Product Details

• Actors: Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, Katharine Ross, James Farentino, Ron O'Neal
• Directors: Don Taylor
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Lions Gate/Vestron
• VHS Release Date: June 22, 1988
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (282 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302010306
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,490 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

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

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

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Final Countdown - Sci-Fi Story Telling at it's BEST, November 1, 2000

By	"duingtime" (Long Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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.

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A film that has everything, May 28, 2001

By	Chapulina R (Tovarischi Imports, USA/RUS) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

"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.

112 of 123 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best "What If" time travel movie ever, May 10, 2001

By A Customer

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 !!