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{{short description|1980 film by Don Taylor}}
{{Infobox Film|
| name=The Final Countdown {{for-multi|the Europe song|The Final Countdown (song)|the Europe album|The Final Countdown (album)}}
{{Infobox film
| image=Final countdown 1980.jpg
| name = The Final Countdown
| caption=Theatrical release poster
| image = Final countdown 1980.jpg
| director=]
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| writer=Thomas Hunter<br>]<br>]<br>]
| director = ]
| starring=]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]
| screenplay = {{plainlist|
| producer=]
* ]
| distributor=]
* ]
| released=August 1, 1980
* ]
| runtime=103 min
* Peter Powell
| country = United States
}}
| language=English
| story = {{plainlist|
| rating=]
* Thomas Hunter
| budget=
* Peter Powell
| amg_id = 1:17285
* David Ambrose
| imdb_id=0080736
|}} }}
| starring = {{plainlist|
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
}}
| music = ]
| cinematography = ]
| editing = Robert K. Lambert
| producer = {{plainlist|
* ]
* ]
}}
| studio = ]
| distributor = ]
| released = {{Film date|1980|08|01}}
| runtime = 103 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English<br>Japanese
| budget = $12.5 million<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=]|date=August 13, 1980|title='Countdown' Fight Proves Peter Douglas A Chip Off Kirk's Block|page=30|first=Lane|last=Maloney}}</ref>
| gross = $16.6 million<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Mojo title|finalcountdown|The Final Countdown}}</ref>
}}


'''''The Final Countdown''''' is a ] ] ] about a modern ] that ] to just before the 1941 ]. It was directed by ], and stars ], ], ] and ]. '''''The Final Countdown''''' is a 1980 American ] ] about a modern nuclear-powered ] that travels through time to the day before the December 7, 1941, ]. Produced by ] and ] (founder of ]) and directed by ] (his final directing role), while Kaufman also served as an associate producer and had a minor acting role. The film contains an ] starring ], ], ], ], ] and ].

The film was produced with the cooperation of the ]'s ] branch and the ]. It was set and filmed on board {{USS|Nimitz}} (CVN-68), filming operations of the modern nuclear warship, which had been launched in the early 1970s. ''The Final Countdown'' was a moderate success at the box office. The film has later developed a cult following over the years.<ref name="Shimmin">Shimmin, Graeme. , Retrieved: May 29, 2024.</ref>


==Plot== ==Plot==
Set in 1980, The aircraft carrier ] takes on a civilian observer, Warren Lasky (Sheen) during a training mission in the Pacific Ocean. Lasky's reclusive boss, Mr. Tideman, watches Lasky's departure from inside a limousine, his face concealed from both the audience and Lasky, who has never actually met him face to face. Tideman helped design the Nimitz, and Lasky's assignment is to watch and make recommendations while the ship goes on exercises near Hawaii. Once aboard he meets Captain Matt Yelland (Douglas) and Air Wing Commander Richard Owen (Farentino), among others. In 1980, the aircraft carrier {{USS|Nimitz|CVN-68|6}} departs ] for naval exercises in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The ship takes on a civilian observer, Warren Lasky (Martin Sheen) — a systems analyst for Tideman Industries working as an efficiency expert for the U.S. Department of Defense — on the orders of his reclusive employer, Mr. Tideman, whose secretive major defense contractor company designed and built the nuclear-powered warship.


Once at sea, the ''Nimitz'' encounters a mysterious electrically-charged storm-like ]. While the ship passes through it, radar and other equipment become unresponsive, and everyone aboard falls into agony. Initially unsure of what has happened to them and having lost radio contact with ] at Pearl Harbor, Captain Yelland (Kirk Douglas), commander of the aircraft carrier, fears that there may have been a nuclear strike on Hawaii or the continental United States. He orders ] and launches a ] reconnaissance aircraft. The aircraft returns after photographing Pearl Harbor, but the images show ] of U.S. Pacific fleet battleships,{{#tag:ref|During December 1941, the U.S. Navy Pacific fleet was based at Pearl Harbor and consisted mainly of large battleships moored at harbor and smaller/middle-sized naval vessels. Two large crucial aircraft carriers normally at Pearl Harbor were at sea on a brief mission.<ref>Toland 1991, p. 5.</ref>|group= Note}} of which several were destroyed during the ] ] on December 7, 1941.
The ship encounters a strange storm-like vortex which disappears after the ship passes through it. They find all normal communication with shore has been cut off except for World War II broadcasts and a very old ] radio skit. A reconnaissance flight is sent to Pearl Harbor while two fighter jets patrol locally. The fighter pilots are surprised to encounter two "mint condition" World War II Japanese ] fighter planes, as are the Japanese pilots to see the Navy jets. The jets also fly over a small yacht carrying a ], his secretary, her dog, and a friend of the Senator on board.


When a surface contact is spotted on radar, Yelland launches two ready alert ] fighter jets from ] to intercept. The patrol witnesses a civilian wooden yacht being strafed and destroyed by two Imperial Japanese Navy ] fighters, killing three of the five crew members. The F-14s are ordered to drive off the Zeros without firing, but when the Zeros inadvertently head towards the ''Nimitz'', Yelland gives clearance to shoot them down. The ''Nimitz'' rescues survivors from the yacht: prominent ] Samuel Chapman (Charles Durning), his aide Laurel Scott (Katharine Ross), her dog Charlie, and one of the two downed Zero pilots (]). Commander Owens (James Farentino), an amateur historian, recognizes Chapman as a politician who could have been ]'s running mate (and his potential successor) during ], had Chapman not disappeared shortly before the Pearl Harbor attack.
The Zeros strafe the boat to kill the passengers, but the Senator, his secretary and her dog survive the boat's destruction. When the ] report what happened to the yacht, they are ordered to "play" with the Zeros but not destroy them. They do so and the Japanese pilots appear bewildered but shoot anyway, narrowly missing one of the F-14s. After the pilots report that the Zeros are heading toward the Nimitz, they are ordered to attack which proves no difficult task. One Zero's pilot survives a watery crash and is rescued by a 2nd Navy helicopter after an initial one is sent to pick up the yacht's survivors.


