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 7, 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

The number of planes and personnel that were said to have gone missing were 102 aircraft and 6000 men.

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Goofs

Sunrise on December 7, 1941 in Hawaii was about 0630 and when the planes are being loaded with their weapons and the helicopter is dropping off the Senator, shadows indicate it's closer to mid day and not early in the morning.

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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

UK cinema and video versions were cut by 6 secs to edit blood spurts from gunshots. In 2002 these cuts were waived by the BBFC.

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Connections

Featured in Starring the Jolly Rogers (2004)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

The U.S.S Nimitz carrier trapped in a time warp goes back just time before the bombing Pearl Harbor

Fantastic film about a weird , powerful storm winds up throwing USS Nimitz into past world during WW2 . Caught outside the boundaries of time and space, all mission , 102 aircraft, 6,000 men , are transported back to 1941. On December 7, 1980 the nuclear carrier USS Nimitz disappeared in the Pacific and reappeared December 7, 1941 ,the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour . The events go wrong , causing an USS naval battleship to disappear in Pacific Ocean by means of a warp time. The motley crew as Wing Commander Richard Owens (James Farentino) , Lasky (Martin Sheen), Cmdr. Dan (Ron O'Neal) commanded by Captain Matthew Yelland (Kirk Douglas) find themselves thrown into a temporary hole . Then they find in the past world of 1941 and they can change the course of history but also to generate a cataclysm that threatens to destroy it.

This is a far-fetching but acceptable story about an U.S nuclear-powered aircraft carrier traveling forward in time to just to discover famous incidents and change the world. It is developed with intrigue, suspense , thrills and noisy action with interesting screenplay by Thomas Hunter. Familiar but satisfying and agreeable Sci-Fi yarn , including a surprisingly final . Just amusement enough to cover production gaps and some flaws. Fine special effects by the time and liking acting by the leads manage to keep this one afloat. Nice performance of Kirk Douglas as Captain Matthew who must face the ultimate decision , leave history intact or stop the known events . Good support cast as Charles Durning as the Senator, Soon-Tek Oh as a Japanese pilot , Ron O'Neal , among others and early appearance of Lloyd Kaufman , subsequently producer of B films with Troma Productions. Colorful cinematography by Victor J. Kemper and atmospheric , spectacular musical score by John Scott. The picture achieved big success at Box office and had ripoffs and imitations , being followed by ¨Philadelphia experiment¨ and inferior sequel titled ¨Philadelphia experiment II . The motion picture is professionally directed by Don Taylor. He was an actor and director as TV as cinema and an expert on adventures genre as ¨Adventures of Tom Sawyer¨ , Terror as ¨Damien : Omen 2¨ and science fiction as ¨Island of Dr. Moreau¨, ¨Escape from Planet of Apes¨, and of course ¨The final of countdown¨. Rating : 6,5 . Acceptable and passable fantasy fare although better viewed in big screen .