Oh man, I can't imagine how some1 from 1941 would react seeing a F-14 tomcat flying above them..

The first minute 30 is pure pornography in all the right ways. No CGI, this movie's flight scenery is some of the finest aviation cinematography in movies.

I'm in my late 20s but I used to watch this movie a few times with my late father back then and I loved to study WWII/aviation. Always liked this movie: the F-14 being a beautiful plane, the "what-if" scenario of going back in time to stop the Pearl Harbor attack, everything. Miss you Dad, we'll meet again someday.

TWO WHAT???? His reaction was priceless...

I love the paint schemes Navy aircraft had from the 1940s through the late 1980s. Those planes were flying works of art ....with an ass kicking reputation to match. The paint schemes of today are very utilitarian, for obvious reasons of better concealment.

Man, I LOVE this film! Imagine you are on your boat in 1941, radial engines on planes are the usual (in-line the new hot stuff) and then TWO Tomcats just buzz you at low altitude ! :-) Loved that!

I love Top Gun even though it's unrealistic because the story is entertaining. But the aerial cinematography of The Final Countdown is on a whole other level.

One of the Zero/T6 Texan pilots from the film passed recently. Tom Gregory, old P47 pilot. He was a good friend of my father. When I was growing up Tom would take me up for some flight time here and there. It was a blast. Thanks Tom.

One of the most beautiful Jets ever build.

I luv how the F-14's look like 2 birds of prey stalking their next meal at 5:10

The cinematography on the aerial shots is supreme. Great job!

One of my favorite movies, very underrated film

They never should have retired the Tomcat. Greatest fighter jet ever built. Never lost in combat

What an awesomely amazing aircraft the F-14 was. When I was stationed at NOB Norfolk I never tired of watching them fly from NAS Oceana.

This is by far the most beautifully filmed military aviation film. The HD really brings back the knock out effect of the visuals of the aircraft in flight. This movie is still my standard against which I compare aviation movies.

This was MY movie as a kid. Watched it 100 times at least. Not only did it make the Tomcat my fave (far more than Top Gun), but also the Jolly Rogers. The old school 70s/early 80s high viz markings are gorgeous. The JR Tomcats for sure, but naval aviation in general. Flight decks looked like Nascar.

Amazing how aircrafts have evolved in a relative short period.

The F-14 is such a beautiful bird. such a shame they retired it

VF-101 Navy Grim Reapers did a mock exercise against the 159 AF F15s. Fourf F-14s against six F-15s. Mind you, these were the F-14Ds with the 32,000 lbs increased thrust GE-110 engines. Not the old TF-30 engines. One F-14D was "shot down" against 5 F-15s were "splashed".

I find that scene from 2:22 to 2:45 kinda powerful. What I mean - the viewer is aware, that they appeared in a period of time, when an aeroplane with primitive piston engine, armed only with machine guns or ordinary cannons, is considered state-of-the-art... and here, they're loading guided missiles on their supersonic jets. This gives a feeling of power. And that music - especially from 2:36 onward - niiice...

" Fill her up, check the oil and clean the windshield over'"... One of the best lines in the movie.

4:50 Two Japanese zeros sir.... TWO WHAT???? Two trophy’s class Mitsubishi A6Ms in original condition

One of the most impressive scenes in Sci-Fi concept terms I've ever seen.

Pearl Tower, Tomcat 200 ready for departure. Tomcat 200, cleared for takeoff, SH 3 approaching from the right. Have a nice day.

Gotta love those VF-1 Valkyries. :D

The TOMCAT is by far the sexiest and down right the top three baddest jet aircraft ever designed.

" ANYTIME, BABY!" Is a phrase we kids on Long Island N.Y. learned. It was the motto of the two-tailed F-14 TOMCAT. Built by Grumman Aerospace in Bethpage N.Y. many of our friends fathers worked on this jet fighter or the Lunar Module. When "they" gave away the contract for the Space Shuttle it was the beginning of the end of our Defense Contractor jobs....GOD BLESS OUR PILOTS WHO MADE EVERY OUNCE OF SWEAT BUILDING THESE WARPLANES A SUCCESS!

These were beautiful aircraft - so amazing .

