By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Everyone who tells a story of time travel must face the inevitable reflection process: “Why not go back in time and change everything?” The most common thought is to go back and kill Hitler, preventing the Second World War, but a classic science fiction military from the 1980s took a different turn and asked: “Could only one modern aircraft carrier prevent the attack on Pearl Harbor? The final Countdown, A magnificent time travel film is on this subject, with USS Nimitz, a real ship, standing between the Japanese fleet and Hawaii, but the question arises: even if they can prevent the attack, should they?
This is the final countdown
The final Countdown Make a mystery from the place where the Nimitz found himself after crossing a strange vortex, although the use of a recognized plane reveals, based on the state of Pearl Harbor and the present ships, which they landed before December 7, 1941. How far the question, but soon the Crew saved civilians who have already disappeared from the Japanese plans. According to him, they are in the past, the crew slowly begins to separate between those who want to stop the Japanese and those who want to find a way to come back, worried about modifying the chronology.
It would have been simple for The final Countdown To focus on a nuclear propulsion aircraft carrier alone beating the Japanese Pacific fleet, a Wargamers on table scenario has played for decades, but the film decides rather to look into the philosophical drama of the situation. Kirk Douglas embodies Captain Yellen as a severe commander who does not want to change the future, while Commander Laskey (James Farantino) thinks that it is stupid not to try to save as many lives as possible, and the two men are well and bad as the film progresses. In the end, there is a choice.
Time travel adventure before his time
Kirk Douglas is not the only Hollywood legend to appear in The final Countdown; Martin Sheen plays Lasky, a civil entrepreneur joining Nimitz for the mission, and acting as a substitution of the public in the world of the American navy. This is important, because the film was produced with full cooperation and support of the American armed forces aboard the real Nimitz, with soldiers like extras and a real emergency landing by making the film. Before Top gunIt was the film that the navy wanted to use to drive recruitment, and they helped make sure that each sequence with a fighter plane was magnificent from start to finish, with a cinematography that should have influenced, even a little, Tony Scott Classic.
Before his time, The final Countdown was not appreciated during his Bisonnier, winning only $ 16 million, and although it is profitable thanks to a budget of $ 12.5 million and solid sales of VHS for years, critics have castigated it. Deemed slow and boring no less than Siskel and Ebert, the film finally became a success thanks to the accent placed on naval war machines and the intrigue of time traveling relevant thanks to Return to the future Arrival in 1985. Today, it is a notable cult classic for the thoughtful approach to science fictionThe association of Sheen and Douglas, and of course, the planes.
The final Countdown is streaming for free on Tubi.
