There are a few problems with 'The Final Countdown,' the main one being that it's too real. Let me explain. The film was shot almost entirely on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Nimitz with the Navy's full cooperation. Now one might think that was quite a coup for the filmmakers, but on viewing the finished product, it seems very constrictive. Sure, there is plenty of footage of navy jets taking off and landing that's fun to watch, in and of itself. But too often such footage seems to be at the expense of the movie itself, and its plot, and having anything really interesting happen. For instance, early on, one of the jets returning to the carrier reports trouble with its landing hook, which is supposed to grab a tether when it lands on deck. So the order is given to raise the emergency barrier to prevent the plane from going off the other end of the deck into the ocean. This is done and the jet lands safely. That's it. It has nothing to do with any part of the plot. In fact, it's like watching a training film for navy recruits. Far too much of 'The Final Countdown' IS like watching a navy training film, unfortunately. The actors and the film's story seem like intruders aboard the Nimitz. Many scenes are unambitiously cut short. The reality of the ship sinks the believability of the story. We never for one minute believe Kirk Douglas is really the captain of the Nimitz. It's obvious too, that many of the ship's crew were used as extras. Here the problem is just the opposite. They have zero screen presence. One of the reasons you hire professional actors for movies is they ARE professionals and have spent a great deal of time learning their skills at projecting a character and speaking lines of dialogue effectively. Whoever it is that says, "Captain on bridge," and "Captain off bridge" about thirty times has obviously never acted in his life. A shame too, since the story idea is a good one, albeit one straight out of Time Travel 101. What if a modern day aircraft carrier was somehow transported back in time to the day before the Pearl Harbor attack? Even though it's not a terribly original premise, there are so many ways one can have fun with the idea, so many possibilities. But all 'The Final Countdown' can do is nibble around the edges. The requisite questions are asked: What if I meet my own grandfather and he dies? Or, what if someone who was meant to die, survives? What if the captain warns Washington? What if the Nimitz attacks and defeats the Japanese fleet? Unfortunately, again, the questions as phrased above are about as far as 'The Final Countdown' gets in playing with any of the tantalizing might-have-beens. One begins wishing for even a long, drawn-out conversation between two of the characters about those various possibilities. But the screenwriters cannot so much as bring themselves to do that, and such scenes are cut short as well. The brutal truth is that nothing much of anything happens in this movie and at the end, one is left with a huge 'so what?' kind of feeling. 'The Final Countdown' should have been titled 'The Final Letdown.'
Review of The Final Countdown
