PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT II

*

STARRING: Brad Johnson, James Greene

1993, 97 Minutes, Directed by: Stephen Cornwell

Time travel story about a stealth bomber that is sent back into time to 1943 where it falls into the hands of the Nazis. They immediately use it to win WWII and turn the USA into a bleak industrial outpost for their Third Reich. It is up to the film's hero (who seems to be immune to altered time lines because of his unique DNA - a handy plot device to explain away many of the paradoxes that time travel stories throw up) to restore things back to normal . . .

Time travel stories can be confusing at best once one applies logic to it afterwards, but much of Philadelphia Experiment 2 is confusing while watching it. There's just too many plot holes and unexplained events for comfort - starting with the Nazis who are such incredibly poor shots! The film discards many good ideas as it goes along.

Its vision of an America under Nazi rule owes more to George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four than what would have been necessarily the case. (Though in essence there was little difference between Stalinist Russia and Hitler's Germany. For starters both shared a horrible taste in architecture and hatred towards Jews. . .) In fact, this totalitarian America is one we saw echoed in many recent sci-fi movies - Escape from LA, Barb Wire and Fortress to mention only a few. Some originality wasn't unasked for you know . . .

But ultimately Philadelphia Experiment 2 is an instantly forgettable affair, much like its prequel - probably another reason why one would have a difficult time keeping track of things: this film demands that one vaguely remember events from the first film. A feat I'm afraid that I'm unable to achieve . . .