The Philadelphia Experiment
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Movie Reviews of The Philadelphia Experiment
Movie Review: Fun Time-Travel Movie from the 80's
Summary: 5 Stars
Like another reviewer said, no subtitles on the DVD but the film is preserved in near-pristine condition. It was remarkable how crisp the images were. The DVD has trailer, scene selection, audio options and that's about it.
The special effects were very 1980's so you have to overlook that when watching the film. There's a great sequence where Manfred Mann's "The Runner" is used for background music. And a slight continuity error when the Porsche following (and eventually passing) our heroes disappears from the rear window. And I have to wonder, since our hero is so important to the military's time travel experiment, why are they shooting at him? (duh!). Oh well, makes for a little more exciting chase sequences. And then there's that whole time-space continuum thing, what with the events as they play out. Oops, better to not think about that stuff! LOL
One of the (1984) scientists shows up in another time-warp movie, "Groundhog Day." See if you can spot him. Also, one of the main doctors is the U.S. submarine captain from "Firefox." And there's a guy on the hospital elevator that later shows up as a bus passenger in "Speed." Nancy Allen gets the Good Samaritan Award for helping out some guys who steal her car, kidnap her, then her car gets wrecked. But then, how often does a girl get to date a guy that came across 41 years of time?
Michael Pare was definitely a good choice for the film; he plays the perplexed sailor pretty well. This would be a good double-feature for the time period with Jeff Bridge's "Starman."
Movie Review: Don't Expect Sub-titles
Summary: 4 Stars
If you plan this movie to have sub-titles, beware, an unusual dvd: No Sub-Titles included.
Otherwise, the movie is just good as it was twenty-years ago.
Movie Review: A nice little twisted time travel tale (that is not true)
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Philadelphia Experiment" is supposedly the about an experiment the U.S. Navy conducted in 1943 to make the U.S.S. "Eldridge" invisible to radar. However, the experiment goes (surprise) horribly wrong and the ship is contaminated with a deadly dose of radiation. Two of the sailors, David Herdeg (Michael Pare) and Jim Parker (Bobby Di Cicco), jump overboard as their crewmates are catching on fire and getting trapped in bulkheads and end up traveling through a rift in time to 1984 (i.e., the present in terms of that being the year this movie was made). One of them gets sent back but the other does not and not only are the authorities after him but it seems that pesky hole in time is wrecking havoc with the climate (not as bad as "The Day After Tomorrow," but serious enough).
This is a fun little B-movie that most science fiction fans can enjoy as long as they do not take it too seriously. The reason it is considered to be based on a "true" story is that it is based on a 1979 "non-fiction" book that claimed the Navy was fooling around with Einstein's Unified Field Theory and sent the "Eldridge" from Philadelphia to the harbor in Norfolk, Virginia, and then back again. The story is based on some dubious evidence and apparently since the U.S.S. "Eldridge" never ever docked at the Philadelphia Naval Yard the title appears to be suspect as well. The Navy has offered an official explanation that what happened was a routine degaussing of the ship, which meant it was surrounded with electrical cables to negate the magnetic field (the idea is that it would render the ship invisible to radar but not to human eyes). Of course to some people this explanation just screams cover up.
Ultimately this film is not concerned with the "science" of the so-called experiment because that is all just an excuse for a more traditional time travel story and within that genre there are few interesting things going on here. There are some fun moments as Herdeg encounters the brave new world (Orwell's "1984" did not come out until 1948, so he does not know that the future is brighter than people had thought in the 1940s). Herdeg hooks up with an airhead, Allison Hayes (Nancy Allen), who eventually comes to believe that he is not lying about when he is from and tries to help him get back home. It is just as well because there is really no chemistry between these two. After "Eddie & the Cruisers" and "Streets of Fire" we all thought Par was going to have a career, but this film seems to have derailed it. Come to think of it the same can be said for Allen, outside of the "Robocop" movies.
The special effects are rather simplistic, but quite effective for the time. They were certainly good enough to lure more than a few people into seeing this film from director Stewart Raffill ("The Ice Pirates," "Mac and Me"). Plus you have the standard lesson than there are some things scientists should not be messing around with otherwise a wormhole will destroy the world as we know it, which was not really an omnipresent science fiction plot line at that point (CGI made destroying the planet much more fun). There is a 1993 sequel to this film, but try to forget about it because it belongs on everyone's short list of worst science fiction sequels ever. This one at least gives you some things to think about, not all of which are about how to poke holes in the story.
Movie Review: SHIP AHOY
Summary: 3 Stars
When it comes to time travel on the screen, there have been many, many attempts. My favorite is the STAR TREK episode in which Shatner travels back in time, falls in love with Joan Collins, and she gets killed, and he has to leave her behind. In THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT, things turn out a little better for the timecrossed lovers. Based on what was supposedly a real experiment in 1943, the movie chronicles the fate of Michael Pare and Bobby DiCicco, who during the experiment in Philadelphia find themselves in 1984 Nevada. Somehow the same scientist who did the 1943 experiment is still at it, trying to make a town invisible. In doing so, he opens a vortex that brings the two 40s soldiers to modern times. Pare falls in love with the wonderful Nancy Allen (CARRIE, BLOWOUT, DRESSED TO KILL), and their romance is a key element in the eventual climax.The special effects are commendable for a 1984 movie; the direction is adequate, and most of the performances very good. Nancy combines her naivete with those lovely eyes to make a wonderful heroine, and Michael Pare shows a good range of emotion in trying to decide where he truly belongs.
This is one of the better time travel movies, and inspired a sequel with Brad Johnson.
Movie Review: good movie - BAD DVD
Summary: 1 Stars
I am a 29 year old man who remebered this movie fondly from my childhood. So i pointed, clicked and oredered it up. I was horrified the instant the menu came up on screen and the option to start the movie was spelled wrong, it read "STRAT MOVIE". This should give you some idea as to the level of care and attention that went into the production of this inferior product.The picture quality was unforgivable. Usually a bad transfer doesnt bother me that much as long as I can see whats going on, but this movie transfer is pathetic. I am not kidding when I say that you are better off ordering a clean VHS copy than wasting your time and money on this DVD. It was absolutely unwatchable on my widescreen TV, I eventually had to put it in my computer to watch it as the "pixelization" was so bad ... consider youself warned.....