The reconnaissance plane returns with a photograph that perfectly matches a vintage one that Cmdr. Owen is using for his upcoming ] book: the scene is of the Pearl Harbor naval forces on December 6, 1941. All doubt seemingly erased, they now realize they've actually gone back in time to the day before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Now Captain Yelland has the dilemma of deciding whether to use the full power of Nimitz to foil the Japanese attack and alter the course of history, or to stand by and allow history to proceed as "normal". Lasky realizes that Senator Chapman (]) was reported missing in the "original" history; he should have been killed by the Zeros. By surviving the attack, Chapman is in line to become ] ] next running mate, the next president after Roosevelt's death in 1945, instead of ]. When a ] scouting aircraft discovers the ] task force further north in unpatrolled waters, poised to launch its attack on Pearl Harbor, the ''Nimitz'' crew realizes that they have been transported back in time to the day before the attack. Yelland has to decide whether to destroy the Japanese fleet and alter the course of history or to stand by and allow history to proceed as they know it. The American civilians and the Zero pilot are kept isolated. Still, while being questioned, the Japanese pilot forcibly obtains an ] rifle from one of the guards, kills two of the other U.S. Marine guards, and takes Scott, Owens, and Lasky hostage. He threatens to kill them unless he is given access to a radio to warn the Japanese fleet about the ''Nimitz''. Lasky tells Commander Owens to recite and describe the secret plans for the Japanese attack; the dumbfounded Japanese pilot is overcome and shot and killed by the other ] of the on-board detachment on ''Nimitz''. In the aftermath, Scott and Owens develop an attraction for each other.


Chapman is outraged that Yelland knows of the impending Japanese attack but has not told anyone else, and rebuffs Yelland's claim that the ''Nimitz'' is capable of handling any attack. An attempt to warn Pearl Harbor by radio fails as the Navy has no carrier ''Nimitz'' and considers it a prank call. Chapman then demands to be taken to Pearl Harbor to warn the naval authorities in person. Yelland agrees in front of Chapman, but instead then orders Owens to fly the civilians and sufficient supplies via helicopter to an isolated Hawaiian island (]), assuming they will eventually be rescued. When they arrive, Chapman realizes he has been tricked and uses a flare gun to force the pilot to fly to Pearl Harbor. During a struggle with another crew member, the flare gun discharges, destroying the craft and stranding Scott and Owens on the island. The ''Nimitz'' launches a massive strike force against the incoming Japanese fleet, but right after that, the time vortex storm returns. After a futile attempt to outrun the storm, Yelland recalls the strike force, and the ship and its aircraft safely return to 1980, leaving the past relatively unchanged. Upon the return of the ''Nimitz'' to Pearl Harbor, Pacific Fleet admirals board the ship to investigate the ''Nimitz''{{'}}s unexplained disappearance. Lasky leaves the ship with Scott's dog, Charlie, and encounters the mysterious Mr. Tideman face-to-face. Tideman is revealed to be a much older Owens. He and his wife, Laurel Scott, invite Lasky to join them as they have "a lot to talk about".
Commander Dan Thurman insists that the Nimitz destroy the Japanese task force. Thurman and Lasky argue about the implications for future history. Yelland settles the dispute by "going by the book": to defend America "past, present, and future" if attacked, and otherwise, to obey the orders of the then-current ], Franklin D. Roosevelt.


==Cast==
Senator Chapman demands that Yelland notify Pearl Harbor at once. The Japanese ] uses a moment of distraction to kill a couple of guards and take Chapman's secretary Laurel (]) as a hostage. He is shot after Commander Owen distracts him with detailed information about the secret Japanese plans.
* ] as Captain Matthew Yelland, Commanding Officer, USS ''Nimitz''. He was the father of the film's producer who also appears in the film.
* ] as Warren Lasky, Systems Analyst with Tideman Industries
* ] as Laurel Scott
* ] as Commander Richard "Dick" Owens, ] of Carrier Air Wing 8, later appearing under the identity of Richard Tideman, head of Tideman Industries.
* ] as Commander Dan Thurman, Executive Officer, USS ''Nimitz''
* ] as Senator Samuel S. Chapman
* ] as Black Cloud, USS ''Nimitz'' weather officer
* James Coleman as Lieutenant Perry (credited as James C. Lawrence)
* ] as Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service Pilot Shimura
* Joe Lowry as Commander Damon
* ] as Lieutenant Kajima
* Mark Thomas as Marine Corporal Kullman
* Harold Bergman as Bellman
* ] as Lieutenant Commander Moss
* ] as Lieutenant Commander Kaufman
* Dan Fitzgerald as Doctor
* ] as Quartermaster


