Trivia / The Final Countdown

• Backed by the Pentagon: The film crew got several days to shoot on the actual aircraft carrier Nimitz. Actual Nimitz personnel played filmed roles, as well. For example, the F-14 that performed the Immelman from just above the water, in the dogfight with the Zekes, was flown by the Executive Officer of VF-84. Basically, this movie was a showcase piece for naval aviation, and was used by the Navy as a recruiting tool until Top Gun was released.
  • Nimitz pilots who flew in the movie said one of the most common questions they got asked following the F-14 diving down towards the water was how low F-14 pilot Richard "Fox" Farrell went doing the Immelman.[1] It was about 100 feet and the film crew kept that particular footage out of the dailies so that Admirals seeing the finished product would be surprised.
• Cast the Expert: Kirk Douglas was a navy man himself.
  • Also, the entire crew of the Nimitz playing themselves.
• Completely Different Title: Known in France as Nimitz, retour vers l'enfer ("Nimitz, Return to Hell").
• Dyeing for Your Art: Having been out of shape for his prior military role in Apocalypse Now, Martin Sheen did 500 push ups and sit ups a day to be better prepared for this role.
• Fake Nationality: The Japanese pilot taken prisoner is played by Korean actor Soon-Tek Oh.
• Hostility on the Set: Katharine Ross didn't want to have anything to do with the navy pilots and they resented her for it. In fact, one of them used his cockpit to record a profanity-laden message to her that ended up in the dailies.
• Missing Trailer Scene: The first theatrical trailer from the Blue Underground DVD includes more dialogue between Yelland and Lasky about the consequences of turning back the planes.
  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?
• Produced By Castmember: Kirk Douglas was an uncredited executive producer on the film and got it made through his company.
• Real-Life Relative: Kirk Douglas' son, Peter, was the film's producer and the main force behind the movie, his first credit as a producer at age 25, he had been working on the film since he was 23.
• Referenced by...: Azur Lane gives this movie a Shout-Out in their December 2022 event Parallel Superimposition both as the title of the event's ultimate battle and as an in-universe movie that the Essex-class shipgirl Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) is starring in.
• Throw It In!: The A-7 Corsair being caught by the barricade was an actual emergency landing on board the Nimitz, and the film crew was allowed to capture it and put it in the film.
• What Could Have Been: Kirk Douglas initially wanted his son Michael Douglas to play Warren Lasky, but this proved impossible as Michael was deeply involved in post production and publicity on The China Syndrome.
• Working Title: The Last Countdown.

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