The Final Countdown SE due 3/30 - Page 4

Picked up my copy today. All I can say is a big thank you to Blue Underground for an excellent job on the picture,sound and packaging!

No you don't. But if you really want, you can buy mine.

Jimmy!

Has this been slightly edited? Admittedly, I haven't seen this in over 10 years, but I could have sworn that when the ship went "back," there was a brief shot of teletypes stopping, and then another one of them restarting when the ship "returned." I did not see these shots on the DVD.

Is my mind playing tricks on me by inserting clips from some other film into my memory, or what?

On the DVD, we see the shot of the teletypes going back on when they return to present day. I don't know if there was ever a shot of them turning off though.

Hmm, maybe I just blinked and missed it. I'll have to look for it again when I listen to the commentary. Thanks.

Wow, no shit? I thought that film dropped off the Earth. It will be great to get a nice widescreen transfer.

Any info on a timetable for release?

It's being worked on for Christmas--a full-blown special edition with Bakshi's participation.

I realize that, but Icon is basically just a vanity production company for Gibson. He doesn't even have his own video arm. So, I'm curious as to why it would acquire other films.

It makes sense if he wants to go beyond producing his own films and build up a library. But I didn't think that is what he was doing.

Wow, wow and wow. Blue Underground did an awesome restoration job. I watched it last night and was amazed at the PQ. It's a tad soft in some scenes with some grain here and there but over-all, excellent. The dts track is nice and enveloping as well.

What a treat to finally see this movie done right.

I wouldn't call Icon a vanity production company. It's been around for nearly 15 years and isn't much different than any production company run by an actor or director. Icon has released non-Gibson films, such as Immortal Beloved.

Anyway, to answer your question, Bill Lustig told me that the rights to The Final Countdown once belonged to the Guiness brewery. Now why would a brewery buy the rights to this American film? In fact, The Final Countdown was one of 10 films that the company owned.

Eventually a British sales agent called Majestic Film & Television bought the "film library" of Guiness. Mel Gibson's Icon Productions then bought the library as part of an assets deal involving Majestic that included other films. Here is the reason:


So Gibson was just buying back the rights to Icon's own films, most of which were distributed internationally and co-financed by Majestic. They included Gibson's directorial debut, The Man Without a Face. The Final Countdown was simply a tag-along title, just part of the library that included the films he really wanted. That partly explains why Gibson so readily gave Blue Undergound the rights to release The Final Countdown; he really doesn't care about it.

All I can add is my Thank You to BU. I got the 2-Disc set, great cover, great sound and outstanding picture considering. What a treat it was to sit down with my son and watch those F-14's buzz by the Zero's.

As a side note when I first saw this movie back in the 80's it inspired me to build a 1/32 model of the F-14 in the Jolly Roger CAG Color sceme. It looked so real by many accounts that I still have the model in a glass case in my home office.

Very interesting. Thanks for the info!

I got the disc over the weekend. Unfortunately, as I opened it, the teeth on one of the inner rings were broken and the bonus disc was loose. Ack! Disc wasn't scratched though.

Haven't gotten to watch the film.

I wonder how PFE got their grubbly little hands on it?

I recall the ferocity with which they legally threatened anyone who dissed their disc or questioned their 'ownership' of the film.

I watched mine last Saturday night. LOVED IT!!!!

Glad this one finally came along.

I had a blast watching this film. It was like watching it for the first time, which it may have! It seemed so familiar, but I can't remember having seen it before....

Proving my point about the pent-up popularity of The Final Countdown, the two-disc limited edition debuted at No. 9 on Video Business' weekly list of top-selling DVDs.

What a coup for an indepedent producer like Blue Underground. Congratulations to Bill Lustig and his fine company.

Incidentally, if the LE really is limited to 100,000 copies, they can't be around for much longer. A top 10 seller should go through that number fairly quickly.

i was pretty impressed to go back into BB a few days after it had streeted and see what had been about 20 copies reduced to 4 (of which i picked up 1).
still, 100,000 seemed kind of high to me for a 'limited edition'.
i think 50,000 would have a good chance of selling out in short time, but i expect the TFC LE will still be readily available for quite a while.


its a fun film and and the job BU did with it is wonderful.
i could balk at the kind of weak supplementals on the second disc, but considering i paid $17 for the whole package, including the best use of a lenticular cover yet, hard not to be tickled with it (to be honest, the only reason i really sprang for the LE was the cover...and i'm happy i did).

Watched the film last night....WOW! The picture was outstanding and the DTS-ES track was fantastic! A really well-done presentation by Blue Underground. I also enjoyed the featurettes on the 2nd disc as well...especially the one about the Jolly Roger pilots who participated in the production which was quite entertaining. The featurette about Mr. Kaufman was also interesting....he certainly doesn't pull any punches regarding his feelings about some of the cast and crew.

Excellent job BU!

