The U.S. Navy Hates This Movie: THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT (1984)
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- Опубліковано 4 лип 2024
- Based on a popular urban legend involving a World War II naval vessel being the subject to an experiment involving invisibility, The Philadelphia Experiment is a fun little slice of mid-eighties sci-fi adventure.
If you're looking for a "review" in the traditional sense, then let me just say I like this movie. This video, however, is a "review" in the literal sense (using the Miriam-Webster definition "a retrospective view or survey"), in that I'm going over the history of the film and its place in cinema history.
In other words, please stop commenting on how my videos aren't what you consider "reviews."
#ThePhiladelphiaExperiment #USSEldridge #PhiladelphiaExperiment
00:00 Intro: The Official Story
01:33 Synopsis
02:20 Production History
04:07 Patreon Thanks
04:48 Casting
05:45 Filming
06:38 Release & Legacy
07:11 Opinion & Analysis
11:30 Outro
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Interesting Fact, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, & L. Sprague De Camp worked at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in WWII. The quip on the SF Convention circuit was "Oh, so this is what you were working on." when the book was released.
They used to play this movie on cable quite a bit back in the eighties/nineties. Haven't seen it in a long time, but I remember enjoying it for the most part. The chemistry between Michael Pare and Nancy Allen is a big part of what made it work.
The Philadelphia experiment is an urban legend that has been debunked, but it's a good idea for a movie. It's basically The Final Countdown (1980) in reverse (in The Final Countdown people travel from the 80's back to the 40's while in The Philadelphia Experiment the sailors travel from the 40's to the 80's).
Government propaganda . And it hasn't been debunked . There's a book about the Montauk Project and there's a statue of a horse on the cover . The Montauk Project did experiments in time travel . They did one experiment of going into the future . There they saw a large amount of wreckage and the horse statue was in the wreckage . The horse statue is allegedly the statue around the twin towers not long after 9/11 . The book was released in the 90s .
I think "urban legend" is rather understating the case, and "debunked" is rather overstating the case. It goes somewhat deeper than an urban legend, I have several books which discuss the matter in depth, including a transcript of the annotated edition of the book which broke the story in the first place. Debunking is still some way from proof that the experiment didn't happen. Am I convinced that it did happen? Honestly no. Am I open-minded about the possibility? Yes. This film did not really deal with the alleged experiment in anything but the most passing of ways. It has as much to do with the "Philadelphia Experiment" as "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" has to do with the reality of the Antikythera Mechanism.
@@christopherdean1326 I always like bringing up the horse statue on the Montauk Project book . The statue surrounded by rubble from a trip to the future . The horse statue of the world trade center . The book was from the 90s . Enough proof to me that it's not a myth .
Actually it did happen because if it didn’t the Eldridge would have faded into obscurity because she never saw combat
Considering in 1943, not much of anyone even heard of time travel and teleporting to be able to just make that up
Also, fun fact; the control room set and footage of the screens were reused for the added US scenes of Godzilla: 1985!!!
IIRC the actual experiment was about degaussing the hull of ships to protect them from German mines with electromagnetic detonators.
That is the general consensus of the lore, yes.
I have fond memories of this movie for sure. It’s one of the random VHS tapes my dad would rent on our weekends together. It was always exciting to see what he would pick for us to watch over the course of those two days. Like most 80’s SCI-FI films of the time The Philadelphia Experiment was good mindless fun that i will always cherish.
In this 40th anniversary year, which is inviting many a retrospective, it seems that perhaps more than any other year in 1984 (mostly) American sci-fi and fantasy films were either destined to be solid performers that became cultural touchstones (Ghostbusters, The Terminator, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Star Trek III) or textbook examples of cult films (Buckaroo Banzai and our subject today, just to name a few).
I saw this movie with my friends in the theater when it came out. The theater was almost full and everyone seemed to enjoy the film. It's funny that I got a job a few years later with Digital Equipment Corporation whose "Rainbow" personal computer was seen in the movie in the motel room scene. My old friends always reminded me of that ad when I was working for that company in the late 80s and early 90s. There are only two of us left. RIP to the rest of them.
I never even got to see it in theaters .
Did you notice the C-64 in the base office? :)
@@dragonan5674 Yes. One of my friends who passed about eleven years ago had a C64 about that time.
I haven't seen this one yet (surprisingly), but a look at the special effects tells me that I need to give it a looksee; I love that sort of 70/80s Spencer's Gifts Glowworm effects.
I fell in love with Michael Perre when I watched this movie.
Streets of Fire for me
Love this movie, warts and all. I never really thought about the nitpicks you mention but it is a fun ride and cool concept. Also, love me some Nancy Allen. The freaky effects with people in the hull was really memorable.
Nancy Allen, totally underrated.
