FILM · 1980 · USA
The Final Countdown
53 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (53)
- #001
A total of 48 real U.S. Navy personnel from the USS Nimitz appeared in the end credits for their performances as extras, background performers or actors; some even had speaking parts.
- #002
The film was made with the full cooperation of the U.S. Navy.
- #003
The script called for the Japanese pilot to try to land his F-14 in the water. The pilot was primarily Richard Farrell, who was filmed with a helmet-mounted camera very close to the water. He kicked up a great deal of seawater and really pushed the limits of the Tomcat. Archie Donahue, the top-scoring U.S. ace of World War II, was one of the Zero pilots. The Zeros (AT-6 Texans in disguise) flew at full throttle while the F-14s flew at stall speed (with their wings fully extended in most scenes), so that both aircraft could appear in the same shot at the same time.
- #004
Stock footage and materials from Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) were used in the scenes featuring Pearl Harbor, converted to black and white for a vintage look.
- #005
Hungary banned the film in the mid-1980s on the grounds that it glorified the U.S. Armed Forces. Along with a Russian trawler monitoring the USS Nimitz, some illegal copies circulated on VHS.
- #006
Most of the interior scenes were shot aboard the USS Nimitz.
- #007
The U.S. Navy sponsored the premiere and displayed the poster in branch recruiting offices.
- #008
There is a little-known tradition outside of Navy ranks called "breakaway music." Breakaway music is a modern U.S. Navy custom used to motivate sailors upon the completion of an underway replenishment (UNREP). When the two ships involved in the UNREP finish transferring fuel and supplies and begin to separate, a song (usually chosen by the Captain, but sometimes by the Deck Officer or Navigation Officer) is played over the 1MC, the all-hands circuit that addresses the entire ship. Breakaway music can sometimes relate to the ship's name, such as "Theme from Star Trek" (USS Enterprise), "Theme from Rocky" (USS Boxer) and "Theme from Bad Company" (USS Forrestal). Following the completion of a UNREP, the USS Nimitz's breakaway music today may be the only piece written uniquely for a ship --- John Scott's "Theme from The Final Countdown."
- #009
As in most pre-CGI effects films about the Pacific War, the aircraft standing in for the A6M2 Zeros are actually specially modified AT-6 Texans disguised to resemble Zeros (because the two aircraft look quite similar when viewed from the side rather than from above).
- #010
ALTERNATE ENDING: The Final Countdown (1980) originally had a different ending, in which the USS Nimitz returns to the present but finds that the world has changed. However, due to negative reactions from test audiences, this ending was changed and the final version of the film ends differently.
- #011
Kirk Douglas initially wanted his son Michael Douglas to play the role of Martin Sheen, but this was impossible because Michael was deeply involved in the post-production and promotion of The China Syndrome (1979).
- #012
Filming in the U.S. reportedly wrapped early because the USS Nimitz was recalled to its home base to take on helicopters and crew for "Operation Eagle Claw," the ill-fated 1980 attempt to rescue the hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Iran.
- #013
It was filmed in the Atlantic, not the Pacific (where it is set). The USS Nimitz was an Atlantic fleet ship until the summer of 1987, when it was transferred to the Pacific. The USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) stood in for the Nimitz as it passed the Arizona and arrived at Pearl Harbor.
- #014
The U.S. Navy provided a number of filming recommendations and was involved in the production shoot along with a "B" crew responsible for all the aerial aviation scenes.
- #015
While filming the opening shot of the Tomcat taking off from Pearl Harbor, the film crew underestimated the blast radius of the Tomcat's exhaust. When the aircraft went to afterburner, one of the cameras was knocked over and the shot was captured from a slightly different angle than originally planned.
- #016
Producer Peter Douglas is the son of Kirk Douglas.
- #017
Senator Chapman and Laurel Scott flew by helicopter to Ni'ihau, the second smallest of the eight main Hawaiian islands and the only one in private ownership. The film portrays it as a deserted place, but in real life the island had about 200 permanent residents during World War II as well as a U.S. Navy training base since it had been closed.
- #018
The special effect of the storm that sends the USS Nimitz through time was achieved with a dry ice machine and a nightclub-style laser beam projector filmed with blue light.
- #019
As of 2020, every type of aircraft featured in the film has been retired by the United States Navy except the E-2 Hawkeyes.
- #020
In the film, the F-14 Tomcats of VF-84 'Jolly Rogers' are shown dogfighting with Japanese Zeros. In August 1981, a year after the film's release, Nimitz's other F-14 unit at the time, VF-41 'Black Aces' (which also appears on screen), engaged in the F-14's first real combat when a pair of VF-41 Tomcats downed two Libyan SU-22 'Fitters' in the Gulf of Sidra.
- #021
When one of the "Playing" F-14s pulls into a steep dive and the pilot ejects just before hitting the ocean, the "scream" the jet makes was created by mixing the sound of the jet engines with the pilot's wife's genuine scream the first time she saw that clip.
- #022
Although the film is set in the Pacific, all filming aboard and around the USS Nimitz was done in the Florida Keys.
- #023
The big finale, in which Lasky is invited into the limousine and taken away from the ship, was shot at the Nimitz's home port in Norfolk, Virginia. The limousine drives straight toward the end of Pier 12.
- #024
The time-travel storm is the same special effect seen during the climatic dream-sequence confrontation in The Lathe of Heaven (1980).
- #025
As seen in some of the final scenes, two of Captain Yelland's most significant decorations are the Navy Cross and the Silver Star, both of which denote courage in combat. This indicated that he was a Vietnam veteran and had seen combat there, as also indicated by the numerous Vietnam-related ribbons.
