While it might have looked fine in 1980 today that footage as shown impressed me as rather static.For naval ethusiasts, these were the best scenes in the film.
Agreed. Gotta love seeing those F-14s in their prime! Especially going up against Zeroes.
The twist to The Final Countdown as opposed to a Trek time travel story is that there's no Starfleet non-interference directive as a guideline. And yet in some respects I think that issue got short thrift in the movie. It was touched upon, but in such a low-key way. The one idea that intrigued me was how people in the 1940s would have perceived the sudden appearance of 1980s tech and hardware. It would have seemed nearly like alien technology to them.
Check out John Birmingham's Axis of Time trilogy to see how the 1940s might have reacted to a high tech appearance in their society.