Rating: 
Summary: Good Story, Weak FX
Review: Even by standards when this film was made, the FX surrounding the time slip/storm are poor. In my opinion, that is the only thing that keeps this story from becoming one of the classics of all time. It is almost too bad that the producers can't pull a George Lucas and go back and rework with two sequences, leaving the rest of the intriguing story alone.The story itself is rather predictable, but so are most time-travel stories, including Millennium and last year's TimeLine. As one other reviewer put it, combine this with Top Gun and you have two of the very best movies dealing with our modern Navy, its ships, men, and traditions.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Film
Review: Yes....I have the Pacific/Hollywood Entertainment version purchases via Amazon.co.uk - Region 0 version. Too bad it has no extra goodies like today's releases. I watched in a theatre in Singapore back in 1980 and would never forget the Tomcat - am a 6-year old, I was amazed with wonders of a plane which could sweep its wings (variable-geometry!) Anyway, VF-84 Tomcats were the stars of the show. The best part is when two Tomcats engage the 2 Zeros in retaliation for attacking the Senator's boat (anyway they were inadvertently headed for the Nimitz!) You get to see a rather unequal dogfight between two of the best naval fighters in their respective period. For the technically-minded, the baseline F-14As performed such fantastice manueveur and were always in control over the Zekes - despite having the troublesome TF-30s which did not flame out! Cannot wait for the new release in DTS! If you love naval aviation, go get this show and it would be like travelling back in time - there are A-6 intruders, RF-8 Crusader recon birds and A-7E Corsairs which have long disappeared. You can catcha glimpse of a RA-5C at the beginning of the show when Martin Sheen's Sea King departs Ford Island - oh yes, the Sea King!
Rating: 
Summary: Beware What You Wish For
Review: This film is a neat little military/sci-fi thriller that ponders the question "What if?". After traveling through a strange magnetic storm that renders its entire crew unconscious for a period of time, the U.S.S. Nimitz finds itself sitting near the Hawaiian islands just prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. As the evidence of their journey mounts, the Nimitz's skipper, Captain Matt Yellen, played effectively by Kirk Douglas, is forced to accept the circumstances thrust upon him and has to make the difficult decision of whether or not to intervene in the events rapidly approaching and change all of history. The cast has plenty of star power--Douglas, Katherine Ross, Martin Sheen, Charles Durning, and James Farentino--so the studio didn't skimp on money for talent. The special effects are minimal and the set pieces are provided by filming aboard an actual Navy ship. That saves money (although I'm sure the U.S. Navy got a healthy check for its contributions). There are some plot twists, including an obvious one at the end. You also have the philosophical discussions on changing the past, with Yellen eventually just going with his gut instinct--and facing the possibility of taking orders from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt if they can't get back. However, fate intervenes and we never get the answer to the question of "What if?". Still, the movie is enjoyable overall...and there are some genuine laughs to be had during the scene where a rescued-at-sea U.S. Senator (Durning) tries to convince the radio operator at Pearl Harbor that he is calling from the U.S.S. Nimitz (Chester Nimitz was an active-duty officer in WWII).
Rating:
Summary: EXCITING TO BAD IT COULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED
Review: I LOVED THIS STORY, AND PLEASE KEEP THE VHS, SOME OF US POOR PEOPLE DO NOT OWN DVD'S YET, AND YOU ARE MAKING IT HARD FOR ALL OF US, THIS IS AN EXCITING STORY, TO BAD WE COULDN'T HAVE CHANGED HISTORY LIKE THAT BUT THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE, BUT STILL A GOOD TRY. I HAVE OVER 500 VIDEOS AND SO I WANT VHS TO STAY AROUND , I DON'T THINK DVD IS ALL THE WONDERFUL, AND BESIDES THEY WILL PROBABLY COME UP WITH SOMETHING NEW AGAIN.
Rating:
Summary: The Final Countdown DVD March 2004
Review: The Final Countdown Special Edition DVD is coming soon! If you have the Pacific Family Entertainment/Hollywood video version, you can throw it away.
