The Philadelphia Experiment

Plot synopsis:
In 1943 United States Navy sailors David Herdeg (Michael Paré) and Jim Parker (Bobby Di Cicco) are assigned to the destroyer escort USS Eldridge during a project to make it invisible to radar. The ship is in Philadelphia harbor, filled with equipment from a team led by James Longstreet (Eric Christmas). During the experiment the equipment begins malfunctioning. Observers simply see the ship disappear but sailors on board experience a bizarre and disorienting phase shift. David and Jim try to shut down the generator to stop the experiment but receive severe electric shocks when they touch the equipment. The two men jump overboard to escape.
Instead of landing in Philadelphia harbor during the daytime, David and Jim land during the night in a small desert town, which then disappears as well, leaving them in the dark open desert. They are startled by the appearance of bright light in the sky - it's a military helicopter with a spotlight looking for intruders. They escape into the desert and eventually find their way to a diner the next day.
An energy discharge from Jim destroys an arcade game in the diner, and the upset diner owner grabs a revolver, demanding Jim pay for the damages. David grabs the gun and the men run and carjack a car in the parking lot. Since he is unfamiliar with the automatic transmission, David takes the driver - a woman named Allison (Nancy Allen) - as a hostage and driver. They are shocked when she tells them that they are in the year 1984.
The police eventually catch them and Jim, who is suffering increasingly severe seizures, is hospitalized. David explains that he and Jim accidentally traveled through time, but no one believes the story. Jim eventually disappears from his hospital bed in a corona of energy. David and Allison then evade military police, who have arrived to take David into custody.
Jim was from nearby California, so David decides to try to find his family. He and Allison find the family listed in a phone book and drive to see them. Jim's former girlfriend Pamela (Louise Latham), who is now a senior citizen, immediately recognizes David from 1943. She says that the USS Eldridge had reappeared minutes after disappearing and that a lot of the sailors on board had been horribly burned. Jim had also returned and had been hospitalized for telling the truth about temporarily visiting 1984. David asks about himself and finds that he never came back, but that Pamela and Jim have been married for many years. David sees Jim in the distance riding a horse, but Jim, who had slowly come to terms with the bizarre events of 1943, refuses to come inside to speak with David. David and Allison see military police approaching, but manage to elude them. From one of their cars, David salvages documents mentioning Dr. Longstreet. Recognizing that Longstreet had been involved with the Philadelphia experiment in 1943, they decide to find him. As they spend time together, David and Allison fall in love.
In 1984, Dr. Longstreet has attempted to use the same technologies that were used in the original Philadelphia experiment to create a shield to protect from an ICBM attack. When the equipment was tested, a nearby town disappeared into "hyperspace", just like the USS Eldridge had. The scientists are unable to shut down the experiment, despite cutting the power. Worse, the experiment has left a vortex in 1984, which starts sucking matter into it. The vortex causes extremely severe weather, including tornadoes and monstrous bolts of lightning. Longstreet predicts that the vortex will continue to expand until the entire world is consumed. The scientists send a probe into the vortex and discover the Eldridge inside; the two experiments have linked together across time. They theorize that the generators on the Eldridge are providing the energy to keep the vortex open.
David captures an assistant at Longstreet's home, which includes a small model of the town he saw when he first arrived. He forces the man to take them onto the base but is captured when they get off the elevator in the control center. Longstreet tells the military police to let David in and shows him the situation. He tells David that, according to surviving sailors from the Eldridge, the ship returned to Philadelphia in 1943 after David shut down the generator. Longstreet says that David must go through the vortex to the Eldridge and shut off the generator, or the vortex will destroy the Earth.
Allison urges David not to do it, but he volunteers to go and save his ship and is outfitted with an electrically insulated suit to enable him to shut down the generator. He is catapulted into the vortex and lands on the deck of the Eldridge, where he finds the crew panicked and injured. He hurries to the generator room and smashes arrays of vacuum tubes using a firefighting axe. The generator shuts down and David looks for Jim. Assured that Jim is fine, David jumps over the side of the ship and disappears. Back in 1943, Longstreet and others watch the Eldridge reappear in Philadelphia, and long range observers note some crewmen are badly burned and others fused alive into the ship's hull.
Likewise in 1984, the missing town reappears. Allison steals a jeep to drive to it. She finds David, they kiss passionately, and he proclaims "I got it all figured out. The Navy owes me 40 years back pay."

