The Philadelphia Experiment 2 DVD Review:

In 1984 The Philadelphia Experiment was released, a movie about a WWII sailor who falls through a hole in time and is catapulted forty years into the future. Nearly ten years later a sequel was born. Although it is not particularly uncommon for a film to spawn a sequel so long after the original, it is common for the sequel to pale in comparison to the first film. In this case, The Philadelphia Experiment 2 is not much worse than the original, if only because the original was never a great film to begin with.

In The Philadelphia Experiment 2, it is ten years later and the original sailor is still dealing with the fact that he is living in the future, despite the life he has made for himself. He has a son, and although his wife has passed and he is having money difficulty, he refuses to go back to the navy. When experiments begin again, this time to send a plane back in time so that the Germans have a tool to win the war, our hero goes through a change as well. Instead of going through time, however, time just adjusts and he finds himself in the same year, but in a world run by German soldiers.

Although the concept is unique and interesting, there is so much rushing to tie in all of the Philadelphia Experiment technical stuff that not enough time is spent examining what the future really would look like. It is also humorous to see what a futuristic 1993 would look like in the minds of filmmakers in 1993. Had more time been spent on the elements of Germany winning the war rather than time travel, this film would have been more compelling when instead it feels contrived.

One of the winning factors of The Philadelphia Experiment was the chemistry between the actors Michael Pare and Nancy Allen, but the sequel never feels natural. From one of the worst child actors of the nineties, to two melodramatic lead actors, there isn’t anything understated about any of the performances. It seems that these performances are ones we need to just back away from slowly, trying hard to forget.

As bad as some of the factors of the film are, some science fiction aficionados may still enjoy many of the elements, and there is some good action as well. Many viewers are best suited with more recent atrocities however, and have no need to watch ones made in previous decades.



Ryan Izay