I asked people in my Twilight Zone Facebook group to mention any movie they thought could have been used as a plot for a good Twilight Zone episode. The Final Countdown came back as a highly recommended entry. After watching it I had to disagree with many of these Twilight Zone aficionados as I believe the film is not up to the standards of the iconic television series and would not have served as an inspiration for one of its stories.
The Final Countdown was filmed with the significant help of the US Navy who granted permission to utilize the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier The USS Nimitz where the main part of the drama takes place.
The narrative features a plot like a number of Twilight Zone episodes (the "Odyssey of Flight 33" is the time travel episode which immediately comes to mind). A convenient storm somehow takes the ship back to December 6, 1941, the day before the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and there is no rhyme or reason why the ship is brought back to that particular date (except perhaps to allow for all the ensuing histrionics).
In such a scenario, the interesting approach would be for the modern-day ship to take on the massive Japanese naval and air armada and using all the advanced technology, prevent the disaster from taking place. The interference in the timeline might have resulted in a highly interesting peek at a transformed future world.
This is what looks like is going to happen until Captain Yelland (Kirk Douglas) decides at the last minute (due to the approach of the same storm that could potentially bring back the ship to the present time) to abort the mission and recall his jetfighters back to the aircraft carrier.
Instead, a number of perfunctory action scenes are utilized including the downing of two Japanese zeroes by jet aircraft, the rescue of US Senator Samuel Chapman (Charles Durning) and his assistant Laurel Scott (Katherine Ross) after their yacht is destroyed by the Zeroes, the rescue of a downed Japanese pilot who ends up killing some seamen aboard the Nimitz and the explanation for the subsequent disappearance of Senator Chapman (he's killed when he attempts to commandeer a helicopter and a shot he fires inside goes awry).
If Douglas has little to do traipsing around the ship, Martin Sheen as Warren Lasky, a special consultant for "Tideman Industries"-involved in the design and creation of the Nimitz-ends up with a virtual non-part. The captain and the consultant are involved in an imbroglio toward the climax over whether it's a good idea to change history by destroying the Japanese fleet.
The insignificant twist at the end of the film involves James Farentino as Commander Owens who ends up stranded on an island near Pearl Harbor with Laurel. The two show up in the present time as Mr. And Mrs. Tideman. Somehow the naval commander used his limited present-day technical knowledge in the past to eventually become the mysterious mogul we're introduced to at the denouement.
The Final Countdown only wins points highlighting the operations of a modern-day nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The narrative (particularly the sci-fi aspect) is a huge disappointment featuring a premise that remains undeveloped.
The Final Countdown was filmed with the significant help of the US Navy who granted permission to utilize the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier The USS Nimitz where the main part of the drama takes place.
The narrative features a plot like a number of Twilight Zone episodes (the "Odyssey of Flight 33" is the time travel episode which immediately comes to mind). A convenient storm somehow takes the ship back to December 6, 1941, the day before the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and there is no rhyme or reason why the ship is brought back to that particular date (except perhaps to allow for all the ensuing histrionics).
In such a scenario, the interesting approach would be for the modern-day ship to take on the massive Japanese naval and air armada and using all the advanced technology, prevent the disaster from taking place. The interference in the timeline might have resulted in a highly interesting peek at a transformed future world.
This is what looks like is going to happen until Captain Yelland (Kirk Douglas) decides at the last minute (due to the approach of the same storm that could potentially bring back the ship to the present time) to abort the mission and recall his jetfighters back to the aircraft carrier.
Instead, a number of perfunctory action scenes are utilized including the downing of two Japanese zeroes by jet aircraft, the rescue of US Senator Samuel Chapman (Charles Durning) and his assistant Laurel Scott (Katherine Ross) after their yacht is destroyed by the Zeroes, the rescue of a downed Japanese pilot who ends up killing some seamen aboard the Nimitz and the explanation for the subsequent disappearance of Senator Chapman (he's killed when he attempts to commandeer a helicopter and a shot he fires inside goes awry).
If Douglas has little to do traipsing around the ship, Martin Sheen as Warren Lasky, a special consultant for "Tideman Industries"-involved in the design and creation of the Nimitz-ends up with a virtual non-part. The captain and the consultant are involved in an imbroglio toward the climax over whether it's a good idea to change history by destroying the Japanese fleet.
The insignificant twist at the end of the film involves James Farentino as Commander Owens who ends up stranded on an island near Pearl Harbor with Laurel. The two show up in the present time as Mr. And Mrs. Tideman. Somehow the naval commander used his limited present-day technical knowledge in the past to eventually become the mysterious mogul we're introduced to at the denouement.
The Final Countdown only wins points highlighting the operations of a modern-day nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The narrative (particularly the sci-fi aspect) is a huge disappointment featuring a premise that remains undeveloped.