The Philadelphia Experiment
1984 Directed by Stewart Raffill
Synopsis
Based on an "actual event" that took place in 1943. About a US Navy Destroyer Escort that disappeared from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, and sent two men 40 years into the future to 1984.
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For a TV movie from the 80s, which can be a little ropey at the best of times, it's not that bad.
It's a rather embellished telling of the story of the US Naval ship that was briefly rendered completely invisible during the second world war. Here, the ship re-appears with all of its crew dead except for 2 of the officers, who are transported through time into the future (well, the 80s. It was the future to them.) They find Nancy Allen (the woman from Robocop) who helps them out.
It's not even half as interesting as the actual wikipedia page on the event/conspiracy theory. It's way too schmulzy, not enough action, some dire dialogue. There's not a whole…
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"Navy owes me 40 years back pay."
Being a subscriber to the FilmSack podcast can be a chore at times. Each week, the FilmSack crew picks a strange movie from the bowels of Netflix streaming to watch and discuss. My rule is that I must watch the movie before listening to the podcast. This has led me to watch “classic” films such as; Howard the Duck, Troll 2, Dune, Zardoz and Battlefield Earth. This week’s FilmSack movie is The Philadelphia Experiment, from 1984.
I watched this movie with no expectation at all. Sure, it is not good, but guess what, it’s not that bad.
In my opinion, the biggest fault with this movie is the fact that some of the…
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Improbable time travel film made better by the presence of Nancy Allen but made worse again by some terrible eighties special effects.
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For some reason I have Always thought this to be a good film. I finlly saw it. I was very wrong.
Althought the story COULD have been fun, it isn't. The acting is bad, special effects are not that special. And I found that people very easily accepts that Pares character has traveled in time...
"Ah ok, you travelled 40 years in time. Cool."
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I've been intrigued by this film for almost 30 years and never got round to seeing it. Was it worth the wait? Not really. It hasn't aged well and even by the 80s standards, some of the acting is dire. That said, Nancy Allen is always v. watchable and the premise is interesting enough to hold me to the end. Somewhat reminiscent but vastly inferior to the wonderful Capricorn One.
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Had not seen this in years and found it an enjoyable watch.
Dated in places with some less than stellar but passable effects for the time.
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An interesting concept that is, as too often happens, executed horribly. While I like Michael Pare as the leading man, he's saddled with an extremely wooden Nancy Allen (she's much better in Robocop) who, to be fair, is given a very underwritten role.
There are problems with the plot, problems with the characters, but honestly, this is one of those movies that I can't even muster the enthusiasm to write about. It's just not good.
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"Navy owes me 40 years back pay."
Being a subscriber to the FilmSack podcast can be a chore at times. Each week, the FilmSack crew picks a strange movie from the bowels of Netflix streaming to watch and discuss. My rule is that I must watch the movie before listening to the podcast. This has led me to watch “classic” films such as; Howard the Duck, Troll 2, Dune, Zardoz and Battlefield Earth. This week’s FilmSack movie is The Philadelphia Experiment, from 1984.
I watched this movie with no expectation at all. Sure, it is not good, but guess what, it’s not that bad.
In my opinion, the biggest fault with this movie is the fact that some of the…
-
Improbable time travel film made better by the presence of Nancy Allen but made worse again by some terrible eighties special effects.
-
For some reason I have Always thought this to be a good film. I finlly saw it. I was very wrong.
Althought the story COULD have been fun, it isn't. The acting is bad, special effects are not that special. And I found that people very easily accepts that Pares character has traveled in time...
"Ah ok, you travelled 40 years in time. Cool."
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If there were 0 stars it would get that.
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I've been intrigued by this film for almost 30 years and never got round to seeing it. Was it worth the wait? Not really. It hasn't aged well and even by the 80s standards, some of the acting is dire. That said, Nancy Allen is always v. watchable and the premise is interesting enough to hold me to the end. Somewhat reminiscent but vastly inferior to the wonderful Capricorn One.
-
For a TV movie from the 80s, which can be a little ropey at the best of times, it's not that bad.
It's a rather embellished telling of the story of the US Naval ship that was briefly rendered completely invisible during the second world war. Here, the ship re-appears with all of its crew dead except for 2 of the officers, who are transported through time into the future (well, the 80s. It was the future to them.) They find Nancy Allen (the woman from Robocop) who helps them out.
It's not even half as interesting as the actual wikipedia page on the event/conspiracy theory. It's way too schmulzy, not enough action, some dire dialogue. There's not a whole…
-
Had not seen this in years and found it an enjoyable watch.
Dated in places with some less than stellar but passable effects for the time. -
Fun and full of cheesy 80's effects, but the story was pretty blah. Especially because the main character inexplicably ran from the people who could help him, in order to... get to the people who could help him?! Yeah, some gaps in logic. Looking forward to the sequel which is apparently better, though.