time travel movies from the 70s

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The 25 Greatest Time-Travel Movies Ever Made

It must say something, surely, about humans, how often time-travel movies are about returning to the past rather than jumping to the future. As Mark Duplass’s forlorn character says in Safety Not Guaranteed , “The mission has to do with regret.” With all the potential to explore the unknown world of the future, so often when our minds conspire to bend the rules of time it’s instead to rehash the old. It’s compelling to watch a character in a movie do what we cannot — right past wrongs or uncover the reason for or meaning behind the events in their lives, whether they be emotionally catastrophic or merely geopolitically motivated.

So absent is the future from the canon, in fact, that when it is involved, typically future dwellers are leaving their own time to come back to the present. Back to the Future Part II aside, it seems as if there’s something about going forward in time that just doesn’t track for humans. (Of course, you could argue that this is because the present-day concept of bidirectional time travel would infinitely multiply or change beyond recognition any future that may occur, but that’s a knot for another article.)

In any case, the time-travel stories deemed worthy of Hollywood budgets aren’t always straightforward in their mechanics. Some films on this list barely qualify as time-travel movies at all; others could hardly qualify as anything else. There are movies about trips through time but also ones about the bending and fracturing and muddying thereof; then there are those about, as Andy Samberg aptly puts it in Palm Springs , “one of those infinite time-loop situations you might have heard about.” There’s even a movie in which we get only 13 seconds’ worth of time travel, when it functions more like a joke whose punch line hits at the film’s climax.

What these films all do have in common is a fascination with changing the way time works. That being said, the list leaves out movies in larger, more extended franchises in which time meddling is a one-off dalliance thrown into a sequel with little by way of foreshadowing: think Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban , Avengers: Endgame , and Men in Black III . (It also leaves off perhaps the Ur-time-travel movie, Primer , and the quite good Midnight in Paris because their directors don’t deserve the column inches.) We’re looking at self-contained stories using time mechanics from the start, with preference given to those that involve themselves more intently with the ins and outs of time travel; that ask questions about time, aging, memory and so forth; and that try to succeed at it in new and interesting ways. So let’s get to it.

25. Galaxy Quest (1999)

Does Galaxy Quest really count as a time-travel movie? Some compelling reasons argue that it doesn’t: Time travel isn’t a major factor in the plot, and the time traveling that does occur is, yes, only a 13-second jump. But its use of time travel is meaningful insofar as the movie itself is a loving spoof of Star Trek , which makes use of time travel in three films ( one of which made this list ), not to mention dozens of episodes across its various TV iterations. Tacking on time travel as a deus ex machina for the actors in a Star Trek– like show pressed into service as an actual space crew by an endangered alien race is the exact right amount of ribbing in a movie that’s as on point as it is hilarious.

Galaxy Quest is available to rent on Amazon .

24. Happy Death Day (2017)

Pick away at the surface of a time-loop movie and you find a horror movie. Most of the entries on this list are covered in enough feel-good spin to land as comedies, but Happy Death Day stares the horror of the time-loop phenomenon right in the face. (It’s also quite funny.) Reliving the same day over and over is an unimaginably potent form of psychological torture, and adding murder to the equation does little to dull that edge. The film follows a college-age protagonist struggling to escape from a masked slasher hell-bent on killing her again and again while she tries to solve the mystery of how she got stuck in a time loop.

Happy Death Day is available to rent on Amazon .

23. Back to the Future Part II (1989)

Seriously, this may be the only good movie in which the film’s whole focus is using a time machine to travel into the future. The fact that it’s a sequel is telling — the characters already traveled into the past in the first movie , and the filmmakers decided to save “traveling even further into the past“ for the third film in the trilogy. Still, Back to the Future Part II is a fun time that makes great use of sight gags and references, recasting scenes from the first film in the distant future year of 2015 with all its hoverboards and self-lacing Nikes.

Back to the Future Part II is available to rent on Amazon .

22. See You Yesterday (2019)

It’s a dirty little secret of time-travel movies that they tend to be, well, pretty white. Tenet ’s Protagonist aside, if Hollywood’s sending someone through time, they’re almost certainly not a Black person, and for obvious reasons: Most of post-contact North American history is deeply unfriendly to people of color, and the problems a person running around out of time and place is going to encounter are deeply compounded if they’ll likely be the target of racist abuse or violence — which makes See You Yesterday all the more compelling. Produced by Spike Lee and featuring one of filmdom’s most famous time travelers in a cameo role, it follows a Black teenage science prodigy who uses a time machine to try to save her brother from being killed by a police officer.

See You Yesterday is streaming on Netflix .

21. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

No offense to the Back to the Future franchise, but time travel never looks more fun on film than it does in the first Bill & Ted movie. It’s a concept that feels distinctly of a different era, so pure is its zaniness, that it’s hard to imagine anyone concocting it today. The titular duo, Californian high-school students in the ’80s, travel through the past looking for historical figures in order to ace a history project, then bring them all back to the present. High jinks ensue! We get Genghis Khan in a sporting-goods store and Mozart on an electric keyboard. What more could you want?

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is streaming on HBO Max .

20. Source Code (2011)

Time-travel-film aficionados know this won’t be Jake Gyllenhaal’s only stop on this list, but no matter. Source Code finds him repeating the same eight minutes over and over as he struggles to find the culprit in a train bombing — with each replay ending in his own death by explosion. For some reason, a romantic subplot is shoehorned into this, along with a bunch of frankly unnecessary technical mumbo-jumbo, but the core idea is a compelling mix of the time-loop movie and the train whodunit that Gyllenhaal is a perfect fit for.

Source Code is available to rent on Amazon .

19. 12 Monkeys (1995)

Some sort of law of nature dictates that every genuinely good idea and/or piece of true art has to at some point be turned into a Hollywood movie. Thank God La Jetée was adapted into something that can stand on its own feet artistically. 12 Monkeys may not retain its source material’s black-and-white look or stripped-down, static-image presentation, but it is a rollicking good time nonetheless. That’s in no small part due to director Terry Gilliam getting the best out of Bruce Willis and a young Brad Pitt, and recasting World War III as a planet-decimating virus. Which, like at least one other movie on this list , “speaks to the present moment,” or whatever.

12 Monkeys is available to rent on Amazon .

18. Run Lola Run (1998)

Unlike almost all of the other films on this list, the terms time travel and time machine don’t show up anywhere in Run Lola Run . Rather, it’s a sort of de facto time-loop scenario in which the protagonist tries repeatedly to pay a ransom to save her boyfriend’s life. In fact, if not for a few key details, it could easily be characterized (and often has been) as an alternate-endings movie rather than a time-travel film. But the fact that Lola seems to be learning from her past attempts with each successive one suggests that she is, indeed, using knowledge gained from previous loops to bring a satisfactory end to this situation.

Run Lola Run is available to rent on Amazon .

17. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

One of the most striking things about Groundhog Day is the mutability and replicability of its core conceit. Perhaps the best case in point is Edge of Tomorrow , sometimes known as Live. Die. Repeat. after its original tagline. It’s the kind of physically grueling movie only an actor as genuinely unhinged as Tom Cruise could pull off. A noncombatant thrust into a war against invading aliens, Cruise’s character finds himself reliving day one of combat over and over, slowly but surely refining his techniques in order to survive the extraterrestrial onslaught. Like the central twosome in the much less violent Palm Springs , he winds up with a partner in (war) crime, teaming up with the similarly time-trapped Emily Blunt, and the explanation for the replay glitch here is actually pretty satisfying.

Edge of Tomorrow is streaming on Fubo TV .

16. Star Trek (2009)

If you could create some sort of an advanced stat to measure controversy generated per unit of interesting filmmaking decisions, J.J. Abrams would have to be near the top in terms of his ability to rig up movie drama from almost nothing. This is a guy whose filmography is like Godzilla rip-off, Spielberg homage, safe reboot of cherished IP, repeat. Star Trek may be his best film, though, a sure-footed reinvention of a dorky sci-fi franchise that made it, well, cool. Somehow, the beauty of Spock and Kirk’s bromance being woven through chance encounters with future selves kind of … works?

Star Trek is available to rent on Amazon .

15. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

There’s a relative dearth of time travel in animated film, which perhaps is a function simply of the fact that it’s less impressive to stage in a world that’s already unreal. If you can Looney Tunes your way through physics, what’s so special about grabbing the flow of time and tying it into a bow? Still, the original Girl Who Leapt Through Time deserves mention here. It’s a beautiful story that interlaces the complexity of time leaping with the intensity of teenage emotion and the thorny process of growing up where the opportunity to redo things leads, over time, to growth — a less shitty Groundhog Day , in a way.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is available to rent on Amazon .

14. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

She may not be the most famous, decorated, or emulated actress of her generation, but Aubrey Plaza is someone whose personality spoke to the irony-soaked 2010s in a way that simply could not be denied. Her character on Parks and Recreation , April Ludgate, was, by all accounts, created specifically to channel Plaza’s real-life personality to the screen, and she plays essentially the same character in Safety Not Guaranteed . Here, she’s a sarcastic intern at a magazine working on a story about a would-be time traveler and using her feminine wiles to slowly gain his trust. The chemistry between Plaza and Mark Duplass is probably the film’s high point; the subplot about the FBI feels like it was clipped out of a bad X-Files episode.

Safety Not Guaranteed is streaming on Tubi .

13. La Jetée (1962)

At only a 28-minute run time, La Jetée is arguably too short to merit inclusion on this list. However, what it lacks in content (and in, well, moving images; it’s almost exclusively a collection of static black-and-white shots set to voice-over), it more than makes up for in inventiveness and influence, and it would be a travesty to leave it out in favor of more recent by-the-book fare. Tracing the tale of a man held prisoner in post-WWIII Paris being used in time-travel experiments as his captors seek to remedy the postapocalyptic state of the world, he’s sent into both the future and the past and ends up unraveling a lifelong personal mystery while he’s at it.

La Jetée is streaming on the Criterion Channel .

12. Planet of the Apes (1968)

Unlike the worse but more straightforwardly time-traveling Tim Burton remake, the relationship between the original Planet of the Apes and time travel is inexact — technically, the astronaut crew that lands on the titular planet does travel forward 2,000 years, but it’s not done via a time machine. The travel isn’t instantaneous: It literally does take them 2,000 years to get there; they’re just unconscious and on life support. Still, the way the film’s ending handles the iconic reveal is exactly in line with the best of the time-travel canon, the telescoping, mise en abyme feeling of the world shifting in front of your very eyes without your moving an inch.

Planet of the Apes is available to rent on Amazon .

11. Groundhog Day (1993)

The famous Bill Murray vehicle essentially invented the infinite-time-loop genre (and it’s hardly a movie that succeeds on the strength of its concept alone), but the idea at its core is so steeped in the casual misogyny of late-’80s and early-’90s cinema that it’s hard to watch today without cringing. Murray’s character employing what amounts to PUA-style techniques over and over and over in a desperate bid to fuck his hapless co-worker just doesn’t hit the way it did back then. If the story arc didn’t present a guy detoxifying himself of the worst aspects of masculinity in order to be worthy of a woman’s love as the primary way for a 20th-century white man to achieve full personhood, this would be much higher on the list.

Groundhog Day is streaming on Starz .

10. Predestination (2014)

This is probably the most complicated film on the list. Following a “temporal agent” (played by Ethan Hawke) who’s trying to prevent a bombing in 1970s New York, it’s based on a Robert A. Heinlein short story and features Shiv Roy herself, Sarah Snook, in a star-making turn as someone with a complicated backstory and a secret. Like the best sci-fi, the film’s premise raises all kinds of fascinating questions about the titular concept and throws in some interesting musings on sex, gender, and the self in the process.

Predestination is streaming on Tubi .

9. Looper (2012)

Wes Anderson gets a lot of flak for his overwrought twee visuals, but Rian Johnson has a knack for making movies that feel and function like dioramas even if they don’t look it. Narratively speaking, everything here is constructed just so — and there’s a certain beauty in that — but who ever had a profound experience of art by looking at a diorama? Looper was probably Johnson’s least precious pre– Star Wars film, which is nice because the temptation to drastically overmaneuver the mechanics of a time-travel story can lead to disaster. The tech used to Bruce Willis–ify Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s face is distracting, and the third act’s retreat from the postapocalyptic city of the future to the postapocalyptic corn farm of the future is a brave choice that the film struggles to land. Still, Johnson’s vision of a future in which organized crime runs time travel is compelling and well worth a watch.

Looper is streaming on Netflix .

8. Donnie Darko (2001)

Donnie Darko is a bit of a genre mash-up. Part high-school movie, part sci-fi flick, part bleak meditation on the soullessness of late-’80s America, it’s nevertheless a weirdly successful piece of filmmaking that makes fantastic use of a young Jake Gyllenhaal, a great supporting cast (Maggie Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Jena Malone, and Patrick Swayze among others), and an absolutely iconic haunting cover of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World.” Watching high schoolers navigate parallel universes, wormholes, and time travel is a dicey proposition, but director Richard Kelly makes it work, somehow.

Donnie Darko is streaming on HBO Max .

7. Back to the Future (1984)

While it’s clearly superior to the sequel (and leagues ahead of the final film in the trilogy), the original Back to the Future is a bit of a mess (John Mulaney was right , to be honest). Its racial and gender politics are cringey, and the incest subplot is weird (“It’s your cousin Marvin. Marvin Pornhub . You know that new plot element you’ve been looking for?”), but there’s a clear interest in time travel beyond its shimmering surface: the very real addressing of the “grandfather problem” in time travel via the slow disappearance of Marty from his family photo, the accidental invention of rock music, and a genuine curiosity about the nuts-and-bolts mechanics of time machines. Ahh, what the hell. It’s a romp.

Back to the Future is available to rent on Amazon .

6. Palm Springs (2020)

No offense to Gen-Xers and boomers, but the best time-loop movie of all time is Palm Springs . The film isn’t without its missteps, but it’s much more curious about life than Groundhog Day was through the eyes of Murray’s misanthrope. Cristin Milioti and Andy Samberg‘s characters, stuck in the loop together, are a perfect comedic match, and their shared humanity makes for a beautiful arc. The film raises questions about what’s worth doing in life when nothing lasts and how to stay sane when every day is the same. Of course, as a sort of polar opposite of Tenet , it benefited from coming out during the pandemic by speaking, as it does, to the experience of lockdown.

Palm Springs is streaming on Hulu .

5. Tenet (2020)

Interstellar wasn’t enough for Chris Nolan, apparently. Tenet ’s legacy may end up being little more than that of the COVID action movie no one saw — a bloated thriller that Nolan fought to get into theaters and bar from home viewing reportedly to swell the size of his own pockets. It really did suffer from bad timing, though, because this is genuinely a quintessential big-screen popcorn movie whose absurdity is all the more palatable when it’s given the audiovisual bombast it deserves. Ambitious in scope as it traces a war on the past by the future (yes, you read that right), Tenet is as enamored of action tropes as it is in bucking them, and its investment in rendering visible the brain-bendingly knotty mechanics of moving through time is laudable, even when the movie itself remains opaque — as impenetrable as the future, as hazy as the past.

Tenet is streaming on HBO Max .

4. The Terminator (1984)

A partner to Blade Runner in the mid-’80s invention of sci-fi noir, The Terminator is a stunning film in many ways, despite the third act’s now-iffy visual effects. While it’s not James Cameron’s debut, and it would go on to be bested by its sequel , it functions as an incredible showcase for an emerging young director who would exclusively make big stories for the rest of his career. Arnold Schwarzenegger is perfectly cast as the relentless, unemotional killer cyborg sent back from the future to terminate the mother of the eventual resistance leader, and the film’s romantic subplot has just the perfect amount of time-travel-induced cheesiness for it to work.

The Terminator is streaming on Amazon Prime Video .

3. Interstellar (2014)

It’s not inaccurate to say Christopher Nolan is a director who’s more interested in scale and scope than in expressing the minutiae of the human experience in its purest form. But in Interstellar, a Nolan movie in its titular ambitions, there’s a core element of time travel wrought not as sci-fi fireworks but as a paean to the sheer force and will of the power of love. It both does and doesn’t work, depending on your capacity for cheese in space, but even besides that, Nolan’s use of time as story arc — the way Miller’s planet functions, in particular — is conceptually masterful in the best kind of time-travel-movie way.

Interstellar is streaming on Paramount+ .

2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Whereas the franchise’s first movie spends more time on the question of time travel, in the second it takes a bit of a back seat to the action itself. It’s hard to fault director James Cameron for this decision; T2 remains one of the best action movies of the ’90s and — along with Jurassic Park and The Matrix — one of the decade’s best when for special effects. The groundbreaking T-1000 would honestly be enough to get this movie on the list; a tween John Connor grappling with questions of predestination and the fact that he is vicariously responsible for his own conception feel almost like icing on the time-travel cake. Much as in 12 Monkeys , time travel here is mistaken for delusion, as valiant Sarah Connor, in a Cassandra-esque nightmare, has to battle against the future only she knows is coming. Of course, Cassandra never had access to any firepower stored in underground desert arsenals.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is streaming on Netflix .

1. Arrival (2016)

It’s fair to wonder whether Arrival really is, in fact, a time-travel movie. The Ted Chiang short story it’s based on isn’t about time travel per se; rather, it’s an exploration of alternate forms of temporal understanding. The linguist protagonist, played by Amy Adams, doesn’t travel through time so much as come to experience it differently. Still, the plot ends up hinging on foreknowledge that she is granted not via visions but by actually experiencing her future simultaneously with her present and past. For our purposes, though, that’s time fuckery enough to merit inclusion, and boy howdy does the film deliver in overall quality. Partly, that’s simply a question of the source material. Chiang is arguably the most talented (and possibly the most decorated) American sci-fi writer of his generation. But the source story is not especially Hollywood friendly, and director Denis Villeneuve has adopted it lovingly, borrowing a plot device from another of Chiang’s stories, the more straightforwardly time-travel-based “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate,” in order to add some third-act blockbuster flavor. The result is a beautiful meditation on love, choice, and courage that packs art-film ethos into a genuine sci-fi blockbuster.

Arrival is streaming on Hulu and Paramount+ .

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'Great Scott!': Here are the 31 greatest time travel movies ever made, ranked

Let's gun the ol' speedometer up to 88 miles per hour with a look back at the best temporal adventures in movie history. 

Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown and Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly in Back to the Future.  Credit: FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Image

No matter how much we try to hold onto time — which is less of a tangible thing and more of an ethereal human construct — it always seems to slip away through our fingers like sands glimpsed through an hourglass. To borrow a lyric from Pink Floyd's "Time": "And then one day you find ten years have got behind you."

Doesn't that just hit you right in the feels?

Perhaps that is why we, as a species, are so enamored with the idea of time travel and the tantalizing, yet elusive, promises the genre has always held in the realm of science fiction. If the ability to travel to the past or the future existed, we'd be able to rectify egregious mistakes, visit with notable historical figures, or fight off unstoppable robot assassins from the future. Okay, maybe not the third thing, but you get the point. Our collective fascination with temporal displacement isn't going anywhere and to that end, we present our ranking of the 31 best time travel movies ever made.

31. Idiocracy (2006)

As the years go by, Mike Judge's sci-fi comedy about a guy with average intelligence who wakes in a world full of morons (effectively making him the smartest man alive) feels less like satire and more like reality. Sad, yet true. Why water crops with an energy drink? Because it's got electrolytes! Why electrolytes? Because electrolytes are what plants crave! Duh, everyone knows that.

30. Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

Hot Tub Time Machine could have easily taken the lazy route with tired jokes and poorly-written characters. Instead, the film offers up a surprisingly tender message about yearning for the past and getting a second chance to fix the missteps of one's youth. It also helps that the comedy is just as strong as the emotion. What's more: you've got Chevy Chase playing a mysterious repair man who recalls Don Knotts' character in Pleasantville . What else could you really ask for?

29. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

Shagadelic baby, yeah! On par with parody greats like Airplane and The Naked Gun , the first Austin Powers film lampoons to the James Bond franchise to perfection. Not only that, but the concept of a womanizing British super-spy from the 1960s trying to navigate the modern world felt ahead of its time, putting forth ideas of contemporization nearly a decade before Daniel Craig stepped into the shoes of 007.

28. Timecop (1994)

Timecop is exactly what it's title suggests: in the future, there exists a police force tasked with monitoring the timeline. Simple as pie. Nineties action icon Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as Max Walker, a titular temporal cop who must prevent a dangerous political from altering the past for his own gain.

27. The Time Machine (1960)

No, we're not talking about the Guy Pearce version from 2002 — we're talking about the OG adaptation of the iconic H.G. Wells tale directed by George Pal and starring Rod Taylor. The actor takes on the role of time traveler (duh) who gets way more than he bargained for when he travels to a future where humans battle a subterranean species of monstrous creatures known as morlocks.

26. Flight of the Navigator (1986)

A stone-cold ‘80s classic whose influence can certainly be felt in films like The Adam Project , Flight of the Navigator centers around a young boy who unwittingly travels to the future in an alien spaceship. A remake's been in the works for years, but it doesn't seem like much progress has been made on it.

25. Back to the Future Part II (1989)

One of several sequels on this quantum list, Back to the Future Part II set the stage for Avengers: Endgame three decades in advance with the idea of revisiting fan favorite moments of a previous movie via the utilization of time travel. When future Biff goes back to 1955 to give his younger self the sports almanac, Marty must follow and evade the version of himself in Part I . Great stuff!

24. Time After Time (1979)

H.G. Wells returns in this time-twisting movie in which the sci-fi writer attempting to stop Jack the Ripper, only for the infamous killer to use Wells' time machine against him. Several years later, director Nicholas Meyer would go on to direct another sci-fi classic — Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

23. Time Bandits (1981)

Most likely a major influence on Tony Fleecs' Time Shopper comic (well worth the read!), Time Bandits was among Terry Gilliam's first efforts as director. It's just something you won't get anywhere else: a unique Monty Python spin of the time travel genre. A tale of time-leaping dwarves on the hunt for treasure. As of 2019 , Thor director Taika Watiti was attached to a small screen remake at Apple TV+.

22. Army of Darkness (1993)

Army of Darkness is where the Evil Dead series went completely off the rails in the best way possible. After two outings at a possessed cabin in the middle of the woods, writer-director Sam Raimi needed a change of scenery? He could have gone to another contemporary location, but deciding to thrust Ash Williams back in time to the Dark Ages was a stroke of unexpected genius.

21. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

There was no way we could talk about the best time travel movies ever made and not give a shoutout to Mamoru Hosoda's 2006 masterpiece of an anime.

"The film plays the time-looping games of Groundhog Day, but it's also a sweet, credible study of a girl who wants to turn back the clock on her relationships with two boys who are starting to think more about romance than baseball," Kim Newman wrote in their review for Empire Magazine . "It has few fireworks, but still sticks in the mind, and is a definite upgrade from Digimon: The Movie for director Mamoru Hosoda."

20. Back to the Future Part III (1990)

Immediately following the events of Part II , Marty travels back to 1885 to save Doc Brown from living out the rest of his life in the Old West (Emmett's favorite time period). While there, our favorite skateboarding teenager runs afoul of Biff's ancestor, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen. Oh, and Doc falls in love with a schoolteacher named Clara, giving us a softer side of the mad scientist we've come to know over the last two installments.

19. About Time (2013)

Richard Curtis — the man who gave us Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually — tries his hand at the time travel genre with heartwarming results. Curtis, who both wrote and directed the film, is less interested in the sci-fi element and more preoccupied with the human drama of a young man who suddenly learns that the men in his family can jump through time.

18. Timecrimes (2007)

Writer-director Nacho Vigalondo's tight sci-fi thriller sort of flew under the radar when it was initially released back in 2007. If you haven't yet watched it, we can't recommend this one enough. Its handling of those pesky paradoxes that come with the time travel territory is *chef's kiss*.

17. Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)

It only took about three decades to get another entry in the Bill & Ted saga, but Face the Music was well worth the wait. An offbeat exploration of what it means to get older and come to terms with not achieving all the goals you once hoped to achieve, the third outing for Bill Preston and Ted Logan hits all the right notes. Even after all these years, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter have still go it. Rock on!

16. Star Trek (2009)

It had been close to a decade since the release of Star Trek: Nemesis when J.J. Abrams brought the classic franchise back to the big screen. But how do you reboot such a beloved property after so many decades of shows and movies? You take it back to its roots with just a few twists here and there. Enter the narrative device of time travel, which gave audiences fresh takes on Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Sulu, and the rest of the Enterprise crew while still remaining true to who these characters were in the OG run.

15. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

You can set anything in the 1970s and you're going to have a good time. Based on the seminal comic book arc by the dynamic X-Men duo of Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Days of Future Past finds Logan traveling back in time (courtesy of Kitty Pryde) to prevent the mutant-hunting Sentinels from every being created. The finished product is a perfect marriage of the Bryan Singer films with the prequel continuity established by Matthew Vaughn in First Class . The ‘70s-set adventure is seriously groovy (who could ever forget that Quicksilver sequence set to Jim Croce's "Time in a Bottle"?), while, in the dystopian present, the last gasp of mutant resistance engages in the real last stand against the Sentinels, which have been encoded with Mystique's adaptive cells. Nail-biter is an understatement.

14. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

The second Star Trek feature to be spun out of The Next Generation TV show, First Contact features a race against time (both literally and figuratively) to stop the Borg from preventing humanity's first contact with an alien species (the Vulcans).

"I think the most important plot aspect of the movie and what gave it its title was that Vulcan encounter at the end," co-writer Brannon Braga told The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. "This is what Star Trek is and this is where it all began. And you want it to happen. It's what's at stake — Star Trek itself — and that to me gives the movie such a strong core.

13. Run Lola Run (1998)

If you're a fan of that Community episode that explores all the potential outcomes of a simple game night gathering, then you'll probably enjoy Run Lola Run . Similar to Pulp Fiction four years prior, Tom Twyker's third directorial effort plays around with the timeline of its storytelling (something that would serve Twyker well on Cloud Atlas ). When the titular woman's boyfriend loses a bag of money that belongs to a very dangerous crime lord, Lola only has 20 minutes to come up with the dough. A simple and engaging premise gets an added boost from the screenplay's exploration of fate and how our actions can lead to unforeseen consequences.

12. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Time travel isn't something we often associate with witches and wizards (Doctor Strange being an obvious exception), but Prisoner of Azkaban features one of the tightest examples of a paradox-free time loop you're likely to find anywhere in the genre. When Sirius Black and Buckbeak the hippogriff are wrongly sentenced to be executed, Harry and Hermione use a Time Turner to save both innocent souls. Director Alfonso Cuarón effortlessly sets up the temporal element long before we ever get to that point, so that when our heroes do go back to change the past, it feels both earned and satisfying. Moreover, the time travel sticks to a concrete set of rules about not changing that which is immutable. Good stuff. Magical even.

11. Source Code (2011)

Groundhog Day , but as a heart-thumping action mystery/thriller. That's Source Code , baby — the second feature-length effort from David Bowie's filmmaker son, Duncan Jones. His follow-up to 2009's Moon proved Jones was not a one-hit high concept pony. Jake Gyllenhaal leads the project as Colter Stevens, a man forced to relive a specific train journey in an effort to find out who bombed the locomotive. Verga Farmiga, Michelle Monaghan, Jeffrey Wright, and Michael Arden round out the cast with Scott Bakula making a voiceover appearance as Colter's dad (most likely a loving reference to Bakula's role as Dr. Samuel Beckett in Quantum Leap ).

10. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

Whoa! On paper, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure sounds so off the wall as to be un-filmable: Two high school slackers with a love of rock n' roll travel through the centuries in a futuristic phone booth given to them by risqué comedian George Carlin in order to ace their history exam and not be sent to military school. If we were Hollywood executives in the late ‘80s, we'd probably ask what kind of reefer screenwriters Chris Matheson (son of famed sci-fi icon Richard Matheson) and Ed Solomon were smoking. But it works! And by golly, it works well.

9. Groundhog Day (1993)

Less of a time travel movie and more of a time loop movie, Groundhog Day is, perhaps, the finest directing effort from late actor/writer/filmmaker Harold Ramis. In this existential comedy, a bitter and self-centered newscaster is forced to relieve the same day over and over again until he learns a bit of humility. He can't leave the epicenter of the titular holiday (Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania) and any suicide attempt simply sends him back to the previous morning. It's a horrifying prospect, living out a hellish purgatory of repetition each and every day, but in Ramis's able hands, Groundhog Day keeps things light, earning its place as one of the finest dramedies ever made.

