Rating: 
Summary: Cool movie, bad packaging
Review: I wonder why it says the release date is March of 2004? I ordered my copy through Amazon.com and got it a couple weeks ago.I won't spend time on the plot of the movie. If you're browsing, you may already know what that involves or have read it in other reviews. This is a great "What if" movie and kind of fun for history buffs too. I was disappointed in the quality of the packaging. It looks like a couple junior high kids with a printer could have made the cover, and there are no inserts or booklets or anything. But, that isn't really why you buy the DVD. On to the DVD itself, there aren't any features to speak of other than the trailer. That might have been nice, but what I wanted was to see a movie I remembered fondly from when I was younger. The movie looks a bit dated, but the quality is decent and it's still fun to watch, even after having viewed it several times before. I won't give it 5 stars due to the cheap packaging and lack of features, but the movie itself was worth the purchase and I do recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the full movie - not Closed Captioned
Review: I reluctantly bought this VHS movie because the DVD edition was cancelled. I first owned this movie in another format when it first came out in the eighties. There are scenes in this 98 minute edition that are missing or shortened. Obviously this is the same version they show on cable, and it has been hacked a bit for run-time length. Notabily the major missing scene ais the memorable flight scene with a Japanese Zero and and F-14 Tomcat flying together in the clouds. That scene, with the musical score was really cool, and it was what made the movie, IMO. The same scene is only a few seconds long in this edition. There were other scenes between the captain and Mr. Titans rep, and between the lead pilot and his rep that are not on this edition. MORE IMPORTANT This movie is NOT CAPTIONED. Almost everything is captioned today, and I depend on that, having recently lost my hearing. This movie is almost unwatchable due to this deplorable oversight. I would be curious to know if the other Pacific Family Entertainment movies are also not captioned, especially before I buy another one. Does anyone know if there can be obtained the orginial version of this movie anywhere?
Rating: 
Summary: Final Countdown
Review: Great movie, showing all the capabilities of a nuclear aircraft carrier,(USS Nimitz) in the early 80's final 70's I can't wait to see again those fantastic shots of F14's kicking some asses in the WWII (as bizzarre as it may sounds) I think it is just a long ride until may 04 it was supposed to be avialable by last month.(aug)
Rating:
Summary: Nuclear Aircraft Carrier travels to the date of infamy
Review: The nuclear aircraft carrier Nimitz is a fleet unto itself - its jet fighters, missiles and (presumably) nuclear weapons can win WWII several times over. On maneuvers off Hawaii in 1981, the ship encounters a mysterious storm finding itself cut off from fleet headquarters and its escorts. The only radio transmissions available broadcast Jack Benny and news of German tanks outside of Moscow. The untrained ears of some crewmen think that WWIII has broken out. The more trained ears have a more chilling idea: it sounds more like WWII has broken out. The storm - though cooler heads can't bring themselves to admit it ??? appears to have sent the Nimitz back to early December, 1941 ??? only days before the sneak attack on Pearl. Commander Matt Yellen (Douglas) is too officious to take any of these clues at face value, even when they involve sightings of Japanese fighters strafing American yachts ??? somebody is only trying to make the crew think it's gone back in time. The only true clue may rest with Mr. Lasky (Martin Sheen), a civilian analyst who works for the shadowy Mr. Tideman - a defense contractor who supplies Washington with much of its high-tech hardware (not a small amount of which found its way onto the Nimitz). While other officer debate whether they're being subjected to a massive practical joke or some kind of psych test, Lasky suggests not only that they have gone back in time, but that they can change history and save America from its day of infamy. Only when his reconnaissance planes spot the Japanese fleet on its way - to climb Mount Nitakaa??? (the supposed encoded authorization for the attack) does Yellen realize that he is now back in 1941. "Final Countdown" shouldn't work, but it's fun anyway. The maneuvering F-14s provide some of the best footage of dogfighting available until "Top Gun" - including an epic battle between the mach-2 jets and a hapless pair of Zero fighters (who are unlucky enough to meet the jets at that moment when Kirk Douglas changes his mind and decides that he has gone back to 1941 and the threat is real). The interchange between Douglas and Sheen overcomes the gaps in the plot ("so we pass through some weird storm and presto, now we're so much more clever than Mr. Einstein?") while a subplot involving Charles Durning as a Senator slated to run with FDR on the ticket that sent to Truman to the Whitehouse reminds us how malleable history really is. (If Durning survives, will he helm America on FDR's death, and make the decision to confront Stalin and nuke Japan?). At the heart of FC is the science-fiction/mystery aspect (how did a tear in the space-time continuum open up just where the ship would be and manage to deposit it precisely on the eve of the Pearl attack?), but the direction of the film (which concentrates on the nuts and bolts of running a nuclear aircraft carrier) swamps the mystery. It isn't until the last minute when the script offers us a mammoth twist that we realize we've been watching a sci-fi film, not just some film version of a Clancy novel. (The novelization by Martin Caidin gives this more attention). The last frame is cryptic (I know everybody's seen it, but why should I spoil the fun?) but still leaves me with chills. Years later, I still get a rush when I hear Kirk Douglas call out "Splash the Zeroes".
