I was in the Marine corps when this movie was filmed, station on Nimitz, Marine detachment. It was filmed in 78 and the movie was released in 80. All the Marines but one in this movie were real Marines (my buddies). There were only 80 Marines on the ship, we ran the brig and nuclear weapons security. Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen were lost on the ship one day as I was doing my rounds, Kirk hollard at me "Marine! How the hell do you get off this thing?" I showed him the way off and got his autograph. Made friends with the special effects crew, partied with them every night when we were in port. Really cool time in my life.

I like how the movie with the most ridiculous plot premise had some of the most authentic aerial footage

"who's up there?" "cougar and merlin , and mover and gonky." "great, mover and gonky."

The Zeros in the movie were owned by the CAF. One of the Zero pilots was Archie Donahue who was a Marine F4U pilot at Okinawa after it was taken by US forces in 1945. He actually had shot down real Zeros and received the Navy Cross for his actions. He said the scene where the F-14s flew by and the Zeros were rocked by the wake of the F-14s was very real. He said it was the only time he gave full aileron and kept rolling the opposite direction!

Preacher: and do you ,mover, take this woman to be your wife? Mover: "TOMCATS"

Every time I watch The Final Countdown I keep hoping, somehow, that they'll actually carry out the attack on the Japanese fleet instead of returning.

Imagine Corsairs, intruders, Tomcats, Vikings, and Crusaders all on a single deck. Now it's all Super Hornets and Growlers.

This movie is gold. Real footage instead of CGI

As a 14 year old, Dad took me to the Cleveland Air Show to meet the pilots involved in the Gulf of Sidra incident. There were tomcats everywhere in that show. I was in heaven!

Was I the only one waiting for Mover to react positively to the sound of the Vulcan? BRRRRRRRRRRT.

"You are cleared to arm but not fire!" Yep, just paint those zeroes with a missile lock...their RWR's would warn them and they'll just bug out :)

The pilots said that their Tomcats were brand new when they filmed these scenes, and that they were practically peeling the labels off them. Also, during the scenes the Zeros were flying at full speed whilst the Tomcats were almost at stalling speed. Ironically, we see A-7 Corsair II light attack aircraft being flown here by totally different squadrons, but the Jolly Rogers started flying with the original F4U Corsair fighter-bomber. The "V" markings on their planes and helmets are from when they were called The Vagabonds. I believe the real skull and crossbones that they keep in a cabinet are the remains of one of their first commanders who was killed in action during WWII, and ever since they've used that as their squadron logo and mascot.

“Look at the slow speed Performance of the tomcat” Tomcat: almost becomes the drink

Charles Durning, who plays the Senator aboard the yacht, was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division on June 6, 1944 and in the first wave of American troops that landed on Omaha Beach during the invasion of Normandy. He would be the only survivor of his unit that arrived in France on D-Day. After being wounded by a German anti-personnel mine in the Bocage, he spent six months recovering. Durning was reassigned to the 398th Infantry Regiment with the 100th Infantry Division, and participated in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. He was discharged with the rank of Private First Class on January 30, 1946. Among the medals he earned for his service was the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart with 2 Oak leaf clusters. He died December 24, 2012 and is interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

I think the Air Force is too busy with the Stargate program.

Lol, this was fun. They were still using the Stuka diving sound effects when the Zero hit the water.

Gonky: "TOMCATS!" Mover: "TOMCATS!" My dogs immediately look at me like "you better say it Mark otherwise we eatin everything you own" Me: "TOMCATS!" Honestly I know I've said this before but it is funny as hell, when I'm watching the videos the dogs sit on the sofa next to me watching the TV and when Mover says "TOMCATS!" I always say "TOMCATS!" afterwards so now when he says it they look at me waiting for me to say it. 😂😂😂

Those Tomcats are gorgeous with the Jolly Roger paint scheme... and yeah, they'd have performed the old surprise anal probe on the Japanese... as long as the munitions hold out.