8. Looper (2012)

Looper is noteworthy for two big reasons: 1) Rian Johnson's snappy screenplay never gets too bogged down in the "rules" of the time travel genre and 2) Joseph Gordon-Levitt went the extra mile to wear facial prosthetics that made him look like a younger Bruce Willis. The decision to focus on a low-level enforcer for a group of future mafiosos who dispose of their victims in the distant past is pretty genius stuff. Johnson not only makes time travel feel fresh, he also manages to breathe new life into the crime thriller space. Not an easy feat by any means.

7. 12 Monkeys (1995)

Terry Gilliam just couldn't help himself; the dude just had to churn out another time travel masterpiece 15 years after Time Bandits . And we're very thankful he did. A top-of-his-game Bruce Willis steps into the shoes of a convict who is sent back in time to learn about a mysterious pathogen that wiped out a good chunk of humanity. The movie itself is a remake of the French film made in 1962. Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, and Christopher Plummer co-star. Pitt, who played mental patient Jeffrey Goines, nabbed a Golden Globe victory and Oscar nod for his performance.

6. Arrival (2016)

Denis Villeneuve's first foray into the world of science fiction, Arrival is a thinking person's time travel story. In fact, that little detail isn't really made obvious until the very last act. If you're looking for explosions and cheesy one-liners, then you're looking in the wrong place. Might we suggest our list of best action flicks from the ‘90s? Arrival takes a methodical and procedural approach to the question of: how would the world react if alien spaceships showed up on our doorstep tomorrow? How would we communicate with beings that are so wildly different from ourselves? The film is subdued and thoughtful — a masterful slow burn of an audition for its director's genre chops.

5. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Source Code walked so that Edge of Tomorrow could run. Edge of Tomorrow , Live. Die. Repeat. — Call it whatever you want, just don't call us late for the battle against the Mimics. Under the direction of Doug Liman, Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, and the rest of the cast (which features the late Bill Paxton) clearly have a ton of fun in this movie about a man thrust into a war against his will. He can't fight for crap, but when an alien bleeds time travel blood all over him, he gains the ability to relive the same day over and over again. Liman plays everything organically, taking the time to allow us to learn the rules alongside our hero before he truly figures out how to use his newfound ability to his advantage. Now, when is the sequel coming out?

4. The Terminator (1984)

"Come with me if you want to live!" This shouted by a complete stranger who, just a few moments ago, showed up in a back alley naked as the day he was born. We are, of course, referring to Kyle Reese, the soldier sent back in time to prevent the T-800 from murdering the mother of John Connor, who will one day lead humanity against the machines. Little does Mr. Reese know that he is destined to be the father of that child. Time travel is just a means to an end here: an excuse to pit two flesh bag protagonists against an unstoppable killing machine with one simple goal: assassinate Sarah Connor.

3. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

The fourth Star Trek movie to feature the OG cast members from the '60s-era television series, The Voyage Home , Kirk, Spock, and the rest travel back to San Francisco (circa 1986) and communicate with whales. You shouldn't be laughing over there, because that's actually what happens. Leonard Nimoy, who sat in the director's chair for this one, wanted to go for a very different Trek story.

"No dying, no fighting, no shooting, no photon torpedoes, no phaser blasts, no stereotypical bad guy," he once remarked . "I wanted people to really have a great time watching this film [and] if somewhere in the mix we lobbed a couple of big ideas at them, well, then that would be even better."

2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Arnie's T-800 wasn't kidding when he said "I'll be back" seven years prior to the release of T2: Judgment Day . He definitely did come back and with quite a vengeance. Except this time, the killer android with the Austrian accent didn't come to the past to kill young John Connor, but to protect him from a new mechanical threat: the shape-shifting T-1000.

Sequels are tricky to pull off properly, but writer-director James Cameron has yet to fumble the follow-up ball. This film ramped up everything audiences loved about the first movie, deepening the mythology while never losing sight of its heart: the fractured relationship between John and his mother as well as the budding relationship between John and his buff, sunglasses-wearing protector.

1. Back to the Future (1985)

Credit: Universal

You knew this one would be at the very tip-top of our list, didn't you? There's just no getting around it, no matter what timeline you travel to, Back to the Future is the greatest time travel movie of all time. Despite an overt lack of coherent rules and paradox resolution, the movie speeds by (at 88 miles per hour, of course) on charm, memorable characters, and relatable stakes.

And that's not even mentioning the most iconic time machine in the history of the genre: a winged-door DeLorean that runs on a plutonium-powered Flux Capacitor. What's a Flux Capacitor? Again, don't mind the science — just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride to 1955, where young Marty McFly has to ensure that his parents end up together, lest he and his siblings disappear forever.

Speaking with SYFY WIRE in 2019, Back to the Future co-screenwriter Bob Gale summed up the film's immortal legacy: "The idea that we were able to just tell this time travel story and make it not about changing history; making this human story and the big surprise was that everybody in the world has wondered the same thing: ‘What did my parents do on their first date?' It just connects with everybody."

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The 23 best time travel movies of all time

From Back to the Future to Looper to Palm Springs, the time travel narrative traverses the film spectrum. Here are EW’s picks for 23 of the best. 

Despite time travel being considered more of a science fiction trope, there is something positively enchanting about the idea of being able to go back to another time or forward into the future, even if just for a moment. While this list deals with a mix of films, some of which consider the hazards of time travel (mostly through time loops), for the most part, these films see time travel as a net positive. Time travel is also a sphere that is mostly occupied by television, thanks to shows like Doctor Who , Quantum Leap , and Lost , even though the number of time travel movies has shot up over the past two decades or so.

Unfortunately, the earliest this list goes is 1962; while there are some time travel movies from the Old Hollywood days, they lack a lot of the imagination and thoughtfulness about the nature of time that the movies on this list bring. This list is a mix of straight dramas, killer action, rollicking comedies, and heartfelt romance — and sometimes, all of those elements exist in a single movie. This list is unranked, and mostly grouped together according to each movie's particular "genre" of time travel: conventional time machines, time loops, magical circumstances, and missions to save the past and the future at the same time. These are 23 of the best time travel movies of all time.

La Jetée (1962)

Kicking off an unranked list of time-travel movies chronologically seems like a good place to start, actually. La Jetée is also probably the most experimental of the films on this list. A French Left Bank short film set in a post-nuclear apocalypse future told through narration and photographs, this is not the first time-travel film by any means, but its impact on the time-travel movies that came after, like 1995's 12 Monkeys , cannot be understated.

A young prisoner (Davos Hanich) is forced to undergo torturous experiments to induce time travel by using impactful memories — and unlike those who came before him, he succeeds, but he ends up discovering a time loop in the process. This is an incredibly stylish telling of what is now a familiar type of story, but in 1962, it was absolutely revolutionary. Honestly, because of its unique technical and visual elements, it still is.

Watch La Jetée on Criterion Channel

Time After Time (1979)

Nicholas Meyer is behind not one, but two brilliant time-travel movies that made this list. For this particular film, he not only wrote the screenplay but also made his directorial debut. The tale of two 19th-century former friends, H.G. Wells ( Malcolm McDowell , unusually wide-eyed and adorable) and John Leslie Stevenson a.k.a. Jack the Ripper ( David Warner , never more menacing yet charming), as they chase each other through 1979 San Francisco thanks to Wells' time machine, Time After Time doesn't spend too much time on the science of time travel, and it's better for it.

This is, in essence, a romantic thriller, as Wells falls for quirky bank clerk Amy ( Mary Steenburgen , delightfully independent) while in search of his old friend turned enemy. It has chase scenes, interrogation sequences, gory murder (courtesy of Jack), and a delightful sense of humor as Wells learns to navigate the future. He thought it would be a utopia; instead, he finds a world in sore need of his idealism, kindness, and dedication to justice.

Where to rent or buy Time After Time

The Back to the Future trilogy (1985, 1989, 1990)

While it's true that the first Back to the Future movie is probably one of the greatest time-travel movies of all time, with its two sequels living in its shadows, all three are essential to understanding the character of Marty McFly ( Michael J. Fox ). The Back to the Future trilogy is an '80s version of a bildungsroman about a teenager who has to learn that there's much more to life than being, well, a teenager. The first film, confidently directed by Robert Zemeckis , is imbued with so much humor and heart, it's all too easy to get sucked into a plot that should be convoluted, but that works so awfully well.

Back to the Future Part II evokes a bit less feeling than the original, and it's significantly grittier, but it's still " another fantastic voyage " as EW's Ira Robbins wrote, flinging Marty and Doc Brown ( Christopher Lloyd ) into a slightly prescient future version of 2015. Back to the Future Part III , meanwhile, restores the heart, but its story is slighter as it wraps up Marty's saga, sending Doc off on a brand new adventure all his own. While the first Back to the Future movie is required viewing for any time travel enthusiast, stick around for the rest of the trilogy, too: Even if this franchise's view of time travel is riddled with potential paradoxes, they are entertaining paradoxes nonetheless.

Watch the Back to the Future trilogy on Tubi

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

"Be excellent to each other" is the reigning philosophy of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure , the adventurous, fun-loving, stoner time-travel comedy that spawned a franchise, including a third installment released in 2020. Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves absolutely triumph in the roles of lackadaisical teenagers Bill and Ted, respectively, as they journey through time to bring back legends in order to pass their history class.

If the film seems silly, that's because it is meant to be. Whereas the Back to the Future franchise intended to craft a legend, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure kicks off the journey with George Carlin as the duo's time travel guide and mentor, Rufus, who intends to enlighten the pair on their mission and destiny. In any other film, the two budding legends, with their free-wheeling ideals and misadventures, would bring down the fabric of time and space itself. However, Excellent Adventure is not a time-travel film that forces you to think too hard about its premise; instead, it invites you to just kick back and have a good time.

Watch Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure on Amazon Prime Video

Meet the Robinsons (2007)

Meet the Robinsons received mixed reviews when it first debuted, but of the 3-D animated movies that came out of Disney Animation in the 2000s, it's probably the most imaginative and outstanding of the bunch. Following a young orphan as he goes on a fantastic voyage into the future with another young boy who is a time traveler (kind of), Robinsons is stylish to a point and is filled with heart. It's probably also the most kid-friendly entry on this list, but its good-natured humor and complicated emotional palette will appeal to adults, too.

It also fits neatly into a more classic genre of time travel, with time machines, eccentric inventors, and kids looking to make an impact — not just on their time, but on the time they find themselves in, be it the near future or the distant past.

Watch Meet the Robinsons on Disney+

Run Lola Run (1998)

This is, in many ways, the time loop movie; debuting in 1998 to rave reviews, Run Lola Run , a German experimental thriller, is one you will not be able to shake, long after you've finished a viewing (or even a second, to catch what you missed the first time). The protagonist, Lola (Franka Potente, in a punishingly physical performance), is forced to relive a scenario, again and again, involving saving her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) from certain death.

Potente's performance alone is worth the watch, and of the films on this list, Run Lola Run is actually one of the shorter ones, using its 80-minute runtime to its full advantage. The other time loop movies on this list are also worthy viewing experiences in a lot of ways, but for a pure shot of adrenaline, you can't miss the film EW deemed "a masterful pop piece, humming with raw romance, youth, and energy." If you're interested in more of director Tom Tykwer 's work, he also codirected 2012's Cloud Atlas with the Wachowskis , which, while not a pure time-travel movie, certainly plays with the intertwined nature of time and memory.

Where to rent or buy Run Lola Run

Source Code (2011)

Duncan Jones made a splash with his 2009 feature directorial debut Moon , a moody, philosophical insight into possible lunar labor practices in the future. He followed that thoughtful film up with Source Code , which, while not a movie that could always be described as "thoughtful," could certainly be described as moody. Hitchcockian in a sense, Source Code follows the misadventures of a U.S. Army pilot ( Jake Gyllenhaal ), as he attempts to stop a terrorist attack on a Chicago commuter train — repeatedly.

Source Code does have something to say about the commodification of bodies and minds in the service of the so-called "greater good"; while Gyllenhaal's Captain Stevens' services are no doubt helpful, are they necessary, the film asks. Is it really a good idea to force someone to relive an incredibly stressful idea, over and over again? The movie has its funny moments, even in the thick of all the intense chase scenes through the train; EW noted back in 2012, "The director finds moments of humor in unlikely corners of that train of fools." Indeed. If you enjoyed a film like The Commuter (2018), but thought it could use a time loop and the potential of alternate realities, Source Code is your next mandatory viewing.

Watch Source Code on Showtime

Looper (2012)

Before Rian Johnson introduced us to Benoit Blanc or journeyed to a galaxy far, far, away , he made the tangled time-travel film fittingly called Looper . Starring Bruce Willis , Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a younger Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt , Looper tells the tale of a contract killer sent after his next target: himself. This is a complicated film, and it is imperfect in a lot of ways, but its brutal appraisal of a possible dystopian future, and the efforts one man takes to prevent that future, are worth the amount of head-scratching you might find yourself doing throughout.

That Johnson likes his narratives to be impenetrable Gordian knots that only his designated protagonist can solve can perhaps be frustrating to the audience. However, if there's one thing that the Knives Out franchise seems to have reinforced, it's that not trying to unpack the mysteries of his work might work to your advantage as a viewer, because Johnson will probably have someone explain what just happened by the end, anyway. Like most of his films, Looper has a social conscience lurking within it as well. As EW's Lisa Schwarzbaum noted , "It's time to wipe the drops from our eyes or else get stuck in a loop, an endless cycle, a rut" about Looper 's core tenet back in 2012. It's a worthy takeaway from a film obsessed with self-fulfilling prophecies people find themselves within.

Watch Looper on Freevee

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Time loop movies need some incredible editing in order to really succeed, and Doug Liman 's enthralling Edge of Tomorrow certainly does so on that point. While Tom Cruise is the lead as a cowardly lion–turned–near-super soldier, all eyes are on Emily Blunt as Rita Vrataski, who rules this movie as one of the few heroes this dystopian, post-alien invasion world actually has left. While the quest Cruise and Blunt go on may be a bit convoluted, the film is so incredibly entertaining because it's so sharply cut, keeping up the pace even as we see similar things over and over and over again.

A tip of the hat must, of course, go to the action, which is as compelling as you would expect from a mega-star who seems determined these days to do all of his own stunts. In an era of often depressing science fiction, Edge of Tomorrow , as EW's Chris Nashawaty mentioned , is a fun, "deliciously subversive kind of blockbuster" to immerse your senses in for two hours, if nothing else.

Watch Edge of Tomorrow on Max

Interstellar (2014)

While this film might technically be considered more of a space opera than a time-travel movie, there's no reason it can't be both. Christopher Nolan 's Interstellar is a dazzling portrait not just of space travel, but of the love between a father and daughter that stretches over the thin fabric of both time and space. Matthew McConaughey as the astronaut father has never been so serious, but acclaim needs to go to Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway as Nolan's strongest women characters to date.

Interstellar varies between being almost too tense to stand, and, at other points, utterly relaxed. As a cinematic experience, it feels all-encompassing, using every possible outstanding special effect to draw its viewers in before the script hits them with emotional truth. While Nolan can certainly be considered " cold and clinical " as EW noted, his space-journeying meditation on the intersection between love and time is anything but.

Watch Interstellar on Paramount+

Palm Springs (2020)

Releasing a time loop movie during a global pandemic where life felt increasingly repetitive and bizarre was certainly a strategy for Hulu and Neon with Palm Springs , but it paid off. While the film was certainly developed long before COVID-19, the scenario of two wedding guests trying to escape the situational loop they've found themselves definitely resonated at the time, and it still does. Palm Springs may seem serious from the above description, but it is actually a fun sci-fi-tinged tale that is largely driven by the comedic skills of leads Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti .

EW noted that the movie avoids " true discomfort comedy ," and honestly, it's all the better for it. If Palm Springs had been angrier, it wouldn't hit home so hard, and it also wouldn't be nearly as entertaining. Instead, it's an often sweet rom-com that doesn't take itself or its completely made-up time loop physics too seriously. It was a Sundance darling for a reason, never quite letting up on the wild ride it takes its characters or its viewers on over the course of its 90 minutes.

Watch Palm Springs on Hulu

Somewhere in Time (1980)

Somewhere in Time might employ one of the strangest methods of time travel of all the movies on this list: time travel by hypnosis, of all things. (And self-induced hypnosis, for that matter.) Time travel on such shaky ground can't possibly hold up, and it somewhat doesn't, in the end. Science fiction great Richard Matheson adapted his own novel into a lackadaisical screenplay for this film, starring Christopher Reeve in a perfectly tragic role as the young man who gives his all for a woman (Jane Seymour) he can never really have.

In many ways, Somewhere in Time feels like a curio of the era from which it came, serving as a time capsule of how stories were told in the late-'70s and early-'80s. That is actually not a mark against it; this is a film that is just a peak tragic romance in a lot of ways; special nods must also go to Christopher Plummer as the young woman's cynical mentor, who seems to possess a certain foresight about the impossibility of Reeve's character. If you want a time-travel movie that is beautifully romantic, from its iconic score to its grand cinematography, you shouldn't stray from Somewhere in Time .

Watch Somewhere in Time on Tubi

Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)

The tale of a grown, about-to-be-divorced woman forced to relive her high school days and her courtship with a dorky-cool musician, Peggy Sue Got Married might be one of Francis Ford Coppola 's most small-scale movies, but it decidedly has the most soul of his catalog of mostly epics. Peggy Sue ( Kathleen Turner , in an Oscar-nominated performance) just wants to leave Charlie (Nicolas Cage) behind, but her time-traveling coma dream conspires against her to force her to reconsider. (It forces Charlie to become a better person, too.)

The film combines the cynicism of a rightfully embittered '80s housewife with the unbridled idealism of a '60s teenager to make one heck of a sincere cinematic concoction. That the film starts at a high school reunion could mean it becomes awkward very quickly, but instead, it's completely joyful. Whether Peggy Sue Got Married started a tradition of "person has some sort of crisis and subsequently ends up in another time" movies is unclear, but it does have a rather clear descendant in one of our next entries.

Where to rent or buy Peggy Sue Got Married

Kate & Leopold (2001)

Doesn't everyone want a young Hugh Jackman from the 19th century to fall out of the sky and into their lives? Leopold (Jackman) is a foppish and geeky, if not perfect, gentleman who quickly has Kate ( Meg Ryan ) falling for him despite her modern understanding of the world. That so many time-travel movies somehow end up in romantic territory is an interesting phenomenon, but one that does make sense. There is something appealing about falling for someone whose time is not your own.

Kate & Leopold is decidedly not a perfect film, although it is the first of director James Mangold 's and Jackman's collaborations (see 2017's Logan for the much grittier future fruits of their labor). It's fluffy, it's light, and it creates a paradox without even really acknowledging it. Someone looked at the Meg Ryan comedies of the '80s and '90s and asked, "But what if we made them science fiction?" It works in spite of itself, with Jackman's physical comedy as he plays " a doll of a boyfriend " and Ryan's sardonic tone carrying the day.

Watch Kate & Leopold on Paramount+

13 Going on 30 (2004)

When a 13-year-old girl is crushed after being tricked at her own birthday party, she makes a wish to be "30, flirty, and thriving," quickly waking up the next day to find herself just that, in the body of Jennifer Garner . Instead of traveling back to the past à la the protagonist of Peggy Sue Got Married , Jenna (Garner, Christa B. Allen) ends up in a potential future, where she is all the things she wished for, but definitely not as happy as she thought she would be.

The 2004 rom-com is a magical time travel tale — there's literally "magic wishing dust" — but that doesn't take away from the hilarity that comes with a 13-year-old trying to navigate an adult woman's life. Of course, in the end, Jenna learns her lesson — it's okay to just be young, for a little bit longer — but the journey she goes on as she discovers not just herself but also her true love ( Mark Ruffalo ) is worth all the silliness in the end.

Watch 13 Going on 30 on Max

Mirai (2018)

This lovely little gem directed by Japanese animation visionary Mamoru Hosoda tells the story of a little boy who unhappily gets a baby sister and ends up learning a lot of lessons about the past and the future. Kun (Moka Kamishiraishi) gets a chance to meet not only the grown, future version of his sister Mirai (Haru Kuroki) but also members of his family at different points in their lives. Mirai is a delightfully imaginative film with some gorgeous animation that contains some " mind-boggling visuals " as EW's Christian Holub pointed out.

It is also a genuinely heartwarming tearjerker; while all ends well for little Kun, the meditations this film offers on the nature of family bonds over the course of multiple generations might just leave you in a state of reflection on your own ties that bind. While many time-travel movies tell their stories from the perspective of youth, few unveil them through the eyes of a rambunctious preschooler, and gaining that perspective, in this case, allows for a truly precious journey.

Where to rent or buy Mirai

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

If you know anything about Star Trek , you know the fourth film is "the one with the whales," but if you don't know anything about the franchise, you probably also know that this one is "the one with the whales." Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home often gets acclaim as the funny Star Trek movie, but it brings a lot more than just comedy. The original crew of the Enterprise fling themselves back in time to save humpback whales in the past in order to save the future from a strange probe that threatens Earth...and will stop, but only if it hears some natural whalesong.

The crew finds themselves in 1986 San Francisco, so it's great that Time After Time's Nicholas Meyer returned to the franchise not as director (he helmed Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ), but as a screenwriter. Watching these characters from a literal utopia navigate a world not designed for them creates not only dynamic humor but great tension as well. As they almost always do, the Enterprise team breaks all the rules in order to save the future as well as the whales. Or, as EW noted in a tribute to the film: "It has heart, and passion — Save the Whales! — and a tremendous sense of fun."

Watch Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home on Max

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Star Trek: First Contact doesn't particularly feel as much like a Star Trek movie as Voyage Home does, and EW, in fact, says it harnessed "a sleek, confident style fully independent of its predecessors." As a Trekkie, this may not be the most complimentary way of looking at it, but as a film fan, however, it might be the highest honor someone could bestow upon a movie within this franchise. Captain Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) turns from a peace-loving diplomat to a Borg-slaying action star while the rest of his crew tries to get the inventor of the Warp Drive (the technology upon which the future relies) to stop drinking so much and actually invent the thing. James Cromwell, as the inventor, Zefram Cochrane, serves as the comedic relief for a remarkably serious and often scary film.

The Borg, '90s Star Trek 's biggest villain, are the main antagonists here, and they do provide some chilling action, even if the introduction that they can easily time travel would really wreck things for some future Trek series. Stewart manages the transition from his mild-mannered diplomat to traumatized warrior well, turning in one of his most ferocious performances. Star Trek: First Contact also gives us a look at a post-apocalyptic world in the midst of a recovery, and in that respect, it makes it both a thoughtful entry in the Trek canon and a time travel action-thriller with a brain.

Watch Star Trek: First Contact on Max

The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

What would a best time-travel films list be without including at least one of the Terminator movies? While an often brutal franchise with diminishing returns after James Cameron 's first two installments, the misadventures of an evil cyborg-turned-good (played to physical perfection by Arnold Schwarzenegger ) in a consistently dangerous world are always thrilling and entertaining.

Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, mother of the future's savior (and much, much more), is also due an acknowledgment; while the films are remembered for Schwarzenegger's portrayal of the T-800, Hamilton is the heart of this franchise a great deal of the time, as she refuses to die or let her son face the same fate, either. The first two Terminator films are so much more than "scary robots take over the world, everybody dies" – they're action-packed, bloody thrillers with startling narratives, pioneering visual effects, and, of course, time travel as the catalyst.

Watch The Terminator on Max

Where to rent or buy Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

"Wanted: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke...I have only done this once before. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED": This is part of the joke classified ad from which this movie was inspired. You might inspire a more risky movie from the tone of the ad, but what you get is a light comedy that served as the first leading film role for Aubrey Plaza . This Colin Trevorrow -directed film isn't so much about time travel as it is about the cultural assumptions that surround the concept, and those who think it might be possible.

In that sense, it's a meta-narrative on nearly every time travel story which has come before it, and quite possibly, that will come after it. EW called it " a fable of 'redemption' "; redemption, and the acts of salvaging something, anything, for the benefit of the future, is a regular time travel theme, from all those time machines to all those time loops. Safety Not Guaranteed manages to explore these themes with a lot of irony and a splash of heart.

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Will Bedingfield

The Best Time Travel Movies of … All Time

Time—ravager of youth; spoiler of milk; humanity’s oldest and deadliest foe. Yet in films we can conquer time easily: running it forwards and backward, skipping into the future or past with a simple edit. Filmmakers constantly time travel, so it’s no coincidence that there are so many films where this trick becomes a plot conceit.

But unfortunately for their protagonists, the best time travel films often show us that time’s prison is inescapable. Even when these protagonists look like they’ve found a way out, from natural wormholes to heretical machines, their fates are usually shown to be predetermined: Often they end up stuck in time loops, or just dead. Time and death are close companions .

Of course, this chaos translates into mind-bending entertainment for the viewer, so without further ado, let us introduce our picks for the best time travel movies.

Terminator 1 and 2 are really quite different movies. In the first, Arnie—the terminator—is the bad guy. He’s sent back in time by our machine overlords to kill a woman who will give birth to a child that will lead the human resistance to victory. A human from said resistance is sent back to stop Arnie. It’s a dark and weird story: a classic action film made on a stringent budget. The second, in contrast, is a big-budget extravaganza, featuring perhaps the greatest special effects in movie history relative to their time. Here, Arnie, now a blockbuster star, demanded to play the good guy: He’s still a robot, but he’s defending the key kid from the icy, and more advanced, T-1000 robot.

The most famous art house film about time travel, La Jetée follows a man sent back from a post-World War III dystopia to save the future, and to find the truth behind a traumatic memory for his past. Only 28 minutes long, the film is a simple series of black and white photographs put to a hazy narrative, yet it's captivating. Terry Gilliam turned it into 12 Monkeys , a zany, colorful caper starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt, a similarly weird but tonally different film.

This modern sci-fi classic follows the alien “arrival” of giant, peaceful, ink-inscribing squids. Before geopolitical squabbles can escalate the situation into a nuclear exchange, Amy Adams must translate the squid’s inky pleas into American English. (Spoiler: It relates to time travel.) This visually stunning film is based on Story of Your Life , a short by Ted Chiang, one of the best living sci-fi writers. The movie is a great introduction to his writing.

A classic featuring Bill Murray at his laid-back best. Murray plays a jerkish newsman who wakes up one morning to find that he is stuck in a time loop on Groundhog Day (and, yes, that is where the term comes from). Fear gives way to joy as he realizes he is now an omniscient god. This then gives way to boredom as he lives out the same day an infinite number of times, and Murray must work out why he has been cursed. Still a moving and thoughtful comedy.

This is really the time travel movie to beat them all, if you really want to get into the nuts and bolts of time travel itself. Two engineers accidentally discover an “A-to-B” causal loop side effect: They can basically travel back a short distance of time, and begin to use it to make huge amounts of money on the stock market. What follows is a highly technical and philosophical take on the implications of time travel.

Looper is just an air tight, fantastic action film: a compelling world, sketched in just under two hours, with entertaining and interesting characters. Joseph Gordon Levitt plays a contract killer who kills and disposes of his targets in the past, in order to avoid detection in the future. Bruce Willis plays his older self, who Levitt is tasked to kill. The time travel aspect being realistic isn’t really the point of the film: Writer Rian Johnson contrasted it directly to Primer , where the rules of time travel are so important; Looper was intended instead as a character driven thriller.

One of the highest-grossing anime films of all time, Your Name is a slick, ever so slightly hollow affair, but undoubtedly fantastic entertainment. Two school kids swap bodies each night, bicker about wrecking each other's lives, then eventually fall in love. They must fight through time to save a town from an apocalyptic disaster. The animation is gorgeous, painterly and fluid, the music from Radwimps is brilliant earworm pop, and the story is a real tearjerker.

Where the time travel in Tenet was left largely unexplained, in Interstellar Nolan actually seems interested in teaching his audience, and does an admirable job depicting some of the implications of Einsteins’ theory of general relativity. The movie’s dialog can be a bit saccharine and vapid, but the visit to the mountain-high planet of waves, where years pass as minutes, is just a great piece of cinema, worth the price of entry alone.