==Production==
Chapman soon demands to be flown to Pearl Harbor. Captain Yelland pretends to agree, but secretly orders Owen to take them to a deserted island near ] where they'll be safe during the battle. As Owen, Chapman and Laurel arrive on the deserted island, Chapman realizes that he's been conned. He knocks a helicopter crewman unconscious and attempts to hijack the helicopter with a flare gun from a ] so he can warn Pearl Harbor authorities himself. The helicopter lifts off as Owen tries to re-board, only to lose his grip and fall into the lagoon. The unconscious crewman awakens and tries to subdue Chapman, but Chapman accidentally fires a flare, destroying the helicopter, and killing himself and the crew. Owen and Laurel are now stranded while Nimitz's crew believes they are among the dead. Captain Yelland begins to execute the attack against the incoming Japanese forces, ordering American fighters into the air. But during the attempt, the freak storm returns and begins to send the ship back to 1980. Yelland calls back the strike force and they, too, are caught within the storm and returned to 1980. Owen and Laurel are left behind in 1941.
]
] was the driving force behind ''The Final Countdown''.<ref name="Home video">Kjolseth, Pablo. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304233351/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/22726/Final-Countdown-The/home-video-reviews.html |date=2016-03-04}} ''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: September 7, 2012.</ref> With a limited budget and a promising script, he was able to attract interest from the U.S. Navy. Officials from the Department of Defense offered full cooperation after seeing a script, but insisted that for safety and operational readiness, the film schedule would be dependent on the "on location" naval consultant, William Micklos.<ref>Suid 2002, pp. 421–423.</ref> Principal photography took place at ], ], and off the ], over two five-week periods in 1979. Scenes at Pearl Harbor consisted of mainly stock footage with most of ''The Final Countdown'' exteriors shot on the ''Nimitz'' while at sea, and at drydock for interiors. During operations, an emergency landing took place with the production crew allowed to film the recovery of the aircraft on the ''Nimitz''; the sequence appeared in the final film.<ref name="Gregory2" />


Crew members of the ''Nimitz'' were used as extras, a few with speaking parts; a total of 48 of the crew appear as "actors" in the final credits.<ref name="Gregory3">"The Final Countdown DVD (end credits)". ''Blue Underground'', 2004.</ref> The difficulties in filming a modern jet fighter were soon apparent when the first setup to record an F-14 takeoff at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, resulted in both camera and operator being pitched down a runway.<ref name="Gregory1">Gregory, David. "The Final Countdown DVD (overlaid commentary)". ''Blue Underground'', 2004.</ref>{{#tag:ref|The first attempt to film a takeoff on the USS ''Nimitz'' resulted in a repeat of the earlier incident as the camera and operator were pitched off the deck, caught in a restraining net below decks.<ref name="Gregory1"/>|group= Note}}
At the conclusion, Tideman's limousine is waiting to meet the Nimitz on her return to port. The chauffeur introduces Lasky, now with Laurel's dog at his side, to the car's occupants, "Mr and Mrs Tideman". Lasky sees they are the now-aged Cmdr. Owen and Laurel, and Laurel is reunited with her dog after nearly four decades apart.

Dissension in the production crew led to major changes during location shooting, with a number of the crew being fired and replaced.{{#tag:ref|Kaufman as unit production manager was upset that unnecessary costs and unreasonable demands were hampering progress.<ref name="Gregory2"/> After problems experienced on ''The Final Countdown'', Kaufman set out as an independent producer, head of the ] film studio.<ref>Kaufman et al. 2003, p. 62.</ref>|group= Note}} Taylor's direction was considered workmanlike, as he had a reputation for bringing projects in on time and on budget, but suggestions from U.S. naval aviators were ultimately incorporated into the shooting schedules with the "B" crew placed in charge of all the aerial sequences that became the primary focus of the film.<ref name="Gregory2">Gregory, David. Interview with Lloyd Kaufman (documentary featurette that accompanies 'The Final Countdown' DVD). ''Blue Underground'', 2004.</ref>

In order to film the aerial sequences, ] cameras were mounted on naval aircraft while camera-equipped aircraft and helicopters were leased from ], including a ] helicopter, a ], and a ] bomber converted into a camera platform. Three Mitsubishi A6M Zero replicas, originally built for the film '']'' (1970), were flown by pilots from the Confederate Air Force, now called the ].<ref name="Zero">Cooper, Gregory. "Zero Pilot Journal". ''CAF Dispatch'', 1979.</ref> Two of the replicas were featured in a dogfight with F-14 Tomcats; it was the first time such a dissimilar engagement had appeared in film, with the "totally different speeds...environments and weaponry" of the aircraft causing extreme challenges for the jet pilots.<ref name="Gregory">Gregory, David. "Starring the Jolly Rogers"—Interviews with the Jolly Rogers F-14 Fighter Squadron (documentary featurette that accompanies 'The Final Countdown' DVD). ''Blue Underground'', 2004.</ref>

In one scene where an F-14 "thumps" a Zero by flying under and streaking upward in front of the slower aircraft, the resultant "]" of turbulent air was so intense that the ]s of both of the Zeros in the scene were violently wrenched out of the pilots' hands and caused both aircraft to momentarily tumble out of control.{{#tag:ref|At the conclusion of the dogfight scene, by sheer chance, the two Zeros spun away from each other, avoiding a midair collision.<ref name="Gregory"/>|group= Note}} The lead pilot's headset, along with his watch, were ripped off and out of the open canopy of his Zero, resulting in a few anxious moments as the F-14 pilots were unable to establish contact.<ref name="Gregory" /> During a scene when a Zero fires on an F-14, in order to get on the "six" of the low and slow Zero—that is, to bring one's aircraft directly behind the target aircraft in a position corresponding to six o'clock on an analog clock face—the jet fighter did a low pull up that ended just {{convert|100|ft|m}} above the ocean in a screaming recovery.<ref name="Gregory" />{{#tag:ref|In the final edit, the sound of the F-14 was actually punctuated by the scream of the pilot's wife when she saw the daily rushes, interspersed by the sound editor into the high-pitched afterburner whine. This scene has now become part of the ] of the film, described as a pilot's "death plunge".<ref name="Gregory"/>|group= Note}} At one point during filming, one of the Tomcat aircrews held up a profane sign addressed at ] in retaliation for the actress denying a request from the VF-84 pilots to meet her in a hotel the previous day. The shot made it into the ] and reportedly infuriated Ross.<ref name="Gregory" />

