The Philadelphia Experiment (2012) poster
2012 · adventure · sci-fi · thriller · mystery

The Philadelphia Experiment

Directed by Paul Ziller1h 25m2012
ElsewhereIMDb4.13k
  • sombre
  • kinetic
  • intense
  • inventive
  • cold
Movie DNA

Sombre, breathless, measured adventure / sci-fi, inventive in texture. Ambivalent, epic, cold, hand-scored across twelve axes of taste.

How every film is hand-scored →

A secret government research project tries reviving the World War II "Philadelphia Experiment," which was an attempt to create a cloaking device to render warships invisible. When the experiment succeeds, it brings back the original ship (the Eldridge) that disappeared during the first test in 1943 - which brings death and destruction to the 21st century. It's up to the sole survivor of the first experiment and his granddaughter to stop it.

Our read · The Philadelphia Experiment (2012) reads as a sombre, breathless, inventive adventure · sci-fi · thriller entry — measured in intensity, epic-stakes in scope, cold in temperature, ambivalent in outlook. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

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The shape of The Philadelphia Experiment

Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

You want pulpy time-travel sci-fi about a WWII invisibility experiment unleashed today.

ends upliftingyou’ll be fine aftera rollercoastergrips by minute 8attention 2/5breezes by
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around

Skip it tonightSkip if low-stakes government conspiracy and time travel destruction feel dated.

If The Philadelphia Experiment is your film
The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)
the original WWII cloaking time travel story
(unless you want the 2012 remake)
Timecop (1994)
time travel action enforcing government rules
Frequency (2000)
crossing time to fix family tragedy
(unless you want more explosions)
DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
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