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible DVD edition of The Final Countdown
Review: Amazon sold me a washed out and blurry DVD widescreen of The Final Countdown. You could get FAR higher quality by recording off of commercial TV with a cheap VCR in EP or SLP mode. There is nothing wrong with the color or quality when commercial TV shows this film or with the Video version, though the latter is full screen. Now I do not see the DVD offered on Amazon any longer. This horrible junk was put out by Pacific Family Entertainment...which I suggest everyone avoid.
Rating:
Summary: oh well
Review: the movie is four stars. the DVD release (PFE: Pacific Family Entertainment) is zero stars. it's pan-and-scan and very poor transfer.
Rating:
Summary: So long, PFE. It was NOT nice knowing you.
Review: Out with bush league releases (PFE) and in with Bill Lustig's Blue Underground. Folks there may be a video entity after all. The previous commentary says it all. Farewell PFE! Sincerely,
Mr. Glen Allen (According to the Prez of PFE)
Glen Allen, VA
Rating:
Summary: Good bye PFE, hello Blue Underground
Review: Well, it appears that the new DVD re-release from PFE perhaps isn't going to happen. Given the absolutely horrid quality of PFE's last release of TFC and the company's poor customer service, it may be just as well. It appears PFE doesen't even own the rights to the movie! BUT!!!! I just read this from dvdreview.com : Blue Underground is set to release Final Countdown
August 27, 2003
Bill Lustig's Blue Underground has just secured the rights to the fan favorite science fiction actioner Final Countdown and is preparing DVD release of the movie, which is tentatively scheduled for release in May of 2004.
Directed by Don Taylor, this action adventure stars Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, Katherine Ross, James Farrentino, Ron O'Neal and Charles Durning, as it tells the the story of an American nuclear aircraft carrier and its crew that is caught in a supernatural storm which sends them back in time just before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
The DVD will be presented with new THX-approved 16x9 transfer in the movie's 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio, as well as a fullframe transfer, and state-of-the-art 6.1 DTS-ES and 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX soundtracks. No extras have been announced yet and will be unveiled at a later point as development gets under way. Rest assured however, that Blue Underground will make sure this is going to be a memorable release. WOOHOO!
Rating:
Summary: Three Strikes and You're OUT PFE!!!!!!!
Review: Please save everyone the time and money by just going away PFE! You have already screwed this up royally twice now! It's nice to see that they keep feeding lies to Amazon by constantly reissuing the release date. Maybe it'll be ready by Christmas 2005 if we're lucky. I can remember all the hype that started over a year ago when they announced the release of this classic. Since that time, it has been a huge laugh-fest. I agree with the other reviewers here in AVOIDING PFE at all costs!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: And you thought it would be released on time! Hah!
Review: I'm sorry if all you 5-star reviewers from PFE were optomistic, but as is par for the course at Pacific Family Entertainment, Final Countdown on DVD is once again delayed from its promised re-release date! Same thing happened with the horrible original, and the same is happening to this supposed re-release. Don't worry, though, because if you already own their awful first version, then you shouldn't waste any time on this second one - it's the EXACT SAME as the first one but with new packaging and (possibly) chapter markers. Avoid this dud at all costs unless you like buying VHS-quality drivel on DVD from a sham company.
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