The Cult of Biggles: Why We’re Still Flying High with 1986’s Oddest Odyssey
For many cinephiles, the film holds a poignant place in history as the final feature film role for horror icon . Playing Colonel William Raymond, Cushing provides the necessary gravitas to the film's "time twin" lore, acting as the bridge between Jim's modern confusion and the wartime stakes. Why It Still Soars subtitle Biggles: Adventures in Time
The story centers on Jim Ferguson (played by ), a slick 1980s American businessman whose life is upended when he is revealed to be a "time twin" to the legendary WWI ace, Biggles ( Neil Dickson ). The Cult of Biggles: Why We’re Still Flying
While the film is undeniably a product of its time—complete with a pulsing synth-rock soundtrack by of Yes—it has endured as a cult favorite for several reasons: While the film is undeniably a product of
Whenever one is in mortal danger, the other is yanked through a temporal rift to assist. This leads to a series of whiplash-inducing transitions where Jim is plucked from his luxury London apartment and dropped directly into the mud and dogfights of the Western Front. The Last Stand of a Legend
: It is one of the few films that successfully (if bizarrely) mashes the "Men's Adventure" war genre with "Time Travel" sci-fi.