THE FINAL COUNTDOWN (1980)
3-Disc Limited Edition 4K UHD + Blu-ray + CD
Label: Blue Underground
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: PG
Duration: 102 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Atmos, English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0, French DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English SDH, Français, Español Subtitles
Video: 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (2.40:1) Dolby Vision HDR10, 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Director: Don Taylor
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, Katharine Ross, James Farentino, Ron O’Neal, Charles Durning
In the intriguing sci-fi flick The Final Countdown (1980) the modern nuclear-powered-aircraft carrier the U.S.S. Nimitz is performing maneuvers in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii, under the direction of Commanding Officer Matthew Yelland (Kirk Douglas, The Fury) and his crew which includes Air Wing Commander Richard T. "Dick" Owens (James Farentino, Dead and Buried) and Executive Officer Dan Thurman (Ron O'Neil, Super Fly). Also on board during the maneuvers is civilian contractor Warren Lasky (Martin Sheen, The Believers), a systems analyst for Tideman Industries, who are contracted by the U.S. Defense Department.
Not long into their maneuvers and with little warning the Nimitz encounters a freak electrical storm that forms a swirling blue vortex that engulfs the ship, emitting a high-pitched ringing sound that incapacitates all on board. A few minutes later they emerge from the vortex unscathed, but things are far from normal. Communications are unable to raise Pearl Harbor on the radio, all they get are what sounds like vintage radio broadcasts, and not knowing what they just encountered, and fearing a nuclear attack on the island of Hawaii, Yelland orders a high-altitude reconnaissance plane to document the island. It return with images that cannot possibly exist, that of the USS Arizona anchored at Pearl Harbor, a ship that was destroyed during the bombing of Pearl Harbor back in 1941. This proves to be quite a head-scratcher, what is happening here? The Captain initially believes that this could be some sort of secretive Defense Department test and that Lasky is on it.
As impossible at is seems the Nimitz and it's crew of six-thousand has been hurtled back in time to December 6th, 1941, only a few hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor! Sending out F-14 Tomcats to patrol the area they spy an American pleasure yacht about to come under fire from a pair of Japanese zero fighters. The jets engage the zeros and down them, but not before they strafe the yacht killing three people aboard. In the aftermath four survivors are rescued by the crew of the Nimitz; we have Samuel Chapman (Charles Durning, Dark Night of the Scarecrow), a prominent U.S. Senator in the Roosevelt administration, his aide and speechwriter Laurel Scott (Katherine Ross, The Legacy), and her dog Charlie. Also pulled from the Pacific is one of the two downed Zero pilots (Soon-Tek Oh, Missing in Action 2).
The survivors are brought back to the Nimitz, and of course the Senator has some questions, like who are they and what's with all this advanced weaponry, the likes of which he has never seen? Meanwhile, a reconnaissance place spots the enemy Japanese fleet speeding towards Hawaii, with the Captain and his crew tasked with the unthinkable. Do they allow the Japanese to complete their murderous invasion, or launch a massive counterstrike with modern weaponry that would forever alter the course of human history?
When I saw this as a kid I thought it was a spellbinding slice of military sci-fi, but I thought it lacked the usual sci-fi spectacle that I expected with my sci-fi films. It's not a super flashy movie, and it did something I thought was totally wrong - it did not let the Nimitz go after the Japanese fleet with all guns blazing! I was definitely in the camp that if you could you absolutely should go back in time and kill Adolph Hitler, especially when I was ten years-old, and you sure as shit have to stop the bombing of Pearl Harbor!
The use of special effects are fairly limited here, we get the cool-looking vortex and a pretty great shot of the Senator's yacht being strafed and blown-up, but a later sequence involving a helicopter blowing up is pretty laughable, nearly as sub-par as the exploding bear scene from Grizzly (1976). Thankfully it's not a film that relies heavily on flashy sci-fi special effects, what it does lean into is the use of the U.S.S. Nimitz with the full participation of the U.S. Navy and the ship’s crew, which adds a lot of production value to the flick, handsomely lensed by cinematographer Victor J. Kemper (Eyes of Laura Mars), and directed by Don Taylor (Damien: The Omen II). As and kid, and still today, my favorite stuff here is the sight of vintage Japanese Zero fighters dog-fighting modern F-14 Tomcats, seeing these share screen time together was, is and will forever be fucking cool!
