From the History Channel, research into the Philadelphia Experiment with host Arthur Kent. Reviewing history, interviewing scientists and eyewitnesses, they attempt to determine whether the story is true or not.
This was another History Channel entry that was a bit disappointing. First, the story. It becomes obvious very quickly that the goal here is to debunk the Philadelphia Experiment story. The research done seems to be very superficial and biased. They mention eyewitnesses several times but never say a word about attempts to find them and the results. A lot was made of the search for Carl Allen who supposedly started the rumor but when he was found there wasn’t much more said. For believers, this film will look a lot like an attempt to squash the story.
Now for the film. This was a 42 minute episode that could have been told in 15 minutes. There was a lot of fluff and repetition that seemed to have no use other than to extend the length of the film and beat it into our heads that the story is not true. Some interesting actual footage but repetition of interviews was ridiculous. Note that I don’t use the word ‘documentary’ to describe this film. It is so biased and lacking in serious research or substantiation of the research I don’t think ‘documentary’ is in any way accurate for a description.
Overall this is a good primer on the subject, argument against the story, or maybe a reality check for the obsessed but beyond that I felt it was an unfairly biased, unconfirmed, excessively padded attempt at journalism.
Released: 2001
Reviewed: 10.23.18
Star rating: 1 out of 5
Genre: Mystery, History, Documentary
copyright ©2018 Dave Riedel
This was another History Channel entry that was a bit disappointing. First, the story. It becomes obvious very quickly that the goal here is to debunk the Philadelphia Experiment story. The research done seems to be very superficial and biased. They mention eyewitnesses several times but never say a word about attempts to find them and the results. A lot was made of the search for Carl Allen who supposedly started the rumor but when he was found there wasn’t much more said. For believers, this film will look a lot like an attempt to squash the story.
Now for the film. This was a 42 minute episode that could have been told in 15 minutes. There was a lot of fluff and repetition that seemed to have no use other than to extend the length of the film and beat it into our heads that the story is not true. Some interesting actual footage but repetition of interviews was ridiculous. Note that I don’t use the word ‘documentary’ to describe this film. It is so biased and lacking in serious research or substantiation of the research I don’t think ‘documentary’ is in any way accurate for a description.
Overall this is a good primer on the subject, argument against the story, or maybe a reality check for the obsessed but beyond that I felt it was an unfairly biased, unconfirmed, excessively padded attempt at journalism.
Released: 2001
Reviewed: 10.23.18
Star rating: 1 out of 5
Genre: Mystery, History, Documentary
copyright ©2018 Dave Riedel
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