During the climactic attack on Pearl Harbor, scenes reproduced in monochrome from ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' featured ] dive bombers, Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters and ] torpedo bombers.<ref name="Muir">Muir, John Kenneth. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102204233/http://reflectionsonfilmandtelevision.blogspot.ca/2008/08/cult-movie-review-final-countdown-1980.html |date=2013-11-02}} ''John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Film/TV'', August 28, 2008. Retrieved: May 18, 2012.</ref>{{#tag:ref|Several later films and ] series relating to World War II in the ] have used footage from ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' due to the film's "almost perfect documentary accuracy". These productions include '']'', ''Pearl'' (] miniseries 1978), ''From Here to Eternity'' (TV miniseries 1979), the ''Magnum P. I.'' episode "Lest We Forget" that aired on February 12, 1981 and '']'' (2008).<ref>Dolan 1985, p. 87.</ref><ref>Frietas 2011, p. 333.</ref>|group= Note}}

===Aircraft appearing in the production===
] with a ] converted to resemble a ]]]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] (briefly)
* ] (briefly)
* ] modified to resemble ]
* ] modified to resemble ]
* ]
* ]
* ] modified to resemble ]


==Release== ==Release==
''The Final Countdown'' was released to theaters in the United States on August 1, 1980.<ref name=AFI>{{AFI film|56411}}</ref> A novelization by ], based on the screenplay, was released in the same month and largely dovetailed with the film presented on screen (the novelization ending with Lasky accompanying Tideman/CDR Owens and Laurel to their home, where it is revealed that the time travel phenomenon explored in the film had an extraterrestrial origin that is not further expanded upon).<ref>Caidin 1980, p. versa.</ref>
''The Final Countdown'' was released to theatres in the United States on August 1, 1980.<ref>http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080736/</ref> ''The Final Countdown'' was released by ] on a 2-DVD set on March 30, 2004.<ref>http://www.blue-underground.com/product.php?product=32</ref> A high-definition ] 2-disk set was released November 4, 2008.<ref>http://www.blue-underground.com/product.php?product=164</ref>


==External links== ===Home media===
The film was released on ] on March 30, 2004. It was later released by ] on a two-DVD set (with both full-screen and widescreen formats) and a special two-disc limited edition set with a hologram cover. Each DVD edition was accompanied by special featurettes, including a "behind-the-scenes" documentary and a commentary track by the producer and other studio principals.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101009122047/http://blue-underground.com/product.php?product=32 |date=2010-10-09}}. ].</ref> These ] certified releases also feature a ] 5.1 EX audio track, as well as a ] 6.1 ES audio track.<ref>{{cite web|last=Patrizio|first=Andy|title=The Final Countdown|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2004/04/12/the-final-countdown|publisher=IGN|access-date=August 30, 2024|date=April 12, 2004}}</ref> On November 4, 2008, a high-definition two-disc ] set was released, but lacked some of the earlier background materials.<ref name="Blue"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219194354/http://blue-underground.com/product.php?product=164 |date=2009-02-19}} '']''. Retrieved: September 3, 2012.</ref> A 4K Ultra High-Definition disc set was released in May 2021 as a limited edition with some additional special features, a copy of the film on Blu-ray disc and a copy of ]'s original motion picture score on ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blue-underground.com/project/final-countdown-the-3-disc-ltd-ed-4k-uhd-blu-ray-cd/ |title=''The Final Countdown'' (3-Disc Ltd Ed/4K UHD + Blu-ray + CD) |website=Blue Underground |access-date=May 21, 2021}}</ref>
* {{imdb title|id=0080736|title=The Final Countdown}}

* {{Amg movie|17285|The Final Countdown}}
==Reception==
* {{rotten-tomatoes|id=final_countdown|title=The Final Countdown}}
===Critical reception===
''The Final Countdown'' received mixed reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website ], the film received an approval rating of 52% based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Final Countdown (1980) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/final_countdown |website=] |publisher=] |access-date=July 28, 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

