The Philadelphia Experiment (2012) Nicholas Lea, Michael Paré, Ryan Robbins, Emilie Ullerup Movie Review

The Philadelphia Experiment (2012)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Nicholas Lea in The Philadelphia Experiment (2012)

No Lessons Learned

After military arms manufacturer Grey Water try to resurrect the top secret WWII project called "Thee Philadelphia Experiment" they have more on their hands than they imagine when in trying to make the technology work they bring the Eldridge, a WWII warship that mysteriously went missing in 1943 into the 21st century. Aboard the Eldridge is Lieutenant Bill Gardner (Nicholas Lea) who manages to get off whilst first responder Deputy Sheriff Carl Reed (John Reardon) ends up aboard. With Bill finding himself meeting his grand daughter Molly (Emilie Ullerup) they set about saving Reed. But they have a problem as Kathryn Moore (Gina Holden) of Grey Water wants this problem to disappear even if it does cost lives and there seems to be someone else interested in Bill and the experiment.

I remember owning the 1984 movie "The Philadelphia Experiment" on video and know I watched it back in the early 90s but truth be told I have next to no recollection of it. That probably works in my favour as you don't need to have watched the original movie to watch this 2012 movie of the same name but having next to no recollection of the original means I am not comparing the two movies.

Gina Holden in The Philadelphia Experiment (2012)

Now there is a surprising amount going on in "The Philadelphia Experiment", we have the Eldridge which thanks to the experiment is volatile and so vanishes and re-appears all over the place destroying where ever it chooses to rematerialize. Then you have Lieutenant Bill Gardner who having rematerialized with the Eldridge but managed to get off is of course a fish out of water in the modern world whilst maybe the only man who can stop the Eldridge. Then you have a contrivance which sees not only Bill meeting his granddaughter but her boyfriend ending up stuck on the Eldridge. And just to add another layer you have the executive who wants this problem to disappear as well as the mystery of others who have an interest in the Eldridge. The thing is that whilst there is all this going on it isn't that captivating because it feels like so many other made for TV sci-fi movies.

But here is the thing about "The Philadelphia Experiment", whilst it isn't a great movie if you watch it with the low expectations a made for TV sci-fi movie warrants then it isn't completely terrible. There is that usual combination of actors who are good looking and effects which are not overly believable which make it easy to watch for those who don't want to be challenged and also a little amusing.

What this all boils down to is that this 2012 movie called "The Philadelphia Experiment" is on par with most modern made for TV sci-fi movies and as such when watched with low expectations it's not terrible. But for those with a fondness for the original 80s movie this might be weak in comparison.


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