The Final Countdown, Starring Martin Sheen is going to be available on DVD March 2004. Blue Underground is in the process of making a Special Edition DVD for this wonderful film about time travel. For those of you who have been waiting for The Final Countdown to get the DVD recognition it deserves, your wait is almost over. Blue Underground, one of the premier DVD producers, is working on this fan favorite. To find out all you ever wanted to know about The Final Countdown, such as where to get the novel by Martin Caidin, or the Soundtrack by John Scott, or where to buy the new DVD check out www.spectrepublishing.com We have the largest website devoted to this film. Check out www.blue-underground.com for more info on the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: The Final Countdown
Review: A very unexpecting movie seeing a modern Naval aircraft carrier back in World War II. Saw this movie when it first came out to the theater and on TV and catch myself watching a dubbed version of the VHS version over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: "The Rating Is For The Movie Itself"
Review: I won't waste any time summarizing this classic film. Chances are, you who are reading this are probably old enough that you have seen it multiple times, so I'll skip to the chase. This isn't a review. I'm writing to say that I contacted Amazon's customer service center. The DVD that's coming out in March is a totally new release of the film. It's not through Pacific Family Entertainment (thanks for the warning, though...it sounds like it's a bare bones version that blows mightily).
Rating:
Summary: What if there was a U.S. nuclear carrier at Pearl Harbor?
Review: "Saturday Night Live" had a routine once that explored the nagging historical question, "What is Napoleon had a B-52 at the Battle of Waterloo?" Any kid who has thought about what difference machine guns would have made at the Alamo or the Little Big Horn can appreciate the impulse to help rewrite history with modern weaponry, which is the spirit behind the 1980 film "The Final Countdown" in which the nuclear powered aircraft carrier U.S.S. Nimitz is thrown back through time by a weird storm to early on the morning of December 7, 1941. Suddenly visions of what one fully armed flight of naval fighter jets could do to the flimsy prop planes of the Japanese surprise attack are flashing through out mind. On the one hand "The Final Countdown" is one of those time travel movies where you do not think too seriously about the mechanism by which the ship ends up in the past (at least they did not think themselves back like Christopher Reeves in "Somewhere in Time"). But on the other hand the characters take the situation and its implications seriously. Kirk Douglas is Captain Matthew Yelland, who has to figure out what his responsibilities are under such strange circumstances. James Farentino is Commander Richard Owens, who is a student of the Pearl Harbor attack and is able to provide all the historical explication anyone needs. Martin Sheen is Warren Lasky, a reporter along for the ride who becomes the chief devil's advocate in the deliberations. The historical situation is further complicated when jets from the carrier take out a couple of zeros that are strafing a yacht, and the Nimitz rescues U.S. Senator Samuel Chapman (Charles Durning) and his assistant Laurel Scott (Katharine Ross). This is a pretty good cast for this sort of plot. Consequently, we have not only the debate about whether or not history should be changed, but the entanglement of military protocol (imagine Admiral Chester Nimitz being told there is an aircraft carrier that is twice the size of anything he has in his navy and it is named after him). The fact that the characters take the situation seriously makes up for a lot of the flaws in this film, but in the end we are left with what is basically a shaggy dog story. If it were not for the nice little twist at the end, I would probably have knocked another star off of the rating for this film. But as stupid as it is on several levels, it is an enjoyable little excursion and the producers take full advantage of having a real U.S. nuclear carrier to play with. Before "Top Gun," it was "The Final Countdown" that was the best movie doubling for a "Join the Navy" advertisement.
Rating: 
Summary: A pathetic DVD transfer
Review: I eagerly purchased the DVD version of The Final Countdown but was profoundly disappointed with the quality of the DVD transfer. The VHS version I purchased used from a rental store is of equal or better quality. Maybe the powers that be at Pacific Family Entertainment will get their collective thumbs out of their butts and get someone to clean up the graininess and blur and reissue this movie as a DVD should be. Unless you just can't wait for an improved version don't waste your money on this one.
Rating:
Summary: Like a Long Time Tunnel Episode
Review: When this movie came out it seemed to be a big commercial for the navy. A modern aircraft carrier thrust back in time to the eve of Pearl Harbor day. Will they let history play out or interfere? Plays out like a long episode of The Time Tunnel. James Farrentino in one of his better rolls. There is a good action scene where a modern jet encounters two Japanese planes.
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