The Final Countdown (1980)

Cast

Martin Sheen
as Warren Lasky
Katharine Ross
as Laurel Scott
Kirk Douglas
as Capt. Matthew Yelland
Charles Durning
as Senator Samuel Chapman

Get more information about The Final Countdown (1980) on IMDb

Genres & Description

Action Sci-Fi

6.7 / 10

In 1980, the assistant of the Department of Defense Warren Lasky is assigned by his mysterious chief Richard Tideman to visit the aircraft carrier USS Nimtz commanded by Capt. Matthew Yelland as an observer of the routines. Lasky finds that Wing Commander Richard T. Owens has a great knowledge of history. Out of the blue, the vessel faces a weird storm and they find that they have traveled back in time to the eve of the attack of Pearl Harbor on 06 December 1941. When the two Japanese Zeros attack the motorboat of Senator Samuel Chapman, the crew of the Nimitz rescues the senator and his assistant Laurel Scott. But sooner Lasky learns that the senator had disappeared on that day and Capt. Matthew Yelland is planning to attack the Japanese. Will these actions create a time paradox?

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Comments on this trailer
Comments may include spoiler!

Ye Olde Salty Dog

Later, on Nov 14, 2004.. She has yet another, but different encounter.... This time, a real event. - @Wednesday, November 28, 2018 8:47 PM

Magnus McKie

are the Americans really stupid? do they realise that saving 1000 lives in pearl harbour could mean millions dead because they were to chicken to let history work out like it should?! - @Sunday, September 30, 2018 4:22 AM

The Arising Light

Einstein didn't prove shit. He's a fraud! - @Saturday, December 9, 2017 6:26 PM

Nyan Cat

This movie was a good one - @Wednesday, September 6, 2017 3:43 AM

Willie Jefferson

I would love to see the back and forth convo between the Captain and Lassky that appears in the trailer but not in the film, where they are talking about the atom bomb and a man on the moon. Truly epic. - @Sunday, October 16, 2016 11:57 PM

beto bautista

Le Magnific ★★★★★★★ - @Sunday, January 24, 2016 4:03 AM

davidjradich

One of my favorite time travel movies! One of my favorite Navy movies! one of my favorite movies period. Good solid acting by the main cast. Awesome visuals, great dogfight scene way before CGI! I really like this film. As a Navy Vet, I also like the fact that it portrays the Navy fairly accurately, unlike many other Hollywood films. - @Wednesday, October 7, 2015 11:38 AM

GarthanSaal444

Can you believe Kirk Douglas is still alive? 98 years old? - @Monday, July 6, 2015 3:41 PM

Joshua Gerald

When I saw a youtube of F-14s vs zeros which came from the movie and the trailer of "The Final Countdown, I really wanted to see it. When I watched it. It was a cool movie. My dad liked it better than "Top Gun" On December 6th, 1980, The modern Nuclear powered aircraft carrier, USS Nimitz with a crew of 5,000 men and a strike force of mighty aircraft, was out in Pacific when it encountered storm time tunnel and when the ship passed through it, it traveled through time to a day before the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. - @Friday, November 28, 2014 10:30 PM

hatrisha

COULD THIS BE HAPPENING TO OUR FLIGHT MH 370 ? - @Saturday, March 15, 2014 8:57 AM

Zerosen89

I wonder if the Anime Zipang was made because of this film ? - @Tuesday, October 29, 2013 2:09 AM

ricjohn brecio

I thought of this once, but in reverse, what if WWII made war to modern military (NO MICHAEL BAY FANTASY) - @Monday, September 30, 2013 1:57 AM

streetrace442

At least when this movie was made, the Navy was the Navy. Not the joke it is today thanks to Obama. - @Saturday, September 28, 2013 5:09 AM

hengeworks

SvAndaman - there is no CGI. This movie is from 1980. - @Saturday, August 31, 2013 12:42 AM

Would the piston engine of the Zero produce enough heat to be targeted by heat seeker missiles? Because those were made to target jet engines, that work at a much higher temperature, I belive. - @Friday, July 5, 2013 1:54 AM

Frank Lee

the problem is not the zeros, which is to find the way to present day. lol - @Sunday, June 16, 2013 1:52 PM

walter dewees

they should have had the cvn-65 enterprise instead. Atleast there was a ship named the cv-6enterprise during world war two it would have been ironic. - @Monday, May 27, 2013 6:56 PM

computerpurple

Like and agree with your post comment. James Farentino was a good actor. - @Wednesday, May 1, 2013 7:21 PM

thiscynthiachick

The Final Cop Out. - @Sunday, April 7, 2013 5:01 PM

vn01208503

tomcat vs zero...OP haha - @Saturday, April 6, 2013 2:38 PM

Cracker Jack

dude I watched this movie and it was very boring -_- - @Tuesday, April 2, 2013 1:12 AM

BNT

Yea, if only they gave an explanation why it appeared, why they were brought back at THAT specific time in history and why they were brought back exactly where they were right before they would have struck the Japanese fleet. If they only wrote in a subplot about an alien spy on the ship testing the humans... Oh... and another thing... at the end of the film Lassky and Captain discuss the death of CAG... but two other pilots and a soldier died too... nobody mentioned them!!! Not important. - @Saturday, March 2, 2013 3:26 PM

blondJasper

I think we were supposed to assume that the Soviet 'fishing boat' (spy ship) was the cause of the storm. - @Saturday, March 2, 2013 3:20 PM

