Six years before “Top Gun” prominently featured the F-14 Tomcat, “The Final Countdown” proved that Grumman’s twin-tailed fighter had star quality
Created in 1968 as a replacement for the controversial F-111B, which was still being developed for the Navy’s carrier-based fighter fleet, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat made its maiden flight on Dec. 21, 1970.
Overall, the F-14 stood unmatched among Western fighters. Its AWG-9 weapons control system could direct six long-range AIM-54A Phoenix missiles at six different enemy aircraft simultaneously. For medium-range engagements, it carried Sparrow missiles, while Sidewinders and a 20mm cannon were available for close-in dogfights. In that role, the Tomcat’s variable-sweep wings gave it a level of combat maneuverability that a conventional fixed-wing design could not match.
However, the Tomcat was not only the most powerful fighter in the carrier air wings, but also an icon of its era, shaped by its clashes with Libyan aircraft in the 1980s and its starring role in the hit film Top Gun.
Six years before “Top Gun” brought the F-14 Tomcat to the forefront, “The Final Countdown” had already shown that Grumman’s twin-tailed fighter was made for the spotlight. While serving as an F-14 lieutenant pilot, Al “Shoes” Mullen took part in the filming of The Final Countdown and later generously allowed the author to examine his notes about the experience.
Shoes joined Fighter Squadron 84 (VF-84, the Jolly Rogers) as a newly assigned pilot in September 1977 and quickly stood out, as shown by his selection to attend Topgun in September 1978 with RIO Jim “Tex” Huston. Only a few months after finishing the course, Shoes and Tex were among a group of pilots and RIOs who spent several weeks at NAS Key West filming the science fiction adventure movie in which the USS Nimitz travels back in time and encounters elements of the Japanese strike force just before the attack on Pearl Harbor. If you can look past the time-travel premise, it’s a pretty good film.
The concept for the film originated with Peter Douglas, the son of actor Kirk Douglas. It remained dormant for several years until Commander Emory Brown learned of it shortly before taking command of VF-84 and offered his support. That is how the Jolly Rogers, who operated some of the Navy’s most colorful F-14s, became movie stars known around the world.
Shoes says filming in Key West “started with a helicopter as a camera platform, two T-6s (and a spare) playing Zeros, and about five F-14s: two painted as ‘202,’ two painted as ‘203,’ and one spare ready to be anything.”
“The strategy was doomed from the start. The movie guys wanted the Tomcats flying with their wings swept back to look cool (so we had to be fast); the T-6s flying with their canopies open to look cool (which slowed them down); and the helicopter hovering as a stable camera platform, theoretically in a known location.” That is, until the tropical winds blew it around.
Before filming any scenes, the pilots and film crew planned and briefed each shot just as they would for a normal flight. However, using a helicopter as the camera platform made the process more complicated.
Shoes said, “Every scene was an attempt to get three pool balls to collide on a pool table at exactly the same time. Try it sometime!”
Making matters more difficult, the crew was shooting on film, without video playback for immediate review. They would film scenes all day and send the footage out for processing, then continue shooting for another day or two before the first reels came back—only to discover that very little of it was usable.
“Either the Tomcats and Zeros were awesome, but no helicopter was there to film it. Or the helo was trying to hang on to a formation of Zeros, and the Tomcats fell out of the sky trying to slow down to below 200 knots with the wings swept back.” It was an expensive waste of time.
In the end, the film company acquired a modified B-25 from Tallmantz Aviation, fitted with a camera in the tail gunner’s position.
“This was a game-changer because the bomber was speed compatible with the Zeros, and they could comfortably fly in formation with the bomber as one element. We (Tomcats) could fly at 300 knots or more to sweep the wings, and finally, we only had to get two pool balls to hit on the table at the same time. Infinitely easier!”
The finished film featured several memorable sequences showcasing not just the F-14, but also the air wing and carrier operations. Among the standout moments is the scene in which two alert Tomcats are authorized to arm and then surge forward as their wings sweep back. Shortly afterward, after they have struck the Zeros and the enemy planes break apart, a Zero is seen skimming the tops of the clouds with a Tomcat looming ominously behind it.
The Final Countdown premiered on Aug. 1, 1980. Marketed as a summer blockbuster, it ultimately received a rather lukewarm response. According to the website “The Numbers,” the film earned nearly $57 million worldwide—a respectable total, though most of that revenue came from international audiences.
Today, some movie websites describe The Final Countdown positively, calling it interesting, entertaining, thought-provoking, and fun to watch. It is probably especially enjoyed by Tomcat fans, who never seem to tire of seeing the big jet in action.
Author Dave “Bio” Baranek was a student at RIO when The Final Countdown was released in August 1980. He completed the Topgun course in 1982, where LT “Shoes” Mullen was one of his instructors. For more information on the F-14 Tomcat and Top Gun, visit Bio’s website, www.topgunbio.com, and explore his books TOPGUN DAYS, BEFORE TOPGUN DAYS, and Tomcat RIO.