Tags: romantic, action

Review:
The modern day reaction of Jim to his old friend seems unrealistic at first until you think about it, and the explanation given about Jim's psychological problems after the experiment makes perfect sense and adds a bit of unexpected realism.
I've seen every time travel movie ever made, and I must say that the Philadelphia Experiment ranks pretty high on my list of favorites.
Despite the cheesy love story (almost as bad as Titanic or Pearl Harbor) the effects are pretty good and the story is cool.The actors were fair (Nancy Allen was great, though) and the screenplay is pretty good.
(a couple of people who were phased into solid objects can be seen in the movie - pretty cool!) The "true" story makes a great read and even if only a fraction of it is true, it's a pretty remarkable idea that any of it happened in reality.The Philadelphia Experiment is an entertaining movie, but more for sci fi fans and their girlfriends rather than the average moviegoer.
I think the plot is genius - When something disappears nobody thinks what's going on while it's invisible - This is what happens in the film as a ship is cloaked during world war 2 to prevent radar detection but the ship completely vanishes - while invisible 2 crew members jump overboard into one of the best time warps i've ever seen, into 1984 - I think the acting, effects and overall tension of the movie was way ahead of it's time and will remain my personal favourite film..
Based on an "actual event" that took place in 1943 and set during WW2 , a ¨Philadelphia experiment¨ about invisibility and involving an anti-radar goes wrong , causing an USS naval battleship -Navy Destroyer Escort- to disappear from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard , Virginia , by means of a warp time .
Meanwhile , they meet a beautiful girl(costars Nancy Allen) who help them .This is a far-fetching but acceptable story about two sailors traveling forward in time to just to discover weird incidents and save the world .
The sailors David Herdeg (Michael Paré) and his best friend Jim Parker (Bobby Di Cicco) are projected to 1984, where they meet Allison Hayes (Nancy Allen).
Will he be wheel succeeded?"The Philadelphia Experiment" is an enjoyable film with a story with paradoxes, like most of the stories about time travel.
I think the idea of a war film, with time travel, and love story is very good, and this works very well in this film.
"The Philadelphia Experiment" takes the intriguing idea of time travel forward and turns it into a routine, often silly thriller.
Based loosely  on an alleged WWII radar invisibility experiment, this film nicely covers the 'alleged' experiment and then takes you one step further, with time and place transference, and a love story thrown in for good measure.
But there were some fun things about the movie so if you like sci-fi films, you may very well enjoy this kooky story that some people have taken to believe was a true story..
Especially the part where the teleported guys phasing in and out of the field of the original experiment.It would have been better if the lost sailor's names were Wilson or something, and they ended up in Camp Hero in 1983.It's probably difficult to make a good movie of this type that's both based on facts and targeted for a commercial audience.The story deserves a better treatment, and I hope a better version of this movie will be made someday..
as time travel travel movies goes this one's pretty decent.i've seen a few in my time,many of them stinkers,and this is certainly no stinker.it isn't necessarily the best of the genre,but it works for what it is.it's fairly low key and sedate.the special effects range from not bad to pretty good,especially for the time period during which the movie was made.the acting was pretty decent as well,though also low key,like the rest of the movie.the story is decent enough.the movie reminded me of another time travel movie from 1980 starring Kirk Douglas called The Final Countdown,which to me is a superior movie.as for The Philadelphia Experiment,i give it a 6/10.
The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Nice bit of sci-fi and romance about two WWII sailors (Michael Pare, Bobby DiCicco) who take part in an experiment that will put an invisible shield around ships that will allow them not to be spotted by enemy ships.
THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT is a pretty interesting little film that sadly just doesn't have the budget or performances to really work as well as it possibly could have.
The sci-fi elements are also pretty good as the mystery to what happened is something that keeps you glued to the film even when the special effects are making you want to gag.
Two Sailors (Michael Pare and Bobby DiCicco) joined an top secret experiment to try to succeed the U.S. Navy Ships Invisible to enemy radar but instead something went wrong.
Too bad that on hindsight this is a mediocre time-travel sci-fi B-movie, with the inevitable romance thrown in for good measure (with Nancy Allen in her pre-"Robocop" days, coming hot on the heels of "Blow Out").
