History Film / TheFinalCountdown

** 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 moreso'' if you consider the fact that the fleet was being ''shadowed by a Russian spy-ship''.

* TheGlovesComeOff: Yelland is content to let his F-14's harass and distract the two Zeros in order to prevent them from strafing people in the water, but he specifically tells them ''not'' to fire on the planes. Until, that is, he's informed that the Zeros are on a intercept course with the Nimitz, whose flight deck is packed with aircraft. He promptly orders his pilots to eliminate the planes.

** The second time the Nimitz goes through the time vortex, Lassky can be seen holding his hands over the dog's ears to try to help the dog.

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: One of the Mitsubishi A6M Zeros is shot down with a short burst of gun fire from a Grumman F-14 Tomcat. The other is blown clear out of the sky by the other F-14 via missle.

** When captured Japanese pilot manages to grab an M16 from a Marine, he somehow instantly knows how to use it and is apparently aware that it fires in full auto. This is strange, given the fact that during World War Two, rapid fire weapons (outside heavy machine guns) were not as widespread as today and therefore, a random soldier from that time would have no reason to assume that this weird kind of weapon wielded by a mysterious American is automatic. Despite that, the Japanese pilot not only fires the M16 as someone used to it would, but is not surprised in the least that it's capable of continuous fire.

* 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...

* PistolWhip: Happens twice; first when the Japanese pilot hits a Marine in the gut with the butt of his own rifle, then later on when Senator Chapman cold-cocks a helicopter pilot with a flare pistol.

* ShownTheirWork: Despite being a science fiction/fantasy film, this movie has one of the most accurate portrayals of aircraft carrier flight operations that you are likely to find.

* 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 ''Nimitz''.

*** If the Marine guarding him already had the selector set to "Burst," an unfamiliar user would fire a 3-round burst with a single trigger pull. The Japanese pilot wouldn't be expecting the rifle to fire full-auto, but the M16's recoil is sufficiently soft that he probably wouldn't lose control of the rifle. He is also undoubtedly familiar with submachine guns, which do fire full-auto. The M16 is not an SMG, but the Japanese pilot has bigger concerns at the moment than wondering how a rifle shoots like a buzzgun.

** In the beginning, the USS ''Nimitz'' is overtaken by a mysterious electromagnetic storm, while one of its bombers is not on board. After the storm, the plane appears in the sky and lands on the carrier. In the end, the USS ''Nimitz'' is overtaken by the same electromagnetic storm, while all of its aircraft are not on board. After the storm, all the jets appear in the sky and land on the carrier.
* BornInTheWrongCentury: CAG Owens is a downplayed example (and closer to Born In the Wrong Decade, if anything). He's a WWII history buff who is writing a book about the Pearl Harbor attack in his spare time.

* TheCoconutEffect: Averted with the dogfight scene. Many people don't seem to know what a rotary-barreled gun like the M61 Vulcan ''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.
* ComingInHot: An A-7 Corsair pilot reports a problem with his tailhook right before the time storm hits the ship. He makes a crash landing on the carrier after they pass through it, having been physically incapacitated by the effects of the storm.

* HollywoodTactics: At the end, Yelland orders the entire Carrier Air Wing 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 jet fuel, 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 couple of A-6 Intruders 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 Intruders 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...

* 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 and flyable [=A6M=] Zeros.
** While the Tomcat vs. Zero dogfight looks awesome, it was also massively impractical: The T-6 Texans mocked up as Zeroes were flying at full speed, while the Tomcats were ''nearly stalling.''

* 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...

* ComingInHot: A A-7 Corsair pilot reports a problem with his tailhook right before the time storm hits the ship. He makes a crash landing on the carrier after they pass through it, having been physically incapacitated by the effects of the storm.

* ComingInHot: A fighter pilot incapacitated by the time storm makes a crash landing on the carrier.

* 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.

** In the beginning, the USS ''Nimitz'' is overtaken by a mysterious electromagnetic storm, while one of its fighters is not on board. After the storm, the fighter appears in the sky and lands on the carrier. In the end, the USS ''Nimitz'' is overtaken by the same electromagnetic storm, while all of its fighters are not on board. After the storm, all the fighters appear in the sky and land on the carrier.
* BornInTheWrongCentury: Commander Owens.

* CoolPlane: The Grumman F-14 Tomcat, the most advanced fighter in the American arsenal at the time. Showcased on film for the first time, six years before [[Film/TopGun a more popular film made it more famous.]]
* CurbStompBattle: Two F-14 Tomcats versus two [=A6M=] Zeros. Heavily [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]]. ''Nimitz'''s air wing would have similarly shredded the Japanese attack force, but never gets a chance.

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 UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

* MileLongShip: ''Nimitz'' is introduced by the camera traversing the length of the ship. While not actually a mile long (just shy of 1,100 feet bow to stern), it’s a a real vessel, and all the more impressive for it.

* InfantImmortality: Played with; the Japanese pilot points one of his commandeered guns at Laurel's dog as it runs out of the sickbay, but the only reason he doesn't shoot it is because he's distracted by Laurel shouting at him not to.

* MileLongShip: ''Nimitz'' is introduced by the camera traversing the length of the ship. While not actually a mile long, it’s a a real vessel, and all the more impressive for it.

* PetTheDog: Senator Chapman yelling for Harvey, the waiter from the yacht to ditch his life jacket and dive in order to avoid the Japanese strafing run before doing so himself. Unfortunately, Harvey is unable to follow this advice due to not knowing how to swim.

* MissingTrailerScene:
-->'''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?

* MileLongShip: USS ‘’Nimitz’’ is introduced by the camera traversing the length of the ship. While not actually a mile long, it’s a a real vessel, and all the more impressive for it.

** When captured Japanese pilot manages to grab an M16 from a Marine, he somehow instantly knows how to use it and is apparently aware that it fires in full auto. This is strange, given the fact that during World War Two, rapid fire weapons (outside heavy machine guns) were not as widespread as today and therefore, a random soldier from that time would have no reason to assume that this weird kind of weapon wielded by a mysterious American is automatic. Despite that, the Japanese pilot not only fires the M16 as someone used to it would, but is not surprised in the least that it's capable of continuous fire. Nor he has any trouble with recoil.

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. Author Peter Albano would reverse the premise with the first book of his his ''The Seventh Carrier'' series, where a Japanese ship attacking Pearl Harbor is trapped in the arctic, but after getting out several decades later still charges ahead to finish its original mission and attack Pearl Harbor all over again.

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.