] of '']'' considered it more of an interesting, behind-the-scenes tour of ''Nimitz'': "We see planes landing and taking off with beautiful precision and, just to let us know that things don't always run smoothly on ''Nimitz'', we also see one plane, which has lost its landing hook, landing safely anyway because of the ship's emergency gear".<ref name="NYTCanby">Canby, Vincent. '']'', August 1, 1980.</ref>{{#tag:ref|When the production crew learned that an emergency landing was imminent, they quickly set up for photography; the ] aircraft was safely recovered.<ref name="Gregory"/>|group= Note}} ] commented that "logic doesn't matter in a '']''(-like) movie". He went on to clarify: "Unfortunately, the movie makes such a mess of it that the biggest element of interest is the aircraft carrier itself".<ref>Ebert, Roger. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130311201833/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19800805%2FREVIEWS%2F8050301%2F1023 |date=2013-03-11}} ''Chicago Sun Times'', August 5, 1980. Retrieved: May 7, 2012.</ref> Later reviews concentrated on the intriguing aspect of the time travel story, again stressing that the military hardware was the real star.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413142530/http://blackholereviews.blogspot.ca/2009/04/final-countdown-1980-blast-into-past.html |date=2014-04-13}} ''Black Hole Reviews'', April 2, 2009. Retrieved: May 7, 2012.</ref><ref>Carrazzoa, Vince. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120602225147/http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=729 |date=2012-06-02}} ''DVDnet''. Retrieved: May 7, 2012.</ref> The U.S. Navy sponsored the film ] and exploited the film as a recruiting tool to the extent that the theatrical poster appeared in U.S. Navy recruiting offices shortly after the film's release.<ref name="NYTCanby" /> Ebert and ] selected the film as one of their "dogs of the year" in a 1980 episode of '']'', which surprised some readers of Ebert's column because he gave the film an unimpressed but hardly rancorous 2 stars out of 4 and praised some elements of the production (particularly the details about life on board the aircraft carrier).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://siskelandebert.org/video/K67XHXKYBXU4/Worst-of-1980|title=Siskel & Ebert: Worst of 1980|access-date=2015-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108010735/http://siskelandebert.org/video/K67XHXKYBXU4/Worst-of-1980|archive-date=2018-01-08|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Christopher John reviewed ''The Final Countdown'' in '']'' #5 and commented that "there is nothing wrong with what is on the screen in ''Final Countdown''; what is on the screen, however, is only half of the film. Maybe someday, like '']'', someone will go back and put in the missing half-hour of this movie".<ref name="Ares">{{cite journal | last=John | first=Christopher | title=Books | journal=] | publisher=] | date=November 1980 | issue=5 | pages=33–34}}</ref>

===Box office===
The film grossed $3.25 million in its opening weekend from 681 screens<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=]|date=August 6, 1980|title='Countdown'; 'Kill' Pace New Films; 'Hunter' Strong|page=3|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1980-08-06_300_1/page/n2/mode/1up?view=theater|access-date=December 2, 2023|via=]}}</ref> and earned a total of $16.6 million in the United States and Canada.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Mojo title|finalcountdown|The Final Countdown}}</ref>

The film made $3 million in Germany.<ref name="american">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/americanfilmdist0000dona/page/88/mode/1up|title= American film distribution : the changing marketplace|last=Donahue|first= Suzanne Mary|year=1987 |publisher=UMI Research Press |page=88|isbn= 978-0-8357-1776-2}} Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada</ref>

==Awards==
* Nominee, Best Science Fiction Film of Year—] (Peter Vincent Douglas)
* Nominee, Best Actor—Saturn Award (Kirk Douglas)
* Winner, ] (German box office award)

==See also==
* '']'' trilogy
* '']''
* ] – a.k.a. the Philadelphia Experiment, which inspired the film of the latter name
* '']'' – the reverse story (World War II-era Navy personnel transported through time to the 1980s)
* '']''
{{Portal bar|Film|Speculative fiction/Science fiction|History|United States|Japan}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=Note}}


==References== ==References==
{{reflist}} {{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin}}
* Caidin, Martin. ''The Final Countdown''. New York: Bantam, 1980. {{ISBN|0-553-12155-3}}.
* Dolan, Edward F. Jr. ''Hollywood Goes to War''. London: Bison Books, 1985. {{ISBN|0-86124-229-7}}.
* Frietas, Gary A. ''War Movies: The Belle & Blade Guide to Classic War Videos''. Bandon, Oregon: Robert D. Reed Publishers, 2011. {{ISBN|978-1-931741-38-5}}.
* Kaufman, Lloyd, Trent Haaga, and Adam Jahnke. ''Make Your Own Damn Movie!: Secrets of a Renegade Director''. Los Angeles: L.A. Weekly Books, 2003. {{ISBN|978-0-312288-648}}.
* Suid, Lawrence H. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-8131-9018-1}}.
* Toland, John. ''Infamy: Pearl Harbor and its Aftermath''. New York: Berkley, 1991. {{ISBN|978-0-42509-040-4}}.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* {{AFI film|56411}}
* {{Mojo title|finalcountdown|The Final Countdown}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0080736|title=The Final Countdown}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|id=final_countdown|title=The Final Countdown}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=22726|title=The Final Countdown}}


{{Don Taylor}} {{Don Taylor}}
{{Pearl Harbor attack}}
{{Bryna Productions}}


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Latest revision as of 10:26, 2 January 2025

1980 film by Don Taylor For the Europe song, see The Final Countdown (song). For the Europe album, see The Final Countdown (album).
The Final Countdown
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDon Taylor
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Thomas Hunter
  • Peter Powell
  • David Ambrose
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyVictor J. Kemper
Edited byRobert K. Lambert
Music byJohn Scott
Production
company		The Bryna Company
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • August 1, 1980 (1980-08-01)
Running time103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Japanese
Budget$12.5 million
Box office$16.6 million

The Final Countdown is a 1980 American science fiction war film about a modern nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that travels through time to the day before the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. Produced by Peter Douglas and Lloyd Kaufman (founder of Troma Entertainment) and directed by Don Taylor (his final directing role), while Kaufman also served as an associate producer and had a minor acting role. The film contains an ensemble cast starring Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, James Farentino, Katharine Ross, Ron O'Neal and Charles Durning.

The film was produced with the cooperation of the United States Navy's naval aviation branch and the United States Department of Defense. It was set and filmed on board USS Nimitz (CVN-68), filming operations of the modern nuclear warship, which had been launched in the early 1970s. The Final Countdown was a moderate success at the box office. The film has later developed a cult following over the years.

