty Hawk

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$16,647,800

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$56,647,800

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Bryna Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the sequence in the 'Nimitz's' sick bay, Senator Chapman complains about naming an aircraft carrier after an active-duty admiral, which would be true enough. Also, Nimitz, until December 31, 1941, when he took over as C-in-C of the Pacific Fleet, was 'only' a rear admiral, (one star) and was probably unknown outside navy circles.

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Goofs

At one point while the Nimitz is at sea, a 1MC announcement is heard to say "Sweepers, Sweepers, man your brooms. Take all trash to the after-brow." The after-brow is only in place while a ship is in port, it is basically the "gang plank" access to the ship.

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Quotes

[first lines]
F-14 Pilot: [voice over radio] Pearl Tower, Tomcat two-zero-zero. requesting clearance for departure runway zero-nine. Over.
Pearl Harbor Tower: [voice over radio] Two-zero-zero, Pearl Harbor Tower. You are cleared runway oh-niner. Winds zero-four-five at eight. SH-three approaching from the right. Have a nice day.

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Connections

Featured in Tomcat Angels (1991)

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Soundtracks

You Made Me Love You
(uncredited)
Written by James V. Monaco and Joseph McCarthy

User Reviews

All-timer great movie, fantastic flying, top acting, themes for men & women

This film is one of the great ones. Having served on an aircraft carrier for 2.5 years, I'm familiar with aircraft carrier excitement. But the movie was more than just wonderful shots of the U.S. Nimitz. The cast was top drawer, and their acting was as good as it gets. Standing above all the great performances was a Japanese actor portraying a shot-down, highly competent, captured Japanese Zero pilot. While racism understandably raises its ugly head during wartime, with epithets and insults hurled in both directions, in fact this Japanese actor portrayed a Japanese warrior at his finest--someone whom Japanese viewers would be proud of. Played equally well were American military personnel, including some Marines. One of the candid themes of the movie is the tragedy of such fine people going to war against each other, whatever their race.

The film is undeniably top drawer, far more mature than than "Top Gun," with even better flying scenes. So I've often wondered why it isn't widely known and not kept in stock in widescreen format. Perhaps the answer is today's wimpy trend towards "politically correct" dialog. In one scene, Kirk Douglas refers to the captured Japanese pilot as a "yellow bastard." In the video version, this was sanitized. However, sanitized or not, the original racial comment, by itself, may have doomed the film from greater video distribution.

I saw the film when it came out in wide-screen format and saw it several times before it left town. Thereafter, the only other versions available in video were "fit-to-TV-screen" size. That was tragic! Though still exciting in "box" format, the widescreen original was breathtaking. I cannot imagine why producers haven't released this in DVD in original wide-screen format. It makes a huge difference with this film! (Aircraft carriers are huge!)

One interesting comment to add about the F-14 flying scenes. I was awed by one particular F-14 maneuver, which I didn't think airplanes were capable of doing. A couple of years later, I talked with a Navy fighter pilot and brought this up. He was very familiar with that scene and personally knew the pilot who flew the F-14 in the movie. He told me that the F-14 almost crashed in that scene, stalling while trying to fly too slow, diving for the ocean to pick up speed, and barely recovering just above the wave tops. This near-accident was caught on film and added immensely to the exhibition of flying skill. An exception had been granted to the Navy's policy of not allowing "dissimilar aircraft" to fly together in movie scenes. The result of that granted exception was almost the loss of an F-14.

This is an incredibly good drama. I found that the various twists and turns, and particularly the call-it-off ending, all contributed to the drama and moral dilemmas. This is a fine, great movie. Like others who commented here, it seems tragic that this film is not available in widescreen DVD format. Everyone I've shown it to loves it, male and female. Feminism and romance are included, along with a collie dog for the kids.