Love the HOT SHOTS! one liner "I lost my cap...swing her around, we'll pick it up" What a great line!

Fun fact, my uncle was in VA-86 (A-7Es, he was an AD) on the Nimitz when Final Countdown was filmed. He has snuck some pictures of the film crew. Pretty cool

I think the funniest part was after the sea king rescued the boat survivors and one zero pilot. And they just walk across the carrier deck like wtf

When you think about it, the pilots in the movie were closer in time to the events of Pearl Harbor than we are now to the pilots of the movie.

*My father was on the Kitty Hawk (CV-63) during filming of this. And they asked to film some scenes on the Hawk(for convenience, I think.). But they wouldn't allow their 63's to be painted into 68's for the Nimitz. HOWEVER, they WOULD allow the studio to add lights to the Hawk's island, to make the 63 into a 68. So the studio settled for night shots with the Hawk.*

There’s a great scene of a plane without a tail hook coming in for a successful barrier landing. That was a real emergency that happened on ship while they were filming. It turned out that the crew performed so perfectly, and the plane in distress made a safe recovery, that the director asked to leave it in the movie. Sis keel and Egbert ragged on it for being fake and overly and unnecessarily dramatic. Ah they days before Twitter. They also almost crashed one of the Zero’s during the dogfight scene, when it got picked up and spun by the Tomcats wake.

Finally The Final Countdown! Also....BRRRRT. But something you guys forgot, and I would've loved to hear Gonky's take on it, is the A-7's barricade landing early in the film. The A-7 couldn't get its hook down. That wasn't in the script and the film crew quickly set up to film it. Did that ever happen on one of Gonky's deployments? What did he think of the scene? Scene here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/i7dphJZ8ndDUXaM.html

I saw this in the theater when it came out. This movie was someone's fever dream, and that's why it was so good. "What if you took a nuclear powered aircraft carrier back to 1941, what would happen?"........let's make a movie

As a 9 year old boy this movie gave me the greatest case of battle blue balls I've had before or since. I swear when the tomcats were recalled I nearly cried.

So awesome, my Dad was on the Nimitz when they were filming some of the scenes!

It started out as Prowler, but it’s an Intruder when you call it the Prowler...

I watched he final countdown the other day and I still love it. For a movie filmed in the late 70's it's pretty awesome.

I was a young SRA on a remote assignment at King Salmon Alaska when this movie came out. Our F4's launched to intercept the Russians from time to time. There were only 350 of us at the sight and we LOVED this cheesy movie. The camera operator would stop and rewind the film at all the cool spots, missile launch, impact, etc. Cheesy as it is it will always bring back memories of my youth.

First time I saw Final Countdown was in the wardroom on the USS Enterprise CVN-65. Great movie!

*Flight of the Intruder* would be a great movie to dissect, as well as Memphis Belle. They are two of my most favorite aviation films.

I like that you've used the US Navy approach to fixing a problem. Instead of improving Gonky's audio you've dropped your own quality so there is no longer a difference. Better to normalise at the bottom than the top!

My CAG on a cruise was one of the pilots who flew some of those hops. This was filmed a few years prior to Nimitz heading to the west coast to re fuel in Bremerton as well. Years later I talked to one of the pilots at Oshkosh (around 1987) who flew for the Texas based Confederate Air Force. He said it was a task running full gas while the Tomcats were about ready to fall out of the sky....which one of them did on more than one occasion. He said that there were a couple "close calls" but only one was caught on film. Another involved a zero who went through some jetwash and almost fully departed at low level.

Hope everyone here in the US had a great Thanksgiving!

I went to the theater with my dad and saw this. Fell in love with the Tomcat! Some of the best aviation footage in any movie.

The point where he almost hit the water, the sound was actually a mix of the sound from the plane and the scream of the pilot's wife when she watched the scene. The pilot for that scene was Richard "Fox" Farrell of VF 84

At 7:18 where the F14 makes that screaming sound, that was added in during post production. The pilot's wife watched the scene, let out a scream because she couldn't believe what she saw, the post production team modulated it and put it in there for the rest of us to enjoy.

