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The Final Countdown (1980)
The Final Countdown (1980) poster

The Final Countdown (1980)

War, Action, Science Fiction • 1h 43m

Director: Don Taylor

Best English-friendly & video release

Updated 7 months ago


About the film

During routine manoeuvres near Hawaii in 1980, the aircraft-carrier USS Nimitz is caught in a strange vortex-like storm, throwing the ship back in time to 1941—mere hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

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Is this Perfect?

*highly probable

Part of Is this Perfect?

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Director: Jean Vigo

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Curzon 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Curzon 4K Blu-ray with much better encoding than the Gaumont Blu-ray with the same 4K restoration see caps

Criterion Blu-ray uses an older restoration

Directors: Alberto Cavalcanti & Charles Crichton & Basil Dearden & Robert Hamer

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

Director: Robert Bresson

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

Director: Basil Dearden

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

(Indicator 4K Blu-ray, based on review)

Director: Otakar Vávra

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Deaf Crocodile 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Deaf Crocodile 4K Blu-ray see nic review

Best Audio:

Restored: Deaf Crocodile 4K Blu-ray
Unrestored: Czech PAL DVD

Audio Notes:

Preferences will vary, the restored track sounds good, but not necessarily faithful to the original elements.

Director: Robert Rossen

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Director: Anthony Mann

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray, Universal 2008 DVD

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

2008 Universal DVD mono

Audio Notes:

The mono on the Criterion is severely filtered resulting in it sounding incredibly muffled. It is nearly as filtered as the 2003 original Universal DVD which had extreme filtering and sounds horribly thin. The 2008 DVD remaster and original Laserdisc analog mastering are mostly left alone. The original LD master is from a worn element but otherwise sounds very natural. The 2008 DVD is the highest quality version we have without the heavy filtering and the defects of the LD master. It isn't perfect but easily the best of the main four sources by a dramatic margin. 

Additional Info:

The existing 4K SDR restoration looks excellent, but the Criterion extras are limited and disappointing. The classic Stewart interview commentary from the LD is ported over but given a new mastering. Compared to past releases it has been very slightly noise reduced.

Director: Charles Crichton

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray

Directors: Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Imprint 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Imprint AU 4K is world UHD debut and encoded by FiM. Part of the The Cinema Of Powell & Pressburger - Collection Two set.

Director: Basil Dearden

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Excellent 4K master and encode, except for opticals grain is very fine, grading is beautifully silvery and luminous, nice HDR re-grade by Fidelity in Motion

More from Don Taylor

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Director: Don Taylor

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

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Director: Ralph Bakshi

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Blue Underground Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Blue Underground 4K Blu-ray

Director: David Cronenberg

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Blue Underground Blu-ray

Director: Dario Argento

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Blue Underground Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Additional Info:

UK Arrow Blu-ray and Germany Koch Media Blu-ray have exclusive extras

Director: Lucio Fulci

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Blue Underground 4K Blu-ray

Director: Lucio Fulci

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Blue Underground 4K Blu-ray

Director: William Lustig

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Blue Underground 4K Blu-ray

Director: Larry Cohen

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Blue Underground 4K Blu-ray

Director: Bob Clark

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Blue Underground 4K Blu-ray

Director: Dennis Donnelly

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Blue Underground 4K Blu-ray

Directors: Alan Smithee & William Lustig

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Blue Underground 4K Blu-ray

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Researched and maintained by

tyyuxJojoTheMovieOtter

· last reviewed 7 months ago

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