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MONEY
Did you know
Earned back only 90% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
MoodPlayr · trivia#01
The Philadelphia Experiment
"The experiment that should never have happened 41 years ago...is still going on."
1984 1h 42m EN
😐
6.1
MID
🥫
50%
ROTTEN
😬
44
METACRITIC
⭐
6.1
IMDB
★6.1TMDB · 474🥫50%Rotten Tomatoes●44Metacritic★6.1IMDB · 18,031
Science FictionAdventureThriller
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
Based on an "actual event" that took place in 1943. About a US Navy Destroyer Escort that disappeared from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, and sent two men 40 years into the future to 1984.
“The experiment that should never have happened 41 years ago...is still going on.”
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
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- Stewart Raffill
- Writers
- Michael Janover, William Gray, Don Jakoby
- Languages
- English
- Countries
- United States of America
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts 🍿
2 / 8
ERA
Did you know
42 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
MoodPlayr · trivia#02
3 / 8
CINEMA
Did you know
Part of the "The Philadelphia Experiment Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
MoodPlayr · trivia#03
4 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Directed by Stewart Raffill, shot by Dick Bush. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
MoodPlayr · trivia#04
5 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Original score by Kenneth Wannberg. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
MoodPlayr · trivia#05
6 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Editor Neil Travis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
MoodPlayr · trivia#06
7 / 8
CAST
Did you know
Michael Paré and Nancy Allen and Eric Christmas carry the top of the cast.
MoodPlayr · trivia#07
8 / 8
ERA
Did you know
Marketing tagline: "The experiment that should never have happened 41 years ago...is still going on.".
MoodPlayr · trivia#08
Cinephile deep dive
The take
Stewart Raffill directs. Dick Bush behind the camera. Kenneth Wannberg scores. Neil Travis cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Earned back only 90% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
- 242 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
- 3Part of the "The Philadelphia Experiment Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
- 4Directed by Stewart Raffill, shot by Dick Bush. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 5Original score by Kenneth Wannberg. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
- 6Editor Neil Travis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 7Michael Paré and Nancy Allen and Eric Christmas carry the top of the cast.
- 8Marketing tagline: "The experiment that should never have happened 41 years ago...is still going on.".
- 9IMDB entry: tt0087910 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 10Classified under 10 themes, including "experiment", "based on novel or book", "aftermath", "intelligence".
- 11Released under 16 different titles around the world.
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Dick Bush
- Original score
- Kenneth Wannberg
- Editing
- Neil Travis
- Costume design
- Joanna Palace
- Makeup / hair
- Joe Giannone
- Sound
- David Lewis Yewdall
- Stunt coordinator
- Fernando Celis
- Runtime
- 102 min · 1h 42m
- Aspect ratio (typical)
- 1.37:1 (Academy)
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $9,000,000
- Box office
- $8,103,330
- Return
- 90% of budget
- Original language
- EN
- Certification (US)
- PG
- Rotten Tomatoes
- 50% 🥫 Rotten
- Metacritic
- 44/100
- IMDB rating
- 6.1/10 · 18,031 votes
- MPAA
- PG
Awards
1 win & 2 nominations total
Part of
The Philadelphia Experiment Collection
The Philadelphia Experiment is a 1984 science fiction film. It is directed by Stewart Raffill and based on the urban legend of the Philadelphia Experiment. A sequel called Philadelphia Experiment II, featuring a different cast and crew, was released in 1993.
Also by
Stewart Raffill
Stills · wallpapers
Selected frames
Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.
Trailers & featurettes
Watch the pieces
Community reviews
What people are saying
- CinemaSerf★ 6/10
Sadly, this has dated really quite badly but it’s still quite a decent story. With the US Navy working in the middle of WWII to find a way to make allied shipping invisible to their Nazi enemy, they think they might have found a gadget to do just that. Off goes the USS “Eldridge” but before the exercise can be completed, two of it’s crew disappear and find themselves transported forty years into the future. Meantime, “Longstreet” (Eric Christmas) - the very scientist who devised the technology in the first place, is looking to try to retrieve the men. Meantime, lost souls “David” (Michael Paré) and “Jimmy” (Bobby Di Cicco) are having a few problems of their own in 1984 as the latter man has a bit of an incident at hospital and they realise that they are going to need to contact the scientist and hope his future self, if he’s even still alive, believes their story and helps them repatriate to their own timeline. There’s some thought gone into the script and the plot here, and though I felt the acting all a bit flat, it still manages to use it’s visual effects imaginatively as it supposes just how time travel might occur and at how it might impact on two young men who had rarely ever left home. There’s a little bit of romance for “David” with the helpfully gullible “Allison” (Nancy Allen) and also just an hint of plausible science that attempts to visualise just how it all might have worked, as opposed to some “TARDIS” style arrangement where you just change the scenery. It has a made-for-television look to it, but it’s worth a watch.
Production companies
Who made it
- NE
New Pictures Group
New World Pictures
US
- CI
Cinema Group Ventures
US
Key crew
- Executive ProducerJohn Carpenter
- ProducerJoel B. Michaels
- NovelCharles Berlitz
- ProducerDouglas Curtis
- EditorNeil Travis
- NovelWilliam L. Moore
- CastingLinda Francis
- Special EffectsMax W. Anderson
- Stunt CoordinatorFernando Celis
- Second Assistant DirectorGail Joyce Fortmuller
- Special Effects CoordinatorLawrence J. Cavanaugh
- First Assistant DirectorPat Kehoe
- StuntsMonty Cox
- Stunt DoubleJon H. Epstein
- StuntsSherry Peterson
- StuntsGlory Fioramonti
- Art DirectionChris Campbell
- Lead Set DresserBrit Babcock
- Best Boy GripPhilip Sloan
- Still PhotographerMichael Paris
- Boom OperatorJames T. Burns
- ElectricianMichael LaViolette
- Genetator OperatorVictor Kloster
- GripDylan Shephard
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- experiment
- based on novel or book
- aftermath
- intelligence
- time travel
- biography
- based on true story
- urban legend
- falling in love
- uss eldridge
Release history · US
When it landed
- Premiere1984-08-03PG
- Physical1995-01-01PG· R&G Video / StarMaker Entertainment #99109 [𝐕𝐇𝐒📼] 𝟭𝟬𝟮 mínutєѕ
- Physical2000-09-19PG· Starz / Anchor Bay [𝐃𝐕𝐃📀] 𝟭𝟬𝟭 mínutєѕ
Also known as
International titles
- John Carpenter's The Philadelphia ExperimentUS
- El experimento PhiladelphiaES
- Eksperyment filadelfijskiPL
- TuhonkuiluFI
- Um Passo para o FuturoBR
- Φιλαδέλφεια Ώρα ΜηδένGR
- Philadelphia eksperimentetDK
- 4차원의 포로KR
- 费城历险CN
- Το Πείραμα της ΦιλαδέλφειαςGR
- Philadelphia ExperimentSE
- The Philadelphia ExperimentCA
- L'expérience de PhiladelphieCA
- Philadelphia ExperimentFR
- The Pennsylvania ExperimentIN