I always had to chuckle a little at seeing Prowlers launched with the main strike package. As if they were going to need ECM from the IJN. Side note: a buddy I worked with was one of the crew extras in this movie. He was one of the helo crew members. Specifically, the helo that brought in the Japanese pilot. My buddy was the crew member that handed the MarDet the personal effects of the pilot.

This is an unruinable movie. Four decades old and it’s still an easy decision for a rewatch. Another vote for doing Flight of the Intruder next.

"The Japanese didn't believed in getting out" F

Great footage in the movie and it’s nice to see those vintage planes from 1980. Those beautiful Tomcats look brand new that is my favorite fighter.

Glad you guys finally got around to this. Nothing better than a Tomcat in a late 70s Jolly Rogers paint scheme. Don't forget "Flight of the Intruder."

So when are you doing FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER? Lt. Jake Grafton: "Fighter pukes make movies. Bomber pilots make... HISTORY!"

Ok, now that we got to Final Countdown, PLEASE do Red Flag: The Ultimate Game (1981 film with Barry Bostwick).

Not only do I like Mover Ruins Movies, but the interaction between you and Gonky is also so much fun to watch. May God bless and protect both of you and fill your lives with joy. You both earned and deserve it!

Saw that movie in the theater with my Dad when I was nine. Fell in love with aviation & am a pilot today because of it. That sequence still gives me goosbumps :)

The actor that played the Senator in the movie was a survivor of the Malmedy Massacre during the Battle of the Bulge.

I hope you do Flight of the Intruder next.

I bumped into a retired Tomcat pilot and we talked about this. He said heads nearly rolled. Bear in mind that those 'Zeros' were actually T-6 Texans and their max speeds barely exceeded the F-14's STALL speed...this meant that the Tomcats were yanking and banking right at the bleeding edge of a stall the whole time...

Jolly Rogers had the BEST tail art. EVER.

I've always wanted to see a remake of this where they actually do engage the Japanese by destroying the first wave before having to turn back. They could use it as an explanation for why the attack was originally planned to be 3 waves but only 2 happened. Even ignoring the almost certain use of CGI though, they would probably screw it up in a lot of other ways too.

Gonky:: talks about stuff in the movie: Mover: TOMCATS

Did anyone else see the F-8 Crusader? "CRUSADERS!" The last gunfighter...

Finally, I've been wanting you to do this movie. You finally did it. Thanks for this.

This is my second all time favorite movie (besides top gun) love those damn tomcats and I love these videos! Keep em coming.

“Mae West” = life jacket 😂🤣

Raising money for good causes. Talking nostalgia about Airwolf, Talking about awesome hidden gem movies like Final Countdown. On and on. Thank you.

It was so nice that the time tunnel allowed the squadrons of planes to land back on the carrier before going back to 1980.

Lol you know a new T-Shirt has to be made “Tomcats!!!”

Sometimes I miss the 80s... It was back when the military was cool and did cool things like... Paint pirate flags on planes, and had recruitment movies like Top Gun and Iron Eagle. Now not so much.

YES!! I've requested this one several times! THANK YOU! 🤘🤘🤘

On of my favorite movies. Thanks guys!

Nice Hot Shots reference haha Lloyd Bridges was hilarious in that.

I really wish they had an alternate ending so we could see the result of an entire carrier air wing vs an entire enemy fleet

If I could die and come back as anybody... imagine being a Tomcat driver in the early 80's; loved those group formation shots.

Yes! Been waiting this film for a while, thanks for reviewing it. Love this film very much, they should have it rebooted and actually fight the Japanese main fleet. The film is old but because of this, used almost no CGI, love it.

can you imagine the look on a ww2 fighter pilots face when the tomcat, the size of a b25 comes STEAMING past!

I was wondering when you were going to do this one. Great Work!

