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The Philadelphia Experiment

The Philadelphia Experiment

List Price: $9.98
Your Price: $9.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Corny Love Story and No science fiction in this story...
Review: The so-called 1943 actual events of this movie had pretty much been disaproved by historians, but the geeks who ran the SCI-FI cable network keep showing this very B-movie with Pare and Allen having no chmeinstry, and a script that looks like it was written by a two year old.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A nice little twisted time travel tale (that is not true)
Review: "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 Paré) 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 Paré 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A nice little twisted time travel tale (that is not true)
Review: "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 Paré) 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 Paré 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A nice little twisted time travel tale (that is not true)
Review: "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 Paré) 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 Paré 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Love lost in time and conspiracy classic
Review: As implied in the name there is an experiment in Philadelphia (1943) to make a navel ship invisible to the enemy. The experiment goes beyond its parameters and sends the ship into the future. David Herdeg (Michael Paré) and Jim Parker (Bobby Di Cicco)
Jump ship in the process. What will become of them? Will this time travel effect others and can they get back? If not will they adapt?
It can not hurt to have a relationship with Nancy Allen you may not want to go back.

The story is based on a real conspiracy theory to cover-up the real thing. Even tough there are records to show that the destroyer was no where near the aria at the time, that just fuels the fire for the conspiracy.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Love lost in time and conspiracy classic
Review: As implied in the name there is an experiment in Philadelphia (1943) to make a navel ship invisible to the enemy. The experiment goes beyond its parameters and sends the ship into the future. David Herdeg (Michael Paré) and Jim Parker (Bobby Di Cicco)
Jump ship in the process. What will become of them? Will this time travel effect others and can they get back? If not will they adapt?
It can not hurt to have a relationship with Nancy Allen you may not want to go back.

The story is based on a real conspiracy theory to cover-up the real thing. Even tough there are records to show that the destroyer was no where near the aria at the time, that just fuels the fire for the conspiracy.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Terrific sci-fi adventure
Review: Because this film lacked real star power, not many people have caught this as they should have. Even non sci-fi fans will enjoy this one. No need for me to reiterate the plot. The story is tightly crafted, well acted, and beautifully executed. Everything is explained nicely and nothing left to confuse the viewer. What is truly refreshing is the use of actual older actors playing the characters at later ages. No latex for a change!

Word of warning: If you order this used, be sure the version you are getting is produced by Anchor Bay Entertainment. It's wide-screen and contains the trailer as an additional feature. There is another version out there which is advertised as containing no features. This one is put out by an independent distributor, is Pan & Scan, the picture quality is dark, very grainy, and sound poor.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A must-see movie for SCI FI fans.
Review: Even though the movie shows its age, the plot is still exciting for science fiction fans. The effects are ok, but what makes this movie is the results of the experiment which is complicated by the second experiment.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: good movie - BAD DVD
Review: 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.....

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A great Sci-fi Film
Review: I have always been fascinated by this true story. Yes, thats right, TRUE!. Of course in this movie, there was a lot of exaggeration. The ship really did disapear. but beyond that not to many people know what els happend. there are rumors of experimenting with time travle, and rumors that the ship reapeared in norfolk virginia, and the rumors only get bigger after that. But this did happen, My father worked at the ship yard and witness the generators being installed on the ship.

the year is 1943, and the navy is trying a new type of stealth technology for ships. It is supposed to make the ship invisible to radar. When the generators are turned on, the entire ship disapears from view. Meanwile, in 1984, the same technology is being used to make a deserted town dissappear. Somehow a rift is opened between the two times. Two crewmen jump of the ship and land in 1984. The two crewman get to experience 1984, but one of them is pulled back thought time. The rift will not close, the generators on the ship are still running keeping it open. when the other crewman is found, he is used to shut down the genorators on the ship. If you havent seen this movie, it is worth watching. If you liked The Final Count Down, you will probably like this movie.


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