I watched this film for the first time tonight, and it was entertaining. I guess I was a little under-whelmed by the movie due to the 'hype', for lack of a better word, surrounding this film's release and the large cult following it has, but, on the whole, I thought it was an enjoyable flick, even if...

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

The transfer was very good overall, and I've never seen the supposedly wretched PFE DVD, but I was surprised at how much edge enhancement there was on this disc. It was particularly noticeable in shots with Kirk Douglas on the bridge against the predominately white sky.

Although, I am more surprised I haven't seen anyone else mention this, so now I am wondering if maybe its just my setup, hopefully not.

for me, TFC was the kind of film that i would catch, already started, flipping around cable on a rainy afternoon.
i was never expecting it, and it was always a pleasant way to kill an hour or so.

i always got the impression, since the BO wasn't anything special, that thats how a lot of other people discovered it to.
by the mid to late 80's i think i was actually circling this movie in the tv listings to be sure to see it or tape it to watch later.
and as much as i enjoyed it- i never felt it was a film i needed to archive (probably caused it seemed to show up on a regular basis).
its been a while since the last time i've seen it, and watching it last night, i realized i never saw the beginning which pays off directly at the end.
i understood the implications, but
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

it was disappointing to see the obvious ringing right off the bat in the credits .

but i was very happy with the disc/transfer in the whole.

and i enjoyed the movie as much...no, probably more than i ever have, because of the presentation here.
this must be the first time i've seen it OAR, and
i'm sure that was a huge factor by itself, even if i never consciously saw a shot that i was familiar with enough to notice the difference between the ARs .

i just wished BU actively acquired more film like this, because i'm not much into the spaghetti westerns, and euro sleave and slasher stuff (not that there is anything wrong with that stuff).
i think their discs represent a mind blowing value.
wish i could find more stuff from 'em i wanted.

I agree the transfer isn't stellar, but besides the recent nasty PFE release, the only times I had ever viewed the Final Countdown were pan-n-scan laserdisc and VHS versions many years ago. So in comparison, even with it's minor technical flaws, it is a giant step forward over what has been previously available.

Paul Arnette's spoiler comment could provoke an interesting plot twist:
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Now imagine, if you will, this possible Twilight Zone ending:

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

GregK,

I love your proposed Twlight Zone ending! In the end, I guess I was looking for a little more in the way of a pay-off at the end of this film. Your ending would've definitely done that.

For some reason, your ending also reminds me that we need the HBO-movie Fatherland released to DVD stat.

I think one of the reasons I am fond of this film is that it presents perhaps the best action footage of day-to-day operations aboard a Nimitz-class carrier. The matter-of-fact behavior of the crew-actors in this film is far more accurate than in, say, Top Gun or the ilk. I have a lot of affection for the Navy, having served as a contractor for about 18 years. [January of 1991 saw me in Bremerton to outfit the Nimitz with the latest revision of gear to deconflict Tomahawk and manned aircraft missions into Iraq, hours before the Nimitz sailed for the Persian Gulf. So I have personal attachments to the Nimitz itself.]

GregK
Would the Lincoln memorial have the face of an ape as well?

Eric, no, it would be Adolf Hitler.

Love this movie. Watch it evertime its on the TV. Just picked up my Limited Edition from Amazon.ca for $20.24CDN/$15US. Watching on my HT tomorrow.GO LEAFS GO

Kevin

Wow, this thread gives me the warm fuzzies...

As a semi-regular poster/reader in various contentious threads (re: Star Wars ) it's nice to venture into one that is nearly all positive. Whodathunk that there were so many closet Final Countdown fans out there?

I just wanted to say that I finally got a chance to watch this movie for the first time ever last night, and I really enjoyed it.

I had never heard of the movie until all the drama involving the Pacific and then Blue Underground releases, I picked up the new BU release from Columbia House and was pleased with it.

I thought the anamorphic picture quality was superb for a film of its age and I was also impressed with the surround activity on the DTS track, especially all the aircraft carrier launches.

Overall, an excellent movie that was pretty well thought out (okay, it had a couple holes), but thats okay. It was a fun movie.

One last note, boy, Martin Sheen back then really looked like Charlie does now!

Paul Scott, as I read your above post...


...it was as if you experienced exactly what I did after watching what I remembered to be the entire film countless times throughout my childhood! Even though I had seen the end at least 20 times, before watching the DVD I had not once seen the beginning, much to my own surprise! I wonder how many others experienced that same feeling?

As to the availability of the "LE"... I stopped by a Phoenix Area BB on my way home from work the day after release, and there were no LE's and only one copy of the single disk WS still left. When I checked the Internet later that evening, two other BB's nearest my home were showing no inventory either. It took a 25+ mile round trip drive to garner my copy that night!

I picked this one up on release day and watched it that night. This one of my favorite movies that I had never seen all the way through in one sitting. Always caught the first half, the middle, or the last half becuase of one event or another. What a pleasure it was to be able to view it in this beautiful presentation.

THANK YOU Blue Underground!!!