The command choices being made here and the way it pans out might not have made me cheer or pump my fist into the sky when I was a kid watching it on TV, but as I've grown older, but not matured according to the wife, I definitely love the way this time-travelling "what if?" is handled, though I still wish they'd created a bit more spectacle for the sci-fi elements and dug deeper into the meaty concept, but it's still a fantastic watch.
Audio/Video: The Final Countdown (1980) arrives on 4K Ultra HD in 2160p Ultra HD framed in 2.40.1 widescreen, sourced from a new 4K 16-bit scan of the original 35mm camera negative, and its another stunner from Blue Underground! The velvety layer of film grain looks fantastic, exporting fine detail and textures delightfully, and its in immaculate shape with nary a blemish to detract from your viewing. The Dolby Vision and HDR10 color-grading definitely enhances the color saturation and depth, with primaries like yellows and reds getting a nice HDR plump-up, but not overdone in any way. Skintones look much more natural as well, plus we get truer whites and inkier blacks. The improved contrast is fantastic, giving the image more depth and clarity throughout, this is just a massive upgrade on every level. The only downside might be that the dated optical shots do draw attention to themselves with the increased resolution, but that's baked-into the film and no fault of the transfer. Also, no amount of improved resolution or HDR is ever gonna fix that shitty helicopter explosion! Be sure to checkout the over sixty screenshot from the accompanying Blu-ray at the bottom of the review, I still cannot screenshot from the UHD, sorry folks.
Screenshot Comparison:
Top: Blue Underground 2008 Blu-ray
Bottom: Blue Underground 2021 Blu-ray
Sadly, no new video extras were produced for this release, but they do carry-over the same set of supplements from the previous Blu-ray, which includes the Audio Commentary with Director of Photography Victor J. Kemper, the 14-minute Lloyd Kaufman Goes Hollywood - Interview with Associate Producer Lloyd Kaufman , the 32-minute Starring The Jolly Rogers - Interviews with The Jolly Rogers F-14 Fighter Squadron, 9-minutes of Theatrical Trailers, 3-minutes of TV Spots, and a shit-ton of expansive Poster & Still Galleries.
The 3-disc Limited Edition set arrives in a three-hub clear Scanavo keepcase with a reversible sleeve of artwork, and a lenticular slipcover that shows the Nimitz emerging from the vortex. Inside there's a 20-page illustrated booklet that reproduces the Zero Pilot Journal, and includes chapter selection, cast and crew info, and the CD soundtrack track information. We also get the 23-track score by composer John Scott (A Study in Terror) on CD, looking to have been licensed from Screen Archives. While the lack of new video extras is a bit disappointing the inclusion of the score on disc, booklet, premium packaging and fantastic UHD presentation is much appreciated.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Director of Photography Victor J. Kemper
- Lloyd Kaufman Goes Hollywood - Interview with Associate Producer Lloyd Kaufman (14 min)
- Starring The Jolly Rogers - Interviews with The Jolly Rogers F-14 Fighter Squadron (32 min)
- Theatrical Trailers (9 min) UHD
- TV Spots (3 min) UHD
- Poster & Still Galleries: Poster Gallery (15 min), Advertising Materials Gallery (5 min), Japanese Souvenir Program Gallery (16 mins), Lobby Cards Gallery (30 mins), Stills Gallery (8 mins), Behind-the-Scenes Gallery (39 mins), Video Gallery (20 min), Miscellaneous Gallery (10 mins) HD
- The Final Countdown Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD by John Scott (23 tracks, 54 mins)
- Collectible Booklet featuring The Zero Pilot Journal
The Final Countdown (1980) is a terrific slice of sci-fi action that like the best episodes of the Twilight Zone offers more intriguing questions than satisfying answers, but it's all wrapped-up in a thought-provoking, time-travelling "what if?" scenario that keeps me coming back for more, time and time again. Blue Underground's immaculate 4K restoration knocked my socks off, completely blowing away their own 2008 Blu-ray, and making up for the lack of new extras with the inclusion of the CD soundtrack and high-quality packaging.
Screenshots from the Blue Underground 2021 Blu-ray:
Extras:
