History Film / TheFinalCountdown

For the same initial premise with the sides reversed, see ''Manga/{{Zipang}}'' where a modern Japanese Aegis destroyer named the ''JDS Mirai'' gets inexplicably teleported back to the Battle of Midway. And for a similar premise with much more wide-reaching effects, see John Birmingham's ''Literature/AxisOfTime'' novels.

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: First of all, the Nimitz would never have been at sea with only a pair of destroyers as an escort, regardless of how close they were to Pearl, but those same two destroyers would NEVER be ordered to leave the carrier alone because of a potential storm. With the close proximity of the storm they would not have been able to avoid said storm, the preferred method of handling such situations at sea, but the Nimitz never would have been left on its own in reality. EVEN MORE SO if you consider the fact that the fleet was being shadowed by a Russian spy-ship.

* JustPlaneWrong: Although the US aircraft are, indeed, correct (see above, about Pentagon backing and filming aboard the actual USS ''Nimitz''), the [=A6Ms=] were really T-6 "Texan" trainers (to be exact, Navy SNJ models). T-6 "Texans" being [[WeaponsUnderstudies rather easier to come by]] than intact [=A6M=] Zeros.

* StockFootage: Many of the aircraft scenes. Of course, many were actually shot on the real life ''Nimitz'', making this only a partial example. During the second TimeTravel sequence, stock footage of the Pearl Harbor attack is shown.
** Some of the scenes glimpsed there are taken from Film/ToraToraTora rather than the actual Pearl Harbor attack.

-->'''Owens:''' "I'm not half the theorist you are, Mr. Lasky. But I still have a gut instinct that things only happen once. And if they have happened, then there's nothing we can do to change them. Nor should we try."
-->'''Lasky:''' "Well, how are you going to avoid it? It's already happening, and we're already involved!"
-->'''Thurman:''' "For Christ's sake! What is this, some half-assed Princeton debating society? We are in a war situation! This is a United States warship! Or, at least, it used to be. Or will be. Or what the hell ever! Oh, Goddammit, you can drive yourself crazy just trying to think about this stuff! Jesus, I must be dreaming!"
* TheCoconutEffect: Averted with the dogfight scene. Many people don't seem to know what a minigun ''really'' sounds like, and might mistake the realistic sound in the movie, given most other movies greatly slow down the firing of such guns to make them sound more dramatic.

--> '''Pilot 1:''' "Mission aborted? But we can see 'em!"
--> '''Pilot 2:''' "Ah they're gonna let the Japs do it again!"

!!This movie contains examples of the following tropes:

* ArtisticLicenseShips: mostly averted due to Navy backing, but the final scene substituted the ''USS Kitty Hawk'', as at the time the movie was filmed ''Nimitz'' was part of the Atlantic fleet, which would've made sailing into Pearl Harbor somewhat difficult.

--> '''Owen:''' "Your code is: climb mount Niitaka. Niitaka-yama nobore!"

* HollywoodTactics: At the end, Yelland orders the entire carrier air fleet to intercept the Japanese aircraft, intending to prevent them from ever reaching Pearl Harbor. Impressive and formidable...but also completely unnecessary and even stupid from a tactical perspective. As far as he knows, the ''Nimitz'' is trapped in the past. The modern-day carrier is a formidable weapon...only as long as it remains operational. While the nuclear engines can last years, the carrier only has a very limited amount of avgas, spare parts, munitions, etc. Once they're consumed, there aren't any replacements. The smart thing for him to do is use the absolute minimum amount of force necessary to get the job done, and make his limited resources last as long as possible. Instead of launching all his aircraft, a single A-6 Intruder, armed with Harpoon anti-ship missiles, could have destroyed all the Japanese carriers. He already knows where they are and what their schedule is, and the Intruder could have caught them when they were ready to launch all the aircraft and their flight decks were packed with planes and fuel. Not only would they have not known what hit them, they would never have even known it was there in the first place...

* JerkAss: Senator Samuel S. Chapman. Being a [[StrawmanPolitical Strawman Pacifist]] also doesn't help his case.
** He does have several JerkassHasAPoint moments though. He isn't wrong to be frustrated about why he's being LockedOutOfTheLoop by the ships crew about who they are and what's happening, and does want to warn Pearl Harbor about the impending attack as soon as he hears about it.

-->'''Lasky''':"We've got an incredible opportunity here - we know where all the mistakes are going to be made for the next forty years, and you've got the power to correct those."
-->'''Yelland''':"I've got planes out there."
-->'''Lasky''':"Those planes give us all a second chance, and we're a bunch of damn fools if we don't take it."
-->'''Yelland''':"Those men have enough knowledge among them to build the atom bomb! Reach the moon years before it should have happened."
-->'''Lasky''':"Is that a terrifying prospect, captain - or a tempting one?"

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** The pilot who makes the emergency barricade landing on the carrier after the first time storm is never seen or mentioned again, leaving the viewer to wonder what becomes of him.

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: First of all, the Nimitz would never have been at sea with only a pair of destroyers as an escort, irregardless of how close they were to Pearl, but those same two destroyers would NEVER be ordered to leave the carrier alone because of a potential storm. With the close proximity of the storm they would not have been able to avoid said storm, the preferred method of handling such situations at sea, but the Nimitz never would have been left on its own in reality. EVEN MORE SO if you consider the fact that the fleet was literally, and acknowledged in movie, being shadowed by a Russian spy-ship.

* HollywoodTactics: At the end, Yelland orders the entire carrier air fleet to intercept the Japanese aircraft, intending to prevent them from ever reaching Pearl Harbor. Impressive and formidable...but also completely unnecessary and even stupid from a tactical perspective. As far as he knows, the Enterprise is trapped in the past. The modern-day carrier is a formidable weapon...only as long as it remains operational. While the nuclear engines can last years, the carrier only has a very limited amount of avgas, spare parts, munitions, etc. Once they're consumed, there aren't any replacements. The smart thing for him to do is use the absolute minimum amount of force necessary to get the job done, and make his limited resources last as long as possible. Instead of launching all his aircraft, a single A-6 Intruder, armed with Harpoon anti-ship missiles, could have destroyed all the Japanese carriers. He already knows where they are and what their schedule is, and the Intruder could have caught them when they were ready to launch all the aircraft and their flight decks were packed with planes and fuel. Not only would they have not known what hit them, they would never have even known it was there in the first place...

* HollywoodTactics: At the end, Yelland orders the entire carrier air fleet to intercept the Japanese aircraft, intending to prevent them from ever reaching Pearl Harbor. Impressive and formidable...but also completely unnecessary and even stupid from a tactical perspective. As far as he knows, the Enterprise is trapped in the past. The modern-day carrier is a formidable weapon...only as long as it remains operational. While the nuclear engines can last years, the carrier only has a very limited amount of avgas, spare parts, munitions, etc. Once they're consumed, there aren't any replacements. The smart thing for him to do is use the absolute minimum amount of force necessary to get the job done, and make his limited resources last as long as possible. Instead of launching all his aircraft, a single A-6 Intruder, armed with Harpoon anti-ship missiles, could have destroyed all the Japanese carriers. He already knows where they are and what their schedule is, and the Intruder could have caught them when they were ready to launch all the aircraft and their flight decks were packed with planes and fuel. Not only would they have not known what hit them, they would never have even known it was there in the first place...

Meanwhile, the ship's aircraft have shot down two Japanese Zero fighters that attacked a yacht (part of the Japanese forces' attempts to ensure that nobody could warn the U.S. of the impending attack), and two survivors have been rescued, one of whom turns out to be U.S. Senator Samuel Chapman (Charles Durning). Commander Owens, an amateur World War II historian, recognizes the Senator as having disappeared around the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. More crucially, had he ''not'' disappeared, he would likely have been Franklin Delano Roosevelt's running mate in the 1944 election and on his subsequent death, President of the United States.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/finalcountdown330_3865.jpg]]

''The Final Countdown'' is a ScienceFiction film about TimeTravel that was released in 1980.

* GrandfatherParadox: Discussed and a reason not to use ''Nimitz'' to win WorldWarII in a matter of weeks. Besides the issue of changing the fates of millions of people and possibly preventing some of the crew's parents from meeting, ''Nimitz'' itself is in danger. A swift end to World War II means no Manhattan Project, which in turn means Hyman Rickover never gets the chance to start the Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program, which means no nuclear powered USS ''Nimitz''.

* OhCrap: Just look at the faces of the Japanese pilots when the F-14s scream past them, it's ''priceless''.

* MassTeleportation

* CoolBoat: USS ''Nimitz'', first ship of her class, and the largest warship in the world at the time.

Now they have a dilemma. Return Senator Chapman to Pearl Harbor, and not only can he alter history by becoming President, but now he's seen the ''Nimitz'' and thinks that it's part of a secret weapons program intended to trap the Japanese and make FDR a hero. Don't return him, and they've kidnapped or possibly murdered a public official of the United States. Amid the preparations for the upcoming battle, it's decided to compromise: drop the Senator and his beautiful assistant, Laurel Scott (Katharine Ross), off on a deserted island where they can ride out the war. Needless to say, Chapman isn't too happy when he finds out. Nor, it seems, is history changed so easily, as the time storm puts in one final appearance...

