A science fiction war film about a modern nuclear-powered-aircraft carrier that travels through time to the day before the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. Produced by Peter Vincent Douglas and Lloyd Kaufman and directed by Don Taylor, the film contains an ensemble cast starring Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, James Farentino, Katharine Ross and Charles Durning.

The USS Nimitz, a nuclear powered carrier leaves Pearl Harbor in 1980 for the mid-Pacific to conduct naval exercises. Martin Sheen plays Warren Lasky a civilian systems analyst for the warship’s manufacturer, who is taken along on a mission for the government working as an expert in efficiency.

Flashing lights and electrical phenomena suddenly envelope the Nimitz and draw it into a vortex. All of the ship’s techincal equipment fails as her crew drops to the floor in pain when it makes contact with the vortex. When they can get back on their feet again, they are still in the mid Pacific, but they have no contact with the fleet command at Pearl Harbor. Kirk Douglas as Captain Yelland is convinced that the radio silence is due to a nucleaar attack on the USA. He launches reconnaissance aircraft RF-8 Crusaders who return with images of Hawaii from 1941, including a photo of Battleship row containing all the battleships ready to go.

The US Department of Defense and Navy worked with the film production, using the real vessel USS Nimitz (CVN-68) as the set. The background imagines and scenes are of actual operations aboard the vessel. The film Final Countdown was a relative success when first released.

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The movie picks up when the Memphis Belle, a B-17 Flying Fortress and her crew are set to complete 25 missions. This last mission will mean her men have completed their tour of duty, this accomplishment is significant because they will be the first group/ bombing crew, in the Eight AIr force to fulfill this prerequisite of returning from 25 bombing missions. Every mission is life threatening, and Colonel Bruce Derringer, played by John Lithgow, is jumping the gun celebrating the team’s success before they even go up in the air for their last bombing run. The Army publicist has big plans for the young men to promote the much needed sale of war bonds with a grand US tour making the heroes celebrities. But before then, the Mephis Belle must, accompanied by the rest of the squadron, fly into Bremen, Germany to obliterate an enemy plane manufacturing plant. The escorting P-51’s are unable to accompany the big bombers all the way to the target, and the vulnerable big boys are forced to fend for themselves over enemy territory and all the way home. As planes are taken out, the Mephis Bell finds herself eventually in the lead. The defensive assault below makes the target impossible to see, and her pilot decides to circle around for a second pass. Everyone takes on damage, and the flight home is riddled with flak, injury and suspense as the enemy forces continue their counter assault.