A cult classic that rocketed Jake Gyllenhaal to massive fame. It’s one of those high concept films that bombards you with lore, but really isn't as smart as it thinks it is. It’s better to just sit back and let it wash over you, including, of course, Frank, the iconic black bunny rabbit, who tells Gyllenhaal the world will end in 28 days. It’s also an important artifact of a certain section of Millennial culture: any Gen Z cultural critic trying to understand Millennial neuroses should definitely add this film to their research.

The original Planet of the Apes is a deeply odd film—there’s something disconcerting about the apes now: the prosthetic makeup techniques by artist John Chambers were revolutionary at the time. But while the prequels with Andy Serkis are certainly more action packed, the original has got to make the list because it features the most iconic time travel “twist” in cinema. Charlton Heston’s final revelation as he smashes his fists into the beach at the film’s end has been parodied to death, most notably by The Simpsons . (Which also created a fantastic musical adaptation of the film.)

This story originally appeared on WIRED UK .  

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25 Cult Time Travel Movies That Are Worth Your Time

The idea of being able to travel backwards or forwards through time has been something that has fascinated us as human beings, well before any type of scientific theory or science fiction literature had come to exist.

Tales of people traveling to distant places or times had begun to appear as folk tales from the Buddhist and Japanese as early as the 700’s [1]. It wasn’t until the 1700’s and 1800’s that we began to see tales of time travel in literature, with the most influential one being H.G. Wells The Time Machine (1895).

Since the release of that book, the theory of time travel has been repeatedly used as a theme in books, films, and TV shows. They have addressed it from multiple angles; the ways or devices that are used to transport through time and the different reasons that people are traveling through time.

Some very popular films and television shows have used time travel as part of its story. The Buck Rogers character awakens after being frozen in time; he has been used and reused in comics, films, and television from the 1930’s through the 1980’s.

The popular of Planet the Apes Movies and TV series used both backward and forward time travel in some of its storylines. It’s been used in Star Trek, the Terminator series, and Godzilla. It’s arguably most memorable use in a film was a time machine made out of a Delorean car, in The Back to the Future trilogy.

Some of the films time travel theories have been crazy and campy; while some are so complex they make your head nearly explode. Some get philosophical about the possible repercussions of time travel itself, while some just exist to make you laugh.

So with this list we look at some of the time travel films that would be considered cult films; they may be cult because they tanked at the box office and now we think they are great, or they’re cult because some people love movies that are total trash and camp, or they are somewhere in the middle.

1. Just Imagine (1930)

“Come today…soar on wings of fancy to the magic days of tomorrow’s existence…see life, love in 1980—find out what your grandchildren are going to do!” [2]. A man who had been struck by lighting and died in 1930 is revived in 1980 New York City.

In this future, things have drastically changed: airplanes have replaced cars, numbers have replaced names, marriages are arranged by the government, procreation has been changed, have replaced food, and there’s a lot of singing. Minus the singing and Wesley Snipes, the basic premise sounds very similar to Demolition Man (1993). It is an unusual film that mixes the musical and sci-fi genres, along with a bunch of corny jokes that must have been relevant for the era.

What really stands out in this film is the set design and special effects, which paved the way for future sci-fi films. The massive art deco style New York city-scape was created by a team consisting of 205 technicians over a five-month period, and cost $168,000 to build [3].

This was also the first movie to display the grand electrical equipment that is used to revive the character back from the dead, which was created by Kenneth Strickfaden [3]. He went on to more famously create similar special effects in Frankenstein (1931), Wizard of Oz, Young Frankenstein, and many other film and television programs [3]. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction in 1931.

It ended up as a box office flop; the first cycle of popular musicals was just coming to an end at the time. Fox was able to recoup the losses by reusing footage from the film in the Buck Rodgers and Flash Gordon serials, as well as others [4].

Check this out if you’re a fan of old musicals or to see the great special effects.

2. The Atomic Man AKA Timeslip (1955)

A mysterious man is pulled from the river with a bullet in his back and a radioactive halo around him and is clinically dead for several seconds during surgery. A news investigator believes that the man is a scientist named Raynor, but Raynor is alive and working in his office. Who is this man? Is he a double or traveler through time? The Investigator will stop at nothing to find out the truth of what is going on.

This B film British production falls somewhere between sci-fi fantasy, film noir, and nuclear espionage. The time travel aspect of this movie involves Rayner’s heart stopping during the surgery, leading to him actually being seven seconds ahead of time.

It’s not a bad mix, as this film is more espionage thriller than a typical time travel story and much more different than any of the other films on the list.

3. World without End (1956)

“THE 26TH CENTURY! Sub-Human Monsters… Mammoth Tiger Spiders… Mole-Tunnel Cities… Futurific Women… in the Screen’s Mighty Science-Shocker!” [5]. In this B sci-fi film, four astronauts are on a mission to Mars when they end up in some type of time warp sending them into the year 2508. They crash land on earth and discover giant mutated spiders, a group of mutated Cyclops cavemen, and a group of normal humans living underground.

The production values, makeup, and special effects are excellent for this type of movie, which may vary depending on your opinion of the whole B-film sci-fi genre. The effects using plastic models look realistic enough for the era, especially the space ship crash landing into the snow.

There are also the usual laughs and questions that can be raised involving these types of space films, such as why is the space crew equipped with guns and axes. The giant fake spiders are just awesome! You can see this as being one of the precursors for the Star Trek TV series and the Planet of the Apes films.

This film was mainly made in order to re-use some older footage from another Allied Pictures film, Flight to Mars (1951) [6]. Several other films also lifted the crash sequences from Flight to Mars. Some of the cast and crew end up being involved in other films on this list.

The director, Edward Bernds, made The Three Stooges Meet Hercules, as well as some other B sci-fi films. Actor Rod Taylor would later go on to star in The Time Machine and The Birds. Future famed director Sam Peckinpah and actor Strother Martin both had uncredited parts in the making of this movie [5].

If you love sci-fi films of the 1950’s and 1960’s, then this is a must see.

4. The Time Machine (1960)

“The Time Machine whirls you to a world of amazing adventure in the year 800,000!” [7]. Four friends are supposed to have dinner with their friend and inventor H. George Wells (Rod Taylor) on January 5, 1900.

He is late for the dinner and rushes in late, looking distraught and exhausted. He tells them that he has created a time machine that can travel through the fourth dimension and has traveled to different points in time. He travels to 1917, 1940, and 1966 to see what the future holds.

In 1966, nuclear explosions take place that cause volcanic eruptions and trap the time machine into a mountain. Wells is forced to travel to the year 802,701, where the mountain has finally disappeared. He comes to discover two races living in this time, a vegetarian people and a cannibalistic race called the Morlocks that use them to feed on.

The inventiveness of the special effects led to this film winning the Academy Award for best special effects in 1961. The time travel device is slightly different than in the novel, looking more like a sleigh than a box described in the book [8]. It was built around “a 1901 Eugene Berninghaus antique barber chair…with a tall, concave disc vertically mounted at the back of the machine which spins as it travels through time.

The most commented-on feature of the machine is a brass plate…[that reads] “manufactured by H. George Wells,” a not-very-in-joke that may also have intended to suggest the Time Traveler is H.G. Wells” [8].

The actual aspect of traveling through time was essentially done using a combination of time-lapse photography and stop-motion animation [8]. Another device that they used was the manipulation of lights, using different filters to show different times of the day [8]. There were also a lot of matte paintings used, which “to contemporary eyes…may seem obvious, [but] in 1960 they were convincing enough to allow a willing suspension of disbelief” [8].

There is a very large cult fan base for this film, very similar to Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, and Star Wars. An episode of the TV series The Big Bang Theory is devoted to it, when the group of four friends buys the actual time machine prop used in the film.

5. Beyond the Time Barrier (1960)

This is the ultra low budget, evil step son knock off of World without End. Filmed in Texas on a budget of $125,000, it follows pretty much the same storyline except only one soldier goes into the future. Everyone there are deaf mutes except the two leaders, the people of the world have been sterilized by the radioactive catastrophe that has occurred. In this version, the soldier ends up coming up with a way to travel back and warn the present about its future consequences.

This film was directed by one of the kings of ultra low budget B films, Edgar G. Ulmer. The film was financed by some Texas businessmen, so it was filmed on an old fairground and abandoned Marine Corps Air Station near Dallas, Texas [8]. The production company that ended up with the rights to the film piggybacked off the success of The Time Machine, releasing it a month later [8].

6. The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1961)

“See Hercules – Man of Steel meet the maniacs of mayhem!” [9]. Three bumbling drug store employees are accidently transported back into time, via a time machine created by the shop owner next door. Along with the Stooges, the time machine creator and his girlfriend are all transported back to ancient Greece and the tyrannical rule of King Odius.

There they end up meeting Hercules; this of course leads to some Stooge related hijinx and silliness. This version of the Three Stooges was Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and “Curly” Joe DeRita. Derita was the sixth member of the Stooges.

It was a natural fit for Bernds to direct feature length films with the stooges. His career as a director began in the mid 1940’s filming The Three Stooges short subject films. His time working with the stooges began when Curly Howard was in failing health and eventually died, and then into the time when his brother Shemp Howard took his place [10].

The Stooge feature length films happened because their short films gained new fans and popularity as they were syndicated onto television in the early 1960’s. The budget for the film was just under $450,000 and was the highest grossing of the feature length films, all of which were considered box-office hits for the group [11].

There is a fairly large amount of disagreement among Stooges fans and their liking of the various versions of the group. Some only like the shorts with Curly Howard. Some also like the ones when Shemp took Curly’s place after his death. Some don’t like the movies and the replacement Curly’s and then some like all of the versions, simply because it’s still some form of the Stooges.

They might not be as good as the short subject films, but they are still worth giving a chance.

7. The Time Travelers (1964)

“Step Through “The Time Portal” beyond the crack in Space and Time where the fantastic world of the Future will freeze your blood with its weird horrors!” [12]. Scientists have been working on creating a device that can view the events of the future.

During testing they discover that the device has actually created a portal. Four of them step through the portal and end up stuck in the year 2071. Similar to some of the previous films, nuclear war has damaged the earth and most of the remaining people live underground. Mutants live above and the people under the ground are planning to leave earth for a new inhabitable land. Oh, and they have robots.

The inclusion of the androids is the main point that makes this one stand apart from the previous films. Other than that, it is nowhere near as good as World without End. It falls slightly in the middle range of being a really great B-film versus a really bad one. The android’s have an interesting look, their heads are somewhere in between creepy and cool. They are kind of reminiscent of the masks that the children wear in Pink Floyd’s The Wall.

The ending is probably one of the more unusual out of the time travel films of this era, possibly hoping to spawn a sequel. It was the inspiration for a 1966 TV series called The Time Tunnel, as well as a 1967 remake called Journey to the Center of Time.

8. Hercules in New York (1970)

“Arnold’s Original Classic!” [13]. Well maybe not exactly, but it has the distinction of being Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first film. Arnold plays Hercules, who is beamed to earth by his father Zeus.

He ends up in New York where he gets into all kinds of weird interactions with the New Yorkers, and ends up becoming a professional wrestler. There is a funny scene where he battles a fake bear in Central Park.

The film is pretty awful, especially depending on which version of the film you may have seen. Originally, the studio had to dub all of Arnold’s lines because his accent was still way too thick. Newer releases have a better recording of his voice, done years after this film was made.

Still, you can see the potential that was there for him to possibly becoming a star. He had the right look and would eventually become one of the biggest action movie stars of all time.

15 Replies to “25 Cult Time Travel Movies That Are Worth Your Time”

The Philadelphia Experiment!

I agree, the list needs that movie.

Predestination (2014)

Too new to really be a cult film.

“12 Monkeys” is one of me all-time favorite movies! <3

Seems like the Evil Dead movies are missing, particularly Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn and Army of Darkness. These are definitively cult films.

For all of you who want to try the time-travel experience at another level, I highly recommend Primer. Primer is the best low-cost underrated pearl that can be seen on a screen. It’s not just a time-travel movie, is a trip into the heart of the man, bound to pe the prisoner of his own mistakes, but still having the courage to be stubborn and to fight against life’s own fatalities. Great film. M.G. – blogger at https://mgaestheticsblog.wordpress.com/

Back to the future? Philadelphia experiment?

Neither really considered cult films

‘Timecrimes’ is awesome!

La Jetee please, it’s mentioned in reference to 12 Monkeys, but I think it deserves a placement, imho.

Heuuuu, Terminator someone?!?

All the feel of the 80’s slasher movies, solid action sequences + this amazing cyborg war/time travel mythology!

One of my favorite movies of all time!!!

Back to the Future is also missing.

I know a lot of people really loved Primer, but I found it a bit too technical/overwhelming with information, like they wanted to drown us with data.

From the same director, I much preferred the fuc*ed-up movie Upstream Color; for the time-travel theme, I much preffered the [not cult yet] movie Predestination

Finally, I watched Timecrimes few weeks ago; not a fan! For a real good low-budget Sci-Fi movie, I’d go with Coherence and Another Earth, two of my latest favourites… and of course Ex-Machina, simply a chef-d’oeuvre!

And the Signal (2014; W. Eubank) was much better than its IMDB rating!

CONCLUSION : my 3 favourite time travel movies are Terminator, 12 Monkeys and Back to the The Future, although Predestination is not far behind!

My 2 cents… and 7 minutes lost forever! 🙂

The Man from the Future (Brazil, 2011) (“O Homem do Futuro”) Is missing from this list. It has a great cast (Wanger Moura, from “Narcos” is there), and it has 3 versions of the same character in the same scene. – something YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYWHERE ELSE 🙂

It does have cult status, at least in Brazil.

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The 25 Best Time-Travel Movies of All Time

Movies love to time travel. “Time is a flat circle,” said Rust Cohle, talking about the 4th dimension—or something. But in the case of popular media, the weird koan holds true: no matter how society progresses, or to what extent our technology matures, human beings are destined to repeat the same mistakes. Over and over and over again.

Is it possible to travel back through time and fix the wrongs we’ve wrought before—or will we just create more wrongs by messing with something we’re not meant to? With the release of not one, but three time-travel movies within only two months ( Predestination , Project Almanac and Hot Tub Time Machine 2 ), there is no better time (natch) to consider the genre’s formative films. Whether characters spend the whole film traveling to multiple times, or just talking about it, these films give insight into the fascinating facets of being human that drive us to believe in the impossible.

Also, it’s worth noting: so many spoilers ahead. This is just the nature of time travel.

25. Safety Not Guaranteed Year: 2012 Director: Colin Trevorrow

Granted, (spoiler alert) time travel really only shows up in the film’s closing minutes. Yet, in chronicling the strange courtship of a magazine intern (Aubrey Plaza) and the potentially delusional teddy bear (Mark Duplass) who claims he’s built a machine that will take the two back in time, director Colin Trevorrow slyly crafts an ode to the impulses that make time travel such an important part of pop culture. As Plaza’s intern grows ever closer to Duplass’s sad-sack misfit, joined later by an editor (Jake Johnson) and another fellow intern (Karan Soni), each character confesses his or her deep-seated failures—failures accompanied by the stark pain of knowing there is no way to return to the past and try again. The film’s ending probably makes too literal a rather worthy symbolic theme throughout, yet Trevorrow’s balancing of heartfelt sweetness and existential anxiety makes him seem a much better fit as the director of the upcoming Jurassic World than many would give him credit for.

24. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Year: 1999 Director: Jay Roach

The second entry in the Austin Powers franchise follows the titular Powers (Mike Myers)—a man similar to most of pop culture’s international spies in that he has a lot of sex—as he coattails Dr. Evil (also Myers) back in time to prevent his arch nemesis from stealing his “mojo.” What’s probably most impressive about this sequel, other than its box office returns, is that it was able to successfully button up all questions about how Austin Powers, a goofy-looking man with almost no respect for women, would ever be able to pork every single bipedal organism he sets his sights upon. Turns out it was just a purple syrup-y goop! When, in this film’s predecessor, Austin Powers’s sexual conquesting is chocked up to him being of “another time”—as in: You wouldn’t understand, Modern Woman; it was another time and ladies just liked different kinds of dudes back then—here we see that certain je ne sais quoi in action. In other words, consider this flick a meta-pick on this list: here’s a movie of “another time” that directly references yet “another time”—it’s like you are time traveling when you watch this movie! Shagadelic!

23. Hot Tub Time Machine Year: 2010 Director: Steve Pink

Three friends tired with their lives—joined by one nerdy nephew—go on a weekend trip to their old vacation getaway to remember what life was like before everything went sour. Sounds like a normal premise, until you add a hot tub that is also a time machine—if you get drunk enough. After a night of wild partying full of illegal Russian energy drinks, men in bear suits and Chevy Chase, the tub takes them back to 1986, a pivotal year for the crew. In trying to keep things the way they should be—and not disastrously alter their “present”—the guys go off to recreate their fondest memories, making new ones along the way, and stealing at least one Black Eyed Peas song (humanity is fine with this). The humor may be on the raunchier side for most viewers, but then again, those are the funniest parts. It’s kind of like Grosse Point Blank if Martin got the do-over he wanted: It’s high time the hot tub was given its time-travelin’ dues.

22. Somewhere in Time Year: 1980 Director: Jeannot Szwarc

Forget the complex mumbo-jumbo, the faux-hard science—in this romance, all time travel really takes is the right props and the power of self-suggestion! Pretty much overlooked and dismissed when it was released, this film starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour stays focused squarely on the supernatural force of love. It’s lightweight stuff, sure—its lingering cult status alone gets it on the list—but for some, this is an essential entry into the pantheon of time travel films.

21. Escape from the Planet of the Apes Year: 1971 Director: Don Taylor

One could be understandably mistaken for confusing the confusing passage of time in the first Planet of the Apes with actual time travel, but it wasn’t until the third installment in the original Apes series that the actual fabric of space-time was thoroughly ripped in twain. Following Cornelius (Roddy McDowell) and Zira’s (Kim Hunter) titular flight from the nuclear devastation of Future Earth in Beneath the Planet of the Apes , Escape is mostly a chance for anthropomorphic apes to dress in the “highest” fashion of the early ’70s. Tee hee, a monkey with an effeminate kerchief! Yet, the inevitable treatment of Cornelius and Zira at the hands of a terrified human race mirrors all too well the treatment of Charlton Heston’s astronaut by Dr. Zaius’s council in the first film, which in turn (spoiler!) leads to the events of the first film. As in practically all time travel films, history is doomed to repeat itself.

20. Déjà Vu Year: 2006 Director: Tony Scott

Déjà Vu is one of umpteen collaborations between Denzel Washington and Tony Scott, though it might be their best. In it, Washington plays Doug Carlin, a gruff ATF agent who’s spent his entire career trying to catch people after they’ve committed crimes and, like any good cop, would love to one day catch these same people before . Save some federal dollars, right?! In order to stop a bomber, Carlin gets mixed up with a program called “Snow White,” which allows “present” folks to see 4 days, 6 hours, 3 minutes, 45 seconds, and 14.5 nanoseconds into the past, a technology that of course is so much more than it seems. A clusterfuck of alternate timelines, a mean-mugging Jim Caviezel and a bonkers car chase straight out of H.G. Wells’s wet dreams, Déjà Vu does what any time travel movie of its stripe should do: abandon all logic and sense to play with time in a gritty, cosmos-sized sandbox.

19. Peggy Sue Got Married Year: 1986 Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Released less than a year after Back to the Future , Coppola’s take on the high school time travel yarn taps into a lot more hormonal ambiguity than Zemeckis’s hit. After suffering through a bitter separation with ex-high-school-sweetheart Charlie (Nicolas Cage), Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner) faints at her high school reunion and wakes up in 1960, seemingly transported back to the most transformative year of her life. Through a series of clever events that fall somewhere between fantasy fulfillment and science-fiction, Peggy Sue eventually comes to accept that she has, in fact, gone back in time. She considers this anomaly the perfect chance to re-do her life, but soon finds that her future—er, present—is not necessarily negotiable. Where Coppola tops the near-unflappable Zemeckis joint is in nailing that bittersweet something that makes nostalgia so appealing. It doesn’t matter whether Peggy Sue could have drastically changed her future or not—what matters is that she chooses not to.

And yes, that is Jim Carrey.

18. Star Trek Year: 2009 Director: J.J. Abrams

With Leonard Nimoy dearly departed—he the epitome of living long and prospering—there seems no better time to celebrate the brazen way in which J.J. Abrams both blew up the Star Trek universe and paid homage to all the ground it broke before. Old Spock (Nimoy) serves as the lynchpin upon which this re-boot hinges, wherein New and Old literally communicate with one another to birth an alternate timeline, providing a new generation of potential fans with an Enterprise crew all its own. Although time travel isn’t new to the Trekkie mythos (see: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home or First Contact ), Abrams treats such space-time hopping as one of many technologically speculative ideas to hone within his lens-flaring future, celebrating the frontier-bursting spirit of Roddenberry’s original vision. Check the upcoming Terminator Genisys to see what kind of precedent Abrams set—time travel is pretty much every franchise’s key to a sexy mulligan.

17. Timecrimes Year: 2007 Director: Nacho Vigalondo

Nacho Vigalondo’s low-budget thriller is probably the final proof anyone would need to accept that time travel may be the easiest sci-fi technology to film on a shoestring budget. Like many such films, Timecrimes plays fast and loose with the paradoxes inherent in time travel. Audiences at festivals such as Fantastic Fest, where it won Best Picture, didn’t seem to mind too much.

16. Donnie Darko Year: 2001 Director: Richard Kelly

Apparently, at some point in its burgeoning cult ascendency, director Richard Kelly admitted that even he didn’t totally get what’s going on in Donnie Darko —going so far as to release a “Director’s Cut” in 2005 that supposedly cleared up some of the film’s more unwieldy stuff. Yet another example of a small budget wringed of its every dime, Kelly’s debut crams love, weird science, jet engines, superhero mythology, wormholes, armchair philosophy, giant bunny rabbits and Patrick Swayze (as a child molester, no less) into a film that should be celebrated for its audacity more than its coherency. It also helps that Jake Gyllenhaal leads a stellar cast, all totally game. In Donnie Darko , the only thing that’s clear is Kelly’s attitude: that at its core cinema is the art of manifesting the unbelievable, of doing what one wants to do when one wants to do it.

15. Time After Time Year: 1979 Director: Nicholas Meyer

No list of time travel films would be complete without at least one featuring the father of time travel fiction himself, H.G. Wells. In Time After Time , Wells (Malcolm McDowell) himself is the inventor of the machine he will later write about, a contraption that is hijacked by—get this—none other than Jack the Ripper (David Warner), who is also Wells’s friend, because of course he is. Hopped up on adventure sauce, Wells follows Mr. The Ripper to 1979, where he’s dismayed that society isn’t the socialist haven he imagined. While director Nicholas Meyer is in a little over his head here, his sense of invention and glee with the subject matter is infectious. Plus, we can thank this film for preparing him to later direct the only Star Trek masterpiece, The Wrath of Khan . That he also went on to write the screenplay for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , another little time travel ditty, means today there’s still hope for him to kick that habit of writing Philip Roth adaptations and get back to his sci-fi bread and butter.

14. Predestination Year: 2014 Directors: The Spierig Brothers

Whole galaxies away from their vampire flick Daybreakers , the Spierig Brothers’ Predestination seems like the work of an entirely different group of people. If you haven’t read the Robert Heinlein story upon which this is based, then describing the intricacies of this exquisite headfuck runs the risk of giving too much away. Needless to say, were we to compile this list in a few years, this film might jump easily into the Top 10, but for now, it’s best to admire Sarah Snook’s performance as the beleaguered Jane, time traveling cop protégé to Ethan Hawke’s elder officer. For nearly half of the film, Jane’s journey is a science-fiction-less account of a transgendered person coming to grips with the secrets her/his body has held for so long. It’s something truly special: the Spierig Brothers were able to take such an archetypal idea as time travel and ground it in the heartrending story of someone who’s born feeling forever out of place.

13. X-Men: Days of Future Past Year: 2014 Director: Bryan Singer

Has time travel ever been put toward a nobler purpose? We’re not talking about the prevention of a future dystopia—that’s standard time traveling fare. No, Bryan Singer’s merging of X-Men old and new served a much greater role: eliminating the events of X-Men: The Last Stand from the collective timeline. It just never happened. Thank you, time travel. Thank you.

12. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure Year: 1989 Director: Stephen Herek

Not Neo, not Johnny Utah, not John Wick—there will never be a more perfect role for Keanu Reeves than kind-hearted time traveling slacker “Ted” Theodore Logan. Joined by his intrepid best friend Bill (Alex Winter—wearing a surprisingly acceptable muscle shirt sans mid-riff), the two peruse the whole of Western Civilization in their time-skipping phone booth to kidnap historical figures, use them to keep from flunking History and ensure—yaddah yaddah yaddah—the safety of the human race. For many of us, this was a formative film: a conflation of pop culture and History for Dummies; a reason to pay attention in class; the first time we ever tried to figure out what “69” meant. Technical rules don’t much apply here; instead, the message is clear: a good friend will stick with you until the end of time.

11. Midnight in Paris Year: 2011 Director: Woody Allen

Woody Allen isn’t the type to lean into sci-fi, let alone time travel—that is, until one really begins to dissect his work. In Zelig (1983), Allen plays an Everyman who, through his ability to transform himself—physically and mentally—into anyone around him, ends up paying witness, without responsibility, to a number of key historic moments. Further back, in Sleeper (1973), Allen’s Miles is cryogenically frozen, only to awake 200 years in the future when the world is under the control of a police state and human sexuality is an anachronism. Together, and in light of Allen’s enormous filmography, it’s no surprise the director spars with the deep-seated urge to escape: to run away from commitment, failure, rejection or practically anything that tests his neurotically balanced norm. So, when it comes to Midnight In Paris , in which Gil (Owen Wilson), a struggling writer visiting Paris with his fiancée (Rachel Mcadams), enters a mysterious car at midnight and is taken back in time to the 1920s to hang with such literary idols F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston) and Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll), the films reads as yet another vehicle for Woody Allen to find escape. Time travel just so happens to be an excellent way to do so.

10. Time Bandits Year: 1981 Director: Terry Gilliam

The first in Terry Gilliam’s “Trilogy of Imagination,” Time Bandits breathes with the unfettered glee of cinematic magic. Told through the eyes of Kevin, a neglected 11 year-old (Craig Warnock), the film details a literal battle between Good and Evil, between God (Ralph Richardson) and the Devil (David Warner)—though they’re never explicitly referred to as such. What Gilliam accomplishes, as Kevin meets such luminaries as Robin Hood (John Cleese), Napoleon (Ian Holm) and an irrepressibly charming King Agamemnon (Sean Connery, of course), is the perfect ode to imagination, wherein a kid’s bedroom musings gain the seriousness and weight of world-shaking war. Like a much weirder step-cousin to Bill & Ted , Time Bandits employs nostalgia and pseudo-history in equal measure to capture, with boundless invention, what it feels like be 11 again.

9. Edge of Tomorrow Year: 2014 Director: Doug Liman

A time machine is never used, but the concept is alive and well in Tom Cruise’s latest sci-fi action film. Lt. Col. Bill Cage (Cruise) is a soldier who inadvertently finds himself fighting on the front lines during an alien invasion that threatens to take over Earth. After being exposed to the alien’s blood, he is then caught in a time loop, stuck repeating the same day over and over, growing into a ruthless killing machine with each passing “day.” This idea is used to both comedic and thrilling effects, as Cruise must interact with the other solders, a take-no-prisoners warrior (Emily Blunt) and a swarm of ever-growing alien life forms that he has to cut through each and every day in his efforts to defeat them. All of the Groundhog Day comparisons don’t do enough justice to director Doug Liman’s handling of such a high-concept fiasco. It is, in other words, just plain fucking awesome.

8. Source Code Year: 2011 Director: Duncan Jones

Much like Edge of Tomorrow , our hero in Source Code has to relive the same day over and over again, but on a much smaller scale. Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is the perfect candidate to test a new program that allows people to live through the eyes (and memories) of someone else lost to time—but only for a few minutes. Through these reconfigured memories, Stevens is sent back to a Chicago commuter train right before a bombing takes the lives of everyone aboard, and it’s his mission to figure out what happened. Stevens never actually “travels” through time, but it hardly matters: Source Code explores the reality of consciousness and the power of perspective, claiming that time may just be all in our heads.

