Of course, the aerial sequences and the film quality are paired down relative to modern sequences, like those found in the Top Gun franchise – but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. To film aerial sequences, the crew mounted Panavision cameras on various aircraft, including a Bell 206 Jet Ranger helicopter, a Learjet 35, and a B-25 bomber that was modified as a camera platform. Complete with Japanese color schemes, the vintage craft go head to head with F-14 Tomcats from the VFA-103 “Jolly Rogers” squadron. Yet perhaps the most noteworthy aircraft appearing in the film were T-6 Texans, modified to resemble the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero and the Nakajima B5N Kate, and the BT-13 Valiant modified to resemble an Aichi D3A Val.
In all the film features a smorgasbord of different US airframes: EA-3B Skywarrior F-14 Tomcat E-2 Hawkeye A-6 Intruder S-3 Viking A-7 Corsair II F-4 Phantom II RA-5C Vigilante SH-3 Sea King RF-8G Crusader. Aviation enthusiasts remember The Final Countdown as a cinematic gem, replete with carrier operations and aerial combat. The film was shot over two five-week periods in 1979, at Naval Station Norfolk, Naval Air Station Key West, and off the coast of the Florida Keys.
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engage full heartedly, determined to prevent the Japanese assault at Pearl Harbor.
What does one do, with modern war fighting tech, against outdated 1940s prop-planes? Naturally, Kirk Douglas and Co. The electrical storm/vortex was actually a time warp, which dragged the Nimitz back through time, to December 1941 in the moments preceding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The airborne, modern jets help to piece together what’s really going on. The Nimitz’s commander, portrayed by Kirk Douglas, launches an RF-8 Crusader and a pair of F-14 Tomcats. The ship’s radar and electrical equipment go haywire, leaving the crew to speculate that a nuclear strike may have hit Hawaii. In the film, which begins in 1980, the Nimitz departs Pearl Harbor to conduct exercises in the Pacific Ocean.Īt sea, the Nimitz encounters an electrical storm/vortex, which draws the nuclear-powered carrier inward. Unlike most war films, and certainly unlike most films enjoying the cooperation of the Department of Defense, fantastical elements drive The Final Countdown’s plot, rooting the film squarely in the science-fiction realm. Set and filmed aboard the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), The Final Countdown features Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas and a pre-West Wing Martin Sheen. Where the hell are we?!” Before The Right Stuff (1983) or Top Gun (1986), Iron Eagle (1986), Flight of the Intruder (1991), Stealth (2005), or Top Gun: Maverick (2022), the US Navy and the Department of Defense cooperated fully to help Bryna Productions put out a carrier-based cult classic: The Final Countdown (1980). The Final Countdown (1980) trailer starring Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen.“This is the USS Nimitz.
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Lawrence)Īlso, check these topics out: Sword of Trust movie, The Rook Season 1 Episode 2 trailer, Alan Smith Beat Shazam, Steve Harvey show cancelled, Ventriloquist bird act, Worst Cooks in America Winners, Claws Season 3 Episode 5 release date, AGT judges 2019, Life in Pieces cancelled, AGT Lamont Landers, AGT 84 year old man, Taylor Swift Scooter Braun, Why Did I Get Married movie, Big Little Lies Season 2 Episode 5 trailer, Girl singing opera on AGT, Free Meek TV series, Amazing Race winners. Charles Durning as Senator Samuel Chapman.Distributor : Producers Sales Organization (PSO) / United Artists / Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC) / Concorde Film / New Gold Entertainment / Shochiku-Fuji Company / Jugendfilm-Verleih / Europa Film / Fram Film / Filmes Lusomundo / AVU-Video-Vertriebs-GmbH / American Broadcasting Company (ABC) / Aquarius TV / Blue Underground / EMS / European Video Corporation (EVC) / Image Entertainment / Indies Home Entertainment / Manga Films / New Line Home Vídeo / Pacific Family Entertainment / Panorama Distributions / Rough Trade Distribution / South Pacific Video / VCG / Vestron Video.Language : English / Japanese / Russian.Produced by Peter Vincent Douglas and directed by Don Taylor, the film stars Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, James Farentino, Katharine Ross and Charles Durning. The Final Countdown is a 1980 alternate history science fiction film about a modern aircraft carrier that travels through time to the day before the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.