Biggles: Adventures in Time (1986)

Daring British WWI fighter pilot James "Biggles" Bigglesworth and 1980s low-level business executive Jim Ferguson discover that they can time travel to each other's eras. They try to stop the Germans from changing the outcome of WWI.

Director:

John Hough

Writers:

W.E. Johns (characters) (as Capt. W.E. Johns), John Groves (screenplay)

Stars:

Neil Dickson, Alex Hyde-White, Fiona Hutchison

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Neil Dickson	...	James 'Biggles' Bigglesworth
Alex Hyde-White	...	Jim Ferguson
Fiona Hutchison	...	Debbie Stephens
Peter Cushing	...	Air Commodore Colonel William Raymond
Marcus Gilbert	...	Eric Von Stalhein
William Hootkins	...	Chuck Dinsmore
Alan Polonsky	...	Bill Kizitski
Francesca Gonshaw	...	Marie
Michael Siberry	...	Algy
James Saxon	...	Bertie
Daniel Flynn	...	Ginger
Roy Boyd	...	German N.C.O
Samantha Bradshaw	...	Hotel Girl
Andrea Browne	...	Lady Buyer
David Butler	...	British Officer

Storyline

One minute the New Yorker advertising expert Jim Ferguson is at a business party -- the next he finds himself way back in 1917 in a plane fight during World War I. Mr. Raymond explains to him that he has a time-twin, to whom he's relocated in space and time whenever one of them is in trouble. So he has to help his twin, biplane pilot Biggles, in his attempt to destroy a German super weapon, that could win their war. Of course it's hard for Jim to explain his sudden disappearances to his fiance, Debbie.

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Plot Keywords:

historical event | past | aviation | american in the uk | disappearance | 

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Taglines:

Fast food executive Jim Ferguson stepped out of his 47th floor office to go to the bathroom... and ended up in the middle of World War I. History will be grateful forever.

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Sci-Fi | War

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English German French

Release Date:

29 January 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Biggles: Adventures in Time

Filming Locations:

Old Warden Aerodrome, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$112,132

Company Credits

Production Co:

Compact Yellowbill,Tambarle

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene where the helicopter lands and then takes off again from a flat wagon on a train traveling at over 40mph had never been attempt before this film and had to be repeated 15 times over two days before the directors were satisfied that it looked just right.

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Goofs

After Jim & Debbie travel forward to London (with Jim firing on the police outside the Tower Hotel), they split up and Jim bumps into Biggles on the roof of a building. Biggles asks Jim where he's trying to get to, to which Jim replies Tower Bridge. However, Jim must have crossed the bridge to get to his location as the Tower Hotel and the tower of London can clearly be seen, on the other side of the river. (The HMS Belfast can also be seen close to the riverbank, which is also on the opposite side of the river to the hotel).

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Quotes

[Biggles and the others have reached the area used for testing the weapon]
Jim Ferguson: [looking around] Looks like this place was nuked!
Biggles: [Looks at Ferguson] Nuked? What's that?
Jim Ferguson: American slang word. It means... to overeact.

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Crazy Credits

In the end of the credits it says: Filmed on location in New York - London - and the Western Front 1917.

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Connections

References Fantasy Island (1977)

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Soundtracks

CHOCKS AWAY
Performed by Jon Anderson
Music by Stanislas Syrewicz
Lyrics by Jon Anderson
Published by Warner Brothers Music/Tizz Music
administrated by Warner Brothers Music

User Reviews

Enjoyable and entertaining Sci-Fi movie about time travels with plenty of adventures and noisy action

Attractive and fun movie about time travels with frantic action, thrills , humor and spectacular scenes. A bold idea decently adapted in its execution but with a lousy musical score . It deals with a young businessman: Alex Hyde-White from present-day NYC is suddenly transferred into 1917 WWI .There he takes the identity of a spy and befriends a 1917 WWI flying ace : the husky Neal Dickson who has a genteel streak that conceals the viciousness required in war . The posh executive lnexplicably finds himself aboard a fighter plane over Europe.

This is an amusing film with emotion, breathtaking scenes, dogfighting , wooden but likeable interpretation and a lot of twists and turns . The much-loved WWI heroics of Biggles , the pilot from Captain WE Johns series of books are updated to 1986 Manhattan via a time travel gimmick, being prior adapted in a long TV series .Time-travel fantasy in which an ingenious executive is transported to Europe WWI and suffering several adventures , risks and dangers. The time-travelling American young is played by the sympathetic Alex Hyde White as a naive executive and his buddy is Neal Dickson as Biggles who is the best thing in a passable film that hardly plays fair with buffs of the original . Support cast is frankly well such as Fiona Hutchinson, Marcus Gilbert , William Hootkins and special mention for the great Peter Cushing in his last acting , playing an important secret agent whose headquarter is in the Tower Bridge .The big drawback is the horrible soundtrack by Stanislas composed by synthesizer , it ruins the film. It packs a colorful and evocative cinematography .

The motion pictures was professionally directed by John Hough including some flaws and gaps. Hough is a fine craftsman who has a long, uneven and eclectic career directing all kinds of genres . As he made terror movies: Hell's gate, Howling 4, American Gothic, Incubus , Legend of Hell house, Twins of evil ; Adventures: Treasure island, Escape to Witch Mountain, Return from Witch Mountain, Black arrow , The watcher in the woods, Dirty Mary crazy Larry ; Romantic drama: Duel of hearts , The lady and the highwayman, The dying truth ; Western : Triumphs of a man called Horse; Suspense: Eye witness and WWII : Brass target.