7. Looper Year: 2012 Director: Rian Johnson

Joseph-Gordon Levitt channels his inner badass to act as the younger version of Bruce Willis, nailing (with the help of some CGI and prosthetics) Willis’s ubiquitous action presence. The best case made on film for “If time travel is outlawed, only outlaws will have time travel!”, writer/director Rian Johnson wisely treats the tech as a given, focusing instead on the dramatic scenarios humans’ use of it would create. The result is one of the more thrilling time-travel-infused flicks of the last few decades, and clear evidence as to why Johnson will soon take a Star Wars film under his wing.

6. Primer Year: 2004 Director: Shane Carruth

Ditching the fantasy, Primer tackles the science of time travel more directly than most of the films on this list—or at least it appears to. Like Timecrimes with its teensy budget, Shane Carruth’s tightly woven narrative is all about appearance. It follows the work of two engineers who stumble upon an interesting side-effect in their efforts to reduce the weight of objects: they find they can travel through time. At first they do what anyone would do, and use their invention to make some fast cash, but greed and confusion soon take over, and the film unravels into a mess of double-crossings and alternate timelines—so much so that, of all the films on this list, Primer probably most rewards multiple viewings (and closed captioning wouldn’t be a bad idea, either, given the mumbly nature of much of the dialogue). A moral lesson wrapped in a sci-fi tragedy, Primer saps all the fun out of time travel.

5. Groundhog Day Year: 1993 Director: Harold Ramis

In the rich vein Edge of Tomorrow and Source Code , Groundhog Day stars Bill Murray as Phil Connors, a rude, unhappy man who, after spending the day covering the news of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania’s groundhog celebration, wakes up to relive the day once more. There’s little explanation as to why this happens, but Groundhog Day strips back all the mysteriousness and pretention of time travel as a concept to celebrate the hilariously mundane. It also helps that this film is a single-serve capsule of Bill Murray, America’s Greatest-of-All-Time Comic Sweetheart, at his very best.

4. Twelve Monkeys Year: 1995 Director: Terry Gilliam

The brilliant mind of Terry Gilliam once again emerges on this list, taking Chris Marker’s La Jetée (see below) and making it grimier. Beginning in post-apocalyptic Philadelphia in 2035, Twelve Monkeys glimpses Earth’s surface as contaminated by a virus that forces survivors to hide underground. Cole (Bruce Willis) must travel back to the ’90s to collect information on this deadly virus, but, of course, nothing goes as planned. While Cole questions his sanity, he must not only find a way to escape the mental institution in which he’s been placed, but he must also race against fate to un-do his ultimate undoing. A cauldron of plot twists, excellent performances and environmentalism, Twelve Monkeys makes an inarguable case for inevitable human doom.

3. La Jetée Year: 1962 Director: Chris Marker

At only 28 minutes, La Jetée is somewhere between a film and art piece. Its concept—black and white photos pieced together while an omniscient narrator explains what’s happening—quickly announces its symbolic purpose: a man (Davos Hanich), whose story we’re told as plainly as possible we are now a part of, can travel relatively painlessly through time because of a few stark images he’s carried with him since childhood. World War III has decimated Paris, reducing most citizens to desperate “guinea pig” status, used by Scientists to concoct time travel experiments “to call past and future to the rescue of the present.” Most of the helpless jerks launched through time end up going mad, unable to mentally “hold” themselves to a time their minds aren’t conditioned to endure. But the man is stronger than them: he is “glued to an image of his past.”

So how better can a filmmaker believably reproduce memory than obsess over the stillness of it? Rarely do we fixate on a whole detailed sequence, instead dwelling on one detail, one image branded into our brain tissue. The man’s is that of a pier (“la jetée”), a man dying, and a woman’s face. It’s that image that allows him to travel (without machine) through time, to visit our “present” in order to prevent his “future.” Like in Twelve Monkeys , redirecting fate is easier said than done, and as the man confronts his destiny, no other film since this has made the concept of time travel so personal, and the concept of time so sad.

2. The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day Years: 1984; 1991 Director: James Cameron

It may be a cop-out to count these two films in one slot, but, as with our No. 1 pick, together The Terminator and its sequel introduce us to perhaps pop culture’s longest-lasting, most archetypal time travel plot. James Cameron didn’t always have the budget to make things like Titanic or Avatar , but even at the start of his career his ideas were always larger than life. Whether Terminator 2 is one of those rare cases where the sequel is better than its predecessor is up for debate, though Cameron takes what made his first film a hit and enhances everything: from the sophistication of its effects and action, to the depth of the characters, to the complexity of its narrative. There are doctoral theses to be written about how The Terminator has shaped our modern imagination, and there are long debates to be had about how Terminator 2 is the most perfect action movie ever created. Regardless: one cannot stress how influential Cameron’s films are, so much so that they seem to defy space-time itself, reaching both deep into the past and far into even our future to define every facet of modern science-fiction filmmaking.

1. Back to the Future , Back to the Future, Part II and Back to the Future, Part III Years: 1985; 1989; 1990 Director: Robert Zemeckis

This was a given. The three-part epic journey of Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and his legitimately insane mentor Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) not only provides the crucible through which practically every comedy adventure made since must pass, it proves that even one insignificant kid’s actions make a universe of difference. There is little to add to a popular discussion of these films besides pointing out their diminishing returns with each successive entry, but that hardly takes away from the brilliance of Zemeckis’s storytelling. No plot point is wasted, no shot infused with anything less than humor and emotional breadth—if this sounds a bit schmaltzy, or a bit overboard with praise, then stop to consider how cherished these films are in the course of American cinema. As they mess with history, so too do they make history, and from that standpoint, it’s hard to imagine anyone feeling the need to go back to make this trilogy any better.

austin powers

Back to the future, bill and ted, donnie darko, edge of tomorrow, escape from the planet of the apes, groundhog day, hot tub time machine.

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Obscure But Awesome '70s Time Travel Movie Inexplicably Becomes New TV Procedural

There is a movie called Time After Time . This late 1970s flick isn’t a masterpiece, but it does feature Malcolm Macdowell as scifi author and actual Time Machine-owner H.G. Wells, who is aghast to learn his friend, played by Jonathan Pryce David Warner, is Jack the Ripper. He’s even more aghast when Jack steals his machine and travels to modern (well, 1970s) San Francisco, forcing Wells to head to the future to stop a new murder spree.

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It’s a lot of fun, and it’s certainly one of the best time travel movies ever made . And now ABC is going to turn it into a TV series.

Yes, no longer content to simply reboot classic TV shows and movies, the entertainment industry seems to be picking material toredo out of a hat. In this case, I’m all for it, because I’ll always watch H.G. Wells battle Jack the Ripper in any era, on any platform. There’s absolutely no news if the show would be set entirely in the present—which I don’t think is exactly unlikely, as it would save an immense amount of production costs—or if Wells would actually chase Jack through many different places and times, sort of like CSI: Doctor Who.

The show will be run by Kevin Williamson, who created Dawson’s Creek , ran The Vampire Diaries, and made many crime procedurals like The Following and Stalker (they guy really like shows about people chasing criminals). ABC has already bought the project, so now we only have to guess which British actors will play Wells and Jack, and who will play the street-smart American cop whose life gets entwined with Wells.

[Via Deadline ]

Contact the author at [email protected] .

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17 Underrated Sci-Fi Movies About Time Travel

Everyone and their mother knows about time travel movies like  Back to the Future  and  Avengers: Endgame , but what about the underrated time travel movies ? It's a sci-fi subgenre with plenty of room to maneuver; there have been virtually countless time travel movies since the dawn of filmmaking. Some films fare better than others - the less said about 2002's  The Time Machine , the better - but we're here to focus on some of the hidden gems and/or underrated films of the genre.

From low-budget gems like  Primer  and  Timecrimes  to big-budget blockbusters like  Men in Black 3  and  Deja Vu . From comedies to anime to the foreign arthouse, time travel keeps reliably cropping up. There's a lot of room to maneuver in this particular subgenre, so get ready to dive deep. Remember to vote up your favorite underrated films about time travel.

Does it count as time travel if the only thing traveling back and forth in time are voices? The answer is an unquestionable yes, and though  Frequency  uses its time travel to tell a by-the-numbers murder mystery, that doesn't make it any less worthy. Buoyed by grounded performances from Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel,  Frequency  ends up being more than the sum of its parts. 

There's nothing wrong with a classic thriller, especially when there are time travel hijinks involved. And if you thought Quaid and Caviezel weren't enough, let's bring Andre Braugher and Noah Emmerich to the party. The fact that it was directed by Gregory Hoblit, a man responsible for two of the most underrated thrillers of the past 25 years ( Fracture  and  Primal Fear)  is just a bonus. If you're a fan of any of these Hollywood players or time travel in general, you should give  Frequency a look.

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Upon release in 2006,  Déjà Vu  was a minor hit for Tony Scott, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Denzel Washington. Critics were mixed on the film, and it has ended up as a footnote in the career of one of America's most celebrated actors. But  Déjà Vu  deserves better. Every film that comes out of Hollywood doesn't have to reinvent the wheel, and sometimes you're just in the mood for a competent, well-made drama. This one happens to be about a man who travels back in time to stop a domestic terrorist strike from decimating New Orleans.

If you keep your expectations at a reasonable level, there's a lot to admire about  Déjà Vu . With a cast that features Washington and a host of gifted performers like Val Kilmer, Paula Patton, and Bruce Greenwood as well as competent direction from Scott,  Déjà Vu  is the kind of big-budget filmmaking that has gone away in the wake of Hollywood's neverending hunt for the next blockbuster franchise. Besides, who doesn't like watching Denzel do his thing?

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Flight of the Navigator

It may be hard to imagine now, but there was a time not so long ago when the Walt Disney Company was floundering. Before Michael Eisner and Frank Wells came in to turn the company around in the mid-'80s, the House of Mouse was in serious financial straits and the creative side of the company wasn't faring much better. One of the first projects released during the duo's successful tenure was 1986's  Flight of the Navigator . This was a few years ahead of  The Little Mermaid  and  Honey, I Shrunk the Kids  setting the box office on fire to bring Disney back to the top, but that doesn't make  Navigator  any less worthy.

Flight of the Navigator  is more a story of accidental time travel due to time dilation more than anything else, as the 12-year-old protagonist travels to a planet 560 light years away, and back, causing him to age just over two hours in a span of eight years. He sets off on an adventure to return back to his own time, and family-friendly fun is had by all. To be frank, it's heady stuff for a kid's movie and the special effects were top-notch for the time. A remake has been rumored for years, but for now let's stick with the undeniable charm of the original, thank you very much.

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Predestination

Based on Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 short story, "'—All You Zombies—'", 2014's  Predestination  struggled to make back its minuscule budget of $5 million at the box office upon release and that is a crying shame. Starring Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook,  Predestination  is a heady sci-fi thriller that's a bit hard to pin down. It's hard to sum up all of its twists and turns in the limited space here, but suffice it to say,  Predestination  is a hell of a trip.

This is a film that demands rewatching in order to decode what it's trying to say with its themes on gender and fate, and even then it can be difficult to decipher at times. But that's okay! The journey is fun enough to make it all work. As Richard Roeper said in his review , "As soon as the credits rolled on Predestination , I wanted to watch it again. It was even more of a mind-dance the second time around."

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The Final Countdown

A few years before the iconic '80s song was released,  The Final Countdown  hit theaters. The film is about a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that travels through time to the day before Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. It also stars two titans of cinema, Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen, as they ham it up in a B-movie blockbuster.  The Final Countdown  doesn't take itself too seriously and it doesn't expect its audience to, either. 

The real star of the show is the massive amounts of actual Navy aircraft aboard the real aircraft carrier the filmmakers got to use for the production. The USS Nimitz , which is astonishingly still in use to this very day, served as a shooting location for  The Final Countdown  and it is glorious to behold. There are more than a dozen genuine aircraft vehicles that appear in the film and it lends an authenticity that is hard to fabricate. Come for Douglas and Sheen, stay for some awesome Navy realism.

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It's certainly very shocking that a film called  Timecrimes  has something to do with time travel. But let's just focus on that title for a second, here.  Timecrimes ? That is an awesome title for a movie! And  Timecrimes  itself is a saucy little low-budget thriller. The Spanish film tells the story of a man who becomes part of a time loop thanks to an experimental time travel machine. That's not all, as he also must stop his other selves (who exist in the same plane of existence thanks to the time travel) from continuing to exist.

It's a bit much to wrap your head around, but it all makes sense when you're watching it. Made for under $3 million,  Timecrimes  is an effective little thriller that you can't help but admire. And if that English-language remake ever actually gets off the ground, perhaps the original will find a bigger audience than it did upon release back in 2007.

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Time Bandits

If you're in the mood for a kooky sci-fi fantasy featuring an all-star cast,  Time Bandits  has you covered. Co-written and directed by Monty Python's Terry Gilliam,  Time Bandits  features Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Katherine Helmond, and Ian Holm in an adventure that could only be dreamed up by the man who brought you films like  Brazil  and  The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus . Seriously, Time Bandits  is nothing if not a whole mess of fun.

Made for kids (and everyone who used to be kids) with vivid imaginations,  Time Bandits follows 11-year-old Kevin as he becomes embroiled in a loopy time travel escapade. You know what kind of film this is going to be when an armored knight on horseback comes billowing out of Kevin's closet. It is so much fun. And hopefully you like dark comedy, because the ending of  Time Bandits  has a grueling fate in store for Kevin's parents.

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Time After Time

At a fundamental level, using time travel as a storytelling device lets the audience suspend disbelief a little bit more than they usually would. Case in point: 1979's  Time After Time . Based on the novel of the same name, this film follows famous British writer H.G. Wells - author of timeless novels like  The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds  - as he uses a time machine to pursue Jack the Ripper into the future of 1979 San Francisco. It sounds more like fantastical fan fiction than a Hollywood studio film, yet here we are.

Though this movie has largely been forgotten to time, it actually works! Obviously, the film isn't to be taken all that seriously, and that ends up working in its favor.  With charismatic leads as affable as Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen, it's easy to see why it succeeds. It's just delightful. And it's clear to see some people have fond memories of  Time After Time  as Kevin Williamson, of  Scream  and  Dawson's Creek  fame, brought a television version to screens in March 2017.

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Primer , Shane Carruth's 2004 sci-fi debut made on an estimated budget of around $7,000 , was one of the first cult hits of the internet age. A cerebral tale of two men who accidentally discover time travel in a garage and subsequently try to exploit it to earn heaps of money, this micro-budget movie was less of a word-of-mouth success and more of a find-via-blog success. Still,  Primer  feels like an underseen classic in the age of endless streaming services.

Perhaps that has something to do with the density of both the plot and the dialogue.  Primer  doesn't try to hold your hand, and it makes no apologies for it. To do so would be a disservice to both the film and the audience. More about humankind's ethical dilemmas and less about the time travel itself,  Primer  is a movie that is both hard to explain and impossible to forget.

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Some time travel films are light and breezy, meant to delight fans both young and old with capricious tales of science fiction.  Synchronic  is not one of these films. Unless stories about cancer and missing children are "light and breezy" to you. Alas,  Synchronic  remains a criminally underseen film from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (who are absolutely perfect choices to direct episodes of Disney+ MCU show  Moon Knight ). 

New Orleans paramedics Steve and Dennis, played by Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan, become embroiled in a weird mystery surrounding Dennis's missing daughter and a new drug that somehow causes its users to travel in time. Benson and Moorhead manage to keep everything dark and moody despite the odd premise of the film, and it ends up being a ride worth taking.

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Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey

Bill & Ted's Excellent Excellent Adventure  is the well-regarded original, while  Bill & Ted Face the Music  is the unexpected franchise revival. This means  Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey  is the unfortunate middle child too often dismissed as inferior. In many eyes, however,  Bogus Journey  is unfairly maligned by the movie-going masses. The screenplay may not be as tight as  Excellent Adventure  and it may lack the nostalgic punch of  Face the Music , but don't go sleeping on  Bogus Journey .

It's a juvenile comedy that also spoofs  The Seventh Seal -  what more could you possibly ask for? It has something for everyone, provided you go into a viewing with the right mindset. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter are as game as they were in  Excellent Adventure,  but it's ultimately William Sadler who steals the show as Death incarnate. Roger Ebert put it best in his positive review , saying it is for "lovers of fantasy, whimsy, and fanciful special effects. This movie is light as a feather and thin as ice in spring, but what it does, it does very nicely."

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Men in Black 3

Men in Black  will forever remain a '90s classic and, well, the less said about  Men in Black II , the better, but  Men in Black 3  has quickly become an underrated movie - even though it grossed a monstrous $624 million at the worldwide box office. The sci-fi threequel follows Will Smith's Agent J as he goes back in time to team up with Agent K's younger self to save the world from evil aliens. 

Josh Brolin is delightful as he does his best young Tommy Lee Jones impression as Agent K, and Jemaine Clement is just tons of fun as the villain, Boris the Animal. Is it a bit derivative of the first two? Yes, but sometimes you're just in the mood for some popcorn comfort food and  Men in Black 3  is certainly that. Besides, it's much better than 2019's soft reboot,  Men in Black: International .

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In the Shadow of the Moon

The problem with releasing a genre picture on Netflix is that they usually get lost in the shuffle. If it isn't something Netflix thinks it can market to a wide audience, it just sort of gets released with little-to-no fanfare. This certainly was the case with 2019's  In the Shadow of the Moon . From director Jim Mickle, known for little-seen critical darlings like  Cold in July  and  We Are What We Are , this sci-fi thriller is about a cop who tries to stop a serial killer who reappears every nine years to strike again.

We don't want to give the twist away as to how this involves time travel, because doing so kind of ruins the whole point of the film. If you've got a Netflix account, it's worth a watch and is just waiting there for you.  The Detroit News ' Adam Graham puts it best : "[W]hen you least expect it, In the Shadow of the Moon  delivers a powerful message about the roots of hate and the dangers it poses to society. Don't let this one stay in the shadows for long."

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• # 132 of 326 on The 300+ Best Netflix Original Movies Of All Time
• # 7 of 37 on The 30+ Best Netflix Sci-Fi Movies

What is there to say about  La Jetée ? From the fact that it is a 28-minute-long French film from 1962 almost entirely made up of still images, it's safe to assume all but the most fervent cinephiles haven't seen it. Of course, if you're game for its aesthetic, all there is a lot to love about  La Jetée.  And if you're a fan of  12 Monkeys , a film it directly inspired , then you're sure to have a good time.

The film follows a prisoner in post-apocalyptic Paris right after World War III as he is used as a test subject in a time travel experiment. Throughout the events of the film, the protagonist is sent both back in time before WWIII and way out into the future, where he meets a race of technologically advanced beings. Had it been shot traditionally, it isn't hard to see an alternate timeline in which  La Jetée  became one of the most popular foreign films of all time.

• # 67 of 97 on The Best French Movies That Are Absolute Masterpieces
• # 354 of 425 on The Greatest Movies in World Cinema History
• # 48 of 58 on The Best Surrealist Films

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Time travel and anime seem like they were made for each other - though couching the time travel in a coming-of-age story for young adults is a bit of a twist on the formula that's easy to get behind. And with a title like  The Girl Who Leapt Through Time , you kind of know what you're getting yourself into. This film is your average young adult fare with a sci-fi twist, which totally works.

There's not much else to say about  The Girl Who Leapt Through Time  without giving the whole plot away. It's a film that was pretty much universally adored by critics and audiences alike as its infectious energy can't be denied. If you recall the plights of your teenage years with any sort of whimsy, jump into  The Girl Who Leapt Through Time . You'll be glad you did.

• # 294 of 447 on The 400+ Best Animated Kids Movies
• # 90 of 101 on The Best Movies Of 2006
• # 26 of 66 on The Greatest Animated Sci Fi Movies

The History of Time Travel

The History of Time Travel  is a 2014 movie written and directed by then-film student Ricky Kennedy. It's a mockumentary that tells the story of the men who created the world’s first time machine and the unintended ramifications it has on world events. If this were all the film was, there wouldn't be much more to talk about. But  The History of Time Travel has more up its sleeve than being a fake documentary about false events.

The brilliance of the film resides in its clever use of time travel ramifications. As the film goes on, subtle changes begin to appear on screen as more information about the time travelers' exploits is revealed. Of course, the people being interviewed don't realize these changes are happening to them because, why would they? We wouldn't be aware of changes to our past because they would just become our history (at least, in the universe of this film).  The History of Time Travel  is quite low-budget and it shows, but it is still a rollicking good time for anyone in the mood for a new take on time travel.

Je t'aime, je t'aime

2001: A Space Odyssey  is often heralded as a film before its time - and rightly so - but there was another 1968 sci-fi film that dared to break the mold and challenge viewers to think outside the box. A supposed influence on Michel Gondry's landmark  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , Alain Resnais and Jacques Sternberg's  Je t'aime, je t'aime  is about a suicidal man who volunteers for an experiment that causes him to experience his past through a series of disjointed memories.

Je t'aime, je t'aime  is not a happy film. By the end, we discover that our protagonist has killed his terminally ill partner to ease her pain and he ends the film about to perish from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. We do not get to see whether he actually makes it or not, but that is beside the point.  Je t'aime, je t'aime  is a heady film about love, loss, and mental illness. It is both a relic of its time as well as highly forward-thinking in both its subject matter and its technique.

• Entertainment
• Time Travel
• Watchworthy

As they say in well-written scripts, "You mean... like time travel?" + also a few bizarre stories about real people who have claimed, despite every law of physics, they have traveled through time.

55 Best Time Travel Movies Of All Time Ranked

One of the fun things about time travel movies (apart from, you know, the time travel part) is that they're not married to one particular genre. Hopping from one year to the next is a narrative device that benefits everything from romantic comedies to slasher films. If you have a preferred genre, there is a very good chance that there's a time travel film within it just waiting to blow your mind. On the other hand, if you're not picky about your watch habits and are just as keen to watch a Western as a psychological thriller, time travel films are a great way to experience a generous swath of genres while keeping one thematic element consistent: messing with the sanctity of the space-time continuum. 

Below you'll find 55 of the best time travel films that the sub-genre has at its disposal. Along the way, you'll notice a couple of recurring narrative trends. More than one pair of lovers find themselves separated by a decade (or a century). Time-traveling protagonists are forced to accept the messiness of the past after attempting to right the wrongs of history. There are also fish out of water comedies galore, from helicopter-piloting samurai to modern-day teenagers stranded in the Wild West. So with all that said, feel free to take notes, synchronize your watches, and settle in for a look at the best time travel films cinema has to offer ... at least in this timeline.

55. A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court

You may be familiar with that holiest of fish-out-of-water scenarios: "man from the present gets transported back to medieval times." The third installment in the "Evil Dead" franchise, which may or may not feature later on this list, is one example. The 2001 Martin Lawrence vehicle "Black Knight" is another. But there's something especially charming about Tay Garnett's 1949 film, "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court," which adapts Mark Twain's 1889 novel of the same name. 

Inspired by Twain's text, the film follows a crooning mechanic (Bing Crosby) who is launched back to 6th-century England after receiving a blow to the head. There, he finds allies, lovers, and rivals as his modern ways inevitably clash with the antiquated traditions of a medieval court. "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" is an easy-breezy Saturday matinee flick that highlights Crosby's undeniable charm.

54. G.I. Samurai

Criminally underseen outside of Japan, Kōsei Saitō's 1979 film "G.I. Samurai" follows an elite squad of soldiers who accidentally slip through the cracks of time to an era when roving samurai clans warred in hopes of securing dominance over the country. Starring comedic legend Sonny Chiba (who, as ever, does most of his own stunts), the film is undoubtedly one of the strangest entries on this list. That said, don't let that stop you from checking out this violent genre mish-mash. "G.I. Samurai" (which also goes by the equally accurate name "Time Slip" and the utterly baffling "I Want To") is a charming if eccentric adventure through time.

53. The Visitors

Directed by Jean-Marie Poiré (who also helmed the 2001 English-language remake "Just Visiting"), "The Visitors" follows two poor medieval souls who accidentally stumble into modern times, landing in the early 1990s thanks to a bumbling, not-all-there magician. With his loyal servant (Christian Clavier) in tow, brazen knight Godefroy de Malfête (Jean Reno) must navigate such futuristic horrors as concrete roads, dentistry, and bowl cuts no longer being a fashion-forward haircut choice. Wacky to its core and endlessly over the top, "The Visitors" is a fish out of water time travel romp that's just about as goofy as they come.

52. The Butterfly Effect

While "The Butterfly Effect" wasn't particularly well-regarded when it first premiered in 2004 (as its low score on Rotten Tomatoes testifies), Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber's high-concept time travel film has since enjoyed a modern reevaluation, emerging as one of the more interesting sci-fi horror offerings of the early naughties. The film follows Evan (Ashton Kutcher, playing against type), a young man who struggles to remember his past, thanks to a history of harrowing abuse. By chance, Evan discovers that reading from his old journals allows him to literally embody his younger self, changing the most traumatic parts of his past by making different decisions. Unfortunately, as the film's title suggests, Evan's meddling in the past, however seemingly insignificant, produces a domino effect of tragic consequences for not just his own life, but the lives of those around him.

51. The Final Countdown

Plenty of films on this list have time machines. Heck, one of those time machines is even a DeLorean. But only one film has a time-traveling nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Released in 1980, "The Final Countdown" tells the story of a US military vessel that has the misfortune of traveling back in time to December 6th, 1941, the day before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Once the crew (which includes the talents of Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen) comes to terms with the moral implications of their situation, a "Twilight Zone"-like dilemma breaks out as to whether they ought to intervene and change the course of history, or allow a national tragedy to unfold. Part B-movie science fiction romp, part recruitment tool for the US Navy, "The Final Countdown" is utterly unlike any other time travel film on this list.

50. Somewhere in Time

Released in 1980 and starring three of the hottest people to ever exist (Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Plummer, respectively), "Somewhere in Time" follows a young playwright named Richard (Reeve) who has an uncanny experience on the opening night of his first stage play: An old woman, who he has never met before, begs Richard to come back to her. Obsessed by the mystery-laden encounter, Richard does what any self-respecting romantic would do and travels back in time to find her via self-hypnosis. Directed by French filmmaker Jeannot Szwarc (whose 1975 creature feature "Bug" gives William Castle a run for his B-movie money), "Somewhere in Time" is both charming and emotionally devastating. You've been warned!

49. 13 Going on 30

One of the more straightforward romantic comedies on this list, "13 Going on 30" follows a young dorky teen named Jenna who makes a wish on her thirteenth birthday to grow up faster (specifically, she wants to be, "30, flirty, and thriving"). And just like that, Jenna is catapulted into the future, waking up as a 30-year-old woman with 30-year-old problems (first and foremost, the naked man she finds in her new apartment, to her considerable disgust). While the thrills of independence and adulthood are exhilarating at first (what 13-year-old doesn't dream of disposable income?) Jenna soon finds that being older comes with its own set of challenges. A contagiously charming document of all the fashion crimes the early naughties had to offer, "13 Going on 30" is notable for highlighting the considerable talents of its main cast, especially Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, and the ever-delightful Judy Greer.

48. Déjà Vu

Marking the reunion of director Tony Scott and actor Denzel Washington after 2004's "Man on Fire," "Déjà Vu" is a bombastic (pun intended) time-traveling romance that also dares to be a straight-laced crime thriller. The film follows Doug Carlin (Washington), a federal agent who is summoned to investigate a horrific bombing on the Mississippi River. When Carlin proves himself to be a competent ally, an experimental FBI team invites him to participate in a new, super-secret form of investigation: A device, dubbed "Snow White," that allows users to take brief glimpses back into the past. But as the investigation persists, Doug grows less interested in catching the perpetrator in the present day, instead looking to alter history to prevent the accident from ever happening. With Denzel Washington's engaging presence, "Déjà Vu" is thrilling and heart-wrenching in equal measure.

47. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

While there's certainly a debate to be had about whether or not being cryogenically frozen counts as time travel, around these parts we're liable to vote yes. As far as we're concerned, superspy Austin Powers (Mike Myers) going to sleep in the swinging '60s and thawing out in the 1990s absolutely makes the cut. And with his bald-headed nemesis Dr. Evil (also Mike Myers) equally de-thawed and back with a vengeance, it's up to the shagadelic international man of mystery to acclimatize to these modern times in order to save the day. The first (and best) entry in the "Austin Powers" series, Jay Roach's 1997 film is brimming with sly nods and genuinely insightful critiques of its source material (namely, the "James Bond" films). A hoot from start to finish, "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" stands tall in the genre of spy parodies.

