Goofs for
The Final Countdown (1980) More at IMDbPro »

• Anachronisms: The pictures of Pearl Harbor supposedly taken by the Nimitz's reconnaissance aircraft are identical to historical photos of the attack, including torpedo splashes in the water, even though the photos are supposed to have been taken hours before the attack.
  
  
• Factual errors: As the Japanese prisoner takes control of sick bay, Charlie the dog goes running out of the medical ward, which is located on the second deck (one deck below the hangar deck) of an aircraft carrier. A few moments later, he is shown hurdling "knee-knockers" as he runs down a passageway. The only area of a carrier that has passageways that look like this is the O-3 level, one deck below the flight deck. There is no way Charlie could have made it from the sick bay to the O-3 level in such a short amount of time, even with crew members holding open all the doors he'd need to go through.
  
  
• Continuity: The Sea King helicopter taking Laskey from Pearl Harbor to the Nimitz changes side-numbers as it passes the USS Arizona memorial.
  
  

• Revealing mistakes: When we first see the yacht that the Zeros later destroy, there are two bow ropes attached to it, and they are both taut. The yacht, supposedly in the middle of the ocean, was tied up to something.
  
  
• Factual errors: "The Jack Benny Program", to which the crew listens on Saturday, 6 December 1941, did not air on Saturdays but rather on Sundays.
  
  
• Factual errors: When the department heads are reporting the status of the ship after the storm, the Reactor Officer reports that the "reactor is stable". A Nimitz class carrier has two reactors, not one.
  
  
• Continuity: When the CAG's F-14 lands on the Nimitz at the beginning of the movie, there's a couple of shots where the plane changes colors and markings as the plane hits the deck and catches the arresting wire. This goof is later repeated when the Alert Tomcats return to the ship after shooting down the Zeroes.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: When some of the planes are landing just before the first time storm, the shadows under the planes reveal that the shots were filmed in bright sunlight despite the ship being in the middle of a thunderstorm.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: When Commander Owen's F-14 is lining up to land on the carrier in the beginning of the movie, there's a brief shot where you can see another man's face in the pilot's rear-view mirror during the shot from the back seat of the cockpit.
  
  
• Continuity: The missile loadout on the F-14's changes during the dogfight with the Zeroes, with missiles disappearing and reappearing between shots, most notably with the Sidewinder that fired at the second Zero being visible on the Tomcat after it had been fired.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: The side number of the helicopter that brings the Japanese pilot aboard the Nimitz changes from 733 to 736 between shots when the helicopter lands and the pilot climbs out.
  
  
• Continuity: When the helicopter that brings Mr. Lasky aboard circles the ship, there are aircraft parked at the rear of the ship obscuring the landing area, yet once the helicopter lifts off after dropping Mr. Lasky off on the ship, the captain orders the air boss to "continue fixed-wing recovery". This would not have been possible with those parked planes in the way, and there's too short a time between when the chopper gets clear and when Commander Owens' plane lands to move the planes on the deck. Furthermore, if they had been in the process of landing planes when Lasky arrived, those planes would have already been out of the way to begin with.
  
  
• Continuity: When the A-6 tanker is launched to refuel the alert Tomcats, the color of the nose changes between tan and white between shots.
  
  
• Continuity: When Mr. Lasky's helicopter lands, Corsair 412 (the one that later lands in the barricade) can be seen parked on the deck behind the helicopter, even though it's supposedly still in the air waiting to land.
  
  
• Factual errors: When the E-2 Hawkeye is preparing to take off after the first Storm, a plane captain is shown giving the hand signal for flaps, which the pilot acknowledges. Instead of the flaps being lowered, the next shot shows the E-2 spreading its wings. (The wings would already have to be spread in order to lower the flaps.)
  
  
• Errors in geography: At the beginning of the movie, a jet, and then the helicopter carrying Mr. Lasky take off from "Pearl Harbor Naval Air Station." Pearl Harbor was strictly a ship base. The nearest Naval Air Station was Barber's Point, approximately 30 miles away.
  
  
• Continuity: Mr Lasky's helicopter taking off from Pearl Harbor has the number 9010 under the 733 on the side of the helicopter. When it lands on the ship, the number 9717 is under the 733.
  