- #026
The sailors aboard the carrier are playing Avalon Hill's "Squad Leader" board wargame.
- #027
Body count: 13. Three people on the yacht, two Japanese pilots, three sailors, Chapman, and four crew members in the helicopter.
- #028
Both the cameraman and his operator were stranded on the USS Nimitz's flight deck when they tried to film an F-14 taking off for the first time.
- #029
Although Kirk Douglas's son Peter Douglas was the film's producer, he also played a small role as the supply officer whom the Captain orders out of the plotting room before viewing the reconnaissance photos of an intact Pearl Harbor. In the next scene he is seen walking into the commotion and telling his shipmates "we're at war." On close inspection, the name "Douglas" is even written on the left chest of his shirt.
- #030
The call sign of the pilot flying the reconnaissance mission over Pearl Harbor (like "Maverick" in Top Gun) is Soup, because his surname is Campbell. It appears on the aircraft beside the cockpit as "Lt. James 'Soup' Campbell," but only Soup and Campbell are visible.
- #031
Martin Sheen, who was out of shape from his previous military role in Apocalypse Now (1979), did 500 push-ups and sit-ups a day to prepare for this role.
- #032
The first theatrical trailer on the Blue Underground DVD contains more dialogue between Yelland and Lasky about the consequences of sending the aircraft back.
- #033
Just before filming began, the production company was defrauded of several hundred thousand dollars by a fake company. This led to a tighter budget than expected, and it did not help when filming ran a week over schedule, causing friction among the producers, the crew, the director and star Kirk Douglas.
- #034
The captured Japanese pilot displays the sleeve rank insignia of a Lieutenant, which would make him a fairly senior pilot in Kido Butai air groups. Ninety percent of pilots in the Imperial Japanese Navy were enlisted personnel, not officers. Shigekazu Shimazaki, who commanded the Zuikaku's air wing and the second Japanese attack wave at Pearl Harbor, was only one rank higher, a Lieutenant Commander. Zenji Abe, who commanded a squadron of Val dive bombers during the attack, was a Lieutenant.
- #035
Reportedly, the unrest and opposition among the film crew resulted in a series of firings and replacements.
- #036
Independently made but distributed theatrically by United Artists in 1980, the film was given a VHS and Betamax home rental release around 1983 by Warner Home Video (distributing on behalf of United Artists). Some time after that, the distribution rights must have lapsed, since the film surfaced in the early 2000s as a budget DVD release from a low-budget independent label, but the transfer was made from a low-quality source (probably a videotape or 16 mm film print). A few years later, however, this appears to have been corrected, since independent cult-film specialists released a high-definition Blu-ray apparently based on a pure 35 mm (possibly 70 mm) film print.
- #037
The CAG's flight helmet has eight balls on the right side. CAG was formerly an abbreviation for both Carrier Air Group and Commander Air Group. The air group commander is therefore referred to and known as the CAG. Until 1963, air groups were designated Carrier Air Groups (CAG or CVG were somewhat interchangeable, CVG being official). In 1963 the designation was changed to Carrier Air Wing, CVW. However, calling the air group commander "CAW" or "CVW" does not sound right, so the commander is still called the CAG, and this remains correct, since CAG originally had a double meaning but now carries only the single (current) meaning of Commander, Air Group. In addition, all air wings are numbered and their aircraft carry a two-letter name.
- #038
The SH-3 Sea King helicopters used in this film are the same type used to carry the President as "Marine One."
- #039
The number of aircraft and personnel said to have disappeared is given as 102 aircraft and 6,000 men.
- #040
In 1984 the Department of the Navy issued a policy change regarding beards: beards were banned in all ranks. In the context of this film, the lieutenant commander communications officer has a beard. Officers were strongly encouraged to remain clean-shaven.
- #041
The Final Countdown (1980) was produced by Kirk Douglas's own production company, Bryna.
- #042
The date on which the aircraft carrier disappears was December 7, 1980. The date on which it arrives was December 6, 1941… one day before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
- #043
The film's cast includes three Oscar nominees: Kirk Douglas, Charles Durning and Katharine Ross. Douglas is a winner of the special, non-competitive Oscar.
- #044
During the production of The Final Countdown, some Navy sailors wore beards, mustaches and sideburns. Admiral Elmo Zumwalt had granted them that authorization in 1970 while he was Chief of Naval Operations. This policy was rescinded in 1984.
- #045
Don Taylor had previously directed another science fiction film involving time travel, Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971).
- #046
Seeing that the pilot had been injured by the tailhook malfunction, Owens noticed an inexplicable expression of shock. This is never explained. In the original theatrical release, the pilot had turned into an old man ahead of his time because of the storm. This would have raised questions about a similar problem concerning the pilots of the attack wing, and it was cut from the later video version.
- #047
The film is set in 1980 and between December 6 and December 7, 1941.
- #048
The name of the pleasure yacht was the "Gatsby" of Honolulu Harbor.
- #049
The Final Countdown was also a novel by Martin Caidin (1927-1997).
- #050
It was the last theatrical film directed by Don Taylor. His subsequent film projects were directing TV movies.
- #051
In the scene where the sailors listen to the boxing match on the radio, one of them was playing "Simon."
- #052
Soon-Tek Oh and Alvin Ing appeared together in the original cast of "Pacific Overtures," which ran on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York from January to June 1976.
- #053
The Final Countdown (1980) was included in Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert's list of the worst films of 1980.
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