* AlienSpaceBats: How the time storm comes to exist, how it works, and why it's targeting the ''Nimitz'' is left completely unexplained. The Creator/MartinCaidin {{novelization}} implies that it would be explained in a sequel, which never happened.
* ArtisticLicenseShips: mostly averted due to Navy backing, but the final scene substituted the ''USS Kitty Hawk'', as at the time the movie was filmed the ''Nimitz'' was part of the Atlantic fleet, which would've made sailing into Pearl Harbor somewhat difficult.
** When the ''Nimitz'' goes to General Quarters, there is a dramatic scene of Marines jumping over the ship's anchor chains. The trouble is, this room (the forecastle) is at the very front of the ship where Marines are not quartered, and the men are simply running from port to starboard.

** The finale shows the real dock of the ''Nimitz'': trouble is, in the final scene the limousine is going to drive off the end of it and into the ocean.
* BangBangBANG: During the hostage crisis in the ''Nimitz'' sickbay, the people seem more shaken by the bloodshed than by the effects of multiple assault rifles being fired on full auto in a small room.

* CoolBoat: The USS ''Nimitz'', first ship of her class, and the largest warship in the world at the time.
* CurbStompBattle: Two F-14 Tomcats versus two [=A6M=] Zeros. Heavily [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]]. The ''Nimitz'''s air wing would have similarly shredded the Japanese attack force, but never gets a chance.

* FighterLaunchingSequence: The film is replete with these; the very first shot of the film starts off with an F-14 taking off from (the modern-day) Pearl Harbor airfield. There are also numerous shots of Navy warplanes taking off and landing on the ''Nimitz'', including one scene where the strike group sent to attack the Japanese fleet is launched, which takes several minutes to play out.
* GrandfatherParadox: Discussed and a reason not to use the Nimitz to win WWII in a matter of weeks. Besides the issue of changing the fates of millions of people and possibly preventing some of the crew's parents from meeting, the Nimitz itself is in danger. A swift end to WWII means no Manhattan Project, which in turn means Hyman Rickover never gets the chance to start the Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program, which means no nuclear powered ''USS Nimitz''.

* HonorBeforeReason: Yelland plans to use the ''Nimitz'' to turn the tide of Pearl Harbor because he's a U.S. Navy captain and obligated to defend his country, never mind the paradoxes it would create.

* OhCrap: Just look at the faces of the Japanese pilots when the F-14s scream past them, it's ''priceless''

* SemperFi: US Marines can be seen acting as security personnel onboard the ''Nimitz'', as per their traditional role aboard Navy ships.
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Does the ''Nimitz'' cause the StableTimeLoop by rescuing Senator Chapman? Commander Owens certainly thinks so.

* SpyShip: The ''[=USS=] Nimitz'' task force shadowed by a Soviet-flagged "fishing trawler" that isn't doing much fishing.

* TemporalSickness: Passage through the time storm is extremely disorienting to everyone on the ''Nimitz''.

* YouAlreadyChangedThePast: All their worrying about changing the future is for naught because... they're doing exactly what happened in the first place. The Nimitz was ''always'' there at the time of Pearl Harbor.

* YouWouldntBelieveMeIfIToldYou: Not the precise words, but occurs twice - once when Commander Owens is trying to avoid explaining their presence in 1941 to Laurel and Sen. Chapman; and again after the ''Nimitz'' has returned to Pearl, as admirals are storming aboard to demand to know how an entire aircraft carrier got lost in the Pacific Ocean.

* JustPlaneWrong: Although the US aircraft are, indeed, correct (see above, about Pentagon backing and filming aboard the actual USS ''Nimitz''), the [=A6Ms=] were really T-6 "Texan" trainers. T-6 "Texans" being [[WeaponsUnderstudies rather easier to come by]] than intact [=A6M=] Zeros.

Warren Lasky (Creator/MartinSheen), an independent observer tasked with evaluating Navy procedures, is an unwelcome guest on the aircraft carrier USS ''Nimitz'', which is departing Pearl Harbor for an otherwise routine cruise. A few days into the cruise, things change when the carrier is suddenly pursued and overtaken by a mysterious electromagnetic storm. Emerging from the storm, the sailors find themselves cut off from modern civilization -- their communications don't work, their escorts have vanished, and there are no ships or planes on radar. However, they are able to pick up shortwave radio broadcasts that seem to date from WorldWarTwo.

* HostageSituation: Happens when a surviving Japanese pilot overpowers a guard and grabs not one, but -''two''- guns.

[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/finalcountdown330_3865.jpg]]

For the same initial premise with the sides reversed, see ''Manga/{{Zipang}}'' where a modern Japanese Aegis destroyer named the ''JDS Mirai'' gets inexplicably teleported back to the Battle of Midway. And for a similar premise with much more wide-reaching effects, see John Birmingham's ''[[Literature/AxisOfTime]]'' novels.