46. Army of Darkness

The third entry in the flawless "Evil Dead" trilogy, "Army of Darkness" was director Sam Raimi's vision of a horror film set in the past. This tale of the medieval dead reunites us with the series' incredibly groovy hero Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell), who was sucked through a wormhole (book of the dead-hole?) at the end of "Evil Dead II" that transported him to the year 1300 A.D. Somehow goofier than its predecessor, "Army of Darkness" follows Ash as he wins over the hearts, minds, and women of a walled city besieged by nefarious deadites. As he attempts to woo his crush and banish evil from the land, our strong-jawed hero is preoccupied with figuring out how to return back to his own time. Bonkers to its core and unabashedly full of both Raimi and Campbell's love of physical comedy, "Army of Darkness" is a blast from the past in more ways than one.

45. Happy Death Day 2U

Yeah, we hear you: Everything was tied up in one neat little bow at the end of the original 2017 film, "Happy Death Day." How could there be a sequel? What could possibly be worse than getting trapped in a time loop where you are killed over and over again by a killer wearing a creepy baby-faced mask? Well, all of you who answered "getting stuck in a parallel dimension where you're stuck in a time loop again " deserve a pat on the back. Yes, Tree Glebman (Jessica Rothe) may have escaped the maddening time loop in  her dimension, but thanks to the science experiment of some neighboring dorks, she's lost all that hard-won narrative closure and must fight for her life (well, lives ) once again. Matching its predecessor in charm and creativity, "Happy Death Day 2U" is an arguably unnecessary yet still delightful sequel.

44. Slaughterhouse-Five

Based on Kurt Vonnegut's novel of the same name, "Slaughterhouse-Five" follows the time-tripping exploits of Billy Pilgrim (Michael Sacks), an aptly named man who is "unstuck in time" after becoming a prisoner of war in 1940s Germany. Slipping in and out of his past, present, and future, Billy trips in and out of decades and major life events (including being abducted by aliens). Directed with a dreamy, atmospheric competence by George Roy Hill (the man behind "The Sting" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"), even Vonnegut himself praised the movie as "a flawless translation ... I drool and cackle every time I watch that film." And if praise from the horse's mouth doesn't do it for you, the film just so happens to enjoy critical acclaim across the board.

If you know one thing about 2004's "Primer," it's that it's famously difficult to explain without sounding like you spent a lot of time in a glue factory. That said, let's have a go at it: "Primer" follows four tech bros who build a machine in their garage that does ... something. They're not sure what, exactly. But it's something . One of the bizarre effects of their creation is that time appears to work differently inside the machine, making it a kind of "time machine," if you will. After much discussion, the foursome decide to experiment with it, only to discover a strange side effect: Whatever passes through the machine creates a double. A puzzle of a film full of paradoxes, loopholes, and sequences of events that overlap, dovetail, and intersect, "Primer" is a feisty, wildly ambitious indie movie that holds its own amidst the bigger blockbusters of the genre.

42. Triangle

Packaged as a typical slasher movie, Christopher Smith's 2009 psychological horror film follows a group of shipwrecked survivors who seek refuge on a mysteriously deserted ocean liner. At first, they think they are alone. Then a shotgun-wielding masked killer emerges out of the woodwork to make an already terrifying situation even worse as they pick everyone off one by one. To say much more than that (or how any of this has to do with time travel) would give away the film's secrets. So we will say no more! Featuring an innovative mid-film plot twist, "Triangle" is an unexpected delight with a captivating lead performance from Melissa George as the mentally fragile Jess. An expectation-subverting watch, "Triangle" will unquestionably win over adventurous fans of the slasher genre.

41. Happy Death Day

Grounded by a charming and sardonic performance by Jessica Rothe, Christopher Landon's 2017 horror-comedy sticks the slasher and time-travel genres in a blender with hilarious results. "Happy Death Day" follows Tree (Rothe), a mean-spirited sorority girl with a tragic past who finds herself reliving the day of her murder over and over again. Some psycho wearing the very creepy mask of their college's mascot has it out for her. And somewhere between being stabbed and electrocuted, Tree starts to suspect that uncovering the identity (and motive) of her die-hard killer is the only way to get out of this cursed time loop. But when the effects of being murdered in a variety of brutal ways start catching up with her, Tree realizes that she doesn't have much time (ironically enough) to solve the mystery. "Happy Death Day" makes dying repeatedly look super fun, and if that isn't a stamp of approval, we don't know what is.

40. Trancers

We have a fair number of time travel methods on this list: cars, hypnosis, telephone booths, you name it. But "Trancers," in all of its 1980s wisdom, takes a different approach: time travel via drugs. Set in the far-flung future of 2247, our hero is the improbably named Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson), a bounty hunter hot on the heels of a psychic villain (Michael Stefani) capable of entrancing his victims with his mind. When Deth finally learns that his foe has traveled back to the 1980s to assassinate the ancestors of future City Council members, it's up to Deth to follow him to the past and stop the nefarious mesmerist from executing his violent scheme. With more laser special effects than you can shake a stick at, "Trancers" comes courtesy of the ingenious low-budget mastermind Charles Band. Ripoffs of "The Terminator" are a dime a dozen, but they're rarely this entertaining.

39. About Time

While you could certainly say that all of the films on this list are about time, only one film is really "About Time." The 2013 sci-fi rom-com follows a young man named Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) who learns that he's inherited the ability to travel in time and change the course of his life. Written and directed by Richard Curtis — a New Zealand-born filmmaker who readers may know from the likes of "Love Actually" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral" — "About Time" has charm to spare, with one of the most lovely onscreen father-son dynamics of the 2010s. A film that is the cinematic equivalent of a warm bowl of soup, "About Time" is a high watermark for one of the more persistent themes in time travel cinema: learning to accept things just as they are.

38. Back to the Future Part II

While admittedly falling short of the lighting in a bottle effect of its predecessor, "Back to the Future Part II" succeeds in being better than most sequels and most time-travel films. Directed once again by Robert Zemeckis, the 1989 film sees scrappy teen Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and his geriatric pal Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) journeying forward in time to the unthinkably futuristic landscape of 2015. The objective is to stop Marty's future son from making a mistake that will land him in the slammer. As you'd imagine, things don't go exactly according to plan, leaving the future (and the past) a little shaken in the wake of Doc and Marty's meddling. A solid if decidedly more chaotic sequel, "Back to the Future Part II" is full of charms of its own.

37. Frequency

Released in the year 2000 and directed by Gregory Hoblit (the man behind the Richard Gere vehicle "Primal Fear"), "Frequency" follows John Sullivan (Jim Caviezel), a New York City detective who accidentally stumbles on a way to communicate across time with his now-deceased father (Dennis Quaid) using a HAM radio. Overcome with joy at the possibility of saving his father's life, Gregory warns his father of his cause of death, triggering a series of events arguably more tragic than his dad's fiery demise. "Frequency" is a suspense-riddled character study that also makes for a solid (and probably weepy) Father's Day watch.

36. The Muppet Christmas Carol

Are all movie adaptations of Charles Dickens' cautionary ghost story time travel stories? In our estimation: yes. The story spends Christmas with Ebenezer Scrooge, a real jerk who begins his journey to becoming a better person after he is visited by three ghosts that show the miserly curmudgeon his past, present, and future to gain some much-needed perspective. While everyone has their own favorite "Christmas Carol" adaptation, we're going to make an executive decision here: The best "Christmas Carol" movie is 1992's "The Muppet Christmas Carol," the directorial debut of Brian Henson. Roll your eyes all you want at the presence of the titular Muppets, but this film features one of Michael Caine's finest performances as the cold-hearted Scrooge. Also, it's a musical. What more could you want?

35. The Time Machine

Based on H.G. Wells's novella of the same name, which was literally the work that popularized the concept of a "time machine" , George Pal's 1960 film follows a fancy and adventurous Victorian Englishman (Rod Taylor) who travels into the far-flung future only to find humanity divided into two warring factions: the child-like Eloi and the brutish Morlocks. While the inventor had hopes that the future would be a paradise of new, utopic developments, it would seem that the warring tendency in our species is bound to persist throughout the centuries unless we change our ways. Warmly received by critics , the 1960 adaptation of "The Time Machine" is campy in all the right places with plenty of charm to spare.

If you ask us, "Tenet" is less about the convoluted ins and outs of using time travel to prevent World War III than it is about the vibes (and the friendship between John David Washington and Robert Pattinson). Look, it's totally possible to enjoy a movie without having the faintest idea what it's about. Then again, director Christopher Nolan has always been interested in non-linear filmmaking, from the memory-loss of "Memento" to the languid dream logic of "Inception." "Tenet" is Nolan leaning fully into his love of temporal logistics and while it's disorienting, there can be no denying that it's a hell of a good time. Despite any flaws it may have, "Tenet" is what you get when you put James Bond and time travel in a blender (in the best possible way).

33. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Directed by Leonard Nimoy (yes, the same Leonard Nimoy who plays the pointy-eared Spock), the fourth feature film in the "Star Trek" franchise begins in a far-flung future on the edge of disaster. An alien probe is wreaking havoc on Earth's environment, drying up our oceans and polluting our atmosphere. (Are we sure it's an extraterrestrial threat? Sounds like plain old climate change to us.) In order to save humanity from the impending apocalypse, the swashbuckling Captain Kirk (WIlliam Shatner) and his intrepid crew voyage back in time to the year 1986, where they hope to locate a soon-to-be-extinct animal that can respond to the mysterious probe. Pivoting the series' sci-fi into more comedic waters, "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" leans hard on the chemistry of its cast to buoy the severity of its environmentalist message. If you're going to watch one of the older "Star Trek" films, this is the one to seek out.

32. Peggy Sue Got Married

There is no time machine, per se, in "Peggy Sue Got Married." Instead, the titular character (played by Kathleen Turner) travels back in her own memories. Or maybe it's an especially vivid daydream. Who's to say? When you faint at your high school reunion, anything can happen! In any case, middle-aged Peggy Sue unintentionally travels back to her teenage days in the early 1960s, where she plays with the idea of breaking off her marriage to her high school sweetheart before it even has the chance to start. With a stellar ensemble cast, including Nicolas Cage, Helen Hunt, and Jim Carrey, Francis Ford Coppola's 1986 film is a bittersweet gem.

31. Back to the Future Part III

Very few films as excellent as "Back to the Future" are succeeded by a sequel that doesn't disappoint. And it's even rarer for such a film to produce two excellent sequels. Enter: "Back to the Future Part III," which catapults spunky skateboarder Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and the white-haired Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) back to the 19th century. The pair find themselves stranded in the Wild West, contending with saloon brawls, rowdy dames, and deadly gunfights. As always, the time-hopping duo must lay low while attempting to find a way back to their own time. There are adorable frontier romances, villains with the faces of modern-day bullies, and plenty of adoring references to old cowboy films. Although it doesn't always get the credit it deserves , "Back to the Future Part III" is a sweet-natured love letter to the Western genre.

30. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

In the first of three films charting the time-traveling/dimension-hopping adventures of Bill S. Preston (Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves), our titular doofuses are tasked with a harrowing objective: passing history class. Unbeknownst to these two Southern Californian himbos, the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, because at some point in the future, Bill and Ted write a rock song so great it actually achieves world peace. But in order for the dynamic duo to rock out, they first need a passing grade. Armed with a time machine helpfully supplied by an ally from the future (George Carlin), the pair journey through the past to amass a gang of history's most prolific figures. Lighthearted and energetic, "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" is a profoundly silly journey through history with two of cinema's most radical dudes who have charm (and air guitar riffs) to spare.

29. The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey

A wildly strange film on a list full of kooky adventures, Vincent Ward's 1988 fish-out-of-water time travel jaunt is truly an under-discussed, one-of-a-kind experience. The surreal and atmospheric Australia/New Zealand co-production was selected in competition for  the highest prize at the Cannes film festival and received eleven awards from the Australian Film Institute . With a dream-like approach to storytelling, "The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey" follows a psychic nine-year-old named Griffin (Hamish McFarlane) who has trippy visions of an alternate reality that looks completely different from his 14th-century mining village. With the Black Plague at their door, the villagers heed Griffin's warnings and follow his directions to dig deep below the earth. On the other side, the medieval peasants emerge into a bold and bizarre new land: 20th century New Zealand. Full of fantasy and imagination that flies in the face of the film's modest budget , "The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey" is an underrated classic.

28. Jubilee

"Jubilee" boasts one of the wackiest concepts as far as time travel films are concerned. Get this: Queen Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen herself, travels forward in time with the help of occult magic to visit 1970s Britain. Instead of a futuristic new world full of utopian progress, Elizabeth (Jenny Runacre) finds a crumbling country riddled with anarchy, social unrest, and debauchery. Directed by Derek Jarman (who also helmed the evocative 1986 biopic "Caravaggio"), "Jubilee" vibrates with undeniable punk rock energy, both critical and celebratory. So, the next time you're living your best nihilistic teenage dream, think to yourself: what  would  Queen Elizabeth I think?

27. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Released in 2006, Mamoru Hosoda's animated feature film follows the teenage Makoto (voiced by Riisa Naka), a high school girl who acquires the ability to literally jump into the past after stumbling upon a mysterious device in the science lab. Being a teen, Makoto uses her new gift for trivial, self-serving adjustments, acing pop quizzes and side-stepping embarrassing situations with ease. But when Makoto begins to realize that her adjustments have consequences for others, she resolves to only use her powers for good, and begins uncovering the mystery behind these strange abilities in the process. A decidedly personal (and relatable) approach to sci-fi fantasy, "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" captures audiences' hearts.

26. Time After Time

This 1979 film may share a name with a melodramatic ballad, but don't be fooled! "Time After Time" is way kookier than anything Cyndi Lauper could dream up. Behold, the plot: "War of the Worlds" author H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) hunts down infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper (David Warner), who has traveled to the 20th century after stealing the writer's time machine. With little interest in its pseudo-science and a romantic subplot that often gets in the way of the suspenseful thrills, "Time After Time" is an odd duck that manages to charm in spite of its idiosyncrasies. Then again, when your lead actors are having this much fun with a premise this bananas, you're bound to conjure up a good degree of movie magic.

25. Timecrimes

Easily scampering away with the best title on this list, "Timecrimes" follows Héctor (Karra Elejalde), a middle-aged nobody whose lazy day is ruined when a blood-soaked madman chases him into a secret lab in the woods. Inside, he meets a suspiciously unfazed scientist (played by writer-director Nacho Vigalondo) who casually instructs Héctor to hide in a big vat of sci-fi liquid. Sure enough, Héctor is launched back in time by one hour, forced to navigate (and solve) a string of disasters perpetrated by different iterations of himself. Few films on this list have a protagonist this stupid. But that is, in effect, part of the charm of "Timecrimes:" Héctor is just some dude who winds up at the center of an increasingly complicated web of cause and effect. Inventive, moody, and effective for its smaller scope and scale, "Timecrimes" is a pure delight.

24. Je t'aime, je t'aime

One of the older films on this list, Alain Resnais' 1968 film blends time travel with romantic obsession. From the director of "Last Year at Marienbad," the film sees a depressed young man named Claude (Claude Rich) reeling after the end of his relationship with Catrine (Olga Georges-Picot). Claude agrees to participate in a human experiment with a time travel device that promises to send its user back in the past by one year, for one minute. But when the machine malfunctions, Claude finds himself stuck reliving his nightmarish past out of sequence. Navigating fluidly through time, memory, and trauma, "Je t'aime, je t'aime" is arguably the most heartbreaking film on this list, an emotionally draining experience that must be seen (and wept over) to be believed.

23. Time Bandits

From the demented, hyper-imaginative mind of director Terry Gilliam, 1981's "Time Bandits" follows a young history nerd named Kevin (Craig Warnock) who is whisked away by six time-hopping criminals on an adventure to steal treasures from different historical eras, thanks to some convenient holes in the fabric of space and time. With whimsy to spare and an approach towards fantasy that charms both kids and adults alike, "Time Bandits" is simultaneously silly as hell and bursting with technical prowess, it contains the absurdism and production design that distinguishes Gilliam's cinematic output.

22. Safety Not Guaranteed

A bizarre ad shows up in the classifieds section of a local Washington newspaper. Someone is looking for a partner to travel back in time with them. They stress that it isn't a joke, and that they have only traveled in time once before. Tasked with covering the ad as an amusing fluff piece, a group of reporters, including the listless college grad Darius (Aubrey Plaza), set off to find and meet this clearly unhinged individual (Mark Duplass).There's no way that this lunatic actually invented a time machine, right? Unapologetically quirky, this indie rom-com could not be more twee if it tried. But sometimes adorable awkward dorks finding happiness and love while trying to journey through the ages together is exactly what the doctor ordered.

21. Il Mare

This 2000 South Korean romantic comedy follows a love story that transcends time itself ... literally. When Eun-joo (Jun Ji-hyun) in "Il Mare" abandons her seaside home for the city, she leaves a card in the mailbox for the next owner so that they can forward her any mail. Two years earlier , a young man named Sung-hyun (Lee Jung-jae) receives Eun-joo's letter. The pair soon realize that the beach house's mailbox can traverse time and space, and begin a really long-distance relationship. Remade stateside six years later as the Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock romance "The Lake House," Lee Hyun-seung's original is a captivating love story that is worth seeking out.

20. Predestination

Based on Robert A. Heinlein's short story, "Predestination" follows a time-hopping government agent (Ethan Hawke) who is hot on the heels of a serial terrorist equally unstuck in time. In his quest to catch the notorious Fizzle Bomber, the agent allies with a mysterious individual (Sarah Snook) who writes under the pseudonym "The Unmarried Mother." It is difficult, if not impossible, to dig into the "chicken or egg" delights of "Predestination" without giving away key plot details, so you'll just have to seek this one out to see for yourself. It's ambitious, imaginative, and a must-watch for anyone who enjoys a head-scratcher (you may have to whip out a corkboard and some red string once the credits roll).

Did  you  know that Wong Kar-Wai, the acclaimed Hong Kong director behind "Chungking Express" and "Fallen Angels," made a time travel pseudo-sequel to "In the Mood For Love"? If not, you do now. Spanning multiple timelines, real and imagined, "2046" follows a sci-fi author named Chow Mo Wan (Tony Leung) as he writes about, and lives within, a hotel filled with memories. Like much of Wong Kar-Wai's work, "2046" is deeply interested in missed connections, the painful "what-ifs?" that haunt you long after they've come and gone. With aching melancholy, Chow Mo Wan recounts his experiences with the mysterious titular room and all the lost souls who pass through it. Many films can be summarized by the mournful thesis that "love is all a matter of timing," but few are able to tease out the visual poetry of such a statement quite like Wong Kar-Wai.

18. Source Code

Directed by Duncan Jones, who more than proved himself in the sci-fi genre with 2009's "Moon," "Source Code" tells of Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal), a soldier dropped into the body of an unknown man aboard a commuter train en route to Chicago. Soon enough, he realizes his mission: There's a bomb on board, and he's the only one who can prevent the catastrophe from taking place. Reliving the last eight minutes of his host's life again and again, Colter must piece the clues together to thwart further bombings. More action-heavy than many of the films on this list, "Source Code" is a kinetic take on the time loop format grounded by a brilliant and demanding lead performance by Gyllenhaal.

The third feature film from "Knives Out" director Rian Johnson, 2012's "Looper" takes place in a future where mob bosses use time travel to dispose of bodies. Joe Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is one such time-traveling hitman, raking in the big bucks with dreams of retiring to a quiet life in France. Then, one day during a hit, Joe is shocked to come face-to-face with his future self (Bruce WIllis). A game of cat and mouse ensues, with mob intrigue, paradoxes, and determinism galore. A thinking man's sci-fi time travel thriller, "Looper" will satisfy viewers who enjoy world-building, masterful plotting, and inventive takes on the noir genre.

16. 16. Midnight in Paris

One of the many entries in the "Rachel McAdams is romantically involved with a time traveler" cinematic universe, "Midnight in Paris" follows Gil Pender (Owen Wilson), an aspiring novelist with his head in the clouds who accidentally stumbles through time while vacationing in Paris with his fiancé (McAdams). Brushing shoulders with literary idols, infamous artists, and starry-eyed creatives, Gil soon finds that the draw of the past easily outweighs his obligations to the present. Featuring an all-star ensemble cast and an undeniably charming romantic attitude, "Midnight in Paris" is an enjoyable viewing experience (especially if you cover your eyes and ears when the director/writer credits flash on screen).

15. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

What's a "Harry Potter" film doing on a list of time travel movies? Well, if you'll recall, the third film in the franchise features a third-act plot device called a Time-Turner that allows our wizarding heroes to rewrite history, saving the father figure of hero Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) from a fate worse than death. Sure, the Time-Turner primarily features in the story as a way for bookworm Hermione (Emma Watson) to attend multiple overlapping classes. But, as we'll quickly learn, rules (and the space-time continuum) are meant to be broken. Directed by Mexican New Wave wunderkind Alfonso Cuarón, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" follows Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione as they contend with yet another life-threatening development: the escape of notorious convict Sirius Black (Gary Oldman).

14. Donnie Darko

A moody teen named Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) narrowly avoids being incinerated by a plane crashing into his bedroom when he is lured outside by a giant, demonic-looking bunny rabbit. You know. Typical teen stuff. The rabbit, Frank (James Duval), informs Donnie that the whole world is going to end in less than a month. As Frank continues to pull the strings of Donnie's life, the teen is nudged to commit mischief, arson, and yes, time travel. Famously confusing, with tangential universes and deterministic quandaries galore, "Donnie Darko" is the kind of film that will make your brain hurt ... hopefully in a good way. Featuring one of the greatest soundtracks of the 1990s (INXS and Tears for Fears? In this economy ?), Richard Kelly's "Donnie Darko" is one of the defining films of the early 2000s.

13. Arrival

While Ted Chiang's 1998 short story was long thought to be unfilmable, director Denis Villeneuve has a talent for bringing high concept stories to the screen (there's a reason he was drawn to "Dune"). In Villeneuve's 2016 film "Arrival," a renowned linguist named Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is summoned to assist with a bizarre development: Twelve mysterious, smooth-edged alien crafts have touched down across the world. It's up to Dr. Banks to devise a way to communicate with the beings inside the craft and determine if the extraterrestrial visitors are friends or foes. As Dr. Banks discovers, the key to cracking the code may lie in the aliens' nonlinear experience of time. A quiet masterpiece that benefits from repeated viewings, "Arrival" is an intelligent and hopeful slice of science fiction.

12. Palm Springs

Some time travel films see folks hurtling forward (or backward) in time. Others, like 2020's "Palm Springs," have time travelers moving in circles over and over again. One of the most inventive spins on the time loop sub-genre, Max Barbakow's feature film debut follows Nyles (Andy Samberg), a man who has been attending the same wedding over and over again in sunny Palm Springs. After Nyles is shot with an arrow during an impulsive hook-up with Sarah (Cristin Milioti), the depressed maid-of-honor joins the nihilistic Nyles in perpetually sun-drenched purgatory. Released during the beginning of the pandemic when every day really did feel the same, "Palm Springs" embraces the Sisyphean metaphor inherent in the time loop structure.

11. Planet of the Apes

Now, look. If this film's inclusion on this list has you scratching your head, that can only mean one of two things: You haven't seen the original "Planet of the Apes" film,  or you've been living under a pop-culture rock and have somehow avoided stumbling across the iconic twist ending of the 1968 sci-fi classic. Indeed, as we learn at the film's end, our resilient hero George Taylor (Charlton Heston) hasn't actually traveled through space at all ... just time. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, "Planet of the Apes" couches some genuine existential horror in the seemingly campy premise promised by its title. It's an oldie but a goodie that will reward the patient viewer with one of the greatest rug-pulls sci-fi filmmaking has to offer.

10. Interstellar

Are all movies set in space time travel movies? It's certainly a question worth asking. Aging in a relativistic biological space-time is one hell of a drug, after all. Without getting too deep into Albert Einstein's twin paradox , long story short: We age slower when we're zipping about in space. Christopher Nolan's 2014 sci-fi film "Interstellar" not only features some heartbreaking moments of time dilation, but a third act reveal that the power of love can bend the fabric of space and time itself. The film begins with an apocalyptic scenario: A global blight is turning Earth into a pile of ash and dust. A plan forms to find humanity a new home planet and a team, including former NASA test pilot Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), is sent out into the galaxy to scout the three potential candidates. Operatic, inventive, and brimming with intergalactic spectacle, "Interstellar" is an epic space saga of the highest quality.

9. 12 Monkeys

In the alarmingly not-too-distant future of 2035, mankind has been driven underground by a deadly viral pandemic. James Cole (Bruce Willis), a mild-mannered, soft-spoken convict, "volunteers" to act as a time-traveling guinea pig. His mission is to voyage back to 1996, the year of the outbreak, and discover its cause. However, when Cole is accidentally transported back too far into the past, his sweaty warnings about the impending disaster come across as the ravings of a lunatic, and he is promptly incarcerated in a mental health facility. There, he meets two individuals who will profoundly impact not only his life, but the future of the human race: a compassionate psychiatrist and a fellow mental patient who just so happens to be the son of a prominent virologist. Directed by the imaginative former Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, "12 Monkeys" balances its gritty surreal gait with an uncomfortable degree of plausibility.

8. Edge of Tomorrow

Arguably the greatest video game movie ever made (despite not being directly based on any one particular video game), "Edge of Tomorrow" (also known by its more plot-accurate title "Live, Die, Repeat") tells of a future in which mankind is engaged in an apocalyptic battle with an alien force that is giving humanity a real run for its money. Major Bill Cage (Tom Cruise), a smooth-talking PR man who's never held a gun (or piloted a mech-suit), finds himself on the frontlines of a naval landing meant to turn the tide. The catastrophic invasion quickly claims the life of the inexperienced Cage, who dies slathered in the corrosive blood of an especially large alien foe. Then Cage wakes up, startled to find that he is very much alive and apparently stuck in a time loop reliving the disastrous day of the invasion over and over again. With creative action set pieces and an inventive approach to the time-loop sub-genre, "Edge of Tomorrow" is a tremendous amount of fun.

7. Run Lola Run

On the face of it, "Run Lola Run" doesn't seem to be an obvious entry in science fiction cinema. The 1998 German film follows a young woman (the titular Lola, played by Franka Potente), whose forgetful boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreau) accidentally leaves a big chunk of change on a subway car that belongs to a dangerous criminal. It's up to Lola to rustle up the funds and rendezvous with Manni in 20 minutes to avoid disaster. Over the course of the film, we witness three different timelines of Lola's sprint, each deviating significantly thanks to the butterfly effect. Experimental, kinetic, and brimming with undeniable 1990s energy, "Run Lola Run" is a breezy, fast-paced meditation on chaos theory, determinism, and all the mind-breaking side effects time travel entails. "Run Lola Run" might not have a time machine, but its detailed, hyper-specific concern with the fallout of how small decisions shape our lives more than justifies its presence on this list.

6. La Jetée

Directed by the prolific experimental filmmaker Chris Marker, this 1962 French-language film may be short, clocking in at just under 30 minutes, but its influence on science fiction cinema is vast. "La Jetée" follows an unnamed man (Davos Hanich), a prisoner of a future war that has driven all survivors below the surface to survive the post-apocalypse. Tapped as a reluctant test subject to be launched back in time (presumably to learn more about and ultimately prevent World War III), the man is hurtled backward and forward through the decades in search of a solution to humanity's "present" predicament. If this brief plot synopsis sounds familiar, that's because "La Jetée" served as the source material for the aforementioned "12 Monkeys." Still, the 1962 film stands on its own and is absolutely worth checking out, even if you're only familiar with Terry Gilliam's quasi-remake.

5. Groundhog Day

One of the best "time loop" films and one of the best romantic comedies of all time, 1993's "Groundhog Day" follows a grumpy, self-centered weatherman named Phil (Bill Murray) who is dispatched to a small town to cover the titular rodent-related holiday. To Phil's horror (and our amusement), the cranky newsman finds that he can't leave the humble borders of Punxsutawney even if there weren't a snowstorm. Trapped reliving the same day over and over again, Phil's anger and despair eventually transform into something far more endearing and productive. A comedy classic that makes full use of Murray's dual mastery of crankiness and charm, "Groundhog Day" is a cinematic gem worth revisiting again (and again and again).