4:16 "You asked for more refueling and we're giving it to you!" 4:45 "No, stay, I'll cook breakfast!"

F-14 and Jolly Rogers ! Beautiful

F-14 is the most lethal work of art

Aaf base, airshow, f14d, full afterburner, tightest turning radius for non vectored engines. 4 revolutions, level out, straight to the clouds. Simply the best!

3:07 you have to love how they reacted when those Tomcats buzzed the yacht. Imagine what WW2 would've been like if THOSE had been in the US arsenal. x3

God listen to those engines at takeoff.... That thing was beautiful, RIP F-14 you were the icon of a generation.

That afterburner effect though 😍

Literally ANYTIME BABY!

I can't believe how good this looks!

Love this movie,just imagine,one super carrier back in 41

4:22 *M M M* c o n t a c t

They should still fly this baby. My all time favorite Jet Fighter ! I love it ! :)

Absolutely loved this movie growing up. Arguably had better aircraft footage than Top Gun did (although I'm still looking forward to it's sequel). The F-14 remains a classic, beautiful bird ❤️

He forgot to add this scene, but after the rescued Japanese pilot being escorted by armed Marines arrives on the carrier deck and sees an F-14 landing, the pilot's expression is like "Wait what? We're going up against THAT?!"

Oh My! Six years before Top Gun. Jolly Rogers Tomcats was amazing!

now it all makes sense!! thank you!!

Those Cats had to be close to stalling speed trying to stay behind those Zeroes wouldn't they?

Loved that movie! The Tomcat was not retired because of obsolescence. It is a kick -ass fighter! It simply was way to expensive to fly!

Great video, thanks for editing and posting it!

Such an awesome movie, I have the blu-ray 2 disc special edition. Would love to see them redo this movie with today’s technology.

"In the port catwalk, get below. We still have aircraft to land." Most authentic movie ever!

I saw this film in 1980 or 81. I never get tired to see, especially now that on YT there are the best scenes. When studying history at school i was always imagining what could be the reaction of a roman soldier or a medieval knight if they had met a tank or a helicopter.. As well as i liked to imagine Leonardo da Vinci living in our era, what he could make having all our technology available! Well, this film made my wish coming true in the best way. When the 2 Tomcats fly over the yacht is my favourite scene, perfectly played by the actors. Also when the japanese pilot is rescued and then once on the deck of the Nimitz he looks around, stunned by such kind of never seen before aircrafts I like very much. After seeing that film i started to collect almost all planes seen in the film in 1/72 scale (A4 & A5 not showed, A6, A7, F14, F8, Sh-3D, S3A) and now that Freewing is making them in RC mode i am buying them. A6 you see at 4:33 while refuelling the two Toms i already bought and already found the decals with the black panther to change the factory applied ones. The Jolly Roger on the tail of the Tom impressed me so much that if i buy the Freewing F14 i again will change the factory supplied decals with the Jolly Roger of the 84th air wing based on Nimitz in the 80. For you guys who maybe want to display at home a huge F14 or A6 or even A4/F4, just because you like those planes, doesn't matter if you don't fly them, take a look at www.motionrc.com . Cheers from Italy :)

4,12-4,26. Mmmmmhhh, contact !!!😂😂😂

To see that takeoff at the beginning gives you chills! What a way to start the video!!!!!!

I use to watch this movie when I was a kid and pretend I was a fighter pilot. This brings back memories thanks for posting

great post ty :) love this film :)

I love this movie. The Tomcats are going to fast for the Zero's that they have to weave so as to not overtake them.

I was in VF-84 when this movie was made and had a blast. Loved that squadron. Hated to see them go.

The sound is just awesome

great movie

I love how in the shot at 3:09, one actor already has his ears covered, and the actor playing the yacht captain is in the process of covering his ears. Its like they've done this before, and know whats coming, lol.

2:48 is great...i love how the pilots will do some weird signaling, the goofy head flexing the pilot does mimicks the catapult action very closely. Good stuff.

Such a great film great cast too.

RIP Capt. Yelland

Definitely a movie I loved when I was so young.

Who needs a plot in this movie? As a pure Aircraft Carrier operations film, there is none better. Throw in the Zero Dogfight, and the rest of the movie is just filler.

