The Final Countdown (Widescreen Edition)

The Final Countdown (Widescreen Edition)
by Don Taylor

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• The time is now. The place is aboard the U.S.S. Nimitz, America's mightiest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier on maneuvers in the Pacific Ocean. Suddenly, a freak electrical storm engulfs the ship and triggers the impossible: The Nimitz is hurtled back in time to December 6, 1941, mere hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. As the enemy fleet speeds towards Hawaii, the warship's

DVD Reviews of The Final Countdown (Widescreen Edition)

DVD Review: The Time Machine revisited... on the Nimitz...
Summary: 3 Stars

This refers to the single-disc edition, and I don't think that the very limited 2-disc edition is worth the price, just to watch some Navy pilots blabbering about how well they fly.
It is only too obvious that they have to do a good job, in order to lift-off and land on an aircraft carrier in motion.

No. I am more disappointed about the fact of the dated special effects. For once, I am more caring about the effects than the acting.
Nothing wrong with the acting, actually the best part of the movie, with actors such as Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen and Charles Durning.

No. It is truly the effects that are totally outdated and that could have been digitally enhanced with modern CG technology, a bit as they have already done with the Star Wars trilogy and other similar movies of that period.

Especially the so-called "time-tunnel storm", which in itself is impressive, as a concept, not as the actual effect, could have been given a special treatment from the guys at ILM, and since this is a key scene which recurs in the movie, I would have expected for this edition to be enhanced, but instead nada.

Same applies for the aircraft battle scenes, in which one can clearly see that some are plain model kits out of the box.
For Heavens sake, didn't anybody notice it?
Such a fine movie, with a very original story and such fine actors, loses out in the one thing that matters most in a film of this genre: its visual and graphic effects.

In comparison, movies like The Philadelphia Experiment or even Buckaroo Banzai, did a far better job in the effects department, and even if they're a bit dated in today's comparison, still they are a fresh reminder of how a creative mind can change even the most primitive effect into something spectacular to the eye.

Instead, Final Countdown, falls short in this instance, with very flat and primitive SFX, which should have been corrected and enhanced for the re-release of such a commemorative DVD.

Concerning the image quality in itself, and the sound, there is nothing to criticize, quite the contrary, they are even better than the original theatrical release.

Still one would have expected a little bit more and not just in the bonus department, which at least, from what I have read, has not much to offer.
Besides, in both version, there is just one commentary, as if Martin Sheen was too busy, and even if Kirk Douglas is not in the best of shapes, at least his son Michael, could have made an effort to appear in the commentary section.
But as we all know, many people consider sitting to comment a movie, an abismal shame, since it is not so well retributed. Yet this is still part of a service to the audience and since the audience is ultimately the one who decides whether a movie is worth it or not, it seems that in this case, all parties involved were too busy doing something else, such as sunbathing.
Good for them!

So then, why all this mumbo jumbo about a re-release, when no one seemed to care anyway, not even the producers?
Go figure. But at the price offered, it is far too poor to be enjoyed.
No wonder, when one sees what other titles "Blue Underground" has to offer. Jess Franco's classics no less!
And who's Jess Franco, if not a second rate director from Spain?
As if he were the Orson Welles of that venerable country.
Ever heard of Luis Bunuel or Carlos Saura?
Jess Franco is not even the Sergio Leone of Spain. Far, far from it. And he's not even a Roger Corman, master of the B-movies.
So what is he, to be so vastly acclaimed in the list of movies here, among which "The Final Countdown" is truly out of place.

C'mon, couldn't the original studio pick it up and do a better job with it?
Unfortunately I cannot remember if it was released through Universal or through some other major studio, but being a Bryna Production (Kirk Douglas' own company), I would not be astonished if it were.

Pity. Other than that and if you have the money to invest, buy it, but if you are bit short, stick to the original "Time Machine" or better still, buy Disney's "20,000 Leagues under the Sea", or again 20th Century-Fox's "Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Now there you have your full money's worth!
Stick to the true classics and you will never go wrong.
I give you my word for it.

Description of The Final Countdown (Widescreen Edition)