4. The Terminator

The original 1984 "Terminator" film is the real deal. Straddling genres with mercurial ease (Is it a slasher? Science fiction tech-noir? All of the above?), "The Terminator" follows Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), who finds herself the target of a nightmarish foe: a machine wearing the flesh of a man, tasked to kill her. Unbeknownst to her, Sarah is going to give birth to the leader of the human resistance in an impending machine-led apocalypse. And while the titular muscle-bound hunk of junk (Arnold Schwarzenegger) aims to kill her son before he can be conceived, an agent of the resistance (Michael Biehn) has been tasked to protect her. Textured, brutal, and methodical, "The Terminator" is the slow-stalking progenitor of its much more bombastic follow-ups. Respect where respect is due, we say.

3. Your Name

Do you know what all of these films about time travel were missing? If you answered "romantic comedy body-swapping" you are correct . Directed by Makoto Shinkai (who readers may know from his 2019 film "Weathering with You"), "Your Name" follows the story of two 17-year-old high schoolers, Taki (Ryunosuke Kamiki) and Mitsuha (Mone Kamishiraishi) who repeatedly switch bodies at random. To say much more, or how the story relates to time travel, would give too much away. Suffice to say, "Your Name" was a runaway commercial success , surpassing the international box office of "Spirited Away" and garnering critical praise to match. If you like to cry, "Your Name" is the film for you — a heartbreaking and visually stunning story that features some of the most strikingly well-realized teenage characters in cinema, animated or otherwise.

2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day

"Terminator 2: Judgment Day" holds a number of high-octane superlatives: it's one of the best time travel films of all time, one of the best sci-fi action films ever made, and one of the best sequels. Taking a decidedly punchier approach than its moodier horror-adjacent predecessor, "Terminator 2" sees John Connor, leader of the human resistance against the AI apocalypse, sending Arnold Schwarzenegger's unstoppable machine back in time to protect his younger self (Edward Furlong). After breaking John's survivalist mom Sarah (Linda Hamilton) out of a psychiatric institution, the trio set off to prevent doomsday before it can happen. Hot on their heels is the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), an advanced AI assassin capable of morphing its liquid-metal body to imitate anyone it pleases. Packing a genuinely emotional center into its back-to-back action sequences and time-defying special effects, "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" deserves all the praise it receives.

1. Back to the Future

Spunky teen Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) joins his senior citizen pal, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) for a nighttime science experiment: a test drive of a time machine that also happens to be a DeLorean. But an unexpected run-in with a gang of terrorists sends Marty fleeing to the year 1955. Through no fault of his own, Marty accidentally threatens his own existence by forming a love triangle with his own parents that would make Freud spin in his grave like a wind turbine. It's up to Marty to make his own parents fall in love and reconnect with the younger version of Doc Brown to find a way back ... to the future. Full of crackerjack silliness and goofy plotting, the secret strength of "Back to the Future" is its simple message that your parents, believe it or not, are people too. Bouncy and full of the charm that makes director Robert Zemeckis a pillar of the 1980s, "Back to the Future" is pure candy-coated perfection.

Screen Rant

A 72-year-old movie has one of the best explanations for time travel.

Every time travel movie has its own set of rules, but one underrated movie from over seven decades ago might have the best explanation of them all.

• I'll Never Forget You provides a unique and realistic approach to time travel, surpassing many modern movies in its storytelling and execution.
• The movie's explanation of time travel, using the analogy of stars, is one of the best and most understandable concepts in the genre.
• The film's focus on the moral and ethical implications of time travel sets it apart, making it an underrated gem in the genre.

Every time travel movie has its own set of rules for the science fiction phenomenon, but one movie from over 70 years ago, I'll Never Forget You , has an explanation that trumps that of modern movies. Arriving nearly 35 years before time travel classic Back to the Future , the 1951 film I’ll Never Forget You follows scientist Peter Standish, whose decision to travel from the 1950s to the 18th century doesn’t quite work out as he had hoped. Rather than leaving behind the complexities of 20th century life for a simpler existence, Peter has a difficult time assimilating to the past. To make matters worse, Peter falls for the wrong woman, jeopardizing both his past and future.

Considering the concept of time travel wouldn’t become mainstream in movies until almost a decade later with The Time Machine in 1960, I’ll Never Forget You ’s love story is way ahead of its time. I’ll Never Forget You ’s tale is fully grounded in reality, which allows it to be easily accessible, shining a light on the moral and ethical implications of Peter’s journey in a way that modern movies often don’t. Not only is I’ll Never Forget You an underrated yet great time travel movie , but its distinct approach to and explanation for time travel remains one of the best.

I'll Never Forget You Perfectly Explains The Time Travel Concept

I’ll Never Forget You ’s explanation of the concept of time travel is one that makes that most sense. According to Peter Standish, the past is still happening around those in the present, and he uses the analogy of stars to convey his point. When people look at stars, they are often seeing them as they were long ago rather than how they are in the present due to the time it takes for light to travel. Peter claims that the problem is that the past is like stars : Those in the present can see it, but can’t reach it yet.

8 Time Travel Movies That Actually Make Sense

While all time travel movies offer their own rules for the concept of time travel, they often follow conventional standards for how time works. Most time travel movies operate under the assumption that time is linear or nonlinear , but I’ll Never Forget You ’s star analogy is easily one of the best explanations for the concept of time travel. It perfectly describes how the “ past ” can become the new “ present ,” and how time continues to pass in the “ present ”. I’ll Never Forget You ’s “ simultaneous ” concept of time is completely unique, which cements it as one of the most underrated time travel movies.

I'll Never Forget You's Time Travel Story Is Better Than Most Modern Movies

Though I’ll Never Forget You ’s story is straightforward, it manages to outdo those of many modern time travel movies. Other time travel movies can get bogged down in trying to explain its concept with science, which sometimes can lead to the plot becoming overly convoluted. However, I’ll Never Forget You ’s comparatively simple approach allows the movie to fully invest itself in the issues surrounding Peter’s flawed actions in the 18th century. The morality and ethics of time travel is a core tenant of all great movies in this genre, and I’ll Never Forget You ’s ability to focus on these questions contributes to its successful execution.

Part of I’ll Never Forget You ’s plot that puts it ahead of modern movies is its realistic approach . Because Peter keeps slipping up and can’t fit in, his 18th century peers deem him "insane" and take him into custody. While it’s a dismal outcome, it makes sense that someone from modern times wouldn’t be able to assimilate into a previous century, something time travel movies often get wrong . While I’ll Never Forget You is rarely considered in conversations about the greatest time travel movies, its unique yet realistic approach to the subject proves it should be.

Best Time Travel Movies (Find Rare Gems Here)

If you’re looking to ensure that you’ve watched all of the best time travel movies ever made, you’re in the right place. Contrary to the usual “best time travel lists” all over the internet, this one is a continually evolving one, and films keep getting added. So do drop a comment with your favourite flick if you don’t see it here. So for time travel films, this is your one-stop-shop. I know some of the classics may not be in the list yet, but it’s just a matter of time. All the titles are ranked based on the BaTTR Score ( Barry’s Time Travel Review Score ), a rating mechanism created to particularly rate movies based on time travel. Let’s go through the best time travel movies ranked in reverse order by the BaTTR Score.

If you’re looking specifically for time-loop films where a character lives the same day over and over again, check this – Every Time Loop Movie .

• – Movies Ranked 83 to 81
• – Movies Ranked 80 to 71
• – Movies Ranked 70 to 61
• – Movies Ranked 60 to 51
• – Movies Ranked 50 to 41
• – Movies Ranked 40 to 31
• – Top 30 Movies
• – Top 20 Movies
• – Top 10 Movies

Best Time Travel Movies: 83 to 81

83. terminator 5: genisys (2015).

With a brand new Sarah Connor and Terminator model, this film tried it’s best to recover the series from the wreck that Terminator 4 was. Sadly, one does not simply mess around with timelines in a way that undoes T1 and T2 and get away with it. After over a decade, it was good to see Arnold reprising his role. I suspect this film might always stay at the bottom of this evolving best time travel films list. You can find a quick discussion about the film here – Terminator Genisys Explained .

BaTTR Score: 1.20 ⏱ Terminator 5 – Why this score?

82. Before I Fall (2017)

A high-school girl begins reliving one day of her life after dying in a car accident. Going through the many time-loops, she understands the impact she can make on the people in her life.

BaTTR Score: 1.30 ⏱ Before I Fall – Why this score?

81. Terminator 6: Dark Fate (2019)

Dark Fate saw both Sarah Conor and T-101 coming back to settle an old score. The movie felt like an alternate-reality version of T2: Judgement Day. Though it was rinse-dry-repeat of the same concept, it still manages to keep you guessing. Some impressive CGI does transport you back to 1991 as you see some very familiar faces in events that never occurred before this film – I know this is cryptic, but I can’t say more without spoiling it. If you’re looking for a quick summary of the entire franchise – every Terminator movie summarized .

BaTTR Score: 1.30 ⏱ Terminator 6 – Why this score?

Best Time Travel Movies: 80 to 71

80. ritânâ / returner (2002).

Returner is a Japanese film that sees a girl travelling back in time, from a dystopian future, to try and stop an alien race from invading the planet. She arrives in the present time and forces a talented assassin to help her with her quest.

BaTTR Score: 1.35 ⏱ Returner – Why this rating?

79. See You Yesterday (2019)

See You Yesterday follows two wiz-kids who invent a time machine and go back in time by one day to save a sibling who was killed due to a mistaken police shooting. They soon realize it’s never easy to change the past without consequences.

BaTTR Score: 1.35 ⏱ See You Yesterday – Why this rating?

78. Synchronic (2019)

This film is about a synthetic drug that hits the legal market, making consumers travel through time. One man goes on a hunt for his friend’s daughter, who might be lost in time. Here’s a detailed breakdown –  Synchronic movie explained .

BaTTR Score: 1.40 ⏱ Synchronic –  Why this score?

77. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines  (2003)

The third instalment came a decade after the superhit sequel – Judgement Day. The terminators are back from the future, and the filmmakers tried to put a new spin on the film by shifting the attention from Sarah and John Connor to another person by the name Katherine Brewster. It was good to see Arnold reprise his role after a long break. Honestly, this film even ended well, and part 4 should have taken it to the point leading up to Kyle and the very first Terminator. But clearly, an end was never intended for the Terminator Series .

BaTTR Score: 1.40 ⏱ Terminator 3 – Why this rating?

76. The Final Countdown (1980)

This 80s film sees a modern super-aircraft carrier that gets hit by an electric storm that transports the vessel to 1941- a day before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The crew are left the choice to alter history or not. The Final Countdown is an alternate-history film which delivers very well on this engaging tale.

BaTTR Score: 1.50 ⏱ Final Countdown –  Why this rating?

75. Time Bandits (1981)

Time Bandits is a fun fantasy film that sees a young boy joining a bunch of dwarfs on a journey through time as they run into epic fictional and real characters from history. It’s a pretty loaded cast and is a very entertaining movie.

BaTTR Score: 1.50 ⏱ Time Bandits –  Why this rating?

74. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2010: Live Action)

This live-action film is based on a novel by the same name. The storyline has no commonalities with the 2006 Anime other than the fact that they are both on this top time travel movies list. In fact, this film is a sequel to the 1983 flick also by the same name. The movie follows a girl who travels back in time to fulfill her seemingly dying mother’s wish.

BaTTR Score: 1.50 ⏱ The Girl Who Leapt Through Time – Why this score?

73. The Lift / El Ascensor (2021)

The Lift is a Spanish film centred on a couple arguing inside an elevator on their way out of the building. Soon as they hit the lowest floor, one of them ends up returning to the moment they entered the lift. The rest of the film takes us through the couple’s time in the elevator and their attempts to break free.

BaTTR Score: 1.55 ⏱ The Lift – Why this rating?

72. Repeaters (2010)

Three people in rehab suddenly find themselves waking up on the same day repeatedly. While one of them sees this as a blessing, the other two want to stop the phenomenon leading to a cat and mouse chase.

BaTTR Score: 1.55 ⏱ Repeaters – Why this rating?

71. Happy Death Day 2U (2019)

This is the second instalment of the film series. While the first movie was an unexpected surprise, the sequel as in most cases, doesn’t deliver as well. That said Happy Death Day 2U is a fun film with all the characters coming back to reprise their roles with a lovely little twist.

BaTTR Score: 1.55 ⏱ Happy Death Day 2 – Why this rating?

Best Time Travel Movies: 70 to 61

70. naked (2017) / naken (2000).

Naked is a funny time-loop film that sees Marlon Wayans’ character living a one hour loop endlessly, which begins with him waking up naked inside an elevator. It is a remake of the Swedish film, Naken.

BaTTR Score: 1.55 ⏱ Naked / Naken – Why this score?

69. Project Almanac (2015)

Project Almanac follows a bunch of teenagers who stumble upon a time machine in one of their home’s basement. While initially, they use the time machine carefully with many defined ethical rules, as expected, they break those rules. For all the details about this film, you can check this out –  Project Almanac Explained .

BaTTR Score: 1.65 ⏱ Project Almanac – Why this rating?

68. Men In Black 3 (2012)

In this third instalment of the film series, Agent J finds himself slipping into an alternate timeline where Agent K does not exist. J goes back in time to hunt down the alien Boris, who is responsible for the altered history. It was good to have Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones reprise their roles with the addition of Josh Brolin in the mix.

BaTTR Score: 1.65 ⏱ Men In Black 3 – Why this rating?

67. Midnight In Paris (2011)

This is a super-light romantic comedy where Owen Wilson’s character gets picked up by a bunch of people at midnight each night, taking him to the 20s. The film smartly weaves in a variety of characters from history and has a brilliant cast.

BaTTR Score: 1.75 ⏱ Midnight In Paris – Why this score?

66. Time Trap (2017)

This film is a pleasant surprise. The plot synopsis makes it appear like it’s going to be a big blunder but Time Trap manages to turn thing around. The plot is centred on a group of students looking for their professor who goes missing after entering a mysterious cave. They follow him in to realize the true nature of the cave. You can read all the details about the plot here – Time Trap Explained . 

BaTTR Score: 1.75 ⏱ Time Trap – Why this rating?

65. The Time Machine (2002)

The Time Machine is based on H.G Wells book and is the second feature film adaptation of the novel. This movie attempted to create a variation to the original story to make it more fantastical. The Time Machine is the story of a man who goes far into the future. While visually, the movie did well, it didn’t create too much of a stir amongst movie viewers. The 1960 movie is much further below in this best time travel movies list.

BaTTR Score: 1.80 ⏱ The Time Machine – Why this rating?

64. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

A couple of magazine writers go over to investigate an ad in their magazine that requests someone interested in travelling back in time. On meeting the advertiser, it appears he might be a looney. Safety Not Guaranteed is a favourite of everyone who loves the time travel sub-genre and no time travel list is complete without it.

BaTTR Score: 1.80 ⏱ Safety Not  Guaranteed – Why this rating?

63. Mine Games (2012)

This one is an impressive looper film. A group of friends land up at an isolated cabin in the woods to celebrate their end of college. They find a mine nearby and enter it and unleash evil. It’s not a mindless slasher, so do give it a watch. For all details on the film check out – Mine Games explained .

BaTTR Score: 1.80 ⏱ Mine Games – Why this rating?

62. The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things (2021)

This one is a romantic film set inside infinite timeloops. I know you’re thinking Palm Springs (which is also there in this list of top time travel films), but The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things has an entirely different take on the subject. Here’s a detailed article – The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things explained .

BaTTR Score: 1.80 ⏱ The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things – Why this rating?

61. The Tomorrow War (2021)

In 2048, an alien species attacks Earth, and the future humans are unable to contain the battle. They travel back in time to the present, seeking help to fight in the tomorrow war. If you’d like to understand more here’s an article that goes into the timelines of The Tomorrow War .

BaTTR Score: 1.90 ⏱ The Tomorrow War – Why this score?

Best Time Travel Movies: 60 to 51

60. il mare (2000) / lake house (2006).

Lake House is a romantic film that narrates the story of two people who grow close and fall in love over a series of letters they exchange only to slowly realize that they may not be living in the same time. It’s a remake of a Korean film by the name Il Mare.

BaTTR Score: 1.95 ⏱ Il Mare / Lake House – Why this rating?

59. Time After Time (1979)

Time After Time is a hypothetical fantasy story of H.G. Wells (the Time Machine author), who creates a Time Machine, just like in the book. Soon enough, the plot takes a turn towards the pursuit of Jack The Ripper through time.

BaTTR Score: 2.00 ⏱ Time After Time – Why this rating?

58. The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)

As the title of the movie suggests, the film revolves around a woman’s husband who has an abnormal condition where he uncontrollably travels to random points in time. Time Traveler’s Wife is not science fiction but more a romantic drama with Rachael McAdams and Eric Bana.

BaTTR Score: 2.00 ⏱ The Time Traveler’s Wife –  Why this rating?

57. The Adam Project (2022)

The Adam Project’s plot sees a man travel back in time to team up with his younger self to save the world. As corny as that sounds, that’s pretty much what the film is about. You can read all about it here –  The Adam Project explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.05 ⏱ The Adam Project – Why this rating?

56. Haunter (2013)

Haunter is a horror film that presents a story within loops of time. A girl wakes up repeatedly on the same day, the day before her birthday. As she begins finding out why, she is haunted by other spirits and a creepy old man. Here’s everything you need to know about the film –  Haunter explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.05 ⏱ Haunter – Why this rating?

55. Mega Time Squad (2018)

Mega Time Squad is a hilarious film that follows a small-time crook who picks up an ancient Chinese bracelet that allows him to travel back in time by a few minutes. Things get out of hands when he travels back too many times trying to escape death at the hands of a gangster.

BaTTR Score: 2.15 ⏱ Mega Time Squad – Why this score?

54. In The Shadow Of The Moon (2019)

In The Shadow Of The Moon is centred on a cop on the hunt for a serial killer who resurfaces mysteriously unaged every decade. He obsesses and waits for her to track her down and uncover her identity and origin. If you want to read about this film in detail, go here –  In The Shadow Of The Moon Explained  (it’s got a timeline diagram too).

BaTTR Score: 2.20 ⏱ In The Shadow Of The Moon – Why this rating?

53. About Time (2013)

About Time is a feel-good romantic-comedy film about a family whose male members can travel in time once they turn 21 years old. The lead character tries to utilize it to find love, but over the course of the film, we see him embracing life to the full and learns the true meaning of his gift. This is Rachael McAdams’ second film playing the wife of a time traveller.

BaTTR Score: 2.20 ⏱ About Time – Why this rating?

52. Boss Level (2021)

Boss Level is a timeloop film that combines insane amounts of action and comedy. The film has a great cast – Frank Grillo, Naomi Watts, Mel Gibson and Michelle Yeoh, to name a few. This one is really high on adrenaline.

BaTTR Score: 2.25 ⏱ Boss Level – Why this rating?

51. The Door Into Summer (2021)

The Door Into Summer is a Japanese adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein’s novel by the same name. The film is centred on a young robotics engineer tricked by his two partners and forced into cryosleep for 30 years. Check out the complete film details here – The Door Into Summer explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.25 ⏱ The Door Into Summer –  Why this score?

Best Time Travel Movies: 50 to 41

50. somewhere in time (1980).

Somewhere In Time is a beautiful love story starring Christopher Reeve, a play writer who obsesses on a photo of a beautiful yesteryear actress and ends up going back in time by 70 years to meet her.

BaTTR Score: 2.25 ⏱ Somewhere In Time – Why this rating?

49. 12:01 (1993)

This is a TV movie based on a book by the same name. The word is that Groundhog Day plagiarized the story. Though there was a court case, it was withdrawn. The story sees a man trapped in a timeloop repeatedly witnessing the death of a woman he has a crush on.

BaTTR Score: 2.25 ⏱ 12:01 – Why this rating?

48. Happy Death Day (2017)

This is a looper slasher film that finds a college girl reliving the day she gets killed by a mysterious masked murderer over and over again. Happy Death Day is a hilarious take on the classic time-loop film with an intriguing plot. For a loop by loop breakdown of this film, check this out – Happy Death Day Explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.25 ⏱ Happy Death Day – Why this rating?

47. Groundhog Day (1993)

Groundhog Day is among the first few films that saw massive success in the space of a person being caught in an endless time-loop. Bill Murray shines in this role, and the film’s commercial success set the pathway for many such films after, most of which are on this list of best time travel movies.

BaTTR Score: 2.25 ⏱ Groundhog Day – Why this score?

46. My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday / Boku Wa Asu, Kinō No Kimi To Dēto Suru (2016)

This is an adorable Japanese romantic film that follows the lives of two people over a month as they fall in love and begin a relationship. The catch is that both of them are experiencing the flow of time in opposite directions. This film would easily be one of the best romantic time travel movies.

BaTTR Score: 2.25 ⏱ My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday – Why this rating?

45. Time Lapse (2014)

Time Lapse is a film about three friends who discover a camera in their dead neighbour’s house that takes photographs of the next day. What initially starts off as fear slowly turns into crazy ideas for each one to fulfill their desires. Take a look at this article which takes you through the plot one picture at a time – Time Lapse Explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.25 ⏱ Time Lapse –  Why this rating?

44. Meet The Robinsons (2007)

This film is plain hilarious. A kid steals his father’s time machine to travel to the past but has it stolen. He teams up with a young scientist to help him trace a mysterious Bowler Hat Guy who has big plans for the time device.

BaTTR Score: 2.30 ⏱ Meet The Robinsons –  Why this rating?

43. X-Men: Days Of Future Past (2014)

The X-Men series saw two different casts, the young and old counterparts. Days Of Future Past brought all of them together in one massive movie that saw Wolverine’s consciousness going back in time to stop the creation of sentinels that eventually hunt and kill every mutant on the planet. While the rest of the XCU had no time travel, DOFP secures its place on this best time travel movies list. Here’s a short explanation of the film and a timeline diagram – X-Men Days Of Future Past Explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.35 ⏱ X-Men DOFP –  Why this rating?

42. Palm Springs (2020)

Palm Springs is an endless time-loop film that starts off bang in the middle of one of many loops the lead character has been stuck in. Furthermore, he gets a companion who happens to get trapped too. The film delves into romance in the context of an endless time trap. Here’s everything you need to know about the movie and its dinosaurs – Palm Springs Explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.40 ⏱ Palm Springs – Why this score?

41. Synchronicity (2015)

Synchronicity is centred on a man trying to prove to his investor that his time machine works. When he realizes that he has been played and will lose his life’s work, he takes a leap of faith through time. For a detailed explanation, go here –  Synchronicity movie explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.40 ⏱ Synchronicity – Why this rating?

Best Time Travel Movies: 40 to 31

40. the jacket (2005).

The Jacket is a psychological thriller in which a war veteran is wrongfully accused of murder and committed to a mental asylum. One of the doctors employs illegal treatment methods on him that has an unexpected side effect. For the detailed analysis, check out – The Jacket explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.45 ⏱ The Jacket – Why this rating?

39. Retroactive (1997)

Retroactive is a classic 90s action-packed thriller that sports time-loops. The film follows a hostage negotiator who gets a lift from a couple. At once, you know the guy is toxic, and things are going to get crazy… and they do.

BaTTR Score: 2.45 ⏱ Retroactive – Why this rating?

38. The Call (2020)

This is an excellent Korean film that sees two women talking to each other 20 years apart. The information exchange causes cascading effects altering the future in unpredictable ways. The Call is gripping because an ally in one timeline may not remain an ally in another. The film’s plot is why it finds a solid spot in this best time travel movies list. Here’s a detailed explanation for the movie – The Call Explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.45 ⏱ The Call – Why this score?

37. Looper (2012)

Looper is a science-fiction action movie that deals with gangs in the future, sending people back to the past to have them executed. Each executor eventually retires when he kills his future self. The film follows the lead character (Gordon-Levitt) who fails to kill his older self (Bruce Willis) and the many consequences that follow. This article, with a detailed timeline diagram, will answer all the questions you have about the film – Looper Explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.45 ⏱ Looper – Why this rating?

36. Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

Honestly, we all know that Bill and Ted’s is more a comedy than a time travel flick. That said, the movie has not ignored the causal loop at any point throughout the storyline. A man from the future shows up to help two teenagers pass their history exam by providing them with a time machine. The characters are silly, funny, iconic and bodacious… all at the same time, dude. Some find them too corny, but that was by design and the film sits comfortably in the middle of this time travel list.

BaTTR Score: 2.50 ⏱ Bill And Ted – Why this rating?

35. The Terminator (1984) & 34. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

How on earth do iconic blockbusters like T1 and T2 be positioned as low as this, right? Before you judge this list, let’s just ask this question – Were the first two Terminator films primarily time travel movies or where they futuristic action films with a little bit of time travel concepts sprinkled in? Time Travel is not the primary focus of the movies. Both films take place in one time with humans and machines appearing mysteriously from the future, after that it’s full-blown action all the way. Personally, T2 is one of my all-time favourite films that gave Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton a cult status, but comparing with the others on this list, it’s barely a time travel movie. However, a list featuring the best time travel movies would be incomplete without mentioning these two films. Here is the summary of all Terminator films .

BaTTR Score: 2.50 ⏱ Terminator 1 And 2 – Why this rating?

33. ARQ (2016)

ARQ is an infinite time-loop film that has a couple waking up in their house to realize that they have a break-in. The assailants are revealed to be from a corporation from whom the lead character has stolen data. The lead soon realizes that he resets back to the point he woke up each time he dies. Over the various loops that follow, the plot unfolds, and we understand the complex nature of the time cycles. Here is a loop-wise explanation of this film – ARQ Explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.60 ⏱ ARQ – Why this score?

32. Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2009)

Yeah, Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel is the actual name of the film. And no, it’s not a documentary. The movie is about three socially awkward dudes who go out to grab a drink at the local bar. Unfortunately, the restroom ends up being a coordinate for a time leak sending the guys unexpectedly through erratic points in time.

BaTTR Score: 2.60 ⏱ Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel – Why this rating?

31. 41 (2012)

41 is a hidden gem. It’s an independent film made on a shoestring budget. The plot follows a student who stumbles upon a motel room with a hole in the floor that takes a person back in time by 12 hours. You can watch the full film and read the explanation here – Watch 41 with a detailed analysis . 

BaTTR Score: 2.60 ⏱ 41 – Why this rating?

Best Time Travel Movies: 30 to 21

30. arrival (2016).

People who went to the halls expecting an alien invasion film were most disappointed. Arrival is a science-fiction drama which delves deep into languages and how it affects our thought processes. The story sees a linguist who tries to decode the language used by heptapods who have mysteriously appeared and positioned 12 ships over the world’s major cities. This article analyses the plot in a simplified manner – Arrival Explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.65 ⏱ Arrival – Why this rating?

29. The House At The End Of Time (2013) / House Of The Disappeared (2017)

The original is the Venezuelan film  La casa del fin de los tiempos  that released in 2017. It was beautifully remade in Korean in 2017 as  Si-gan-wi-ui jib . These are the original titles, and you can look up the films by their English titles too. The plot revolves around a woman who’s jailed for the murder of her husband and child. She returns after many years to uncover what actually happened. They’re both fantastic films, and you can read the detailed analysis here –  House Of The Disappeared explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.70 ⏱ House Of The Disappeared – Why this rating?

28. La Jetée (1962)

La Jetée is a French science fiction film that presents a convoluted story via a narration over still images. This film inspired the movie 12 Monkeys which took the concept and really did magic with the plot. La Jetée is unique and deserves to be on this list of best time travel movies even though it is a short film.

BaTTR Score: 2.75 ⏱ La Jetée – Why this score?

27. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004)

This is the third film in the Harry Potter series and the only one to feature a little time travel. The story is based around Sirius Black who is the escaped prisoner from Azkaban on his way to the school to kill Harry. While all the other parts of this film-series are completely in the fantasy genre, part 3 played it differently mixing it up with some science fiction and hence finds its way to this best time travel movies list.

BaTTR Score: 2.75 ⏱ Harry Potter – Why this rating?

26. Maanaadu (2021)

Maanaadu is a  time-loop film  that sees a man heading for a wedding getting caught in a political terror attack. The film is predominantly a thriller with some outstanding elements of comedy in the mix.

