Would you change History?

My new post is a film review of the Final Countdown. Please read to save yourself time and money!

The USS Nimitz is 200 miles of the shore of Pearl Harbour when a terrible storm forces all of the planes to be called back. The storm takes a drastic turn and soon the men are facing a terrible green light and high pitched noise. The storm then disappears just a quickly as it came.

The crew think nothing of the storm but soon things don’t make sense to them. They are left with the uncertainty of what year they are in and exactly where they are. The Captain sends out planes to map the area only to discover something shocking, they are back in 1941 and are just about to witness the attack from Japan on Pearly Harbour.

Will the Captain and crew use their powers and weapons to stop the attack and if so what impact will it have on the way the world turned out and can they ever make it back to the present year?

I had never heard of this film until hubby spotted the DVD and told me that it was one of his favourite childhood films and it was a must watch, never again will I fall for that as the film for me was utter rubbish. I have to admit the story idea was good but the way it was played out was a let down. The film seemed to have a very serious nature but this did not come across very well from the actors and I did at times find myself thinking that it would have been better had it been made with a comedy element.

The acting was nothing special. Captain Yelland was played by Kirk Douglas and he was just so wooden. Ever time he tried to give an authoritive order or talk to people it seemed as if he was reading it from a script and it was very robotic. He lacked emotion and feeling and I just felt he could have let us in more with the way he was thinking and the fact that he must have been scared for his ship and crew with the fact he did not understand what had happened. There was no chemistry with him and his men and I don’t think it was at all natural. We did have a good role with Warren Laskey, he was a civilian who was on the ship to see how things could be improved and as he was not a military man he seemed more at ease with the way things were turning out and he did bring a few little one liners. He was played by a very young Martin Sheen and for me he was the best of the whole cast.

Other actors in this film included, Katherine Ross, James Farentino, Ron O’Neal and Charles Durning. They all played just average parts and none of them really stood out or bought something special to the film.

I do have to mention the fact that this is an old film and was made in 1980 and this really did show right from the very start. The clothes, props, sets and costumes were all dated and looked bad. Some of them were actually funny to see as the hairstyles made me giggle. The props looked cheap and poorly made and so to did the special effects which we had. When the storm came it went very cheesy and the green mist look awful and I think I could have produced better work myself. On a good note we did get some good shots of the planes when they were flying, unfortunately for me I had to listen to hubby telling me the name of each of them. We got some nice aerial shots of the ocean and then the coast and docks around Pearl Harbour, for me they were the highlight of the film. The sound track was not much better than the film and there is not a single track which I can remember from it.

The DVD does have limited bonus features which include scene selection and trailer. The trailer really did show the few best parts of the film but fortunately you will not have to pay extra for the bonus feature as it comes as standard on the DVD. I am pleased that we only paid £1.49 for the DVD and I would not recommend paying at all to watch this film. The running time is 98 minutes and I did think this was quite long enough, the rate is a PG and I agree with this too.

I am only able to give this film 1 star, I am also not recommending it. The overall idea for the story was good but we had poor effects and very wooden acting, it is also very dated and boring. I would not even recommend watching this if it comes on the TV so you get to see it for free. Sorry hubby but this is not a favourite of mine!