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:

"...this is the U.S.S. Nimitz...Where the Hell Are We?..."

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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

Reportedly, unrest and dissent amongst the film crew on location resulted in a number of dismissals and replacements.

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Goofs

The missile loadout on the F-14s change during the dogfight with the Zeros, with missiles disappearing and reappearing between shots, most notably with the Sidewinder that fired at the second Zero being visible on the Tomcat after it had been fired.

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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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Alternate Versions

Norwegian cinema version was cut by some seconds to get a 12 rating.

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Connections

Featured in History Buffs: Tora! Tora! Tora! (2017)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

One of my old favorites!

This movie deals with time-travel on a large scale... And like most sci-fi films, it is easy to pick their theories apart (especially after almost 25 years). I think that many of us have a tendency to over-analyze these types of movies, when, in fact, we should just sit back and enjoy the experience.

I first saw this movie at a drive-in (remember those?!?!), and during one scene in particular, the entire crowd actually cheered. This is not a reaction I'd expect from a large crowd during a "bad" movie. If you like sci-fi, aircraft, and time-travel movies, then ignore the nay-sayers and watch this movie! It's one of my all-time favorites.