BaTTR Score: 2.75 ⏱ Maanaadu – Why this rating?

25. A Day / Ha-roo (2017)

A Day is a Korean time-loop film that has a renowned surgeon getting trapped in a loop where he struggles to save his daughter from a repeating accident. As the story progresses, we are introduced more characters and complexity, and finally, the reason for the looping. This Asian film outdoes many of the western productions on this list of best time travel movies. You can read all the details about this film here – A Day Explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.75 ⏱ A Day – Why this rating?

24. The Time Machine (1960)

The Time Machine was the first mainstream film adaptation of the book by the same name by the amazing H.G. Wells. The story is about a scientist who narrates his experience of time travel to the future; to the year 802,701. The movie is an excellent adaptation of the book and also adds a good reason to why he lands up in a year so far into the future.

BaTTR Score: 2.75 ⏱ The Time Machine (1960) – Why this score?

23. Edge Of Tomorrow (2014)

Edge Of Tomorrow is a multiple-loop movie based on the Japanese book All You Need Is Kill . The film is centred on a soldier (Tom Cruise) fighting an alien race who resets to a day prior every time he is killed. He eventually runs into a Sergeant (Emily Blunt) who states that she too used to loop. Together they take the fight to the alien species. I must say this film is one of the coolest sci-fi flicks on this list of amazing time travel movies. This article here explains the film and its ending while comparing it to the book – Edge Of Tomorrow Explained .

BaTTR Score: 2.85 ⏱ Edge Of Tomorrow – Why this rating?

22. Frequency (2000)

Frequency sees a man fiddling around with an old radio, and thanks to the strange occurrence of an aurora borealis, he ends up connecting with his father 30 years in the past. 

BaTTR Score: 2.90 ⏱ Frequency – Why this rating?

21. Back To The Future: Part 3 (1990)

This is the third and final instalment of the trilogy by Robert Zemekis. Unlike the first two parts, the film takes place mostly in 1885 and has limited connection to the events back in good ol’ 1985. The story follows the lead characters trying to fight it out in the wild west and travelling back to the future one last time. In case you are wondering why is this iconic film scores so low on this best time travel moves list, don’t worry, this is part 3 we’re talking about.

BaTTR Score: 2.90 ⏱ Back To The Future 3 – Why this score?

Best Time Travel Movies: 20 to 11

20. blink (doctor who 2007 episode).

Blink is an exception, it’s not a film but one episode of the series Dr Who. It’s a standalone episode, and you can watch it even if you haven’t seen any part of the show, which is why it’s on this list of best time travel  movies.  It all begins with one person mysteriously disappearing from a house that has these strange statues called the Weeping Angels.

BaTTR Score: 3.00 ⏱ Blink –  Why this score?

19. Blood Punch (2015)

This is a splendid thriller which involves time-loops. Blood Punch is centred on three people who head to a lonely hunter’s villa in the woods to cook a ton of meth and get caught in perpetuity. It’s an excellent thriller garnished with just the right amount of humour. The filmmakers have really taken the effort to think the concept in the film through. The whole point about a giant time travel films list is to dig up movies like these. Here’s a detailed analysis of the plot and ending – Blood Punch Explained .

BaTTR Score: 3.00 ⏱ Blood Punch – Why this score?

18. Donnie Darko (2001)

Donnie Darko follows a troubled young boy who narrowly escapes an aircraft propeller that comes crashing on to his bed. He’s soon met by a man in a bunny suit who claims to be from the future and says the world is soon going to end. For a detailed breakdown of this film and its timeline diagram, go here –  Donnie Darko Explained . Jake Gyllenhaal is so young in this one!

BaTTR Score: 3.00 ⏱ Donnie Darko – Why this score?

17. Source Code (2011)

Source code is a multiple time-loop film where Jake Gyllenhaal’s character is trying to catch the bomber responsible for killing hundreds on a train. Before the terrorist strikes again, the government is trying to identify who he is through a cutting edge technology that allows a person to live multiple iterations of the 8 minutes leading up to the explosion on the train. If you would like to read a loopwise explanation and plot analysis, check this out – Source Code Explained .

BaTTR Score: 3.00 ⏱ Source Code – Why this score?

16. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006 Anime)

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a 2006 anime is a lovely romantic science-fiction that follows the life of a girl who suddenly gains the ability to jump back in time. While initially, she uses her newfound powers for some frivolous personal reasons, she later learns how she has affected the people around her.

BaTTR Score: 3.10 ⏱ The Girl Who Leapt Through Time – Why this score?

15. Deja Vu (2006)

Déjà Vu is a film centred on a cop who’s trying to locate a terrorist responsible for the bombing of a ferry. With the help of a sophisticated surveillance system that can reconstruct events from 4 days prior, the team follows the life of a woman who was onboard the ferry. The film combines the time travel sub-genre well with a crime thriller and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

BaTTR Score: 3.20 ⏱ Deja Vu – Why this score?

14. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

I’m pretty sure you’re thinking what a comic book movie is doing a list of the best time travel movies at a spot this high. Well, I can’t say this enough but Avengers: Endgame decided to execute a film based on time travel but had to keep in mind there were 20+ movies prior to it that couldn’t in any way be ruined. So not only did the film have to execute a great story based on time travel, it needed to preserve the prequels. Endgame follows the remaining Avengers trying to bring back all the lives that were lost through an elaborate time heist. For a simplified video of the timelines and the plot analysis, read this – Avengers: Endgame Time Travel Explained .  

BaTTR Score: 3.25 ⏱ Avengers: Endgame –  Why this score?

13. Interstellar (2014)

If you’re a Nolan fan [like me], you’re probably wondering why this film doesn’t feature in the top 5 of this top time travel films list. Well, think about it, would you really call Interstellar a time travel movie? Or is it more a grand space-travel science-fiction with elements of time travel? I’d say the latter. Interstellar is a brilliant film set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans are trying to save themselves by leaving Earth. You can read about the details of the plot and the possible plot-holes here – Interstellar Explained .

BaTTR Score: 3.25 ⏱ Interstellar – Why this score?

12. Butterfly Effect (2004)

Butterfly Effect is a concept which talks about how a small insignificant event, like the flap of a butterfly’s wings, can cascade and escalate into a giant storm as a result of causality. The film The Butterfly Effect deals specifically with this idea. The lead character experiences blackouts through his younger life and is somehow able to revisit those very moments and make a change to alter the course of reality.

BaTTR Score: 3.30 ⏱ Butterfly Effect – Why the score?

11. Mirage / Durante la tormenta (2018)

Mirage is a Spanish film which combines the sub-genres of a murder mystery and time travel most elegantly. A mysterious storm connects two people 25 years apart in time, and this leads to the unravelling of a murder. For a detailed explanation of the film and its timeline, you can check this out – Mirage Movie Explained .

BaTTR Score: 3.35 ⏱ Mirage – Why this score?

Best Time Travel Movies: Top 10

10. twelve monkeys (1995).

A lot of the mainstream time travel movies with big actors tend to focus on elements other than the timeline and eventually make a mess of the plot, but not 12 Monkeys. This Bruce Willis starrer is based on a dystopian future where a strain of a powerful mutating virus kills most of humanity. A small team of scientists figure that the only way to fight it is to send someone back in time to locate the original source and strain of the virus. You can read all about it here in good detail – 12 Monkeys Explained . This popular film also spawned a TV Series by the same name with events running parallel to the film.

BaTTR Score: 3.50 ⏱ 12 Monkeys –  Why this score?

9. The Infinite Man (2014)

Infinite Man is a hidden gem which is centred on a couple celebrating their anniversary and getting caught in a series of time jumps that takes them back by one year. Most lists talking about the awesome time travel movies tend to leave this film out. The tiny-budgeted movie has just three characters and packs quite the punch with both time complexities and humour. Here’s a detailed explanation with a timeline diagram – Infinite Man Explained .

BaTTR Score: 3.50 ⏱ The Infinite Man – Why this score?

8. Triangle (2008)

Triangle is a film based on multiple time-loops. A woman and her friends go on a sailing trip and get hit by a storm. Before they drown, they find a cruise ship passing by and get onboard and soon wish they never did. Unlike other time-loop films, Triangle’s loops have an extra dimension of complexity, and this makes it more exciting. Here’s everything you need to know about the movie – Triangle Movie Explained .

BaTTR Score: 3.50 ⏱ Triange – Why this score?

7. Tenet (2020)

Christopher Nolan is the father of Nolan-Time. Many of his films portray time in a non-linear format, either as a narrative ( Memento ) or a plot-element ( Inception ). Tenet is Nolan sitting down and thinking, “what can I do in the space of time travel which has never been done before” and delivering just that. In a nutshell, the film is about a group that is trying to protect the world from extremists of the far future, but you know that is an oversimplification. So, here’s a simplified explanation of the film with timeline diagrams – Tenet Explained .

BaTTR Score: 3.75 ⏱ Tenet – Why this score?

6. Timecrimes / Los Cronocrímenes (2007)

Timecrimes is a Spanish film that follows one man who accidentally stumbles upon a time machine and travels back in time by merely an hour. In this short time window, he makes life quite miserable for himself. It’s a hilarious flick that needs your focus and attention as the consequences of the time travel are quite messy despite the humour. Here’s is a detailed explanation of the film – Timecrimes Explained .

BaTTR Score: 3.75 ⏱ Timecrimes – Why this score?

5. Primer (2004)

Made within a shoestring budget of just $7000, Primer gives many mainstream time travel productions a run for their money. Shane Carruth wore multiple hats in this film like actor, producer, director, and music producer. Not only is the film super-complicated, but it also sports one of the most believable time travel mechanics in the sub-genre. Check out the detailed timeline-wise analysis of the film- Primer Movie Explained .

BaTTR Score: 3.80 ⏱ Primer – Why this score?

4. Predestination (2014)

Anyone who has just finished watching Predestination has the same look as that of a pigeon with massive digestion issues. Based on the short story All You Zombies by Robert A. Heinlein, Predestination presents a plot focused on packing as many impossible scenarios as a human mind can take within one film. Here’s the timeline diagram and detailed explanation – Predestination Movie Explained . This film is easily the most bizarre film on this list of the great time travel films.

BaTTR Score: 4.00 ⏱ Predestination – Why this score?

3. Back To The Future – Part 1 (1985)

This film really raised the bar for all time travel movies. Everything from the characters to the concept of a time machine in a DeLorean makes this film unique to date. The film is a giant bundle of awesomeness and has put a smile on my face each time I’ve watched it since 1985 (yeah, you have to read that in Doc’s voice). We love you Marty McFly, we love you Michael J Fox.

BaTTR Score: 4.30 ⏱ Back To The Future 1 – Why this score?

2. Back To The Future – Part 2 (1989)

Not only did the film create a fresh storyline, but it also beautifully layered itself on top of the complexities of the first part. Marty McFly and Doc Brown are forced to go back to the same date in the past (as they did in the first movie) to undo something terrible. For me, this film really took it to the next level for a sequel. Even Avengers: Endgame mentions this film because of how they revisit some of the older MCU movies. It’s iconic and soars up high in this list of the best time travel movies.

BaTTR Score: 4.50 ⏱ Back To The Future 2 – Why this score?

1. Kimi No Na Wa / Your Name (2016)

Okay, if you haven’t already watched this film, stop reading now. Knowing even the slightest details about this film can potentially spoil it for you. Please return once you’ve watched this phenomenal film.

Kimi No Na Wa is a Japanese anime directed by Makoto Shinkai. It has one of the most captivating visuals and characters. This film takes creativity in the sub-genre of time travel to the next level. It all begins with some mysterious yet harmless body-switching between two people but a while into the film, it all becomes crazy. If you’re looking for the full explanation with a timeline diagram, go here – Your Name Explained .

BaTTR Score: 4.75 ⏱ Your Name – Why this score?

Barry is a technologist who helps start-ups build successful products. His love for movies and production has led him to write his well-received film explanation and analysis articles to help everyone appreciate the films better. He’s regularly available for a chat conversation on his website and consults on storyboarding from time to time. Click to browse all his film articles

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10 great lesser-known time-travel films

Trip back through history with our list of terrific time-travelling movies that deserve to be better known.

4 December 2014

By  David Parkinson

Although H.G. Wells published The Time Machine in 1895, the same year that the Lumière brothers projected the first moving images to a paying audience, cinema was slow to recognise the dramatic potential of time travel. Master illusionists like Georges Méliès passed up the opportunity to travel through time and space. But Fritz Lang embraced the notion in Destiny (1921), which took its cues from Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (1843) and D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance (1916) in showing how Death (Bernhard Goetzke) allows a 19th-century waif (Lil Dagover) to travel across history to Baghdad, Venice and China in a bid to save her lover’s life.

Dreams were Dagover’s mode of transportation and concussion enabled Harry Myers to find himself in Camelot in Emmett J. Flynn’s 1921 take on Mark Twain’s satirical fantasy, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. A decade later, an enchanted radio took Will Rogers to the same destination in David Butler’s sound remake. But it wasn’t until Felix Aylmer’s shiny Time Ball landed in Elizabethan England in Walter Forde’s Time Flies (1944) that screen time travel was accomplished in a specially designed machine.

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Three years later, Hollywood got in on the act when Kane Richmond boarded John Merton’s Time Top to venture back 200 years to retrieve a formula from an uncharted island in Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Carr’s serial, Brick Bradford. But it was 1960 before George Pal got round to filming Wells’s 802,701 encounter with the Eloi and Morlocks of a future Earth and, even though time travel became a familiar plotline in TV shows like The Twilight Zone, Doctor Who and Star Trek, features exploring the subject, such as Franklin J. Schaffner’s Planet of the Apes (1967) and Luis Buñuel’s The Milky Way (1968), remained comparatively rare.

Everything changed in the blockbuster era, however, with James Cameron’s The Terminator (1984) and Robert Zemeckis’s Back to the Future (1985) focusing more on spectacle than plausibility. Subsequently, filmmakers have sought variations on the theme that allow travellers to pass along fixed timelines and through multiverses, as well as enter loops and paradoxes. Some have permitted free travel, while others have opted for involuntary jaunts. A few have attempted profound statements on humanity’s place in an unknowable scheme, but the majority have settled for escapist entertainment that fires the imagination without overtaxing the intellect.

Yet, away from the arthouse masterpieces (La Jetée, 1962), the slacker comedies (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, 1989), the canny satires (Groundhog Day, 1993), the conundrums (Donnie Darko, 2001), the nostalgic fantasies (Midnight in Paris, 2011), the high-concept thrillers (Looper, 2012) and the comic-book escapades (X-Men: Days of Future Past, 2014), there are those time-travelling gems that have somehow slipped off the radar … 

Time Flies (1944)

Director: Walter Forde

Produced by Gainsborough during the Second World War, this trip down memory lane had a ‘hands across the water’ feel, as Brits Tommy Handley and Felix Aylmer are transported back to Elizabethan times in the company of American entertainers Evelyn Dall and George Moon.

Although the metallic spherical time machine concocted by production designer John Bryan and effects master Jack Whitehead made screen history, the core storyline was a little less original, as it recalled Thomas Bentley’s Old Bill ‘Through the Ages’ (1924), a spin-off from a popular Bruce Bairnsfather comic strip that saw soldier Syd Walker hallucinate his way back to Merrie England after eating a tin of lobster in the trenches. However, while he merely looked on as Shakespeare (Austin Leigh) bored Queen Elizabeth (Gladys Ffolliott) with passages from Hamlet, Dall helps the Bard (John Salew) write the Romeo and Juliet balcony scene before breaking into a jazz number.

Je t’aime je t’aime (1968)

Director: Alain Resnais

Concluding her 2014 review of this 1968 revival, New York Times critic Manohla Dargis averred: “Cinema is a time machine, and, as he has long proved, from Last Year at Marienbad to Muriel and beyond, Mr Resnais is its ultimate time traveller.”

Time, space and memory were certainly key to Alain Resnais’s oeuvre, but he adopts an audaciously cubist approach to their depiction in this saga meticulously constructed from slivers and fragments by editors Albert Jurgenson and Colette Leloup. Resnais told Stan Lee (with whom he developed two unrealised sci-fi projects) that he learnt English from Marvel comics and he indulges his sense of the fantastic by having suicide survivor Claude Rich test a time machine by travelling back a year to relive a single minute. However, the apparatus (designed by Jacques Dugied Pace) malfunctions and Rich is trapped in a vortex that confronts him with key moments in his marriage to Olga Georges-Picot.

Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)

Director: George Roy Hill

Despite winning Cannes’s jury prize, George Roy Hill’s adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s acclaimed novel has consistently been unfavourably compared with Alain Resnais’s Je t’aime je t’aime and placed alongside Mike Nichols’s take on Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 (1970) as a brave stab at an unfilmable book.

Yet Hill, screenwriter Stephen Geller and editor Dede Allen make shrewd use of visual, verbal and sonic cues to show how middle-aged optometrist Billy Pilgrim (Michael Sacks) is randomly buffeted by memory and fate after he becomes “unstuck in time”. His return to the abattoir where he sheltered from the 1945 firebombing of Dresden as a PoW is depicted with a terrifying authenticity that gives way to tragic absurdity, as Billy and starlet Montana Wildhack (Valerie Perrine) are abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore and put on display in a zoo. Charlie Kaufman is reportedly reworking the text for Guillermo del Toro, but this version deserves reappraisal.

The Amazing Mr. Blunden (1972)

Director: Lionel Jeffries

Director Lionel Jeffries adapted this follow-up to The Railway Children (1970) from an Antonia Barber novel entitled The Ghosts, a time-slip story that employs a potion made from woodland herbs to transport two children back a century in order to save a time-travelling brother and sister from the fire that will otherwise kill them.

Opening in a Pinewood recreation of Camden Town in 1918, the action moves to the derelict shell of Heatherden Hall, as siblings Lynne Frederick and Garry Miller accompany mother Dorothy Alison after she accepts solicitor Laurence Naismith’s offer to become caretaker of the crumbling Langley Park. But the scene soon shifts to 1818, as Frederick and Miller strive to protect Rosalyn Landor and Marc Granger from the machinations of the dastardly Diana Dors and David Lodge. Veering between suspense and pantomime, this ends with a satisfying twist and the half promise of a sequel. But it never materialised.

Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea (1977)

Director: Jindrich Polák

Jindrich Polák is best known to non-Czech audiences for the Stanislaw Lem adaptation, Ikarie XB -1 (1963). But this take on Josef Nesvadba’s short story deserves to be equally renowned, as much for a moment of devastating poignancy inside Adolf Hitler’s bunker on 8 December 1941 as for its wonderfully convoluted plotline and the throwaway gags involving anti-ageing pills, a green incapacitating spray and a dissolving dishwashing detergent.

At the centre of the mayhem is Petr Kostka, who plays both womanising pilot Karel Bures and his milquetoast inventor twin Jan, who helped design a rocket capable of taking tourists to any point in history. But, when Karel chokes to death on a bread roll, Jan finds himself blasting off with a Nazi cadre intent on offering the Führer a hydrogen bomb. The SFX are a little creaky, but this is a worthy successor to the mischievous sci-fi classics of Karel Zeman. 

Time after Time (1979)

Director: Nicholas Meyer

Nicholas Meyer made his directorial debut with this rousing century-crossing clash between Jack the Ripper and H.G. Wells, which was based on an unpublished novel by Karl Alexander. Anachronisms and implausibilities abound, but they actually enhance a story that sees murderous physician Leslie John Stephenson (David Warner) steal the time machine that Wells (Malcolm McDowell) is about to demonstrate to his dinner guests in 1893 London and flee from the pursuing police to San Francisco in 1979.

Revelling in the depravity and violence he encounters (“Ninety years ago, I was a freak. Now … I’m an amateur.”), Stephenson has no desire to return and face justice when Wells follows him and their friendship founders further over sexually liberated bank clerk Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen). But, amid the gags about the shock of the new, the knowing references to “non-return keys” and “vapourising equalisers” firmly root this romcomedic thriller in the sci-fi genre. 

Les Maîtres du temps (1982)

Director: René Laloux

The time-travelling occurs late in the action of this animated adaptation of Stefan Wul’s 1958 novel, The Orphan of Perfide. Yet it proves crucial to unlocking the secret at the heart of René Laloux’s follow-up to the revered Fantastic Planet (1973), which also boasted designs by Jean ‘Moebius’ Giraud.

Similarities to Yellow Submarine (1968) and Star Wars (1977) abound, as space pilot Jaffar heads to Perfide to rescue Piel, the son of a friend who has been killed by giant hornets. Passengers Prince Matton and his sister Belle are incensed when Jaffar diverts the Double Triangle 22 to collect wizened pal Silbad and his gnome-like companions, Yula and Jad. But they prove their worth during encounters with the faceless angels of Gamma 10 and the piratical troopers from Interplanetary Reform, before the Masters of Time whisk the spaceship out of the gravitational field of the Blue Comet and send it six decades into the past. 

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)

Director: Vincent Ward

Warning against the twin perils of contagion and conflagration, Vincent Ward’s stylised parable draws heavily on the art of Bosch, Bruegel and Grünewald, as well as the cinema of Ingmar Bergman and Andrei Tarkovsky. But this odyssey across time is also gently humorous and cannily avoids the broader strokes employed by Jean-Marie Poiré in Les Visiteurs (1993).

Production designer Sally Campbell and cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson contribute significantly, as an expedition through a mineshaft sees Connor (Bruce Lyons), his visionary nine-year-old sibling Griffin (Hamish McFarlane) and their four companions pass from monochrome Cumbria in 1348 to colourful modern-day Auckland in the hope that raising a copper cross on the cathedral spire will protect their village from the Black Death.

Ward had the idea while stranded between the lanes of a German autobahn and, fittingly, his favourite response came from Werner Herzog: “My God, this looks like a hard film to make!”

Timecrimes (2007)

Director: Nacho Vigalondo

Few have travelled more often through time to unravel mishaps than Family Guy’s Stewie Griffin. But Karra Elejalde gives him a run for his money in writer-director Nacho Vigalondo’s feature debut, which brought a new complexity and sophistication to the realms of causal paradox and alternate timelines.

Elejalde winds up in scientist Vigalondo’s time pod after wandering into an institute adjoining the woods where he had been assaulted by a bandaged stranger after venturing from his garden for a closer look at the naked girl (Bárbara Goenaga) he had spotted through his binoculars. But a 90-minute backward jaunt turns Elejalde into a spectator of the events in which he has just participated and a further trip only exacerbates matters. Cinema rarely chronicles looping excursions with such keen acuity, but Australian first-timer Hugh Sullivan has recently matched Vigalondo’s ingenuity in The Infinite Man (2014), which resembles a cross between Primer (2004) and Last Year at Marienbad (1961).

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

Director: Colin Trevorrow

Originally published in issue 92 of the Backwoods Home Magazine, John Silviera’s cod personal ad about a time traveller seeking a companion had taken on a life of its own by the time screenwriter Derek Connolly saw it some 15 years later. However, Connolly and debuting director Colin Trevorrow saw past such sly lines as “you’ll get paid after we get back”, “must bring your own weapons” and “I have only done this once before” to concoct a mumblecoresque lo-fi romcom around rookie journalist Aubrey Plaza, who is sent to investigate Pacific Northwest shelf-stacker Mark Duplass, who has placed an identically eccentric message.

Amid the droll banter and deadpan set-pieces, a parallel love story develops between Plaza’s cynical co-reporter, Jake Johnson, and his old flame, Jenica Bergere. But, as Plaza starts to believe she actually can go back and prevent her mother’s fatal car crash, she receives not one, but two life-changing surprises.

Sci-Fi: Days of Fear and Wonder, a major BFI celebration of film and  TV ’s original blockbuster genre, ran from October to December 2014.

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Past, present and future

Is time travel possible? Not in principle, but that hasn't stopped Hollywood from giving the world cinematic gems around this subject. Let's review some of the best ones.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

It's a Wonderful Life - Flashbacks are a spectacular resource to show elements of the past; and in this film they are key for the lead character not to take his own life at the very beginning.

A Christmas Carol (1951)

A Christmas Carol - The adaptation of the Dickens classic made Mr. Scrooge known all over the world, thanks to the visit of ghosts from the past, present and future who warn him of his cruel behaviour.

The Time Machine (1960)

The Time Machine - George Pal directs and produces one of the great masterpieces of time travel cinema. He introduced the world to the Eloi and the Morlocks, essential to 20th century Hollywood culture.

Planet of the Apes (1968)

Planet of the Apes - Another gem of this genre that has led to multiple sequels in film and television: some good, some bad. But nothing can beat Charlton Heston arriving on a planet ruled by civilised apes.

Slaughterhouse Five (1972)

Slaughterhouse-Five - This was an interesting adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's best seller that combines World War II, a traumatic experience and time travel.

Terminator (1984)

The Terminator - One of the pinnacle works of time travel. Set in 2029, when robots and humans fight to dominate the planet, the machines send a robot back to the 1980s to kill the mother of John Connor, leader of the resistance, to prevent him from being born.

The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)

The Philadelphia Experiment - What was to be a naval experiment to develop an undetectable ship, ends up sending two young Marines 40 years into the future.

Back to the Future (1985)

Back to the Future - Perhaps the best time travel movie, this story became a classic trilogy. The first film is Hollywood history and was essential to the pop culture of the 80s. Marty McFly, Doc Brown, and the Delorean stood at the head.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

Terminator 2: Judgement Day - The Terminator sequel improved on the original with a similar plot but a much scarier villain than Arnold Schwarzenegger, the indestructible T-1000 who arrived from the future to kill John Connor.

Groundhog Day (1993)

Groundhog Day - The film that cost the friendship between Bill Murray and Harold Ramis is a masterpiece of 90's comedy. Phil Connors will have to repeat the same day hundreds of times, until everything is perfect. As it turns out, that particular day is Groundhog Day.

12 Monkeys (1995)

12 Monkeys - A masterful Brad Pitt accompanies a superb Bruce Willis on a journey to find the cure for a virus that has devastated much of humanity. A must-see.

Photo: Universal Pictures

Run, Lola, Run (1998)

Run, Lola, Run - A story told in three sides and with three different endings, where Lola must recover, in 20 minutes, the 100,000 marks that her boyfriend, Manni, has lost.

Minority Report (2002)

Tremendous adaptation of a story in which the Pre-Crime Division of the police stops citizens before they commit crimes, thanks to the help of the Pre-Cogs, mutated beings that see the future.

Primer (2004)

With only $7,000, Primer tries to explain how to travel in time at a theoretical level and explained from the point of view of a mathematician, Shane Carruth. Closer to a YouTube video than a movie, but a must-see.

Photo: New Line Cinema

The Butterfly Effect (2004)

The Butterfly Effect - Intent on fixing past mistakes and traumas, Evan Treborn travels back in time to his pre-teen self and tries to change things. The problem is that every action causes terrible consequences in the future. Tough to watch but highly recommended.

Déjà Vu (2006)

Déjà Vu - In order to prevent a terrorist attack, an agent travels back in time to save a key woman in the incident. Obviously, they end up falling in love. Yes, time travel and love are not incompatible.

Midnight in Paris (2011)

Midnight in Paris - Can you go from being in Paris with your in-laws and fiancée in the 21st century to partying with Ernest Hemingway in the 1920s? You can if Woody Allen says so.

Photo: Sony Pictures Classics

Looper (2012)

Looper - An original idea, the movie is set in 2072 where murders are frowned upon, so criminals are sent to 2042 to get the death penalty. Everything gets complicated when one of the killers from the past must execute his future self.

Photo: Sony Pictures

About Time (2013)

About Time - Combining time travel with romantic comedy seemed like a crazy and complicated idea but Richard Curtis did alchemy, once again, and turned the film into an instant classic.

Interstellar (2014)

Interstellar - The search for a habitable planet leads NASA to play with space-time, causing unexpected consequences for those involved.

Photo: Paramount Pictures

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

X-Men: Days of Future Past - A merciless hunt by The Sentinels leaves mutants almost extinct, so Charles Xavier devises a plan to send Wolverine back in time to fix it.

Photo: Twentieth Century Fox

Arrival (2016)

Arrival - A contemporary classic in which aliens arrive on Earth with an a priori indecipherable message that turns out to be related to time.

Paradox (2016)

Paradox - How can traveling just one hour into the future affect us? Much more than you might expect.