It was my favorite move as a kid, and I think the only move where the sound of the 20 mm is correct, and this in the late 70's start 80's.

I just watched this movie today. As someone who's interested in carrier operations, there were a lot of carrier scenes and I loved them.

16:16 "A lot has changed in 40 years" WHY DID YOU HAVE TO REMIND US THIS MOVIE IS 40 YEARS OLD?! WHY DID YOU BRING THIS CURSED KNOWLEDGE UPON US?!

Always loved this movie....would one carrier defeat the entire Japanese navy attacking Pearl Harbour

This movie always gives me goose bumps every time I see the tomcats initially introduce themselves to the zeros. I wish they had a chance to fight the Japanese fleet - maybe part 2. Great review guys.

Thank you Mover, I've been looking forward to you reviewing this movie. This was back in the day when they did movies right and not use that CGI crap. Well done on Gonky and you.

I read that the Splash sequence was done down off Florida and it took about a week. One of the Zero pilots wrote about it and said it was a pretty miserable time doing it.

New drinking game, take a shot each time they say TOMCAT!

you guys are such dorks. i love it!

I love that movie! The music is awesome. Magic moment is the tomcat coming out of the clouds behind the zero like an evil bird of prey!!! 🤩🤩🤩

Kirk Douglas doesn’t need permission from anyone!

11:00 Funny thing is, with the speed and payload capability of the F-14, you would only need a two-ship flight performing CCRP/CCIP bombing from 10 000 ft with Mk84 general purpose bombs to completely annihilate that task force. You'd launch at most 4 F-14s with bombs, 1 per enemy carrier. The rest would be loaded for air combat, and would escort the strike package. Then those F14s would drop their bombs on target, pushing the release envelope far lower than you could get away with in the modern era, before climbing out and egressing transonic back to the carrier. Thats if they decided to bomb the enemy, rather than just sail the carrier itself toward the enemy and demanding their surrender. Furthermore, he would have nuclear munitions on board which would dwarf the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. If I was in command of that carrier, under those circumstances, I'd be sailing my nuclear armed carrier to Japan, contacting the Japanese government to notify them of their imminent surrender, then detonate a nuclear weapon in the mountains. The blast should level enough of the forest to highlight the effectiveness of the weapon without requiring human suffering. I would then sail my carrier towards Europe, and repeat the process with Germany. Finally, I'd sail my carrier home to the States, and bet the US government that if I can sink an entire 1940s carrier task force with a single bomb, they would appoint me senior advisor to the Presidency for the next 60 years. Then, once a 1942 era carrier group is formed, I would request for their safety the ships be evacuated. I would then drop a single nuclear weapon amidst the fleet, sinking every single vessel in that fleet within minutes of the detonation. America, witnessing the destruction, would grant me the position in exchange for the technology. I'd have to revert to astronavigation throughout this whole process, as the military satellite network won't have been launched for another 20 years or more, so there's no GPS. Reverse engineering a single AIM-9B would advance rocket technology to the point the US could begin the Apollo programme within 5 years at most. A single computerised device would allow us to leapfrog devices like the Turing Machine and grant us the integrated curcuit before the end of the 40s. I'm not sure if DARPAnet was a thing yet, so I won't assume that I can give them the Internet. Just about anything I sent would be made of a material that wasnt even invented yet. Advanced radar technology didn't exist. Jet engines didn't exist. Ballistics resistant composites comprising the windows of CIC would advance tank technology, as would the composites of the hull. Basically, we'd be stripping the carrier down to its bolts, with each crewman teaching their own personal team of scientists how the technology they operate works. The US submarine programme would benefit immensely just from the SIGINT department, let alone deconstruction of the ships hull and material analysis. Laser targeting pods would allow LASER/MASER technology to leapfrog forwards. A single 1980s US carrier travelling back in time would radically advance the rate of progress of science. The divergent timeline would feature incalculable numbers of early scientific breakthroughs. I'd guess that the only thing on a 1980s aircraft carrier that already existed in 1941 would be the toilets. The medical equipment on board would radically change the face of the medical field basically overnight. It's not unlikely there will be a medical journal on board containing breakthroughs in medical science. As an example, the easy release mechanism on a socket wrench didn't exist until the 70s. Tupperware didn't exist until 1946. The first defibrillator didn't exist until the following year. Even a can of hairspray in the bunk of a random crewman would be almost a decade before it's time, as would the barcode on that can. The airsickness bag wasn't invented yet either. Neither was the airbag, wetsuit, bread clip, voltmeter, marker pen, WD-40, ziploc bag, ready meal, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, active noise cancellation, synthetic diamonds, the doppler effect (which we use in Fetal Doppler Echocardiograms, not just RADAR), lint rollers, bubble wrap, single serve sugar sachets, zip ties, carbon fibre and spandex. And that's just all the technologies that would be present on a US carrier that was invented BEFORE 1960. Spandex was invented in 1959. There are countless technologies invented between 1960 and 1980 I won't bother to list, so lengthy is that list.

