Undescribable Perfection

Too much of everything

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

I first saw this during ABC's premiere presentation broadcast (of theatricals) on the ABC Sunday Night Movie around 1982 - 83 when I was eleven and it blew me away!Decades later, as a Marine Corps veteran when I purchased the special edition DVD, I still marveled at it and watch it every chance I get!If you are a military and science fiction fan, this is a treat. What's not to like? A modern nuclear powered aircraft carrier (with its air wing and arsenal) getting caught in an unexplained phenomenon (in effect, storm) sending it to the day before the Pearl Harbor attack made a wonderful platform. To paraphrase TV Guide's view of the movie, it was a story reminiscent of "The Twilight Zone."Kirk Douglas played a convincing Navy Captain, Matt Yelland commanding the U.S.S. Nimitz and her arsenal that was capable of wiping out the Japanese fleet. Rounding off the players are equally convincing roles by James Farentino - CDR Richard "CAG" Owens, the air wing commander; Ron O'Neal - CDR Dan Thurman, the ship's second-in-command; and Martin Sheen - Warren Lasky, a visiting civilian defense contractor. Charles Durning and Katherine Ross play 1941 characters shocked by their time travelers and ship from the future.Like most stories about time travel, the main characters have to face the main concern about altering the future as they knew it. As one of the characters retorted to another, ". . I don't have your appetite for playing God with the world!" when faced with that prospect. As 1941 friends and enemies come in contact with them, they have to make decisions on how to deal with them to avoid further conflict but at the same time possibly altering the future.The origins of the storm that sent the Nimitz back to 1941 is never explained, so it is left ambiguous. One can surmise that the Nimitz' travel back in time was a test for Captain Yelland and crew to see what they would do with the modern capabilities of the ship in regards to an historical attack they know is coming. Awesome aircraft carrier operations courtesy of the United States Navy spliced with science fiction intrigue make this an appealing tale for both military aficionados and science fiction lovers alike.

Thoroughly enjoyable sci-fi romp. Balanced dose of wonder, humor and action. Nice to see some images on older film stock and hear a slightly bombastic score, with the sci-fi parts of the score sounding just like you would expect from something made in yesteryear.The time-travel logic has been elegantly wound up with minimal loose ends. Logic can evade us often with time travel. Even though this story has been very satisfying, it would be interesting to see the same story but with the butterfly effect in play after the Japanese fleet gets hammered instead.Can't complain though. Lots of fun.

As a film it was decent. Another great display of the American military arsenal. But what ruined the experience for me were the inaccuracies. How can those AIM-54's lock on to targets WITH NO RADAR!!! or infrared missile to targets that do not generate enough heat that they could lock on to them. I know this is a film and that they get to take some artistic liberties, but to create a whole new missile homing system is too much. Just use those cannons! You have a faking 20mm Vulcan Gatling gun! And then some filler text to please the IMDb people, why does a review have to be 10 lines of text if the movies plot can be written in just one.

What's the point of this film? Not a bad premise but then they do NOTHING with it. They could have had some fun with it but no, they futz around in the past and then return leaving practically everything unchanged. I would have liked some action but none was delivered. Considering this is science fiction of sorts, I rate this a poor movie that wasted its decent cast with a dumb script and NO imagination. They could have at least provided some laughs bit there's none of those either. Everyone who sees this film is probably hoping that the Nimitz kicks some butts and saves Pearl Harbor. Then we could have some fun with what would happen if history was changed in that way but again ... no.