TheBermudaTriangle

The Bermuda Triangle (1979)

This is one of those movies that I remember watching as a kid. It is a pseudo documentary based upon the best selling book by Charles Berlitz and presents some of the stories that he made famous in that book that supposedly took place in the Bermuda Triangle. Thru reenactments and interviews stories like Flight 19 (the famous flight of missing torpedo bombers) the derelict ship that disappears as quickly as it appears, barges and airplanes that are caught in something that makes them glow blue, and airliners that disappear from radar and reappear missing time. Possible explanations are very briefly touched upon, like time vortexes, alternate universes, aliens, and even Atlantis itself! The movie even takes the time to talk about the Philadelphia Experiment and the destroyer USS Eldridge. Which has nothing to do with the Triangle, except to “prove” the possibilities of shifts in time and space.

I hadn’t seen this thing in probably 25 years and I have to say that I still enjoyed it. Though now I’m not watching it as fact, as I did when I was younger. I’ve read enough to know that Berlitz had an awful habit of embellishing on his stories and claims, and I also realize that none of the very plausible theories behind many of the disappearances are ever discussed. This is why I referred to The Bermuda Triangle as a pseudo documentary earlier in my review because the movie goes even further than Berlitz does. The reenactments make things far more ominous than the book does. I especially like the killing of triangle researcher Chuck Wakely which is made to look like a conspiracy by the movie, but which was likely just random violence and a coincidence. Like many Michael Moore documentaries this is more for entertainment than it is for any serious discussion of the Bermuda Triangle. If you can just kick back and enjoy the movie for the bit of 70s cheese that it is I think you will have as much fun with it as I did.

Before I finish I did want to talk a bit about the reenactments. They are pretty damn good and have decent production values. There are several vintage ships used and the locations are great. The segments with the “expert” who does the bumpers between the sections of the movie and narrates it are also well done and have a certain goofy charm to them. Really again as long as you aren’t trying to take this seriously it is a blast. If you want to sit and watch the movie and debate it the whole time you are going to be miserable. So sit back, take a deep breath, and enjoy the thing for what it is.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer