Review: The Philadelphia Experiment (2012)

A 1940s test to devise a warship cloaking device is revived under secret government hush-hush means, and succeeds in bringing back the Eldridge, a naval ship which had vanished for 70 odd years. There’s even one survivor on board, played by Nicholas Lea, whilst all other crew members have been fused into the ship. Unfortunately, there are rather dire consequences of bringing the ship back, as a nosy local sheriff (John Reardon) makes the mistake of boarding the ship, and not coming back out, as the ship then vanishes again, before materialising again elsewhere. Sometimes crashing into buildings and killing people. The secret government hush-hush people, send a goon (Michael Paré) to clean the mess, whilst Lea meets up with his granddaughter and experienced hacker (Emilie Ullerup), and an elderly scientist (Malcolm McDowell) who suggests Lea needs to return to the ship in order for things to be set right. Meanwhile, government scientist Ryan Robbins tries to help out from his end, and work around his heartless government overseer (Gina Holden), before everyone is killed and the entire time space fabric continuum is altered irreparably.

 

This 2012 TV movie remake of the 1984 sci-fi flick might come with a SyFy Channel pedigree, but all things considered, it’s not all that much different in entertainment value because the central concept is a winner. Directed by Paul Ziller (SyFy movies like “Stonehenge Apocalypse”) and scripted by Andy Briggs (the not bad SyFy movies “Dark Relic” and “Ghost Town”), it moves at a good clip, and is an enjoyable yarn that proves not all remakes are duds, even if they’re from the SyFy Channel. In fact, this might by SyFy’s best-ever movie, whatever that might mean to you. If you’re into your B-movies or TV shows like “Sliders” or “Quantum Leap”, this provides 90 minutes or so of solid entertainment, despite some variable FX (better than in the original, however) and performances.

 

The one real problem with the film is character development. Emilie Ullerup’s character is essentially an amalgamation of two characters from the first film, and while she is rather appealing early on (and in the words of Jackie Chiles, she’s a damn fine sexy lady!), her character ends up rather wasted. Ditto John Reardon’s local cop, who is essentially the Bobby DiCicco character from the original but re-imagined. Once he goes to investigate the ship and kinda gets stuck to it, he’s essentially inert. The other black mark against the film is B-movie icon Michael Paré, the star of the original, who this time plays a mysterious hired goon. Somewhat unceremoniously thrown into the film, he has held up well over the years physically, but is totally phoning it in here. That’s a shame, because his performance in the original was one of the livelier performances the stoic actor has ever given. Nice to see Malcolm McDowell playing a benevolent figure for a change, though, even if he’s about 20 years too young for his role (The ship disappeared 70 damn years ago, and McDowell only looks about 65). Meanwhile, you don’t lose much in the acting department by replacing 1984’s Michael Pare to 2012’s Nicholas Lea (the Canadian actor best known for playing a rogue agent on “The X-Files”).

 

Personally, I found the science easier to follow in this one than the original, as Mr. Science Guy explains it a bit better this time. The film has a durable concept and it’s a solid piece of entertainment. If you’ve seen the original, there’s not much difference here for better or worse. If you liked that film, you should like this one, too. My bias towards film over television probably dictates that I’d recommend the original first, but give this one a go, too.

 

Rating: B-