Comment #121

Time travel has always fascinated us. For generations people have wanted to know what it would be like to go ahead in time, and especially backward. In the Final Countdown, you and the characters are taken back in time not just to any place, but to the time of one of the most important days in America's history.

The U.S.S. Nimitz is a nuclear aircraft carrier in 1980 that is stationed in Pearl Harbor. It is pulled into a supernatural time warp that sends it to the same place, but 39 years earlier. That's right, Pearl Harbor in 1941, and the morning of December 6, in fact. When the crew of the Nimitz realizes where they are, they must decide if they want to change the fate of the people there on that morning as well as American history.

The cast overall is enjoyable to watch, but not perfect. Martin Sheen is great as Warren Lasky, a guest on the Nimitz on the day the time warp takes it away. Kirk Douglas is also worthy of recognition as Captain Matthew Yelland, the captain of the Nimitz. However, Charles Durning as Senator Samuel Chapman can get annoying, not because of Durning, but because his character complains almost the whole time he is on-screen. Also, it's kind of easy to notice that some of the crew members of the Nimitz are actual sailors, not actors by the way they deliver their lines.

The flying scenes and visual effects in the movie were a lot of fun, especially when Nimitz crewmembers encounter Pearl Harbor-era Japanese Zero scout planes. The score by Alan Howarth and John Scott was pretty good, and the sounds of the planes and ships were well-done as well.

The Final Countdown is a great movie, but not perfect. For anyone looking for a movie that gets your imagination and your adrenaline going, The Final Countdown is the right choice.

8/10