The Final Countdown (1980) United Artists/Sci-Fi-Action-Adventure RT: 103 minutes Rated PG (language, violence) Director: Don Taylor Screenplay: David Ambrose, Gerry Davis, Thomas Hunter and Peter Powell Music: John Scott Cinematography: Victor J. Kemper Release date: August 1, 1980 (US) Cast: Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, Katharine Ross, James Farentino, Ron O’Neal, Charles Durning, Victor Mohica, James C. Lawrence, Soon-Teck Oh, Joe Lowry, Alvin Ing. Box Office: $16.6M (US)
Rating: ** ½
Okay, I get it. Logic rarely, if ever, applies to time-travel movies. If so inclined, one could write volumes on the paradoxes in movies like The Terminator, Back to the Future, The Philadelphia Experiment and The Final Countdown.
Directed by Don Taylor (Damien: Omen II), it has an appealing premise, but fails to do anything all that interesting with it. In short, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier gets thrown back in time forty years to the day before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The crew could conceivable prevent the catastrophic event that brought about our involvement in WWII, but deep down you know they won’t as it would alter the course of history and make the world a much different place. They might not be in the same place as when they first travelled back in time. If that’s the case, how could they go back in time in the first place? Such is the central paradox of time travel movies.
Some movies handle it better than others; The Final Countdown is not one of them. I’ll grant it’s entertaining, but once the ship arrives in 1941, it pretty much goes dead in the water. It takes some time for the characters to realize what happened and once they do, they stand around debating the pros and cons of changing the course of history. Not exactly what audiences want from a movie promoted as a summer blockbuster (which it turned out not to be with a disappointing gross of $16.6 million).
The story opens in present-day 1980 with civilian observer Warren Lasky (Sheen, Apocalypse Now) accompanying the crew of the USS Nimitz out of Pearl Harbor on a routine training mission under the orders of a mysterious employer. Led by Captain Matthew Yelland (Douglas, Out of the Past), they head out onto the Pacific Ocean where they encounter a strange, storm-like vortex which they pass through. That’s when things start to get weird. They lose contact with Fleet Command, Pearl Harbor looks different and they spot two old Japanese fighter planes in the sky that destroy a yacht with US Senator Sam Chapman (Durning, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas) and his secretary Laurel (Ross, The Legacy) on board. They survive the attack along with one of the enemy pilots (Oh, Missing in Action 2). All are brought on board the Nimitz where Commander Owens (Farentino, Dead & Buried), an amateur historian, recognizes Chapman as the senator that could have been FDR’s running mate but mysteriously disappeared around the time of the fateful attack. This is when they finally realize that they’ve been transported to December 6, 1941 and have a chance to prevent the Pearl Harbor catastrophe. What to do, what to do?
I saw The Final Countdown as part of a double feature with Raise the Titanic at the tail end of the summer (late August ’80). For this movie-obsessed 12YO, it was a Saturday afternoon well-spent. I recently recreated the double feature in my living room and felt the same surge of excitement I experienced that day. Unfortunately, with age comes experience and knowledge. While still an engaging flick, the flaws in The Final Countdown are more obvious. It has some definite pacing issues. The movie basically spins its wheels after the crew lands in ’41. It has a few action sequences as well as a surprise plot twist at the end that many will see coming.
The actors do well with their parts, but like most potential summer blockbusters, character development gives way to things like special effects (which aren’t all that special), action scenes and technology. The aerial sequences are pretty great though. The producers had the full cooperation of the US Navy, so they were able to film The Final Countdown on board an actual aircraft carrier. The scenes depicting the operation of the carrier will be of interest to military buffs. Okay, I admit it, the ship is pretty cool. Still, I wish the narrative was a bit tighter. It’s like the writers didn’t exactly know where to go with the fascinating premise, so the director just let the movie ride and hoped for the best. At best, The Final Countdown is a nice diversion, but one that you wish had been better.
