Top 10 Time Travel Movies

[dalmatianjaws]

Top 10 Time Travel Movies

Whether short stories, novels, or film, Time Travel is one of the most popular (and my personal favorite) form of science fiction. Here is a list of the 10 best time travel films, picked not just for stand-alone quality but for their quality AND unique use of the time travel conceit.

10. The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Arguably the best action/sci-fi movie ever made, T2 is also a great time travel piece. Even though the characters only jump back in time once, the film constantly debates the ethical and philosophical problems that wold arise from this technology. And because some fans believe that Kyle Reese was actually John Connor and that he sired himself into existence - and anytime a film inspires nerds to use thier brains to increase the overall level of perversity in this world, it deserves to be on a Top Ten List.

9. The Time Machine (original)

Based on the story by H.G. Wells, this film manages to capture the boredom of its inspiration, plus most of the book's prose as it was transliterated into the film as voice-over narration. Still, the VFX were earth shattering at the time, the Morlocks have really awesome light-bulb eyes, and the use of disaster warning sirens to induce the human instinct to hide underground is chilling and inspired.

Honorable mention goes to the even worse remake by H.G. Wells's grandson Simon which, despite its more pathetic moments, made a valiant attempt to revive Guy Pierce's already fading career and provided the perfect platform for Orlando Jones's unrecognized genius as the creepy CREEPY holographic museum guide.

8. Time Bandits

This inspired lunacy from Terry Gilliam (who appears twice on this list) follows the adventures of a gang of midgets who steal a map from God and use it to time travel for treasure. It's absolutely brilliant satire with a litany of great cameos, including John Cleese as Robin Hood, Ian Holm as Napolean, and Sean Connery as King Agamemnon. Also, David Warner stars as the devil, who shoots rockets by pulling off his fingers. I mean, come on, that's awesome!


7. The Jacket

An underacted psychological thriller, proving that Keira Knightly does not need breasts to be hot and does not need to do that damn slack-jawed stare to be a good actress. And Adrien Brody is kick-ass as a tough-as-nails soldier who finds himself popping back and forth in time whenever he's tortured in an insane asylum.

6. Donnie Darko

Love it or hate it, you have to admit that an emo-angst supernatural time travel horror satire is pretty original. Featuring the only good performance Jake Gylenthal has ever turned in and awesome slow-mo steadi-cam shots from director Richard Kelly, this flick makes the perfect evening in for young couple that like to talk philosophy and wear creepy rabbit masks.

5. Somewhere in Time

This is grade-A barf level romance here, but it features a pre-accident Christopher Reeves in a non-Superman role and the concept of meditation time travel and transporting the mind rather than the body is unique and clever. Plus, that moment when he sees the penny ... how can you not gasp?


4. 12 Monkeys

One of the quirkiest, creepiest time travel movies ever. Bruce Willis is brilliant as the borderline insane convict from the future and Brad Pitt is Oscar-worthy as the undeniably insane mental patient who brings about the end of the world.

3. Flight of the Navigator

If you were a kid in the 80s, this film blew your mind. Not only was it as finger-snapping fun as the Beach Boy's song "I Get Around" that plays over an important scene, it also opened young minds to the concept of aliens, time travel, growing up, and childhood abandonment. YEAH Disney!

2. Primer

My personal favorite time travel movie, this flick was made for pennies and was written, directed, and starred the same dude from Texas. But this is no M. Night Shaymalan piece of garbage, this is a twisted, confusing, well-researched character drama inspired by the entrepreneurial geniuses who built the first personal computers in their garage. The time travel is practical and the implications and ramifications of their actions are awesome.

1. Back to the Future (trilogy)

Come on, did you not see this coming? This is one of the best trilogies ever made. Does the science make sense? No, but time travel is impossible anyway, so let Robert Zemeckis take you on a skate-boarding, car-flying, time-traveling adventure with some of the best characters and moments ever put on film.

*Honorable Mention*
Star Trek VI: The Voyage Home
Because, who can resist a Star Trek slapstick comedy about saving whales?

[Sheridan Passell]

Is Groundhog Day time travel? Who knows. Great list.

[Sheridan Passell]

Hang on, I already read this.

...Five years from now.

[HatoriHanzo88]

I watched Primer a few weeks ago and, WOW.

I have never felt so mentally exhausted from a movie before. I managed to track down a "time line" of events in the movie, and, well... Let's just say extragavent would be an insane understatment. This movie is not only a greatly researched masterful take on quantum physics and mathematical engerniering, but also a film made by film lovers. The Reservoir Dogs style opening scene around the table is amazing, and the Jump Cut's create such a perfect sense of cutting up of time.

An amazing achievment in film making, and story telling.

[The Movie Whore]

This is the first time travel movie list I have seen that I actually agree with.

I first saw Somewhere in Time when I was 8 years old and fell in love with Jane Seymour. The other this movie gave me was an idea that I still hold to be true to this day and that is that time travel will not be possible until it is a matter of thought. An idea I am actually working with in a film I am co-writing and co producing. We are taking a slightly different approach but the science is as good as we can get it.

Primer is one of my favorite flicks. I saw it a couple years ago and thought it was one of the best time travel flicks ever made. They were on the money with their theories.

An honorable mention would be De Ja Vu. 1 of the few time travel flicks that presents their science and sticks to it through the end with out junking theory for the sake of story. Well done flick that I really enjoyed.

Groundhog Day could be considered time travel as it deals with the theory of a time loop but never took itself serious enough to explore the science. There was an episode of Stargate SG-1 that dealt with the time loop as well as last nights episode of Eureka. Yeah I am a geek through and through.

Great list.