It is 1980 and the USS Nimitz puts to sea off of Pearl Harbor for routine exercises. After encountering a strange storm and losing all contact with the US Pacific Fleet, nuclear war with the Soviet Union is assumed and the USS Nimitz arms herself for battle. However, after encountering Japanese Zero scout planes and finding Pearl Harbor filled with pre-World War II battleships, it is realized that the storm the Nimitz went through caused the ship to travel back in time: to December 6th, 1941. The USS Nimitz, a modern-day nuclear aircraft carrier, is drawn through a time warp from 1980 to a couple days before the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor, and the crew must decide whether to launch a preemptive strike against the incoming Japanese carrier fleet with their more advanced air wing, or allow history to take its course, which might not happen since they had rescued Senator Chapman, who disappeared shortly before the attack, from his death. "The Final Countdown" is a good movie, but in a different kind of way. It's good in the same way you might find a Twinkie or a double-fudge brownie good; that is, it's a guilty pleasure. You like it, but you know it probably isn't doing much for you.<br/><br/>The film itself is little more than a wonderful montage of naval aviation. The implausible plot finds a modern nuclear aircraft carrier myseriously (and conveniently) transported in time to December 6, 1941 just a short hop from Pearl Harbor. This turn of events sets the stage for the real point of the movie; many scenes of carrier flight operations featuring a "triumphant" musical score any time a piece of military hardware is on the screen. One of the best scenes features a dogfight between American F-14's and Japanese Zeros. The scene is great but let's face it, it has all the drama of a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Dr. Ruth. Sure, she's a scrappy old broad and he hasn't fought in a while, but c'mon - it would be Iron Mike winning every round with a TKO in the 8th. Bet on it.<br/><br/>The film features very little in the way of exploration of their time travel predicament or the consequences of their actions. Such notions are mentioned and forgotten in short order. They would only distract the viewer from the great aviation scenes, anyway. They debate whether or not to defend the US from what they know is about to happen and engage in a very brief debate about the consequences and that's it. No one even thinks of flying one of those planes to Pearl Harbor (or Hickam Field, maybe) and talking to someone there. If I were a soldier in 1941 and an F-14 landed in front of me, you can rest assured I would pay attention to whoever got out of it.<br/><br/>The ending is every bit as implausible as the beginning. I've never been a film student, but I dimly recall from my college humanities classes something called "deus ex machina" (God from a machine). They used this contrivance in old Greek dramas. They would weave a complex morality plot with no easy resolution; so they would simply have the gods (represented by a machine lowered onto the stage) swoop in and impose a neat and tidy ending. This movie seems to be the modern incarnation of that ancient plot device.<br/><br/>In summary, think of this movie as junk food for your brain. If your looking for serious exploration of the paradoxes of time travel or the geopolitical consequences if Pearl Harbor turned out differently, then pass on this movie. If you just want to be entertained by a naval aviation spectacle, then watch and enjoy it! This film is one of the great ones. Having served on an aircraft carrier for 2.5 years, I'm familiar with aircraft carrier excitement. But the movie was more than just wonderful shots of the U.S. Nimitz. The cast was top drawer, and their acting was as good as it gets. Standing above all the great performances was a Japanese actor portraying a shot-down, highly competent, captured Japanese Zero pilot. While racism understandably raises its ugly head during wartime, with epithets and insults hurled in both directions, in fact this Japanese actor portrayed a Japanese warrior at his finest–someone whom Japanese viewers would be proud of. Played equally well were American military personnel, including some Marines. One of the candid themes of the movie is the tragedy of such fine people going to war against each other, whatever their race.<br/><br/>The film is undeniably top drawer, far more mature than than "Top Gun," with even better flying scenes. So I've often wondered why it isn't widely known and not kept in stock in widescreen format. Perhaps the answer is today's wimpy trend towards "politically correct" dialog. In one scene, Kirk Douglas refers to the captured Japanese pilot as a "yellow bastard." In the video version, this was sanitized. However, sanitized or not, the original racial comment, by itself, may have doomed the film from greater video distribution.<br/><br/>I saw the film when it came out in wide-screen format and saw it several times before it left town. Thereafter, the only other versions available in video were "fit-to-TV-screen" size. That was tragic! Though still exciting in "box" format, the widescreen original was breathtaking. I cannot imagine why producers haven't released this in DVD in original wide-screen format. It makes a huge difference with this film! (Aircraft carriers are huge!)<br/><br/>One interesting comment to add about the F-14 flying scenes. I was awed by one particular F-14 maneuver, which I didn't think airplanes were capable of doing. A couple of years later, I talked with a Navy fighter pilot and brought this up. He was very familiar with that scene and personally knew the pilot who flew the F-14 in the movie. He told me that the F-14 almost crashed in that scene, stalling while trying to fly too slow, diving for the ocean to pick up speed, and barely recovering just above the wave tops. This near-accident was caught on film and added immensely to the exhibition of flying skill. An exception had been granted to the Navy's policy of not allowing "dissimilar aircraft" to fly together in movie scenes. The result of that granted exception was almost the loss of an F-14.<br/><br/>This is an incredibly good drama. I found that the various twists and turns, and particularly the call-it-off ending, all contributed to the drama and moral dilemmas. This is a fine, great movie. Like others who commented here, it seems tragic that this film is not available in widescreen DVD format. Everyone I've shown it to loves it, male and female. Feminism and romance are included, along with a collie dog for the kids.
It's briefly discussed in the film but it deals with the paradox of time travel itself. How could they go back and prevent the attack on Pearl Harbor? Because if they had done that, then the attack never happened. If it had never happened they wouldn't have needed to try and stop it. Also rescuing Senator Chapman, they saved him from the fate of being strafed and killed by the Zeroes, however he wound up accidentally blowing himself up as a result. Therefore he never lived to be Roosevelt's running mate as he never made it past that day alive. As far as everyone in 1941 was concerned, his yacht sank and he went missing and only those aboard the Nimitz knew what actually happened. Therefore even if one tries to alter history, the paradox of time travel prevents this from happening. No, Japanese mini-subs also attacked Pearl Harbour which would have been more than enough to bring the US into the war. Japan also attacked US territories such as the Philippines, Guam and Wake Island in addition to Pearl Harbour. Also it would only have been the first wave of several airstrikes. <br/><br/> a5c7b9f00b Karmouz War full movie hd downloadThe Expressionistic Jump in hindi 720pAssassinista movie free download in hindithe El club de Los Tigritos full movie download in hindiThe The Dead PoolThird Watch full movie in hindi free downloadWarriors tamil pdf downloadGame of Death II full movie downloadStarman sub downloadThe Fifth Element movie hindi free download
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