Plot

In 1980, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz departs Naval Station Pearl Harbor for naval exercises in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The ship takes on a civilian observer, Warren Lasky (Martin Sheen) — a systems analyst for Tideman Industries working as an efficiency expert for the U.S. Department of Defense — on the orders of his reclusive employer, Mr. Tideman, whose secretive major defense contractor company designed and built the nuclear-powered warship.

Once at sea, the Nimitz encounters a mysterious electrically-charged storm-like vortex. While the ship passes through it, radar and other equipment become unresponsive, and everyone aboard falls into agony. Initially unsure of what has happened to them and having lost radio contact with U.S. Pacific Fleet Command at Pearl Harbor, Captain Yelland (Kirk Douglas), commander of the aircraft carrier, fears that there may have been a nuclear strike on Hawaii or the continental United States. He orders general quarters and launches a RF-8 Crusader reconnaissance aircraft. The aircraft returns after photographing Pearl Harbor, but the images show an intact row of U.S. Pacific fleet battleships, of which several were destroyed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

When a surface contact is spotted on radar, Yelland launches two ready alert Grumman F-14 Tomcat fighter jets from VF-84 to intercept. The patrol witnesses a civilian wooden yacht being strafed and destroyed by two Imperial Japanese Navy Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighters, killing three of the five crew members. The F-14s are ordered to drive off the Zeros without firing, but when the Zeros inadvertently head towards the Nimitz, Yelland gives clearance to shoot them down. The Nimitz rescues survivors from the yacht: prominent U.S. Senator Samuel Chapman (Charles Durning), his aide Laurel Scott (Katharine Ross), her dog Charlie, and one of the two downed Zero pilots (Soon-tek Oh). Commander Owens (James Farentino), an amateur historian, recognizes Chapman as a politician who could have been Franklin D. Roosevelt's running mate (and his potential successor) during his final re-election bid, had Chapman not disappeared shortly before the Pearl Harbor attack.

When a Grumman E-2 Hawkeye scouting aircraft discovers the Japanese fleet task force further north in unpatrolled waters, poised to launch its attack on Pearl Harbor, the Nimitz crew realizes that they have been transported back in time to the day before the attack. Yelland has to decide whether to destroy the Japanese fleet and alter the course of history or to stand by and allow history to proceed as they know it. The American civilians and the Zero pilot are kept isolated. Still, while being questioned, the Japanese pilot forcibly obtains an M-16 rifle from one of the guards, kills two of the other U.S. Marine guards, and takes Scott, Owens, and Lasky hostage. He threatens to kill them unless he is given access to a radio to warn the Japanese fleet about the Nimitz. Lasky tells Commander Owens to recite and describe the secret plans for the Japanese attack; the dumbfounded Japanese pilot is overcome and shot and killed by the other U.S. Marines of the on-board detachment on Nimitz. In the aftermath, Scott and Owens develop an attraction for each other.

Chapman is outraged that Yelland knows of the impending Japanese attack but has not told anyone else, and rebuffs Yelland's claim that the Nimitz is capable of handling any attack. An attempt to warn Pearl Harbor by radio fails as the Navy has no carrier Nimitz and considers it a prank call. Chapman then demands to be taken to Pearl Harbor to warn the naval authorities in person. Yelland agrees in front of Chapman, but instead then orders Owens to fly the civilians and sufficient supplies via helicopter to an isolated Hawaiian island (Puʻuwai, Hawaii), assuming they will eventually be rescued. When they arrive, Chapman realizes he has been tricked and uses a flare gun to force the pilot to fly to Pearl Harbor. During a struggle with another crew member, the flare gun discharges, destroying the craft and stranding Scott and Owens on the island. The Nimitz launches a massive strike force against the incoming Japanese fleet, but right after that, the time vortex storm returns. After a futile attempt to outrun the storm, Yelland recalls the strike force, and the ship and its aircraft safely return to 1980, leaving the past relatively unchanged. Upon the return of the Nimitz to Pearl Harbor, Pacific Fleet admirals board the ship to investigate the Nimitz's unexplained disappearance. Lasky leaves the ship with Scott's dog, Charlie, and encounters the mysterious Mr. Tideman face-to-face. Tideman is revealed to be a much older Owens. He and his wife, Laurel Scott, invite Lasky to join them as they have "a lot to talk about".

Cast

  • Kirk Douglas as Captain Matthew Yelland, Commanding Officer, USS Nimitz. He was the father of the film's producer who also appears in the film.
  • Martin Sheen as Warren Lasky, Systems Analyst with Tideman Industries
  • Katharine Ross as Laurel Scott
  • James Farentino as Commander Richard "Dick" Owens, Commander, Air Group of Carrier Air Wing 8, later appearing under the identity of Richard Tideman, head of Tideman Industries.
  • Ron O'Neal as Commander Dan Thurman, Executive Officer, USS Nimitz
  • Charles Durning as Senator Samuel S. Chapman
  • Victor Mohica as Black Cloud, USS Nimitz weather officer
  • James Coleman as Lieutenant Perry (credited as James C. Lawrence)
  • Soon-tek Oh as Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service Pilot Shimura
  • Joe Lowry as Commander Damon
  • Alvin Ing as Lieutenant Kajima
  • Mark Thomas as Marine Corporal Kullman
  • Harold Bergman as Bellman
  • Richard Liberty as Lieutenant Commander Moss
  • Lloyd Kaufman as Lieutenant Commander Kaufman
  • Dan Fitzgerald as Doctor
  • Peter Douglas as Quartermaster

