Biggles: Adventures in Time
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Biggles: Adventures in Time | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | John Hough |
| Produced by | Pom Oliver Kent Walwin |
| Written by | W.E. Johns (characters) John Groves and Kent Walwin (screenplay) |
| Starring | Neil Dickson Alex Hyde-White Fiona Hutchison Peter Cushing Marcus Gilbert William Hootkins |
| Music by | Stanislas Syrewicz |
| Cinematography | Ernest Vincze |
| Editing by | Richard Trevor |
| Distributed by | New Century Vista Film Company |
| Release date(s) | January 29, 1988 (USA) |
| Running time | 108 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom/USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Unknown |
| Gross revenue | $112,132 (USA) |
| IMDb profile | |
Biggles: Adventures in Time is a 1986 adventure film based on the character of Biggles from the series of novels written by Captain W.E. Johns. The film stars Neil Dickson as Biggles, Alex Hyde-White as Jim Ferguson and Peter Cushing as William Raymond in his final feature film role.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Unassuming catering salesmen Jim Ferguson falls through a time hole to 1917 where he saves the life of dashing Royal Flying Corps pilot James "Biggles" Bigglesworth after his photo recon mission is shot down. Before he can work out what has happened, Jim is zapped back to the 1980s. With assistance from Biggles' former commanding officer Raymond (Peter Cushing) who lives in the Tower Bridge in London, Ferguson learns that he and Biggles are "time twins", spontaneously travelling through time when one or the other is in mortal danger. Together, Ferguson and Biggles fight across time and against the odds to stop the Germans changing the course of history by destroying a "Sound Weapon" with a Metropolitan police helicopter that was stolen by Biggles while escaping a SWAT Team in 1986 London.
The film is notably unfaithful to the original works. In addition to the introduction of a science-fiction plot, the continuity of the Biggles universe was largely ignored: for example, even within the film's chronology Peter Cushing's character would have been almost 100 years old in the 1980s (he appears much younger), while Biggles in the film was somewhat older (in the books, he was only a teenager in 1917), and the characters Ginger and Bertie, who feature in this film, did not actually join Biggles until later.
[edit] Production
The weapon testing ground in the 1917 scene is Beckton Gas Works and was filmed there a year before Full Metal Jacket was.
The Bell 206 Jetranger Helicopter (Registration G-BAKF) used in the film was involved in a serious accident in 1989, when it collided with overhead electricity cables when the pilot was approaching a field to land. Luckily the crew escaped with minor injuries. However the helicopter did not fare so well. It was extensively damaged, written off and broken up for parts.
Several aircraft were used in the film. These included a Stampe SV.4, which is flown by Biggles, and a Boeing Stearman, which is flown by his archrival, Von Stalhein. Both these aircraft are of 1930s vintage. Also used in ground scenes are several genuine World War One aircraft from The Shuttleworth Collection, including the Avro 504 and LVG C.VI.
[edit] Response
While poorly received by critics and audiences alike, the film remains of interest to Queen fans due to its featuring John Deacon's only non-Queen released recording - the song "No turning back", recorded with The Immortals. The R2 DVD release includes the video for this song.
[edit] Video game
The movie was also turned into a video game for Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum getting somewhat above average scores in reviews.[1]
[edit] References
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (February 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
