Product Description

Movie DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16352 in DVD
• Brand: WEA-DES MOINES VIDEO
• Released on: 2004-03-30
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Limited Edition, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, THX, Widescreen, Surround Sound, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 103 minutes

Amazon.com
With a tantalizing "what-if?" scenario and a respectable cast of Hollywood veterans, The Final Countdown plays like a grand-scale episode of The Twilight Zone. It's really no more than that, and time-travel movies have grown far more sophisticated since this popular 1980 release, but there's still some life remaining in the movie's basic premise: What if a modern-era Navy aircraft carrier--in this case the real-life nuclear-powered U.S.S. Nimitz--was caught in an anomalous storm and thrust 40 years backwards in time to the eve of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor? Will the ship's commander (Kirk Douglas) interfere with history? Will the visiting systems analyst (Martin Sheen) convince him not to? Will a rescued senator from 1941 (Charles Durning) play an unexpected role in the future of American politics? Veteran TV director Don Taylor doesn't do much with the ideas posed by this potentially intriguing plot; he seems more interested in satisfying aviation buffs with loving footage of F-14 "Jolly Roger" fighter jets, made possible by the Navy's generous cooperation. That makes The Final Countdown a better Navy film than a full-fledged time-travel fantasy, but there's a nice little twist at the end, and the plot holes are easy to ignore. James Cameron would've done it better, but this popcorn thriller makes an enjoyable double-bill with The Philadelphia Experiment. --Jeff Shannon

DVD features
It's a bit light for a two-disc set, but the limited edition of The Final Countdown is worth it if only for the half-hour of interviews with the Navy pilots who helped with the filming of the F-14 footage. Two dozen years after the movie, six pilots are interviewed separately and together, and they tell about the experience of flying, how in comparison missile shots in Top Gun are "just bogus," how much they liked the cast, and what they would have done had the final decision been theirs to make. There's also a 14-minute interview with Troma guru Lloyd Kaufman, who served as associate producer; various stills; and a DVD-ROM article from the Commemorative Air Force Dispatch that recounts the experiences of the pilots who flew the Japanese Zeros. Despite some stumbles and a bit of dead air, director of photography Victor J. Kemper provides a reasonably entertaining commentary track. The Final Countdown was briefly available as a poor-quality DVD from Pacific Family Entertainment, and it's safe to say that Blue Underground's new THX-approved high-definition transfer is the best the film has ever looked on home video. The 5.1 Dolby Digital EX and 6.1 DTS ES tracks are limited by their source material, however, and don't have quite the oomph or surround effects one would wish for in the aerial-dogfight scenes. --David Horiuchi

Time Magazine
"A FANTASTIC TALE... Intelligent And Entertaining!"

Customer Reviews

The Final Countdown - Sci-Fi Story Telling at it's BEST
This film is well written, has an all star cast and has wonderful photography. Filmed well before Top Gun, The Final Countdown has great areial combat/flight scenes and shows the awesome capabilites of the navy's modern nuclear aircraft carriers and the stressful environment that all aboard have to live with every day.

Kirk Douglass and Marten Sheen show why they were "A" list actors when this film was made. Both gave excellent performances.

The script was well written with the exploration of the ships crew trying to deal with a potential paradox that would effect every person on the planet.

Great acting a good story and super photography of aircraft carrier and flight operations. If you like these features, you will love this movie.

A film that has everything
"The Final Countdown" is one of my all-time favorite films, because it has just about everything I like: military hardware, heroism, and history -- with a delicious helping of sci-fi fantasy. Off the coast of Hawaii, the modern day USS Nimitz encounters a bizarre storm, which is actually a portal through time. The crew gradually becomes convinced that they have emerged in 1941 just prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor -- and that they have the futuristic firepower to stop it. But can history really be changed? Initially, it seems likely! In the highlight scene of the film, F-14 Tomcats go to the rescue of a yacht under attack by Zeros. Survivors, a suspicious Congressman and his assistant, as well as an incredulous Japanese pilot, are brought on board the spectacularly anachronistic aircraft carrier. From there, the mission to change history begins to go awry as paradox-producing events occur. Nonetheless, the Nimitz never falters. And you really anticipate, even as the time portal begins to close, that her guns and aircraft will engage the oncoming enemy. "The Final Countdown" is a wonderful fantasy, very realistically enacted. For a time-travel epic, I like the way all the "loose ends" are neatly tied up. History is preserved, with a sensitive, and I must say, emotional, tribute to the heroes of Pearl Harbor.

The best "What If" time travel movie ever
This is without doubt one of my all time favorite movies, good acting, good plot, etc. For those who can get the book and read it there is more, though the movie was quite good. I look forward to getting it on DVD as soon as it is released again.

It wasn't until last year that I made it to Pearl Harbor, and to my surprise saw one the newer "Nimitz" class carriers, CVN-72, USS Abraham Lincoln. The scene at the end of the movie was not only realistic as they pass by the USS Arizona. It was a great tribute to the brave men on that USS Arizona, to all those died on that fateful day, and to those who fortunate enough to survive. To the brave men and women who served in World War II we owe a deep gratitude we can never re-pay.

I did some further research and found out that Pacific Family Entertainment will be re-releasing "The Final Countdown" on both DVD and VHS in the Winter some time. We don't have to worry about buying used, or worn out copies of the film any more !!