OK i had wanted to watch this movie for years & finally did today,i was expecting it to be rubbish due to reading other comments & i suppose had it of been fiction i would of given it just 4 poss 5 however its based on real events & thats worrying & i suppose pending on how much is correct in the film as to what happened i liked it a lot i do agree with someones comments on the acting is a little bland at times however look at its year it was made eh...1984...there was a lot worse films out then,i thought the special effects was pretty good too & the real issue if its the only one i had with the film is about 3quaters the way through there is a scene when the main man & the girl he meets are driving & although there i a car behind them the camera changes angle to just him but when it goes to view them both from a front mirror view the car has gone then camera changes again then car is gone & so on & so on i was a little disappointed there..not sure if the ending was true as well i wont spoil it for anyone but it was what he does to get back to her...?
If you like Michael Paré, Nancy Allen, Stephen Tobolowsky, the rest of the cast in the film, Action, Science Fiction, Thrillers, Mysteries, and interesting films then I strongly recommend you to see this film today!.
this movie is very underrated i think the acting was great and the story line was very good, i find the special effects ahead of it's time.
I think a war film with time travel, is very good, i usually hate love stories but i think it was kind of cool the way it was done 2 people from different times he is actually going to become the oldest person in the planet if we think about it .
It was 1984.SFX and CGI were nowhere near the top of their game, but passed with most movies to give us the idea where things were going in plots and particular scenes.The Philadelphia Experiment comes across as more of an independent flick than a typical Hollywood blockbuster.
And while it fails on a number of levels for most critics, I felt it did the job and highly entertained for the most part.With great performances from most of its cast, it is the gorgeous Michael Pare who keeps you glued to the screen with his stunning eyes, on-screen charisma, and conviction in the role as the navy officer sent forward in time.Based on potentially true events, TPE isn't perfect but it is worth the watch for fans of time travel movies, 80's action, or just Michael Pare in his role!Enjoyable!.
This would be a very good sci fi thriller, if not for the overly melodramatic and inappropriate, inconsistent use of aggressive military action in this rather fascinating time travel movie.
When those fantastic VCR come out in late 80' I'd rented this movie in VHS with subtitles, I've really like it, a time travel through unsuccessful experiment seems an impressive plot to start, having John Carpenter as executive producer raised the picture in higher degree, despite Michael Paré was unable to the role on account of by far to be a bad actor was easily suplanted by Nancy Allen's talent, Louise Lathan still bright as olden times, a smooth production in early graphic computers availabe were enough, the storyline was quite original, I have this picture from old VHS transfer, but hopeful for a long waiting is close to be ending and this maybe will be release soon on dubbed version!!Resume:First watch: 1989 / How many: 6 / Source: VHS-DVD / Rating: 7.
The intrigue and mystery still, after 18 years, leaves me thinking.I have not seen another movie that deals with time travel in such an intriguing manner.
You just know going into the movie that the good guys will win.The Philadelphia Experiment does have some limited action, but that is not what makes this movie great.
Try to look at it as a documentary, about a so-called "true" event, and you'll be terribly disappointed.If you want to see another movie about ships doing the "time-travel" bit, watch "The Final Countdown (1980)" which has better acting and direction.
I recommend it to all of you who like to watch science fiction and time travel movies..
Michael Pare plays David Herdeg, a sailor on the U.S.S. Naval destroyer Eldridge in the year 1943 which is involved with a top secret invisibility experiment in Philadelphia that goes wrong, with the unexpected result of sending him and another sailor forward in time 41 years, where they find themselves shocked by the technological and cultural differences that exist.
Government forces catch up with them, and after the other sailor is spontaneously transferred back to the Eldridge, David is enlisted to undertake a dangerous mission to be sent back in time there as well, in order to stop the experiment that is still continuing on its own, causing havoc...Good-natured film has appealing performances and an interesting storyline, though is hurt by becoming a standard chase picture for some of its length.
and the reason john carpenter  was executive producer was he was working on this film but could not quite get it finished like he wanted to so he did STARMAN{which by the way is similar to this move}and gave the directorial role to someone else.this was the only reason why i had an interst in this was because john carpenter was involved.this is almost like starman meets back to the future.this movie was fun to watch however the dialogue is pretty weak at some points.the effects were good and as a whole the film was moved along fairly smooth.michael pare would have role{small one} in village of the damned in '95..
This hasn't gone down in the annals of sci-fi history as one of the great sci-fi stories of all time, but it's an enjoyable enough story and features pretty decent performances from the two leads, Michael Pare and Nancy Allen.
