Continuity: During the dogfight with the Japanese Zeroes, the ordnance hung on the two F-14s' weapon stations keep changing. For the weapons to change, the airplanes would have had to land and re-arm about four times during the two-minute dogfight.
Great sites
Mistakes
When Lasky heads toward the conning tower, an F8 Crusader is shown at left (and the helicopter nose has a number "3" on it). As he is led inside the tower, the camera pans up, and now the Crusader is gone, replaced by an AWACS Hawkeye (and the number "3" on the heli is gone, too). See more...
The Final Countdown mistakes
Continuity: When Lasky heads toward the conning tower, an F8 Crusader is shown at left (and the helicopter nose has a number "3" on it). As he is led inside the tower, the camera pans up, and now the Crusader is gone, replaced by an AWACS Hawkeye (and the number "3" on the heli is gone, too).
Continuity: The yacht has been blown up by the Japanese Zeros. A helicopter is sent out from the USS Nimitz to pick up the survivors. When Charlie (the dog) is being lifted into the helicopter (carried by Commander Owens) he is obviously soaking wet. When Commander Owens hands Charlie over to Laurel, Charlie is suddenly bone dry.
The Final Countdown trivia
The USS Nimitz was based in the Atlantic during filming of this movie. When the ship pulls into Pearl Harbor past the USS Arizona Memorial, it is actually the USS Kitty Hawk not the Nimitz.