Biggles (1986)

Director:

John Hough

Writers:

W.E. Johns (characters)
John Groves (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 January 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Sci-Fi | War

Tagline:

Meet Jim Ferguson. He lived a daring double-life with one foot in the 20th century and the other in World War I.

Plot:

One minute the New Yorker advertising expert Jim Ferguson is at a business party -- the next he finds...

Plot Keywords:

Tower Bridge London | Sudden Disappearance | Trench | Chopper | London

Cast

Neil Dickson	...	James 'Biggles' Bigglesworth
Alex Hyde-White	...	Jim Ferguson
Fiona Hutchison	...	Debbie
Peter Cushing	...	Colonel William Raymond
Marcus Gilbert	...	Eric Von Stalhein
William Hootkins	...	Chuck
Alan Polonsky	...	Bill
Francesca Gonshaw	...	Marie
Michael Siberry	...	Algy
James Saxon	...	Bertie
Daniel Flynn	...	Ginger
Roy Boyd	...	German N.C.O
Samantha Bradshaw	...	Hotel Girl
Andrea Browne	...	Lady Buyer
David Butler	...	British Officer

Also Known As:

Biggles: Adventures in Time (USA)
Akatamahitos iroas gia oles tis epohes, O (Greece) [el]
Avventura nel tempo (Italy) [it]
Biggles (France) [fr]
Biggles-Effekt, Der (West Germany) [de]
Sturzflug durch die Zeit (West Germany) [de]

Runtime:

UK:108 min | France:92 min | Sweden:85 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-15 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Germany:6 (TV rating) | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Beckton Gasworks, Beckton, London, England, UK

Company:

Compact Yellowbill

Trivia:

The weapon testing ground scene was filmed in the now disused Beckton Gas Works in London, Which was also used for the Vietnam scenes in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987) a year later.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jim Ferguson first visits Colonel Raymond at Tower Bridge, Raymond hands Ferguson an antiquated 'Celebrity Dinners' card. When Raymond passes Jim the card, it is in a plastic sleeve, then the camera shows the card in detail without the sleeve, and then it returns when Jim hands it back.

Quotes:

Debbie: [Debbie and Jim have traveled back in time to 1917] Jim, this is all a big put on, isn't it? Like Fantasy Island, right?
Jim Ferguson: Come on, Debbie, it's not *that* bad. It's only World War I.

Movie Connections:

References "Fantasy Island" (1978)

Soundtrack:

KNOCK 'EM DEAD KID

Lots of fun !

My Grandad used to read the books as a child and my Mum introduced them to me, so its inevitable that i'd watch this film as a child needless to say me and my Mum love it !!

The film strays "slightly" away from the books World War 1 setting, (only in the eighties would they have made it into a time travel story) but the characters are faithful to the originals written in the books.

The films plot is a bit silly, but its lots of fun without been stupid and it makes me feel better every time i watch it.

I just hope my "time twin" is someone as cool as Captain James 'Biggles' Bigglesworth ;)