The Final Countdown (1980)

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Really Surprised!

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

In 1980, when this movie was released, we were at the very beginning of the DFX period, so sci-fi from the era does not always stand the test of time. Thanks to a minimum of FX and some really impressive stunt work and crafty flying, this movie does hold up well. It's a beautiful day in Pearl Harbor as the U.S.S. Nimitz Carrier Group gets underway, only to find itself in the midst of a frightening, disorienting storm. Upon coming through to smooth waters again, the computer-assisted carrier with advanced satellite communications finds itself deaf and dumb, until a series of events clarifies that it has traveled back in time to Dec. 6, 1941. The events that reveal the time travel are worth the price of admission alone. The age-old time paradoxes explored are pretty old hat to sci-fi time-travel buffs like me. And don't ask about the plausibility of the "portal," you just have to accept it. (FWIW, "Lost" used the same idea - with no more explanation than this movie - to equally fine effect.) But it's a fun yarn, good to see Kirk Douglas still fit as a fiddle, and an enjoyable opportunity to revisit some of the great questions about the attack on Pearl Harbor: could it have been prevented? Were officials aware it was coming? Were there casualties beyond those specifically at Pearl? And so on. I don't often recommend Hollywood remake movies (who needs to?), but this is a story that could easily benefit from the use of a modern carrier, updated casting, and CGI, all without requiring more than a cursory script update. But until they remake it, rest easy knowing you'll still have fun watching the original.

I have got to say the idea of the movie and the execution was great. I was bought in beautifully.That said, the more the movie went on the more I came toward disappointment. It's naval, I am expecting action. I can't however let my pre formed expectation lessen my critique of the film however so I am mindful of this.First though, why I am annoyed... I have been lured in by a war craft heading in to danger. Just a storm but after some time we see the high tech vs low tech battle imminent. Boom, logic kicks in and they go for the time paradox. They can't change anything or the ruin the future.Now watching a movie that can showcase all the might of the 70's navy but cannot have any kind of combat. I never believed military propaganda movies existed but this fits the bill extremely well. All us tech of the time was shown to be far superior and I for one am impressed but left thinking how much this one ship must have cost to construct and maintain with all the crew. It's a magnificent feat for the 70's! That said, without any kind of action eventuating I ended feeling I have just been to an airshow.Accurate in some ways but disappointing in the rest

A largely historically accurate account of the US Navy aircraft carrier Nimitz's accidental trip back through time to December 1941, this is a hugely enjoyable "Boy's Own" type adventure. It has a cracking script, which resembles a feature length episode of "The Twilight Zone" or "The Outer Limits". It's basically "The Philadelphia Experiment" in reverse. Don Taylor was a good if not exactly innovative director but he does a great job in this, his final film. After "Escape from the Planet of the Apes", this was Taylor's second time travel film, incidentally. It was made on a rather low budget but the fact that the Nimitz played itself meant that this is far from obvious. It has a great cast such as Kirk Douglas as the Nimitz's captain Matt Yelland, Martin Sheen as the civilian systems analyst Warren Lasky, Charles Durning as Senator Samuel S. Chapman (a shoo-in for the Democratic vice-presidential nomination in 1944), James Farentino as Commander Dick Owens (an expert on the attack on Pearl Harbor) and, the only woman in the film, Katharine Ross as Chapman's assistant Laurel Scott.The film features several discussions of the ramifications of altering history by potentially either preventing the attack on Pearl Harbor from taking place or by using the Nimitz to aid the 1941 Navy vessels to defeat the Japanese but there is not as much done with this idea as there could have been. For instance, no one raises the issue of the impact that the US remaining neutral throughout the war would have on the timeline e.g. a very, very big and negative one. The flying scenes are all very impressive, which is hardly surprising considering that the Navy allowed the use of its planes for the film. Oddly enough, it was used as a recruiting tool but I don't know how effective the film was on that score! The brief scenes of the attack towards the end of the film are taken directly from the earlier Pearl Harbor film "Tora! Tora! Tora!". I was able to recognise them immediately since I watched that film only last week.Overall, this is great fun if you don't take it too seriously.

Fun movie. But I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone else comment about the major time travel paradox flaw. In the first minutes of the movie, we see a mysterious figure in the back of the limo, who we hear designed the carrier. In the last moments of the movie, after the Nimitz has returned from 1941, Martin Sheen enters the limo to meet said mysterious passenger, and who is it but Cmd Owens from 1980 who got stuck back in 1941 -- now 40 years older! And rich from designing the carrier. Slight problem -- the now-80 year old Cmd Owens/Mr. Tideman could not have been in the limo at the beginning of the movie, because the Nimitz had not yet gone back in time to leave him in 1941. The writers of Final Countdown would have been well-served by waiting 5 years to make this movie so they could have learned a little from the Back to the Future story writing…..