This Movie is SO like 'Starman'! (Again... using the Tried & True Fugitive Template!) & YES... even with Reagan's Super-Patriot Movement in full-swing, the Military (particularly the Officer Corp.) were still painted as the 'bad guys' at this time in Film History!
I was watching the film with my wife one night and she pointed out how stupid it was that the gal the main characters kidnapped fell in love with the Michael Pare character asking the rhetorical question..."What if he was ugly?" Good point.
Tell her it's a complete coincidence good looking actors keep getting cast and tell her not to worry her pretty little head about it.
Ooh, one I haven't seen. I'll check it out. Thanks
Took me a while to get it but “Kneel before Zod!” Oh, this is probably gonna be a long episode
I watched this movie a very long time ago, and it's one that I probably wouldn't sit through these days. If I remember right, the whole story started with sailors not understanding what was actually being done to their ship, which was degaussing to demagnetise the hull.
Michael Pare seemed to have a knack for these interesting "failures." 30 episodes of The Greatest American Hero, Streets of Fire, The Philadelphia Experiment, and Houston Knights in the 80's. You make mention of a remake by the Sci-Fi channel. You could make a video alone on all the abysmal productions, and the few good ones, that the channel made in the 1st 15 years of the new century. Among them, I'm specifically thinking of the dismal 2003 adaptation of Phillip Jose Farmer's Riverworld, a series of books I really enjoyed.
Nice research on all the hands this property passed through in the development phase.
For some reason, even though I caught just about every sci-fi movie coming out in the theatre in the 80s, I didn't really have any interest in this one, so I didn't go and see it. I think possibly because in 1977, I read a novel called Thin Air by George E. Simpson and Neal R. Burger, based loosely on the mythology surrounding the Philadelphia Experiment. Thin Air predated the Berlitz book by a couple of years, and this movie by a few more, so I guess maybe I was kind of feeling like "been there, done that"? I don't know. But after that I largely forgot about this movie. But seeing your review now, I'm intrigued, so I think maybe I will seek it out and give it a watch. Could be fun. Thank you!
I have enjoyed this movie. Yes it's campy with plot holes, but @ the time a fun 80s watch. Very interesting story about the U.S.S. Eldridge.
Great 80's shlock! Loved it. Some cracking films came out of that period.
It’s Eric Christmas, not Eric Christopher.
I saw it for the first time on HBO.
A Experiência de Filadélfia foi um dos primeiros filmes que vi e que me despertou para o mundo fantástico das possibilidades… pensando bem, penso que é um dos grandes responsáveis por adorar ficção científica. 😃 (olhando para o filme hoje, com olhos de adultos, nunca mais consegui ficar encantado com fiquei inicialmente, mas lembro-me perfeitamente daquela sensação de encanto inicial!)
I thought it was a fun movie. Like most movies I never tried to associate it with reality and enjoyed the ride. My Dad, who served in the US Navy throughout WWII had mixed feelings. He pointed out a lot of inaccuracy in terms of how the navy worked (and pointed out that, at the time the film says the Eldridge was in Philadelphia, it was actually escorting the aircraft carrier he was on, and had fished some friends of his out of the water after their planes had ditched in the sea. , but did enjoy it as an action adventure flick.
I haven't seen the film, but I've always wanted to see a film where a WWII American soldier sees a 1980s era American soldier and assumes he is German because the PASGT Kevlar helmet resembled WWII German helmets.
Back in the mid 80s I read about The Philadelphia Experiment in a STARLOG magazine interview with John Carpenter without much information other than he was a producer . I don't even remember seeing it playing in the theaters . It's like what happened to his movie They Live . That movie broke box office records for the time of year it was released . I think it was released in the fall or end of summer season and it was selling like it was still summer . After a couple weeks of record ticket sales Universal pulled the movie out and the propaganda started saying they pulled the movie out because of poor ticket sales . What they did was they kept record of ticket sales while it was already taken out of circulation . The movie shows how bad Reaganomics killed America . Im guessing the government-controlled Hollywood studios kept The Philadelphia Experiment the same way . I never saw it till it was on basic cable a year later . Incidentally , CBS took over the syndicated Unsolved Mysteries show for a year in the late 80s . One episode talked about the experiment . In the segment , there was talk of some of the sailors that ended up missing from the experiment have shown up in a bar near the port in spirit/ghost form . It's a popular bar for the military at the time .
BBB in the house. Way cool! New sub!
Hooray! BBB is the best!
epic af brother
At 5:30 You Call Eric Christmas, Eric Christopher. Yeah, I Remember Watching That Movie At St. Vincent's Mall In '84, On A Date. I Kinda Liked It. Thank You. (Like #132)
Oops!!
Weird fact Michael Tate made two sequals that the first were considered flops.
Eddie and the Cruisers as well.
