The Final Countdown (film) - Plot

Plot

In 1980, the USS Nimitz takes on a civilian observer, Warren Lasky (Martin Sheen), at the orders of his reclusive and mysterious employer, Mr. Tideman (who helped design much of the ship), just before it departs Pearl Harbor for a training mission in the Pacific Ocean. Out in the Pacific, the ship encounters a strange storm-like vortex which disappears after the ship passes through it. Initially unsure of what has happened, and having lost radio contact with Pacific Fleet Command, Captain Matthew Yelland (Kirk Douglas) launches reconnaissance aircraft which discover an intact Pacific battleship fleet at Pearl Harbor.

A Grumman F-14 Tomcat patrol eventually spots a civilian yacht being attacked by Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters. The F-14 fighter aircraft are ordered to "draw them off". The Zeros shoot at the F-14s and inadvertently head toward the Nimitz, forcing the captain to order them shot down. The Nimitz rescues the yacht's survivors, a man and a woman, as well as one of the Zero pilots. The Nimitz's CAG (Commander, Air Group), Commander Owens (James Farentino), an amateur historian, recognizes one survivor as Samuel Chapman (Charles Durning), a prominent United States senator who could have been Franklin Roosevelt's running mate (and his potential successor) during his final re-election bid ... except that he disappeared shortly before the fateful attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

After a Grumman E-2 Hawkeye discovers the Japanese fleet poised to attack Pearl Harbor, they eventually realize that they have been transported back in time to December 6, one day before the infamous attack. Captain Yelland has to decide whether to destroy the Japanese fleet and alter the course of history, or to stand by and allow history to proceed as "normal". After some intense debates on board, the Captain settles the dispute by "going by the book": to defend America "past, present, and future" if attacked, and otherwise, to obey the orders of the then-current commander-in-chief, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The civilians and the Zero pilot are kept isolated, but while being questioned, the Japanese pilot grabs a weapon, kills his guards and holds the other survivors, the CAG, and Lasky as hostages, threatening to kill them unless he is given access to a radio. The crisis is defused only after the CAG reveals enough of what he knows of history to distract the pilot long enough for Marines to kill him, but this also reveals the truth to the yacht survivors. The senator demands and is granted access to a radio to warn Pearl Harbor about the imminent attack, but since he identifies himself as aboard the USS Nimitz, the radio operator assumes it is a hoax — as Admiral Chester W. Nimitz was then on active duty in the U.S. Navy — and the senator's warning is not believed. Meanwhile, the female survivor, Laurel (Katharine Ross), and Commander Owens become attracted to each other.

Captain Yelland sends the civilians with sufficient supplies via helicopter to an isolated Hawaiian island. The CAG goes with them. Once there, however, the senator tries to hijack the helicopter with a flare gun, but ends up destroying the helicopter and losing his life, while stranding the CAG and Laurel on the island. She learns that Owens is from the future when Laurel discovers the date imprint on one of the food containers.

The Nimitz launches a massive strike force against the incoming Japanese forces, but before they can reach the enemy armada, the time storm returns. After a futile attempt to outrun the storm, Yelland recalls the strike force, and the ship and the aircraft return to 1980 safely. Upon the Nimitz's return to Pearl Harbor, the Pacific Fleet commander boards the ship to investigate. Meanwhile, Lasky and Laurel's dog, upon leaving the ship, finally encounter "Mr. Tideman" face-to-face, who is revealed to be a much older Commander Owens, along with his wife, Laurel. The final encounter ends with Owens inviting Lasky for a ride with the words: "We have a lot to talk about."