Production

Filming on the flight deck of the Nimitz

Peter Douglas was the driving force behind The Final Countdown. With a limited budget and a promising script, he was able to attract interest from the U.S. Navy. Officials from the Department of Defense offered full cooperation after seeing a script, but insisted that for safety and operational readiness, the film schedule would be dependent on the "on location" naval consultant, William Micklos. Principal photography took place at Naval Air Station Key West, Naval Station Norfolk, and off the Florida Keys, over two five-week periods in 1979. Scenes at Pearl Harbor consisted of mainly stock footage with most of The Final Countdown exteriors shot on the Nimitz while at sea, and at drydock for interiors. During operations, an emergency landing took place with the production crew allowed to film the recovery of the aircraft on the Nimitz; the sequence appeared in the final film.

Crew members of the Nimitz were used as extras, a few with speaking parts; a total of 48 of the crew appear as "actors" in the final credits. The difficulties in filming a modern jet fighter were soon apparent when the first setup to record an F-14 takeoff at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, resulted in both camera and operator being pitched down a runway.

Dissension in the production crew led to major changes during location shooting, with a number of the crew being fired and replaced. Taylor's direction was considered workmanlike, as he had a reputation for bringing projects in on time and on budget, but suggestions from U.S. naval aviators were ultimately incorporated into the shooting schedules with the "B" crew placed in charge of all the aerial sequences that became the primary focus of the film.

In order to film the aerial sequences, Panavision cameras were mounted on naval aircraft while camera-equipped aircraft and helicopters were leased from Tallmantz Aviation, including a Bell 206 Jet Ranger helicopter, a Learjet 35, and a B-25 bomber converted into a camera platform. Three Mitsubishi A6M Zero replicas, originally built for the film Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), were flown by pilots from the Confederate Air Force, now called the Commemorative Air Force. Two of the replicas were featured in a dogfight with F-14 Tomcats; it was the first time such a dissimilar engagement had appeared in film, with the "totally different speeds...environments and weaponry" of the aircraft causing extreme challenges for the jet pilots.

In one scene where an F-14 "thumps" a Zero by flying under and streaking upward in front of the slower aircraft, the resultant "jet blast" of turbulent air was so intense that the yokes of both of the Zeros in the scene were violently wrenched out of the pilots' hands and caused both aircraft to momentarily tumble out of control. The lead pilot's headset, along with his watch, were ripped off and out of the open canopy of his Zero, resulting in a few anxious moments as the F-14 pilots were unable to establish contact. During a scene when a Zero fires on an F-14, in order to get on the "six" of the low and slow Zero—that is, to bring one's aircraft directly behind the target aircraft in a position corresponding to six o'clock on an analog clock face—the jet fighter did a low pull up that ended just 100 feet (30 m) above the ocean in a screaming recovery. At one point during filming, one of the Tomcat aircrews held up a profane sign addressed at Katharine Ross in retaliation for the actress denying a request from the VF-84 pilots to meet her in a hotel the previous day. The shot made it into the dailies and reportedly infuriated Ross.

During the climactic attack on Pearl Harbor, scenes reproduced in monochrome from Tora! Tora! Tora! featured Aichi D3A Val dive bombers, Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters and Nakajima B5N Kate torpedo bombers.

Aircraft appearing in the production

Tomcats from VF-84 with a T-6 converted to resemble a Zero

Release

The Final Countdown was released to theaters in the United States on August 1, 1980. A novelization by Martin Caidin, based on the screenplay, was released in the same month and largely dovetailed with the film presented on screen (the novelization ending with Lasky accompanying Tideman/CDR Owens and Laurel to their home, where it is revealed that the time travel phenomenon explored in the film had an extraterrestrial origin that is not further expanded upon).

Home media

The film was released on DVD on March 30, 2004. It was later released by Blue Underground on a two-DVD set (with both full-screen and widescreen formats) and a special two-disc limited edition set with a hologram cover. Each DVD edition was accompanied by special featurettes, including a "behind-the-scenes" documentary and a commentary track by the producer and other studio principals. These THX certified releases also feature a Dolby Digital 5.1 EX audio track, as well as a DTS 6.1 ES audio track. On November 4, 2008, a high-definition two-disc Blu-ray set was released, but lacked some of the earlier background materials. A 4K Ultra High-Definition disc set was released in May 2021 as a limited edition with some additional special features, a copy of the film on Blu-ray disc and a copy of John Scott's original motion picture score on CD.

Reception

Critical reception

The Final Countdown received mixed reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 52% based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10.

Vincent Canby of The New York Times considered it more of an interesting, behind-the-scenes tour of Nimitz: "We see planes landing and taking off with beautiful precision and, just to let us know that things don't always run smoothly on Nimitz, we also see one plane, which has lost its landing hook, landing safely anyway because of the ship's emergency gear". Roger Ebert commented that "logic doesn't matter in a Star Wars(-like) movie". He went on to clarify: "Unfortunately, the movie makes such a mess of it that the biggest element of interest is the aircraft carrier itself". Later reviews concentrated on the intriguing aspect of the time travel story, again stressing that the military hardware was the real star. The U.S. Navy sponsored the film premiere and exploited the film as a recruiting tool to the extent that the theatrical poster appeared in U.S. Navy recruiting offices shortly after the film's release. Ebert and Gene Siskel selected the film as one of their "dogs of the year" in a 1980 episode of Sneak Previews, which surprised some readers of Ebert's column because he gave the film an unimpressed but hardly rancorous 2 stars out of 4 and praised some elements of the production (particularly the details about life on board the aircraft carrier).

