The Final Countdown (1980) on Netflix
In 1980, Warren Lasky joins the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz as an observer. A strange storm hurls the ship back to 1941, just before the Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb6.7/1030,406 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes52%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1980, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz leaves Pearl Harbor for exercises in the Pacific. On board is Warren Lasky, a systems analyst for Tideman Industries, sent by his reclusive employer to observe the ship's routines. A strange, electrically charged storm surrounds the vessel, and radar and radio fail. Captain Matthew Yelland, fearing that Hawaii has been hit by a nuclear strike, sends up a reconnaissance plane. Its photographs show Pearl Harbor intact, with the battleships still in rows. The crew realizes the Nimitz has traveled back to December 6, 1941, the day before the Japanese attack. Yelland must decide whether to change the course of history or let events unfold as they did.
Cast
- James Colemanas Lt. Perry (as James C. Lawrence)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Final Countdown (1980)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The jet blast of turbulent air was so intense that the yokes of both Zeros were violently wrenched out of the pilots' hands and both aircraft momentarily tumbled out of control; the lead pilot's headset and watch were ripped off and out of his open canopy.
- Three Mitsubishi A6M Zero replicas originally built for Tora! Tora! Tora! in 1970 were flown by pilots from the Confederate Air Force, and two of them were featured in a dogfight with F-14 Tomcats; it was the first time such a dissimilar engagement had appeared in film.
- After actress Katharine Ross turned down a request from VF-84 crew members to meet her at a hotel, they retaliated by holding up a sign with a profane message aimed at her, and the shot ended up in the dailies, reportedly infuriating her.
- An attempt to film an F-14 takeoff at Naval Station Norfolk went wrong when the setup pitched a camera and its operator down the runway.
- Troma Entertainment founder Lloyd Kaufman served as the film's associate producer and unit production manager while also playing a small onscreen role as a Lieutenant Commander.
- The U.S. Navy sponsored the film's premiere and exploited it as a recruiting tool, to the extent that the theatrical poster appeared in U.S. Navy recruiting offices shortly after the film's release.