It ran the risk of becoming little more than a time travel, fish out of water kind of movie but it overcame that in the end by becoming an interesting and thought-provoking story about the danger of science (or at least scientists) pushing things too far when they really aren't sure what it is they're dealing with.The movie begins in 1943, with the US Navy conducting an experiment to see if it could render the USS Eldridge invisible to enemy radar.
The movie builds on that story, adding the story about a 1984 experiment and creating a more dramatic story of time travel as a result.Pare's character is David Herdeg, an Eldridge crew member who gets trapped in 1984, and Allen plays Allison, who meets him in 1984 and becomes his helper, companion and love interest.
The film,"The Philadelphia Experiment" is not so interesting however it should not be readily dismissed either.The stumbling block in so far as my understanding allows is the claims made by the film and the rather difficult illusion that it creates.There are some useful areas to ponder as matters evolve in this picture with both the concept of and the intelligence that the experiment itself provided for.There is a difference between "radar invisible" and "dissapearing" entirely.These matters did provide some thought,though in truth the position is in fact that this film is in reality a far fetched bunch of non-sense.I was not brought into the film as perhaps viewers might be with both opening scenes providing for less information and even less drama than even the acknowledgment through the film of an event that was to occur and of course that would be "The Phildelphia Experiment".The movie had a feel of a less than effort which left it in some sort of grade B status.This is in principal due in as much of the hard to believe story as to how this was played out.There is just about the same hard to believe escapade from start to finish as it would be to believe that this really was an actual event and as yet if you will,a story untold.That to me is and was part of the difficult job that a motion picture provides the viewer with,and that would be to become a part of this story,if you will as yet untold.What is as yet the story untold?Of course we are looking at the concept of moving matter and as well time travel.It certainly would allow for something more than some hard to believe non-sense and as well the escapade did not allow for a conviction as to time,it dealt with an inability to know what was in effect occurring with there being less to know and even perhaps less to care for.There romp as it were required lives to be lost with such indifference that there is no claim made as to the cost nor its value.It is in these areas that there is a underwritten theme and it doesn't have to do with honesty either.It has to do with having a good time with no ability to provide anything more than that and that of course of having a good time even if it is at the expense of others.Though not in and of itself serious, this would not need to be if in fact this was a story worth telling.The answer is there needed to be greater intellectual input to make believable or at least more so such as is the scenario put forth by "The Philadelphia Experiment"The participants were,the actors and film making people, which the viewers now were not, included in the making of the film and as such were kept out of the assumptions that the sailors and everyone else in the film were included in.This provides only that the film was not convincing and though it is a pity it is not believable either.In as much as the performers are concerned it was as much a problem not to know as it was to know due to the inability to prove what it was that they were involved in and here again we come against the idea of a story that skirts the issue of believability.It is this opinion that I believe is were the answer was and is and that be,that those who made the film did not believe in the film and it shows.I would guess that it is much to require that those who make these films have some belief attached to the film however I think not as there's is a bottom line and as well a manufactured good that provides all the illusion that you need.That is in fact nearer the truth and as such not much on real intelligence gathering nor would it provide any ability to properly inform the audience as to what there was an attempt to provide.This film is not entirely unworthy though indeed it does attempt to stretch whatever storyline there is and as such increase the inability to place conduct and its purpose within a believable context.Ultimately as a reader the opinion would not be one way or another though I have managed to see this film for a third time since 1984,the last two times were as today on my computer..
The men who actually served aboard the Eldridge laugh at the premise, and flatly deny that the ship was anywhere near Philadelphia at that time.That aside, this could've been a very good sci-fi film.
And somehow, he made it gently onto the ground.I love a good time travel/alternate reality story, so I sincerely hope that someone remakes The Philadelphia Experiment, and does a better job than was done the last time around.
The Philadelphia Experiment is one of the most interesting movies of last century were both fiction and reality seem to match together in such a great manner.
Actually the effects for the time vortex aren't too bad and the shots of the vortex hole in the sky with lots of swirling cloud around it are quite good still.The acting is very basic and hokey with chief of cheese Mr Pare and one of the Queens of the 80's Nancy Allen both in a very soppy love plot.
The Philadephia Experiment is a decent time travel/action film with some romance thrown in for the ladies, which I often don't really like, but since it's Nancy Allen, I won't complain.
"The Philadelphia Experiment" may not be a classic, but I really enjoy sci-fi time travel flicks like this.