  
• Continuity: When Captain Yelland is in his dress white uniform at the very end of the movie on the bridge, as they pass the Arizona Memorial, his highest medal (ribbon) on his uniform is the Distinguished Flying Cross. Several minutes later when he is saluting the Admirals coming aboard, he has the Navy Cross and Silver Star above his Distinguished Flying Cross.
  
  
• Continuity: As the second "Timestorm" approaches, the ship's meteorologist (nicknamed "Black Cloud") is called over to examine the storm on the scope. Before he looks into it, there is one seaman standing beside him. When he looks up a second later there are four of them.
  
  
• Factual errors: The Nimitz crew intercepted some radio transmissions from the Japanese Imperial Navy ships. But this would have never happened because the Japanese Imperial Navy kept a very strict radio silence in order to avoid detection before the Pearl Harbor attack.
  
  
• Factual errors: Before the storm, the carrier captain orders the destroyer escorts back to Pearl because "there's no need for them to go through THIS". In fact, no carrier battle group can send its destroyers back for any storm at all, because these escorts form the main defense against submarines, which are the most dangerous threat against the carrier (and which are not affected by any weather conditions).
  
  
• Factual errors: Just after the Captain orders the Destroyers to turn around, there is a shot of the USS Biddle CG34 shown. The Biddle was not stationed on the West Coast, or Hawaii, but was stationed in Norfolk Va.
  
  
• Continuity: The man wearing the hat on the Gatsby boat has a pen protruding from his shirt pocket when the Jap planes are heading for them. In the next shot, when they look out from the other side of the boat to watch them fly overhead, the pen is no longer visible.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: As the Japanese pilot takes rounds from the Marines M16's, a brown wire or thin cable bundle (for the squibs?) can be seen running from the bottom of his right trousers leg and along the floor.
  
  
• Continuity: Cag's helicopter, taking himself and the two survivors to the desert island, takes off from the aircraft carrier. Minutes later, he is seen in one of the debriefing rooms when Captain Yelland is addressing the crew. Then we see him in the helicopter again, about to land on the island.
  
  
• Continuity: One of the jets takes off to fight for Pearl Harbor, taking off from the right hand side, whilst a jet waits for it's turn on the left. A few seconds later the camera angle switches, showing the first jet taking off "again".
  
  
• Continuity: During the assault on sick bay, the first Marine bumps into a medicine cabinet and falls out of shot to the left. No blood ever touches the cabinet. In the very next shot (and all subsequent shots) there is a very large bloodstain. Similarly, when the second Marine is shot, he impacts the open door of the sickbay and falls left - a bloodstain later appears on the wrong (closed) door.
  
  
• Continuity: The two F-14s dispatched to take an ID pass on the Zeroes have side numbers 202 and 203. After being instructed to splash the Zeroes, the F-14 with side number 202 downs a Zero with its rotary cannon. The second Zero is obliterated by a Sidewinder missile from the other F-14, but now with side number 200.
  
  
• Continuity: As the E2 is preparing for takeoff the plane director gives the pilot the hand signal to extend flaps (previously submitted). The next shot shows the wings extending. The next shot shows the plane director giving the hand signal to extend the wings.
  
  
• Factual errors: When the Japanese pilot takes Laurel hostage with the .45 Automatic Pistol. The pistol reflects the light several time revealing it to be high gloss blue civilian model. Military pistols are "Parkerized" with a dull finish to prevent this kind of reflection.
  
  
• Continuity: When the senator receives clothes before calling Pearl Harbor, it's a blue uniform like the one worn by Catherine Ross, but when he calls Pearl Harbor, he has a khaki uniform like the officers.
  
  
• Factual errors: There would never have been two Zeros in the air the day before the attack. Any such "scouting" could really give the attack force away. No Japanese aircraft were in the air till sunrise on Dec. 7th.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Commander Owen climbs out of his aircraft after landing on the carrier near the beginning of the movie, the sleeves of his flight suit are rolled up. This violates Navy regulations, which state that sleeves must be down during takeoff and landing. The reason for this is to provide the aviator some protection from fire in case of a crash during those critical phases of flight.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: Campaign ribbons for only the Vietnam War appear on Captain Yelland's white uniform at the end of the movie. Given his age of over 60, he would also have served during World War II, so he should be wearing ribbons for that war too.
  
  
• Anachronisms: When the movie was made, the Nimitz was based in Norfolk, Virginia - it did not make it into the Atlantic until 7 years after the movie was made.
  
  

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