Photo: Paradox

Happy Death Day (2017)

Happy Death Day - Blumhouse combined a horror element with time loops and we got Theresa who relives a birthday without end. She must discover who murdered her.

See You Yesterday (2019)

Michael J. Fox is the science teacher who inspires CJ to create a time travel device to help him save his brother from being murdered by the police. It won't be simple at all.

Photo credit: Netflix

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Avengers: Endgame - The most epic film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe showed the world how to find the one way in 14 million to save the world, and it involved a lot of time travel.

Photo: Marvel Studios

Tenet (2020)

Tenet - Preventing World War III is reason enough to travel back in time, fight back and surprise the viewer in every scene. A complicated and very unique story by Christopher Nolan.

Photo: Warner Bros Pictures

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The 100 Best Films Of The 1970's

The best decade for films. End of story. Some are undisputed masterpieces. Some are excellent. Some aren't. Some are ripe for rediscovery. And maybe some you just haven't seen. Either way, this is The 100 Best Films Of The 1970's. Enjoy and feel free to comment. (And also let me know if I overlooked any good ones). As usual, they are NOT ranked in order.

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1. Taxi Driver (1976)

R | 114 min | Crime, Drama

A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro , Jodie Foster , Cybill Shepherd , Albert Brooks

Votes: 918,566 | Gross: $28.26M

2. Mean Streets (1973)

R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

In New York City's Little Italy, a devoutly Catholic mobster must reconcile his desire for power, his feelings for his epileptic lover, and his devotion to his troublesome friend.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro , Harvey Keitel , David Proval , Amy Robinson

Votes: 119,393 | Gross: $3.13M

3. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)

PG | 112 min | Drama, Romance

A recently widowed woman is on the road with her precocious young son, determined to make a new life for herself as a singer.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Ellen Burstyn , Kris Kristofferson , Mia Bendixsen , Alfred Lutter III

Votes: 27,403 | Gross: $18.60M

4. Five Easy Pieces (1970)

R | 98 min | Drama

A dropout from upper-class America picks up work along the way on oil rigs when his life isn't spent in a squalid succession of bars, motels, and other points of interest.

Director: Bob Rafelson | Stars: Jack Nicholson , Karen Black , Billy Green Bush , Fannie Flagg

Votes: 40,439 | Gross: $19.40M

5. The Last Detail (1973)

R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama

Two Navy men are ordered to bring a young offender to prison, but decide to show him one last good time along the way.

Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: Jack Nicholson , Randy Quaid , Otis Young , Clifton James

Votes: 27,887 | Gross: $3.19M

6. Chinatown (1974)

R | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.

Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Jack Nicholson , Faye Dunaway , John Huston , Perry Lopez

Votes: 349,233

7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

R | 133 min | Drama

In the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.

Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Jack Nicholson , Louise Fletcher , Michael Berryman , Peter Brocco

Votes: 1,070,650 | Gross: $112.00M

8. The Godfather (1972)

R | 175 min | Crime, Drama

The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Marlon Brando , Al Pacino , James Caan , Diane Keaton

Votes: 2,007,436 | Gross: $134.97M

9. The Godfather Part II (1974)

R | 202 min | Crime, Drama

The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Al Pacino , Robert De Niro , Robert Duvall , Diane Keaton

Votes: 1,361,598 | Gross: $57.30M

10. The Conversation (1974)

PG | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Gene Hackman , John Cazale , Allen Garfield , Frederic Forrest

Votes: 121,603 | Gross: $4.42M

11. Apocalypse Now (1979)

R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, War

A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Martin Sheen , Marlon Brando , Robert Duvall , Frederic Forrest

Votes: 708,862 | Gross: $83.47M

12. The French Connection (1971)

R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Drama

A pair of NYPD detectives in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a heroin smuggling ring based in Marseilles, but stopping them and capturing their leaders proves an elusive goal.

Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Gene Hackman , Roy Scheider , Fernando Rey , Tony Lo Bianco

Votes: 135,382 | Gross: $15.63M

13. French Connection II (1975)

R | 119 min | Action, Crime, Drama

"Popeye" Doyle travels to Marseille to find Alain Charnier, the drug smuggler who eluded him in New York.

Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Gene Hackman , Fernando Rey , Bernard Fresson , Philippe Léotard

Votes: 20,852 | Gross: $12.48M

14. The Exorcist (1973)

R | 122 min | Horror

When a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.

Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Ellen Burstyn , Max von Sydow , Linda Blair , Lee J. Cobb

Votes: 454,032 | Gross: $232.91M

15. Jaws (1975)

PG | 124 min | Adventure, Mystery, Thriller

When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Roy Scheider , Robert Shaw , Richard Dreyfuss , Lorraine Gary

Votes: 658,298 | Gross: $260.00M

16. The Wicker Man (1973)

R | 88 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

A puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.

Director: Robin Hardy | Stars: Edward Woodward , Christopher Lee , Diane Cilento , Britt Ekland

Votes: 92,010 | Gross: $0.06M

17. The Omen (1976)

R | 111 min | Horror, Mystery

Mysterious deaths surround an American ambassador. Could the child that he is raising actually be the Antichrist? The Devil's own son?

Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Gregory Peck , Lee Remick , Harvey Stephens , David Warner

Votes: 131,556 | Gross: $4.27M

18. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

R | 136 min | Crime, Sci-Fi

In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Malcolm McDowell , Patrick Magee , Michael Bates , Warren Clarke

Votes: 879,993 | Gross: $6.21M

19. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.

Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill , Harrison Ford , Carrie Fisher , Alec Guinness

Votes: 1,447,362 | Gross: $322.74M

20. Coming Home (1978)

R | 127 min | Drama, Romance, War

In 1968 California, a woman whose husband is a Marine officer fighting in Vietnam falls in love with a former high school classmate who suffered a paralyzing combat injury in the war.

Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: Jane Fonda , Jon Voight , Bruce Dern , Penelope Milford

Votes: 14,768 | Gross: $32.65M

21. Klute (1971)

R | 114 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller

A small-town detective searching for a missing man has only one lead: a connection with a New York prostitute.

Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Jane Fonda , Donald Sutherland , Charles Cioffi , Roy Scheider

Votes: 29,541 | Gross: $17.44M

22. The Deer Hunter (1978)

R | 183 min | Drama, War

An in-depth examination of the ways in which the Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of several friends in a small steel mill town in Pennsylvania.

Director: Michael Cimino | Stars: Robert De Niro , Christopher Walken , John Cazale , John Savage

Votes: 361,651 | Gross: $48.98M

23. Shampoo (1975)

R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama

On Election Day, 1968, a hairdresser and ladies' man is too busy cutting hair and dealing with his various girlfriends and his mistress, whose husband he meets and finds out is having an affair with his ex-girlfriend.

Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: Warren Beatty , Julie Christie , Goldie Hawn , Lee Grant

Votes: 14,101 | Gross: $49.41M

24. Straight Time (1978)

The difficulties of a career burglar to reinsert himself after being released on parole.

Directors: Ulu Grosbard , Dustin Hoffman | Stars: Dustin Hoffman , Theresa Russell , Gary Busey , Harry Dean Stanton

Votes: 10,119 | Gross: $9.90M

25. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

PG | 105 min | Drama

After his wife leaves him, a work-obsessed Manhattan advertising executive is forced to learn long-neglected parenting skills, but a heated custody battle over the couple's young son deepens the wounds left by the separation.

Director: Robert Benton | Stars: Dustin Hoffman , Meryl Streep , Jane Alexander , Justin Henry

Votes: 154,482 | Gross: $106.26M

26. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

PG | 138 min | Drama, Sci-Fi

Roy Neary, an Indiana electric lineman, finds his quiet and ordinary daily life turned upside down after a close encounter with a UFO, spurring him to an obsessed cross-country quest for answers as a momentous event approaches.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss , François Truffaut , Teri Garr , Melinda Dillon

Votes: 216,505 | Gross: $132.09M

27. American Graffiti (1973)

PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama

A group of teenagers in California's central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals.

Director: George Lucas | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss , Ron Howard , Paul Le Mat , Charles Martin Smith

Votes: 97,963 | Gross: $115.00M

28. National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)

R | 109 min | Comedy

At a 1962 college, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those troublemakers have other plans for him.

Director: John Landis | Stars: John Belushi , Karen Allen , Tom Hulce , Stephen Furst

Votes: 129,147

29. High Plains Drifter (1973)

R | 105 min | Drama, Mystery, Western

A gun-fighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood , Verna Bloom , Marianna Hill , Mitchell Ryan

Votes: 64,394 | Gross: $15.70M

30. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

PG | 135 min | Western

Missouri farmer Josey Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla unit and winds up on the run from the Union soldiers who murdered his family.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood , Sondra Locke , Chief Dan George , Bill McKinney

Votes: 79,720 | Gross: $31.80M

31. Play Misty for Me (1971)

R | 102 min | Drama, Thriller

The life of a disc jockey is turned upside down after a romantic encounter with an obsessed fan.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood , Jessica Walter , Donna Mills , John Larch

Votes: 31,801 | Gross: $11.80M

32. Dirty Harry (1971)

R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Thriller

When a man calling himself "the Scorpio Killer" menaces San Francisco, tough-as-nails Police Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan is assigned to track down the crazed psychopath.

Directors: Don Siegel , Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood , Andrew Robinson , Harry Guardino , Reni Santoni

Votes: 168,027 | Gross: $35.90M

33. Badlands (1973)

PG | 94 min | Action, Crime, Drama

An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town, and her older greaser boyfriend, embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota Badlands.

Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Martin Sheen , Sissy Spacek , Warren Oates , Ramon Bieri

Votes: 78,225

34. Carrie (1976)

R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery

Carrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.

Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Sissy Spacek , Piper Laurie , Amy Irving , John Travolta

Votes: 206,279 | Gross: $33.80M

35. Little Big Man (1970)

PG-13 | 139 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama

Jack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Native Americans and fighting with General Custer.

Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Dustin Hoffman , Faye Dunaway , Chief Dan George , Martin Balsam

Votes: 37,852 | Gross: $31.56M

36. Three Days of the Condor (1975)

R | 117 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller

A bookish CIA researcher in Manhattan finds all his co-workers dead, and must outwit those responsible until he figures out who he can really trust.

Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Robert Redford , Faye Dunaway , Cliff Robertson , Max von Sydow

Votes: 62,391 | Gross: $41.51M

37. The Last Picture Show (1971)

R | 118 min | Drama, Romance

In 1951, a group of high schoolers come of age in a bleak, isolated, atrophied North Texas town that is slowly dying, both culturally and economically.

Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Timothy Bottoms , Jeff Bridges , Cybill Shepherd , Ben Johnson

Votes: 52,275 | Gross: $29.13M

38. Black Sunday (1977)

R | 143 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama

When a Black September terrorist group begins a plot to carry out a massive terrorist attack in the United States, an Israeli commando works with the FBI to identify the target and conspirators, and prevent the plan from succeeding.

Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Robert Shaw , Bruce Dern , Marthe Keller , Fritz Weaver

Votes: 9,071 | Gross: $15.77M

39. Saturday Night Fever (1977)

R | 118 min | Drama, Music

Anxious about his future after high school, a 19-year-old Italian-American from Brooklyn tries to escape the harsh reality of his bleak family life by dominating the dance floor at the local disco.

Director: John Badham | Stars: John Travolta , Karen Lynn Gorney , Barry Miller , Joseph Cali

Votes: 87,304 | Gross: $94.21M

40. The Bad News Bears (1976)

PG | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Family

An aging, down-on-his-luck ex-minor leaguer coaches a team of misfits in an ultra-competitive California little league.

Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Walter Matthau , Tatum O'Neal , Vic Morrow , Joyce Van Patten

Votes: 24,885 | Gross: $42.35M

41. Rocky (1976)

PG | 120 min | Drama, Sport

A small-time Philadelphia boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight the world heavyweight champion in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.

Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Sylvester Stallone , Talia Shire , Burt Young , Carl Weathers

Votes: 627,289 | Gross: $117.24M

42. Enter the Dragon (1973)

A Shaolin martial artist travels to an island fortress to spy on an opium lord - who is also a former monk from his temple - under the guise of attending a fighting tournament.

Director: Robert Clouse | Stars: Bruce Lee , John Saxon , Jim Kelly , Ahna Capri

Votes: 112,820 | Gross: $25.00M

43. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

R | 83 min | Horror

Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.

Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Marilyn Burns , Edwin Neal , Allen Danziger , Paul A. Partain

Votes: 183,153 | Gross: $30.86M

44. Halloween (1978)

R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller

Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.

Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Donald Pleasence , Jamie Lee Curtis , Tony Moran , Nancy Kyes

Votes: 306,326 | Gross: $47.00M

45. Marathon Man (1976)

R | 125 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

After the shocking murder of his older brother, a New York history student finds himself inexplicably hounded by shadowy government agents on the trail of a Nazi war criminal who is trying to retrieve smuggled diamonds.

Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Dustin Hoffman , Laurence Olivier , Roy Scheider , William Devane

Votes: 70,116 | Gross: $21.71M

46. Papillon (1973)

R | 151 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

A French convict in the 1930s befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence in the South American penal colony on Devil's Island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.

Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: Steve McQueen , Dustin Hoffman , Victor Jory , Don Gordon

Votes: 138,213 | Gross: $53.27M

47. Serpico (1973)

R | 130 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

An honest New York cop named Frank Serpico blows the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.

Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Al Pacino , John Randolph , Jack Kehoe , Biff McGuire

Votes: 134,500 | Gross: $29.80M

48. M*A*S*H (1970)

R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, War

The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and high jinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.

Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Donald Sutherland , Elliott Gould , Tom Skerritt , Sally Kellerman

Votes: 76,812 | Gross: $81.60M

49. The Sting (1973)

PG | 129 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

Two grifters team up to pull off the ultimate con.

Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman , Robert Redford , Robert Shaw , Charles Durning

Votes: 279,411 | Gross: $159.60M

50. Patton (1970)

GP | 172 min | Biography, Drama, War

The World War II phase of the career of controversial American general George S. Patton .

Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: George C. Scott , Karl Malden , Stephen Young , Michael Strong

Votes: 107,831 | Gross: $61.70M

51. Nashville (1975)

R | 160 min | Comedy, Drama, Music

Over the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention.

Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Keith Carradine , Karen Black , Ronee Blakley , Shelley Duvall

Votes: 28,517 | Gross: $14.82M

52. All the President's Men (1976)

PG | 138 min | Drama, History, Thriller

"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon 's resignation.

Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Dustin Hoffman , Robert Redford , Jack Warden , Martin Balsam

Votes: 125,828 | Gross: $70.60M

53. All That Jazz (1979)

R | 123 min | Drama, Music, Musical

Director/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid career of Joe Gideon, a womanizing, drug-using dancer.

Director: Bob Fosse | Stars: Roy Scheider , Jessica Lange , Ann Reinking , Leland Palmer

Votes: 35,299 | Gross: $37.82M

54. Deliverance (1972)

R | 109 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller

Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's dammed and turned into a lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a canoeing trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.

Director: John Boorman | Stars: Jon Voight , Burt Reynolds , Ned Beatty , Ronny Cox

Votes: 119,037 | Gross: $7.06M

55. Breaking Away (1979)

PG | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport

A working-class Indiana teen obsessed with the Italian cycling team vies for the affections of a college girl while searching for life goals with his friends.

Director: Peter Yates | Stars: Dennis Christopher , Dennis Quaid , Daniel Stern , Jackie Earle Haley

Votes: 25,421 | Gross: $16.42M

56. Carnal Knowledge (1971)

R | 98 min | Comedy, Drama

Chronicling the lifelong sexual development of two men who meet and become friends in college.

Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Jack Nicholson , Candice Bergen , Art Garfunkel , Ann-Margret

Votes: 14,866 | Gross: $28.62M

57. Midnight Express (1978)

R | 121 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

Billy Hayes , an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.

Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Brad Davis , Irene Miracle , Bo Hopkins , Paolo Bonacelli

Votes: 88,120 | Gross: $35.00M

58. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

R | 120 min | Drama, Western

A gambler and a prostitute become business partners in a remote Old West mining town, and their enterprise thrives until a large corporation arrives on the scene.

Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Warren Beatty , Julie Christie , Rene Auberjonois , William Devane

Votes: 27,579 | Gross: $8.20M

59. Blue Collar (1978)

When three automotive factory workers who're struggling financially try to steal from their own labor union, they discover corruption, and reluctantly decide to use this information for blackmail.

Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: Richard Pryor , Harvey Keitel , Yaphet Kotto , Ed Begley Jr.

Votes: 10,609

60. Last Tango in Paris (1972)

NC-17 | 129 min | Drama, Romance

A young Parisian woman meets a middle-aged American businessman who demands their clandestine relationship be based only on sex.

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Marlon Brando , Maria Schneider , Maria Michi , Giovanna Galletti

Votes: 58,228 | Gross: $36.14M

61. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)

R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, Western

Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.

Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: James Coburn , Kris Kristofferson , Richard Jaeckel , Katy Jurado

Votes: 21,051 | Gross: $0.95M

62. Straw Dogs (1971)

R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

A young American and his English wife come to rural England and face increasingly vicious local harassment.

Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: Dustin Hoffman , Susan George , Peter Vaughan , T.P. McKenna

Votes: 64,429

63. Scarecrow (1973)

R | 112 min | Drama

An ex-con drifter with a penchant for brawling is amused by a homeless ex-sailor, so they partner up as they head east together.

Director: Jerry Schatzberg | Stars: Gene Hackman , Al Pacino , Dorothy Tristan , Ann Wedgeworth

Votes: 19,190 | Gross: $9.00M

64. Silver Streak (1976)

PG | 114 min | Action, Comedy, Crime

On a long-distance train trip, a man finds romance but also finds himself in danger of being killed, or at least pushed off the train.

Director: Arthur Hiller | Stars: Gene Wilder , Richard Pryor , Jill Clayburgh , Patrick McGoohan

Votes: 21,679

65. Paper Moon (1973)

PG | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.

Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Ryan O'Neal , Tatum O'Neal , Madeline Kahn , John Hillerman

Votes: 52,349 | Gross: $30.93M

66. Being There (1979)

PG | 130 min | Comedy, Drama

After the death of his employer forces him out of the only home he's ever known, a simpleminded, sheltered gardener becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful tycoon and an insider in Washington politics.

Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: Peter Sellers , Shirley MacLaine , Melvyn Douglas , Jack Warden

Votes: 77,545 | Gross: $30.18M

67. Harold and Maude (1971)

PG | 91 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.

Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: Ruth Gordon , Bud Cort , Vivian Pickles , Cyril Cusack

Votes: 81,751

68. Annie Hall (1977)

PG | 93 min | Comedy, Romance

Alvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.

Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen , Diane Keaton , Tony Roberts , Carol Kane

Votes: 278,044 | Gross: $39.20M

69. Manhattan (1979)

R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

The life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.

Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen , Diane Keaton , Mariel Hemingway , Michael Murphy

Votes: 147,041 | Gross: $45.70M

70. Superman (1978)

PG | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.

Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Christopher Reeve , Margot Kidder , Gene Hackman , Marlon Brando

Votes: 187,243 | Gross: $134.22M

71. Bound for Glory (1976)

PG | 147 min | Biography, Drama, Music

The early life of Woody Guthrie as a vagabond folk singer.

Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: David Carradine , Ronny Cox , Melinda Dillon , Gail Strickland

Votes: 5,582

72. Don't Look Now (1973)

R | 110 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery

A married couple grieving the recent death of their young daughter are in Venice when they encounter two elderly sisters, one of whom is psychic and brings a warning from beyond.

Director: Nicolas Roeg | Stars: Julie Christie , Donald Sutherland , Hilary Mason , Clelia Matania

Votes: 62,208 | Gross: $0.98M

73. An Unmarried Woman (1978)

R | 124 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

A wealthy woman from Manhattan's Upper East Side struggles to deal with her new identity and her sexuality after her husband of 16 years leaves her for a younger woman.

Director: Paul Mazursky | Stars: Jill Clayburgh , Alan Bates , Michael Murphy , Cliff Gorman

Votes: 6,036 | Gross: $24.00M

74. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)

R | 135 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

A proud strip club owner is forced to come to terms with himself as a man when his gambling addiction gets him in hot water with the mob, who offer him only one alternative.

Director: John Cassavetes | Stars: Ben Gazzara , Timothy Carey , Seymour Cassel , Robert Phillips

Votes: 14,700

75. A Woman Under the Influence (1974)

R | 155 min | Drama, Romance

Although wife and mother Mabel is loved by her husband Nick, her mental illness places a strain on the marriage.

Director: John Cassavetes | Stars: Gena Rowlands , Peter Falk , Fred Draper , Lady Rowlands

Votes: 28,624 | Gross: $13.34M

76. Stay Hungry (1976)

R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama

So-called 'special agent' infiltrates into the gym, which is targeted by a dirty business fraud.

Director: Bob Rafelson | Stars: Jeff Bridges , Sally Field , Arnold Schwarzenegger , R.G. Armstrong

Votes: 5,035

77. Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

PG | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

The Bandit is hired on to run a tractor-trailer full of beer over state lines, in hot pursuit by a pesky sheriff.

Director: Hal Needham | Stars: Burt Reynolds , Sally Field , Jerry Reed , Mike Henry

Votes: 56,663 | Gross: $126.74M

78. Phantasm (1979)

R | 89 min | Horror, Sci-Fi

A teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber, known only as the Tall Man, who employs a lethal arsenal of unearthly weapons.

Director: Don Coscarelli | Stars: A. Michael Baldwin , Bill Thornbury , Reggie Bannister , Kathy Lester

Votes: 41,186 | Gross: $11.99M

79. Salem's Lot (1979)

PG | 100 min | Horror

A novelist and a young horror fan attempt to save a small New England town which has been invaded by vampires.

Stars: David Soul , James Mason , Lance Kerwin , Bonnie Bedelia

Votes: 27,427

80. Suspiria (1977)

R | 92 min | Horror

An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.

Director: Dario Argento | Stars: Jessica Harper , Stefania Casini , Flavio Bucci , Miguel Bosé

Votes: 105,145

81. Piranha (1978)

R | 94 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi

When flesh-eating piranhas are accidentally released into a summer resort's rivers, the guests become their next meal.

Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Bradford Dillman , Heather Menzies-Urich , Kevin McCarthy , Keenan Wynn

Votes: 24,638 | Gross: $6.00M

82. Silent Running (1972)

G | 89 min | Drama, Sci-Fi

In a future where all flora is extinct on Earth, an astronaut is given orders to destroy the last of Earth's botany, kept in a greenhouse aboard a spacecraft.

Director: Douglas Trumbull | Stars: Bruce Dern , Cliff Potts , Ron Rifkin , Jesse Vint

Votes: 31,411 | Gross: $0.69M

83. Lenny (1974)

R | 111 min | Biography, Drama

The story of acerbic 1960s comic Lenny Bruce , whose groundbreaking, no-holds-barred style and social commentary was often deemed by the Establishment as too obscene for the public.

Director: Bob Fosse | Stars: Dustin Hoffman , Valerie Perrine , Jan Miner , Stanley Beck

Votes: 17,518 | Gross: $8.43M

84. The Way We Were (1973)

PG | 118 min | Drama, Romance

During post-WWII McCarthyism, a diametrically opposed couple come together only to find out that genuine friendship and physical attraction is not enough to overcome fundamental societal beliefs.

Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Barbra Streisand , Robert Redford , Bradford Dillman , Lois Chiles

Votes: 27,414

85. The Main Event (1979)

PG | 112 min | Comedy, Romance, Sport

A bankrupt entrepreneur attempts to recoup some of her losses by getting a washed-out boxer she picked up as a tax loss back into the ring - an idea her protégé isn't fond of.

Director: Howard Zieff | Stars: Barbra Streisand , Ryan O'Neal , Paul Sand , Whitman Mayo

Votes: 3,273 | Gross: $42.80M

86. The Parallax View (1974)

R | 102 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

An ambitious reporter gets in way-over-his-head trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the world's headlines.

Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Warren Beatty , Paula Prentiss , William Daniels , Walter McGinn

Votes: 21,729 | Gross: $2.15M

87. Every Which Way But Loose (1978)

PG | 114 min | Action, Comedy

The San Fernando Valley adventures of trucker turned prize-fighter Philo Beddoe and his pet orangutan Clyde.

Director: James Fargo | Stars: Clint Eastwood , Sondra Locke , Geoffrey Lewis , Beverly D'Angelo

Votes: 29,989 | Gross: $106.00M

88. Network (1976)

R | 121 min | Drama

A television network cynically exploits a deranged former anchor's ravings and revelations about the news media for its own profit, but finds that his message may be difficult to control.

Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Faye Dunaway , William Holden , Peter Finch , Robert Duvall

Votes: 170,320

89. The Passenger (1975)

PG-13 | 126 min | Drama, Thriller

Unable to find the war he's been asked to cover, a frustrated war correspondent takes the risky path of co-opting the identity of a dead arms-deal acquaintance.

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Jack Nicholson , Maria Schneider , Jenny Runacre , Ian Hendry

Votes: 26,110 | Gross: $0.62M

90. Sleuth (1972)

PG | 138 min | Mystery, Thriller

A man who loves games and theater invites his wife's lover to meet him, setting up a battle of wits with potentially deadly results.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Laurence Olivier , Michael Caine , Alec Cawthorne , John Matthews

Votes: 50,111 | Gross: $4.08M

91. Sisters (1972)

R | 93 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

A small-time reporter tries to convince the police she saw a murder in the apartment across from hers.

Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Margot Kidder , Jennifer Salt , Charles Durning , William Finley

Votes: 20,620 | Gross: $0.35M

92. A Touch of Class (1973)

PG | 106 min | Comedy, Romance

Romantic comedy about a pair of clandestine lovers in a London-Spain tryst.

Director: Melvin Frank | Stars: George Segal , Glenda Jackson , Paul Sorvino , K Callan

Votes: 3,540 | Gross: $18.31M

93. Barry Lyndon (1975)

PG | 185 min | Adventure, Drama, War

An Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's aristocratic position in 18th-century England.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Ryan O'Neal , Marisa Berenson , Patrick Magee , Hardy Krüger

Votes: 182,731

94. Duel (1971 TV Movie)

PG | 90 min | Action, Thriller

A business commuter is pursued and terrorized by the malevolent driver of a massive tractor-trailer.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Dennis Weaver , Jacqueline Scott , Eddie Firestone , Lou Frizzell

Votes: 78,212

95. Night Moves (1975)

R | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

Los Angeles private investigator Harry Moseby is hired by a client to find her runaway teenage daughter. Moseby tracks the daughter down, only to stumble upon something much more intriguing and sinister.

Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Gene Hackman , Jennifer Warren , Edward Binns , Harris Yulin

Votes: 17,655

96. Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)

PG | 97 min | Horror, Sci-Fi

In rural Arizona, countless killer tarantulas are migrating through a farm town, killing every living thing in their path. The town's veterinarian will do everything in his power to survive the onslaught.

Director: John 'Bud' Cardos | Stars: William Shatner , Tiffany Bolling , Woody Strode , Lieux Dressler

Votes: 6,159 | Gross: $17.00M

97. Earthquake (1974)

PG | 122 min | Action, Drama, Thriller

Various interconnected people struggle to survive when an earthquake of unimaginable magnitude hits Los Angeles, California.

Director: Mark Robson | Stars: Charlton Heston , Ava Gardner , George Kennedy , Lorne Greene

Votes: 17,854 | Gross: $79.70M

98. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

PG | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

A group of passengers must embark on a harrowing struggle for survival after a rogue wave capsizes their cruise ship at sea.

Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Gene Hackman , Ernest Borgnine , Shelley Winters , Red Buttons

Votes: 49,142 | Gross: $84.56M

99. Airport (1970)

G | 137 min | Action, Drama, Thriller

A bomber on board an airplane, an airport almost closed by snow, and various personal problems of the people involved.

Directors: George Seaton , Henry Hathaway | Stars: Burt Lancaster , Dean Martin , George Kennedy , Jean Seberg

Votes: 21,629 | Gross: $100.49M

100. The Towering Inferno (1974)

PG | 165 min | Action, Drama, Thriller

At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.

Director: John Guillermin | Stars: Paul Newman , Steve McQueen , William Holden , Faye Dunaway

Votes: 48,134 | Gross: $116.00M

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