The Final Countdown (1980)

[Plain Old Tele]

Discuss.

[Fancyarcher]

In the 1980 Worst of Episode, Gene Siskel said that the Final Countdown suffered from the idiotic plot. Now you could consider the plot to be ridiculous, but I personally don't think the plot is idiotic in any way; in fact the plot is quite interesting.

 

Although the Final Countdown is not a particularly great movie, it is entertaining and interesting. The whole idea of trying to stop a historical event (in this case the bombing of pearl harbor) is something that has been done in fiction before. But it's always interested me. What if you had to opportunity to stop a great disaster, would you?

 

The cast is great. You got Kirk Douglas as the gruff Captain, Martin Sheen as the Skipper whose the most intelligent member of the crew, James Farentino as the Wing Commander, Ron O'Neal as the other commander and the black guy of the film, Katherine Ross as a woman from 1941 who doesn't serve any real purpose until the end and seems to be their just so they can have a female in the film, Charles Durning as a senator from 1941 whose very important to the plot of the film. Lloyd Kaufman (who was an associate producer, back when he was still involved with mainstream films) also makes an unrecognizable appearance as a member of the crew. His character being named Kaufman in the credits was obviously intentional. He didn't really stand out though, so I didn't notice him on first viewing.

 

The music by John Scott is great too. It gives me a heroic / war feel.

 

The time vortex scene is cool, even if it does feel somewhat outdated by today's standards.Course this being a time travel film, means there are plot holes, but I was able to enjoy the film regardless. It's somewhat silly, but it's entertaining.

 

Plus it's a better Pearl Harbor movie than Pearl Harbor was.

 

7 / 10

Edited January 13, 2014 by Fancyarcher

[Plain Old Tele]

It's a neat concept, but it's hamstrung by the fact you know they're not going to be successful. What would've been ballsy is them stopping Pearl Harbor and warping back to a bizarro future.

[Fancyarcher]

It's a neat concept, but it's hamstrung by the fact you know they're not going to be successful. What would've been ballsy is them stopping Pearl Harbor and warping back to a bizarro future.

 

Yeah, but I still like the movie.

 

Though that would have been even more interesting I'll admit.

Edited January 13, 2014 by Fancyarcher