Christopher John reviewed The Final Countdown in Ares Magazine #5 and commented that "there is nothing wrong with what is on the screen in Final Countdown; what is on the screen, however, is only half of the film. Maybe someday, like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, someone will go back and put in the missing half-hour of this movie".

Box office

The film grossed $3.25 million in its opening weekend from 681 screens and earned a total of $16.6 million in the United States and Canada.

The film made $3 million in Germany.

Awards

  • Nominee, Best Science Fiction Film of Year—Saturn Award (Peter Vincent Douglas)
  • Nominee, Best Actor—Saturn Award (Kirk Douglas)
  • Winner, Golden Screen Award (German box office award)

See also

Portals:

Notes

  1. During December 1941, the U.S. Navy Pacific fleet was based at Pearl Harbor and consisted mainly of large battleships moored at harbor and smaller/middle-sized naval vessels. Two large crucial aircraft carriers normally at Pearl Harbor were at sea on a brief mission.
  2. The first attempt to film a takeoff on the USS Nimitz resulted in a repeat of the earlier incident as the camera and operator were pitched off the deck, caught in a restraining net below decks.
  3. Kaufman as unit production manager was upset that unnecessary costs and unreasonable demands were hampering progress. After problems experienced on The Final Countdown, Kaufman set out as an independent producer, head of the Troma Entertainment film studio.
  4. At the conclusion of the dogfight scene, by sheer chance, the two Zeros spun away from each other, avoiding a midair collision.
  5. In the final edit, the sound of the F-14 was actually punctuated by the scream of the pilot's wife when she saw the daily rushes, interspersed by the sound editor into the high-pitched afterburner whine. This scene has now become part of the urban legend of the film, described as a pilot's "death plunge".
  6. Several later films and TV series relating to World War II in the Pacific have used footage from Tora! Tora! Tora! due to the film's "almost perfect documentary accuracy". These productions include Midway, Pearl (TV miniseries 1978), From Here to Eternity (TV miniseries 1979), the Magnum P. I. episode "Lest We Forget" that aired on February 12, 1981 and Australia (2008).
  7. When the production crew learned that an emergency landing was imminent, they quickly set up for photography; the A-7 aircraft was safely recovered.

References

  1. Maloney, Lane (August 13, 1980). "'Countdown' Fight Proves Peter Douglas A Chip Off Kirk's Block". Variety. p. 30.
  2. ^ The Final Countdown at Box Office Mojo
  3. Shimmin, Graeme. "The Final Countdown – Movie Review", Retrieved: May 29, 2024.
  4. Toland 1991, p. 5.
  5. Kjolseth, Pablo. "Home Video Reviews: The Final Countdown". Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: September 7, 2012.
  6. Suid 2002, pp. 421–423.
  7. ^ Gregory, David. Interview with Lloyd Kaufman (documentary featurette that accompanies 'The Final Countdown' DVD). Blue Underground, 2004.
  8. "The Final Countdown DVD (end credits)". Blue Underground, 2004.
  9. ^ Gregory, David. "The Final Countdown DVD (overlaid commentary)". Blue Underground, 2004.
  10. Kaufman et al. 2003, p. 62.
  11. Cooper, Gregory. "Zero Pilot Journal". CAF Dispatch, 1979.
  12. ^ Gregory, David. "Starring the Jolly Rogers"—Interviews with the Jolly Rogers F-14 Fighter Squadron (documentary featurette that accompanies 'The Final Countdown' DVD). Blue Underground, 2004.
  13. Muir, John Kenneth. "Cult movie review: The Final Countdown (1980)". Archived 2013-11-02 at the Wayback Machine John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Film/TV, August 28, 2008. Retrieved: May 18, 2012.
  14. Dolan 1985, p. 87.
  15. Frietas 2011, p. 333.
  16. The Final Countdown at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  17. Caidin 1980, p. versa.
  18. The Final Countdown DVD Archived 2010-10-09 at the Wayback Machine. Blue Underground.
  19. Patrizio, Andy (April 12, 2004). "The Final Countdown". IGN. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
  20. The Final Countdown Blu-ray. Archived 2009-02-19 at the Wayback Machine Blue Underground. Retrieved: September 3, 2012.
  21. "The Final Countdown (3-Disc Ltd Ed/4K UHD + Blu-ray + CD)". Blue Underground. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  22. "The Final Countdown (1980)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  23. ^ Canby, Vincent. "'The Final Countdown' (1980) – Carrier Nimitz stars in 'Countdown'". The New York Times, August 1, 1980.
  24. Ebert, Roger. "The Final Countdown". Archived 2013-03-11 at the Wayback Machine Chicago Sun Times, August 5, 1980. Retrieved: May 7, 2012.
  25. "The Final Countdown (1980, USA)". Archived 2014-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Black Hole Reviews, April 2, 2009. Retrieved: May 7, 2012.
  26. Carrazzoa, Vince. "The Final Countdown (1980)". Archived 2012-06-02 at the Wayback Machine DVDnet. Retrieved: May 7, 2012.
  27. "Siskel & Ebert: Worst of 1980". Archived from the original on 2018-01-08. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  28. John, Christopher (November 1980). "Books". Ares Magazine (5). Simulations Publications, Inc.: 33–34.
  29. "'Countdown'; 'Kill' Pace New Films; 'Hunter' Strong". Variety. August 6, 1980. p. 3. Retrieved December 2, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  30. Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-8357-1776-2. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada

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