VF-84 "Jolly Rogers"

I was pretty impressed by the fact that this movie had almost no special effects (other than the portal). Great Movie.

Класс! Трудяга Ф-14...Да и фильм, что надо:). Спасибо.

I love how the Tomcat pilot is nerding out over the Zero. You know he's a fan of old WWII planes, since I doubt they add those to the Navy's identification training.

It is, no denying that the jet is stunning!!!!!!!!!

Definitely among the most beautiful plane ever designed.

I loved the air ops stuff in Final Countdown. Even though it was a scifi movie it showed modern carrier ops in a more true to life way than anything before or since. It'd all be ridiculous looking computer graphics if it was made these days.

One complaint. The radio chatter just a few seconds before the opening along with the "Have a nice day!" then the burners are lit is just classic. Too bad it's not there.

The Jolly Roger. I still see the Veritech Fighter in the Tomcat "Skull Leader"

Just a bit of info; the Tomcats in this video without the black & yellow "Jolly Rogers" markings are their sister squadron, VF-41 "Black Aces" which were also deployed aboard the Nimitz at the time of filming.

Gran avión de combate,,, que no pudo demostrar su verdadero potencial destructivo, todo un TOPCAT

You gotta love those "Rocket planes"..

When you like and it turns from 4K to 4.1K Amazing vid by the way!

2:14 I saw 114 on the nose and wings, what are you doing here, Maverick?

If I remember the Navy shot so much footage for this movie, that they took all of it and made a really long promotional film of navy plane and carrier porn. They used to show it a few times daily in the Intrepid Museum. (I assume the other preserved carriers got it as well). I wish I knew its name to see if anybody dumped a copy to KZfaq. It also used the Final Countdown music.

So much better than the usual run of the mill superhero and zombie sci-fi movies.

This movie is finally getting the 4k treatment! Looking forward to April 27th!

I just watched this movie for the first time, it looked interesting and I have to say I was pretty entertained. 1980!

This reminds me of the classic star trek episode called "Tomorrow is yesterday " where the fighter pilot spots what he thinks is a ufo and gets beamed aboard the Enterprise.

Tomcat requirements when being built... Maneuverable Fast Firepower And it better look damn good at best.

My dad told me after I watched first Top Gun, that this movie is another alternative to Tomcat action movie and more authentic in terms of military, not the story itself. Tomcat is my first favorite military aircraft.

@Deanbabylon Right on! 30 year Navy Aviation MCPO here. A magnificient carrier aircraft. And it fought till the end. VF-31 Felix (yes, the cat with the bomb from original "Fighting 8" in WWII) delivered on the last combat missions on USS Lincoln during Iraqi Freedom.

Those tomcats are some mean kittys

Great film

4:22 "mmmmmm contact" Yeah, that's what she said when I checked her oil with my measuring stick. Hahahaha hahaha

Jolly Rogers the best C A P squadron in history. They covered my ads many times. C G sailor.

I think the US should never retire the F14, it could update or modernize it. F14 is well respected around the world, because of the excellent films (I'm not American).

THAT WAS A GOOD AIRCRAFT, in the past! John P.

"The first time I saw a jet I shot it down" -Chuck Yeagar American Fighter Ace

this video is so good that i think someone with an HD camera jumped back 30 years ago.

You are correct, when this film was made the Tomcat was the new thing! The top of the line fighter and still had some TOP SECRET TO IT! In 1980 when this film was made this was the big kid on the block, and yes looks wise the F22 is no close! I agree new fighters are ugly as hell.

As a AMMO Troop from the United States Air Force, it warms my heart to see that they used live munitions in the scenes where they were getting prepped. So many movies will over look that little detail. 99% of the population won't notice the difference.

best movie ever.

Great shots and video. VFA-103 is an excellent squadron. The F15 Eagles in this video are great aircraft as well. I'm partial to the F14, but the F18 is amazing as well. These are the old F14's too, before they got rid of the afterburner. The Navy banned us from using afterburners at all altitudes on the D and B variants after several aircraft were overheating their engines and crashing.

good movie!

Tomcat VF-31...(.AJ's...JOLLY ROGERS,I did a cabinet install from one of those Jolly Roger pilots a couple years ago) Those A-6's Was one of my father's Squadrons