| Philadelphia Experiment II | |
|---|---|
Promotional film poster |
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| Directed by | Stephen Cornwell |
| Produced by | Mark Amin, Douglas Curtis, Paul Hellerman, Mark Levinson |
| Written by | Kim Steven Ketelsen (story), Kevin Rock, Nick Paine |
| Starring | Brad Johnson, Gerrit Graham, Marjean Holden |
| Music by | Gerald Gouriet |
| Cinematography | Ronn Schmidt |
| Editing by | Nina Gilberti |
| Distributed by | Trimark Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 12, 1993 |
| Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Philadelphia Experiment II (also known as The Philadelphia Experiment II, The Philadelphia Experiment 2, or Philadelphia Experiment 2) is a 1993 science fiction film. It is the sequel to the 1984 film The Philadelphia Experiment, but has none of the same cast or crew and only two of the same characters. It stars Brad Johnson as David Herdeg (the hero from the first film) and Gerrit Graham as the stealthy villain who meets an untimely end.
Contents |
It is several years after the events of the first movie, and David Herdeg (the survivor of the Philadelphia Experiment) and Allison (the woman from 1984) have married and have a child. One day David awakes in agony, to a changed world in which Germany won World War II and the United States is about to mark 50 years as a Nazi conquest. America is under authoritarian rule, with its citizens surviving under an oppressive dictatorship.
In this alternative timeline, Germany won the war because it had a futuristic aircraft called the Phoenix, to deliver atomic bombs, destroying Washington, D.C. and other major targets on the east coast. The United States became demoralized and eventually surrendered to Nazi Germany. The Phoenix was destroyed in the explosion and Friedrich Mahler, the scientist who took credit for building it, was ridiculed since he was unable to reproduce his successful design.
The aircraft was actually a stealth F-117 Nighthawk — accidentally sent back in time in an experiment. The German scientist's son, engineer William Mailer, was working on a teleportation system using technology similar to the Philadelphia Experiment. The concept was to "beam" a bomber into a high-risk area to surprise enemy air defenses, attack and escape, before they could react.
The first test of the device was to transport an F-117 with a payload of nuclear weapons to Ramstein Air Base in Germany. While the aircraft was successfully teleported to Ramstein, it was also transferred through time, arriving in 1943 Nazi Germany. Mailer's father decided to tell the Nazis that he built it.
To travel through time successfully, Mailer needs David because of his unique blood. David travels back to 1943 Germany, intercepts the aircraft's arrival and keeps it from being used by the Nazis. In the end, Mahler, the German scientist is killed and his son, Mailer, ceases to exist from the timeline. Since he was never born, the Grandfather paradox erases the aircraft teleportation project from existence and restores the timeline to normal.
At a crucial moment in 1943 Germany, Mailer tries to explain to Mahler, in faltering German (and without subtitles), that he is his son and that he needs to tell him what happened to the aircraft during the bombing run. Mahler responds in German that he has no son. Once Mahler is shot and killed, Mailer is destroyed in agonizing fashion by the time portal.