The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)

Director:

Stewart Raffill

Writers:

Wallace C. Bennett (story)
Charles Berlitz (book)
(more)

Release Date:

3 August 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Will you survive?

Plot:

A United States Navy destroyer escort participates in a Navy "invisibility" experiment that inadvertently sends two sailors 40 years into the future.

Plot Keywords:

1943 | U.S. Navy | Experiment | Radar | Old Photograph

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

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 (as Clayton Wilcox)
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
Patrick DeSantis	...	Jim Jr.
Charles Hall	...	Commander
David Michels	...	Prison Guard (as David Allen Michaels)
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
Brent S. Laing	...	Radar Technician
Jeffrey S. Smith	...	Sailor
Tony Farrell	...	Bandleader
Andrew Bracken	...	Dazed Sailor
Rudy Daniels	...	Policeman #1
Jay Bernard	...	Engineer
Steve Sachs	...	First Sailor
Bo Parham	...	Radio Operator
Harry Beer	...	Second Sailor
Kerry Lee Maher	...	Radio Operator
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sharon Doss	...	Violet (uncredited)
Gilbert Girion	...	Policeman (uncredited)

Directed by
Stewart Raffill

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Wallace C. Bennett		story
Charles Berlitz		book
William Gray
Don Jakoby		story
Michael Janover
William L. Moore		book

Produced by
Pegi Brotman	....	associate producer
John Carpenter	....	executive producer
Douglas Curtis	....	producer
Joel B. Michaels	....	producer

Original Music by
Kenneth Wannberg

Cinematography by
Dick Bush

Film Editing by
Neil Travis

Casting by
Linda Francis

Art Direction by
Chris Campbell

Set Decoration by
Diane Campbell

Costume Design by
Joanna Palace

Makeup Department
Joe Giannone	....	hair stylist
Annie Maniscalco	....	makeup artist (as Annie F. Maniscalco)

Production Management
Billy Ray Smith	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Max W. Anderson	....	second unit director
Jeffrey Chernov	....	first assistant director
Pat Kehoe	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Scott H. Campbell	....	model maker
W. Stewart Campbell	....	visual consultant
Robert Van Dyke	....	propmaker foreman
Andrew Probert	....	pre-production design consultant (uncredited)

Sound Department
John K. Adams	....	supervising sound editor
Gary Alexander	....	supervising sound re-recording mixer
Robert Gravenor	....	sound mixer
Duane Hensel	....	foley artist
Dick Le Grand	....	sound effects
John Post	....	foley artist
Steve Rice	....	dialogue editor
Charles Ewing Smith	....	sound effects (as Chuck Smith)
R.J. Kizer	....	dialogue editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Max W. Anderson	....	special effects
Lawrence J. Cavanaugh	....	special effects
R. Bruce Steinheimer	....	special effects foreman (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Max W. Anderson	....	visual effects supervisor
Deborah Gaydos	....	animator
Julia Gibson	....	visual effects production manager
Holly Hudson	....	animator
Douglas S. Kay	....	computer graphics: as Joblove/Kay
Katherine Kean	....	animator
Candace Lewis	....	animation assistant
Bret Mixon	....	animation assistant
Juniko Moody	....	animation camera operator
Jonathan Seay	....	visual effects cameramen
Craig Clark	....	special effects animator (uncredited)

Stunts
Fernando Celis	....	stunt coordinator
Monty Cox	....	stunts
Jon H. Epstein	....	stunt double
Jon H. Epstein	....	stunts (as Joe Epstein)
Glory Fioramonti	....	stunts
Ted Gincig	....	stunts
Lee Praggastie	....	stunts
Sherry Peterson	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Roger Olkowski	....	gaffer

Casting Department
Cate Praggastis	....	casting: Utah
Gary Towles	....	extras casting assistant

Editorial Department
Terry Kelley	....	assistant editor
David M. Perkins	....	final colorist (2000 DVD)

Other crew
Jamie Arbuckle	....	production assistant
Corey Burton	....	adr loop group
Lawrence Doll	....	helicopter pilot
Michael Donner	....	production accountant
Jim Gerwig	....	caterer
Joseph A. Liuzzi	....	location manager
Steve Rhea	....	location manager
John D. Sarviss	....	helicopter pilot
Douy Swofford	....	title designer

Production Companies

• Cinema Group Ventures
• New Pictures

Distributors

• New World Pictures (1984) (USA) (theatrical)
• Succéfilm AB (1984) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Suomi-Filmi (1985) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Nordic Video (198?) (Finland) (VHS)
• Future Film (2000) (Finland) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1994) (Finland) (TV)
• Artédis (1985) (France) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Aquarius TV (1993) (Greece) (TV)
• Astro Distribution (1998) (Germany) (VHS)
• Cannon Screen Entertainment (1986) (West Germany) (VHS)
• Flashstar Home Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Home Video Hellas (HVH) (1985) (Greece) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Image Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Lumivision (1996) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Manga Films (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Roadshow Home Video (Australia) (VHS)
• Starmaker Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Thorn EMI Video (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• Thorn EMI (1985) (UK) (video) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Inter Video  24 frame video services

Also Known As:

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (CFI) | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Australia:PG | Portugal:M/12 | USA:Approved (certificate #27470)

Filming Locations:

Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Company:

Cinema Group Ventures

Trivia:

At the time of its release, it had the fastest theatrical-to-video window in film history (it opened in August and was on video by late October).

Goofs:

Continuity: When David and Allison are going to the ranch, there is vehicle at the end of the route. When the angle of the camera changes, the vehicle is far away and then close up. (It occurs at 1:02:40 and 1:03:00 in the movie).

Quotes:

David Herdeg:What the hell have you done, Longstreet?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Xenogears (1998) (VG)

Soundtrack:

I'll Never Smile Again

I'm a sucker for a time travel movie...

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.