Basically the Philadelphia Experiment meets Tora Tora Tora. (Also my favorite movie back when I wanted to be a Tomcat pilot. ... I was 17 y.o. when the Final Countdown was released.) For the record: I did make them tell me "No."

I saw The Final Count Down in the theater when it came out. I went to the 1100 show and stayed for two additional showings! I couldn't get enough of TOMCATS and CV ops! There was no internet back then and the likely hood of seeing any footage like that was slim. Maybe during a PBS special or a Navy recruiting film was about the closest you would come, once in a blue moon. For a 17 year old aviation/history buff, the movie was great, regardless of the sci fi plot. The opening scene was sweet too. Screen starts dark, until the AB is lit and you realize you were looking into the dark exhaust before the burner kicks in. Wow! Thanks for not ruining this one, which would have been hard to do 😃

4:33 yaw string master race yay

The film was is little hokey, but still one of my favorites.

Lol you didn't ruin the movie but you did put a kink in my day when you reminded me it was 40 years old ;) still remember watching it when I was a wee lad and it set the stage for Top Gun

The anniversary edition of Final Countdown has a interview with the pilots. The story about touching the cameraman’s foot with the refueling probe was awesome.

I’ve never been this early - not even to my own birth!!!

Haha. One of my fave movies. As cheesy as some of it is, the cinematography was amazing for the era. Great aerial footage! But yeah, attacks in fingertip? How many RAP sorties are required for that? 😂

“How many carriers do you need?” - Gonky 🤣🤣🤣

Hell those Tomcats look good. Think about this: they are as antique now as the Zero was in the movie!!

This is a bad week to give up sniffing hydraulic fluid

Want to really feel old. That movie was filmed 39 years after Pearl Harbor and 40 years ago from today.

Vikings! Dad was a Viking pilot and Ranger CO among other things. Love you guys.

Actually, if a Tomcat got slowed down for a turning fight with a P-51, I could see the P-51 winning easily.

I haven't seen this flick in years, but when I was a kid...this is what made me fall in love with the Tomcat...sorry.....TOMCATS! Thanks for the flashback!

This movie has became a Fu.king Gem. Seriously. With all the JR F14's and the others. No CGI, no shit whatsoever, just pure cinema.

This is one I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. FYI, one of my good friends few the A-6 and had a passing resemblance to Tom Cruise and when he was a new pilot he would wear his leather fight jacket and girls asked if he was the pilot double in Top Gun. Today he’s the head civilian in the Navy Pacific Air Command.

Thanks Mover. I requested this way back and I'm glad it has finally been done. Love the F-14 Tomcat. The Jolly Rogers are my favourite fighter Squadron because of this movie. Was disappointed when the F-14 was retired. But at least the Fighting 103 (VFA-103) is still flying and the F-18 Super Hornet is a reasonable replacement. Keep these video coming.