Laureen Zed

Have another bong hit, Martin - @Saturday, February 16, 2013 2:23 AM

Terry Jaster

Never read the book before watching the movie. The last jet to come from the time storm.. The pilot had aged over 100 years. Explains the look on Owens face when he sees him after he is removed from the plane. - @Sunday, January 6, 2013 12:24 PM

TungstenKid

All I know is that if I'd been Captain instead of Douglas, I'd have announced to the crew- "We don't know how or why we were put back here in time, but our job is to protect American lives and that's exactly what we're gonna do! First we'll blow the incoming Japs out of the sky, then we'll wipe out their carrier task force, then we'll take over the whole Pacific. That is all" - @Thursday, December 13, 2012 2:58 PM

arnebarnard

Not true..... - @Tuesday, December 11, 2012 9:11 PM

arnebarnard

SPOILER!!!!!!! The real twisty part was at the beginning, when Cmdr. Owens existed simultaneously as his younger and older self! - @Tuesday, December 11, 2012 9:09 PM

arnebarnard

I can tell you were born AFTER 1980....... - @Tuesday, December 11, 2012 9:04 PM

BNT

I Love the film, but its clearly made like a navy recruitment film. There are also several nitpicks, like the weapons on the planes that launch to attack the Japanese fleet; some planes take off without any weapons! Everybody blacks out going through the storm, including the lonely pilot at the beginning, but all the pilots at the end seem to be all ok! And i hate it that there is no explanation where the storm comes from or why. - @Tuesday, December 11, 2012 9:01 PM

arnebarnard

Awwwww, *wah*................ - @Tuesday, December 11, 2012 9:01 PM

arnebarnard

WHAT song? - @Tuesday, December 11, 2012 9:00 PM

arnebarnard

You're not taking into account the "Paradox Loop" which runs through time eternal and makes sure that mistakes will always be made! - @Tuesday, December 11, 2012 8:58 PM

arnebarnard

Released 1980, produced 1979.... - @Tuesday, December 11, 2012 8:55 PM

arnebarnard

The commander had to make a choice between his men and rewriting history. I would have loved to see where we prevented Pearl Harbor from happening, but ultimately, the director of this movie realized that it was the United States destiny to be in WW 2, lest foreign powers take away our freedom. The footage of the attack along with FDR's broadcast is a very poignant moment in this movie, reminding us that some things can't be changed..... - @Tuesday, December 11, 2012 8:49 PM

arnebarnard

There WAS a special edition of this released on DVD sometime in the mid- 2000's. I am still kicking myself for not having got it because it was a loaded 2 discer! - @Tuesday, December 11, 2012 8:44 PM

arnebarnard

New CGI for what? The time travel sequence? It still holds up.... - @Tuesday, December 11, 2012 8:43 PM

BNT

there are lines of dialogue in this trailer that are not in the film. Is there a special version somewhere to be found? - @Friday, November 9, 2012 9:43 PM

Hans Martens

Seen this movie a couple of times, have seen the U.S.S. NIMITZ 4 real in Roosevelt Roads (Puerto Rico) in 1978....Damn I wasn't allowed to enter it...:-) - @Saturday, October 13, 2012 11:28 PM

pip stanton

was that the dude from the troma films? lol - @Monday, October 8, 2012 7:24 AM

blondyboy88

i know thats so disappointing - @Tuesday, September 25, 2012 6:12 AM

Zontar

There's a book for that, it's called Weapons of Choice, where a US lead coalition fleet is sent back in time. - @Saturday, September 1, 2012 12:33 AM

KevvyLava

If they make a new one, they better at least change history rather than pussing out at the end. Screw that, let's see a redo of the whole war be a bunch of generals and politicians who don't care about the future and just want to blow everything up. haha - @Monday, August 27, 2012 9:44 AM

Legiondude

Beards were banned in 1984, the movie was made in 1980 There's nothing wrong - @Sunday, August 19, 2012 2:09 PM

joshjhutton

The Unbelievable part about this movie is not the "time travel" factor, but the fact that there would be a guy in the navy with a full beard. Whats up with that? Did the producers not realize that you can't grow a beard in the military? Talk about not doing your homework and not paying attention to detail. - @Friday, August 10, 2012 12:42 PM

Peter David Documentaries

Great scene with Laskey yelling at the Captain. It wasn't in the completed film. - @Monday, July 16, 2012 1:46 PM

Johan Lebbing

The Final Countdown is one of the most nostalgic movies in my list. Even now, the film captures me. The music is overwelming. How i miss the 80`s. - @Thursday, June 28, 2012 2:47 PM

Carlson

wow. 1980s! - @Saturday, May 26, 2012 1:48 PM

Eddy Currents

I just finished watching this movie. It's still great. I caught it when it was released. There are a few scenes in the trailer that never made it into the film. Thanks for the upload. - @Saturday, May 12, 2012 4:59 AM

marvelmax03191

This trailer still gets me pumped, especially when you see the Japanese planes in formation, then the modern jets headed towards them! - @Saturday, April 28, 2012 12:26 AM