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The Philadelphia Experiment

The Philadelphia Experiment

  • Status: Released
  • 05-10-1984
  • Runtime: 102 min
  • Score: 6.1
  • Vote count: 403

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.

Michael Paré

David Herdeg

Nancy Allen

Allison Hayes

Eric Christmas

Dr. James Longstreet

Bobby Di Cicco

Jim Parker

Louise Latham

Pamela

Kene Holliday

Major Clark

Joe Dorsey

Sheriff Bates

Michael Currie

Magnussen

Stephen Tobolowsky

Barney

Gary Brockette

Adjutant / Andrews

Debra Troyer

Young Pamela

Miles McNamara

Young Longstreet

Ralph Manza

Older Jim

James Edgcomb

Officer Boyer

Glenn Morshower

Mechanic

Rodney Saulsberry

Doctor

Vivian Brown

Ma Willis

Stephanie Faulkner

TV Newscaster #1

Ed Bakey

Pa Willis

Michael Villani

TV Newscaster #2

Vaughn Armstrong

Cowboy

Bill Smillie

Evangelist

Lawrence Lott

Technician

Stephan O'Reilly

Punk Rocker

Clay Wilcox

Transvestite

Pat Dasko

Dry Wells Newscaster

Pamela Brull

Doris

Richard Jewkes

Technician

Pamela Doucette

Nurse

Michael Ruud

Truck Driver

Deborah E. Dixon

Nurse

Mary Lois Grantham

Mrs. Waite

Rick Schrand

Mandell

Brent S. Laing

Radar Technician

Patrick DeSantis

Jim Jr.

Charles Hall

Commander

David Michels

Commander

Raymond Kowalski

Radio Technician

Andrew McCartney

Technician

Anthony R. Nuzzo

Generator Technician

Robin Krieger

X-Ray Technician

Joe Moore

Commander's Buddy

Don Dolan

Driver

Jeffrey S. Smith

Sailor

Tony Farrell

Bandleader

Andrew Bracken

Dazed Sailor

Rudy Daniels

Policeman #1

Jay Bernard

Engineer

Steve Sachs

First Sailor

Bo Parnham

Radio Operator

Harry Beer

Second Sailor

Kerry Lee Maher

Radio Operator

CinemaSerf

Sadly, this has dated really quite badly but it’s still quite a decent story. With the US Navy working in the middle of WWII to find a way to make allied shipping invisible to their Nazi enemy, they think they might have found a gadget to do just that. Off goes the USS “Eldridge” but before the exercise can be completed, two of it’s crew disappear and find themselves transported forty years into the future. Meantime, “Longstreet” (Eric Christmas) - the very scientist who devised the technology in the first place, is looking to try to retrieve the men. Meantime, lost souls “David” (Michael Paré) and “Jimmy” (Bobby Di Cicco) are having a few problems of their own in 1984 as the latter man has a bit of an incident at hospital and they realise that they are going to need to contact the scientist and hope his future self, if he’s even still alive, believes their story and helps them repatriate to their own timeline. There’s some thought gone into the script and the plot here, and though I felt the acting all a bit flat, it still manages to use it’s visual effects imaginatively as it supposes just how time travel might occur and at how it might impact on two young men who had rarely ever left home. There’s a little bit of romance for “David” with the helpfully gullible “Allison” (Nancy Allen) and also just an hint of plausible science that attempts to visualise just how it all might have worked, as opposed to some “TARDIS” style arrangement where you just change the scenery. It has a made-for-television look to it, but it’s worth a watch.