Enviados del futuro

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. It's a really interesting story in itself, though. If you have any interest at all in this movie, I would strongly recommend looking for books about the actual Philadelphia Experiment. (sometimes found in collections of paranormal phenomenon) The supposed true story involves tests to camoflauge a navy ship - rendering it either invisible to radar or TRULY invisible (stories vary as to the exact intent of the experiment) apparently through the use of magnetic fields. The rumor is that the ship disappeared from the Philadelphia naval yard and TELEPORTED to a Virginia naval yard. The crew had a variety of side-effects, ranging from temporary invisibility and/or intangibility to getting phased into solid objects and getting stuck there. (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. Stay away from the Philadelphia Experiment II, though... it's just awful.

There are a lot of questions surrounding The Philadelphia Experiment. How is it that 1940s era sailors got 1980s haircuts before they even traveled forty years into the future? How could Manfred Mann perform "The Runner" without worrying that a version of himself from 1964 might suddenly appear and rip out his vocal cords for singing such a typically idiotic 1980s type song? Why is that time travelers always make it look so easy to find a love interest? How was it that after screwing up the Philadelphia Experiment, the military still has complete confidence in Dr. James Longstreet to allow him to pursue his misguided experiments for the next forty years?

My rating: 9.7 and one half stars. The Philadelphia Experiment gets an extra half star because the time travelers see punk rockers at a diner out in the Nevada desert. Also, every car chase featured a vehicle flipping over.

This film is brilliant - I don't care what others think - It is your basic adventure time travel film. 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.

This movie seems at first like it's going to be the stuff of Mystery Science Theater 3000. It's basically something bad but amusing that you can make fun of. The supporting characters and extras, especially at the beginning, are just atrocious actors. But instead, the movie transforms into something pretty awesome! The end of the world feeling throughout is great, with a vast wormhole sucking up everything around it.

But then other times it's like Dukes of Hazard, with sliding off hoods of cars and vehicles exploding after getting no more than a fender bender. The movie is out of control, careening between amazingly excellent and complete crap. It's like some wise Hollywood producer said, "Needs more action" so they stuck in the most tired, cliched action sequences you can think of: car chases and gun fights. Neither belong in this film.

There's also some implausibilities. For example, David, a guy from the Navy in 1943, inexplicably runs from the Navy of today. Why would he run from the men he should trust the most? It makes no sense. Furthermore, the Navy of today is often shooting at him with real guns! Why would they be trying to kill a man who has done nothing wrong?

Anyway, it's an enjoyable film despite the inconsistencies.

People always seem to write this off as too soft and fuzzy, poorly executed, but it is one of the most charming and fun science fiction films I have ever seen. The effects are amazing and the direction is way more expressive than you would expect. As far as science fiction goes, this is no 'Alien' or 'Solaris' and it has logical loopholes you could drive a battleship through, but it is fast paced and lots of fun to watch. Be prepared to suspend your disbelief with steel girders and rent this.