I know you introduced Michael Pare from his movie career, but we all know him best from television as Tony Villicana, right?
"The U.S. Navy Hates This Movie": They are not alone.
Also, happy 40th anniversary to The Philadelphia Experiment (1984-2024)
The director of this, Stewart Raffill would later direct everyone's least favorite movie, Mac and Me.
Unwatchable disturbing creepy movie I saw mac and me on vhs I was 6 in 1990 I was forced to watch it 12 times😮
@@mikesilva3868 Oof.
If I ever choose to cover it, it will probably be an April Fools video.
@@TheUnapologeticGeek noooooooo😨
Seems like the perfect American movie to me, it has wild conspiracy, bad science, some cool effects and the tired old romantic tropes. Oscar worthy?😜
Those are Marines, not soldiers. Just FYI. Soldiers are Army.
Fair enough. Thanks for the correction!
@@TheUnapologeticGeek no worries. Feel free to ask if you ever have any military questions. I'll do my best.
I believe that's Eric Christmas, not Eric Christopher.
I know his name, but sometimes the brain just fails and I don't catch it in the edit. 🤷🏼♂️
Next you're going to tell us that Bambi never met Godzilla! /S
No way, man. That was the last thing Bambi ever did!
Thumper met Godzilla
I recommend the book "Thin Air" by George Simpson and Neal Burger. It's a thriller based on the original story.
just fyi you've nailed my name
I love this movie so much it is a guilt plasure, they run from the military because the military was behind the experiment. Our protagonist got scare from them
I've not seen it but I'm going to check it our (:
Heckle Fish for the win.
No to your question. I've seen the movie. It is entertaining. The scene at the end grusome. It is one of those movies that gives the wonder of what if you find yourself a few decades in the furture and see what happened to those you care about while you weren't there. "Forever Young" is another movie with such a story line. I'm not sure if I've seen the sequel. Anyway, I won't give a spoiler on that one.
The story is true. I was onboard the ship and ended up at the summit of Mt. Everest in my underwear (skivvies).
Were you the guy that stole my mittens? My mom made those for me. In Canada it's called "ginchies".
USS Eldridge... More like USS Eldritch Cosmic Horrors, aye lads
You ever see a joke and think, "dammit, I should've made that!" Well played, good commenter. Well played.
No time travel in an expanding universe.
The underrated Stephen Tobolowsky....Should have gotten bigger character parts.
I can well imagine the 'Military are the bad guys' trope also came from John Carpenter. He's very anti-establishment.
I loved this film. And d'you know who else did? Westwood Studios! The imagery of a warship disappearing into a vortex is recreated in Red Alert 1, in a cutscene called 'Philadelphia Experiment' in the in-game files. If you overuse the Chronosphere superweapon, a vortex appears, just like in the film, and bad news for your guys and buildings near it.
I haven't played a Red Alert game in decades. Good catch!
@@TheUnapologeticGeek ua-cam.com/video/Ez4R21yO53E/v-deo.html
For anyone interested
If you try and use it to send infantry, they burst into flames and die horribly. If you send people in APCs, they mysteriously vanished... probably got merged into the steel x_x
yes i do think it real
not a great movie, but great review. gotta do Streets Of Fire next, U.G.!
Good movie same guy who directed the wilderness movie 😊
Michael Pare was acting incredibly remorseful. It's just difficult to distinguish from his
myriad other evocative presentations. He was rocking the Blue Steel before it was cool...
I find it helps to imagine all of his emotions were lost in a time slip somehow.
Is part of the next movie set in "Niiiiii-agra Falls!"?
Niagara Falls!!!!
Slowly I turn, step by step...
BBB Sent me. New Subbie.
Welcome! BBB rocks!
Conspiracy theory for everything, even before the internet.
Truly a delightfully silly movie done so very well. As for the sequel...Best not to dwell on that. Heckle Fish RULES!
The sequel looks like it was written, produced and directed at a first year junior college film school
@@dicksonfranssen , nailed it!
I believe it actually happened. The navy covered it up. Do you think they'll ever admit to that?
For some, every ridiculously implausible story involves a conspiracy.
Suspicion of military/government is a late Vietnam/Watergate era trope. While there is such a thing as healthy skepticism, it kind of poisoned the well both in movies ever since, and real life, particularly in the last several years where disbelief in expertise and authority is practically a whole political platform.
Haha, this movie is responsible for so many conversation-ending paranoid delusional takes on reality; it both informs and reinforces the colloquial name for television as 'The Boob Tube' (I'd be curious about the year of The Philadelphia Experiment's broadcast rights and the level of pseudo science in the markets of that era), and substantively weighs the ship (metaphor for 'idiot') it rolled in on! (to bastardize an old phrase). Must be the Cult of Semiotics!