The Final Countdown

Like the “Philadelphia Experiment” and the “Time Tunnel”, going back in time can be a tricky thing. There are paradoxes. There have been quite a few movies that try to represent it. Although Einstein’s Theory of Relativity does not rule it out, physics usually does. The two main categories of time travel paradoxes are the “Closed Casual Loops” and the “Consistency Paradoxes”. Examples of the Closed Casual Loops are the “Predestination Paradox” (someone goes back in time and trying to stop an action from happening actually causes it to happen.) and the “Bootstrap Paradox” (someone goes back in time and his actions creates something that in the future goes back in time and creates the same thing etc. etc. in a forever loop). Examples of the Consistency paradoxes are the “Grandfather Paradox” (you go back in time and kill your grandfather so how are ever born to go back in time and kill your grandfather?), the “Lets kill Hitler paradox” (if you go back in time to kill Hitler you erase the reason for you to go back in time) and “Polchinski’s Paradox” (something goes into a wormhole and emerges on the other side in the past in time to collide with it’s younger version and stop it from going into the wormhole in the first place). In “The Final Countdown” the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is overcome by a strange electrical storm and throws the ship back in time to December 6, 1941. The day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Captain Matthew Yelland (Kirk Douglas), defense department expert Warren Lasky (Martin Sheen) and Commander Richard Owens (James Farentino) are tasked with the decision on whether or not to allow the attack or interfere and change the course of history. Although the carrier is equipped to intervene and stop the attack on Pearl Harbor the question is should it. Not only is the movie a Science Fiction movie put also a discussion in Ethics. And from both sides. The Americans have their view and the Japanese pilot has his. Katharine Ross and Charles Durning also star in this little “what if?” movie. It’s a great Science Fiction story. With all those stars the acting is great. The action is there. The continuity is there. It’s all very well done. And it’s cool to watch. So do yourself a favor and leave all the “what ifs” behind. Don’t worry about the logistics of time travel or the accuracy of the physics. Just let it flow. It’ll be fun.

Great movie for all…. I’ve seen it many times on TV……I’m excited to have it. It’s a story you never tire of….great cast.

This was a TV movie -- a very good TV movie. A lot better than many big-budget theatrical films. The story is a good one. What would happen if the nuclear war ship, the USS Enterprise, existed just before the sneak attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor? Would history have been changed? Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, James Farentino, Charles Durning, Ron O'Neal, Katherine Ross, and Soon-Tek Oh all give believable performances. The film starts in the present day (when it was made) with Sheen boarding the Enterprise as an efficiency expert to observe and report his findings to his mysterious boss -- who sees him off from his limo -- Sheen has never met him, and doesn't meet him now. The ship soon enters an area of very strange weather where the instruments all get goofy, a strange circular hole appears -- through which the Enterprise goes -- and a weird noise permeates the ship enough so that everyone covers their ears in pain. The graphics are okay for the time in which the film was made -- and also because the producers were just about out of money by the time they needed to do the special effects -- so they did well under the circumstances. But this isn't a "special effects" film, anyway. It is story driven. All the characters are from the present, except for the Japanese pilot, a US Senator and his aid, who are discovered after the Enterprise goes back in time to 1941. Will the Enterprise prevent the attack on Pearl Harbor? Will it do nothing so as not to change history? Will it be stuck in 1941? Did it really go back in time? Is it all just an elaborate ruse -- perhaps by Sheen's boss to "study" what the crew will do? Or have the Russians -- this starts out during the cold war -- somehow fool the Enterprise -- but for what purpose? The story flows, the acting is good, the story is -- okay, maybe not "plausible" but it does "track." It has a nifty ending. This print -- the two-disc edition with the blue cover -- is excellent. Do not watch other lesser-quality copies. (At this writing, Amazon still lumps ALL reviews into one place -- no matter the source -- so beware inferior film prints.) Watch this TV movie -- which really was too good for TV.

Technisch gezien is dit een schijfje met de film 'The final countdown' in 3D formaat. Maar er valt weinig aan 3D effecten te zien, behalve dat alles wat achter het beeldvlak is geplaatst. Daarnaast zit er nog een 2e film op hetzelfde schijfje. Beeldkwaliteit is zeer matig. Hier wordt niemand blij van.

Nur Orginalfassung in Englisch.

Un bon classique. Je l'avais adoré étant gamin, j'ai pris plaisir à le revoir

Great movie, really enjoyed it.

Immer wieder gut