The Final Countdown

The Final Countdown is a 1980 film directed by Don Taylor. In it, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz encounters a strange storm at sea; in actuality, it is a wormhole that sends her back in time to December 6, 1941, the day before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The movie stars Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, Katharine Ross, and Charles Durning.

F-14A Tomcat
The primary fighter plane of the VF-41 & VF-84 squadrons stationed on the Nimitz.

A-6E Intruder
Another fighter deployed by the Nimitz.

RF-8G Crusader
The reconnaissance plane that takes the photos of Pearl Harbor. A slight goof occurs later on when the photos are studied by the captain & the ship's historian; both photos are identical, which would not be possible.

E-2 Hawkeye
The AWACS type plane sent out on surveillance that locates the Japanese fleet.

A-6 Zero
The two Japanese planes that attack Senator Chapman's boat.

Two mistakes here.

1. The planes that attacked the Senator's boat were both A6M5 Type 0 model 52s which were not manufactured until after July 1943 and feces were blown

2. The Zeros shown near the end of the film did appear to be the correct models A6M2 Model 21, but they were painted incorrectly. The Zeros involved in the Pearl Harbour attack were painted 'Ame-iro' - an unusual caramel colour, a special paint to protect the fuselage in sea air conditions. The last shot of Japanese planes before the cut to using B&W archival footage were not Zeros at all, they were Nakajima B5N "Kates" torpedo bombers.and they were actually t6 texans