time travel movie clips

The 35 Best Time Travel Movies

Ready for 1.21 gigawatts of sci-fi greatness?

These are the 35 best sci-fi films that explore the fluidity of time.

🤯 You love mind-bending science. So do we. Let’s nerd out over it together.

35. Timecop

Jean-Claude Van Damme is a cop who polices time. Don’t need to say more, but I guess I will. In 1994, time travel becomes a favorite pastime of criminals, and timecops like Van Damme must catch any chronal abusers and bring them to justice. As is often the case, Van Damme’s own time-muckery with the past creates different and divergent timelines that not even Doc Brown’s chalkboard could work out. But Timecop isn’t exactly a film that’s going for narrative clarity here.

34. The Final Countdown / The Philadelphia Experiment

Although most people would file this film under “flop,” The Final Countdown contains such an amazing premise it has to be recognized. The crew of the U.S.S. Nimitz enters a storm vortex and is transported to Pearl Harbor in 1941, turning a favorite imaginary war-game scenario into real life. Although the actual film elements aren’t necessarily memorable, it does give us an incredibly good look at the Nimitz (the film was shot on the actual carrier).

We tossed in The Philadelphia Experiment at the same spot, since it’s essentially the reverse of The Final Countdown .

33. Men in Black 3

By the time director Barry Sonnenfeld directed Men in Black 3 in 2012, the franchise was 15 years removed from its fun and campy original, and Men in Black 2 had sucked out much of the charm. That’s why MiB 3 , despite its faults, is still a surprising underdog of a film.

Agent J (Will Smith) goes back in time to stop an alien from mucking up the past and killing Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones/Josh Brolin). The film recaptures much of the original’s fun, and Josh Brolin’s portrayal of a young Tommy Lee Jones playing Agent K is simply awe-inspiring. Honestly, that acting work alone earns this spot for MiB 3.

32. Flight of the Navigator

Sort of like E.T. , but with time travel. What Flight of the Navigator lacks in a substantial plot, it more than makes up for in charm.

David Scott Freeman falls into a ravine and is knocked unconscious—for eight years. Although he doesn’t age, everyone he knows does, and he soon finds he’s part of something much larger. It’s a fun film that will never outshine any Spielberg classics, but its campiness is too genuine to ignore.

31. Time After Time

H.G. Wells, Jack the Ripper, and time travel ... that’s it . Just click the arrow.

30. Timecrimes

A film with perhaps the lowest budget on this list, Timecrimes is a Spanish-language movie that follows a typical time travel trope (many copies of one person causing major problems) but creates 92 minutes of truly enjoyable cinema. The fun moments of Timecrimes are the reveal after reveal after reveal, which snowballs into a fascinating plot.

29. Source Code

Source Code is like Groundhog Day and Edge of Tomorrow with a twist. Instead of going back in time as himself, Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) enters the body of someone else as he tries to stop a mass murder attempt. What the film lacks in depth, it more than makes up for in pulse-pumping action, and the premise itself is a refreshing take on the usual time travel idea.

It will likely never be considered an example of high science fiction, but as far as time travel goes, it gets good grades.

28. Donnie Darko

Perfect amounts creepy and perplexing, Donnie Darko is another strange example of time travel, which is why it belongs on this list all the more. Darko (Gyllenhaal again) is a high school kid with a less-than-sunny disposition. But when he begins seeing frightening hallucinations of a deranged and grotesque rabbit, things slowly begin to unravel, going from bad to weird pretty quickly.

For such a small-budget film (that was almost released straight to home video!) it’s made an outsized impact on science fiction and indie filmmaking. It’s a great movie, but also a polarizing one.

27. Safety Not Guaranteed

Director Colin Trevorrow’s debut film Safety Not Guaranteed follows three journalists—well, one journalist and two interns—on a road trip to meet the eccentric Kenneth (Mark Duplass), who placed an ad in a local newspaper looking for a time-travel companion. Although at its heart a romantic comedy, the film explores human perception of time and the indelible regrets, traumas, and even fantasies that fill our memories. Although the idea of actual time travel plays a significant role in the film, it’s used mostly as a symbol to analyze the importance of being present and always looking with hope toward the future.

26. X-Men: Days of Future Past

Smashing together the old X-Men guard with the new is what makes X-Men: Days of Future Past one of the more successful cinematic outings for the mutant team.

In the film, Kitty Pryde sends Wolverine back through time to stop apocalyptic events from unfolding. Maybe that’s not the most original plot, but it’s one that’s too fun to resist (if only for the Quicksilver scene alone ).

25. Predestination

Based on Robert Heinlein’s sci-fi short story “All You Zombies,” Predestination is a head trip, like any proper time travel film should be. With a strong performance from Ethan Hawke and a script that will keep you guessing, the film is one of the more solid time travel entries in recent years and is a film that garners a rewatch so you can catch every detail.

24. Star Trek: First Contact

The Next Generation ’s big screen outings are a mixed bag, to put it nicely, but the best film by far is the time-bending Star Trek: First Contact . Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise-E travel to the past to prevent the cybernetic Borg from mucking with Earth’s history. It’s a good film all by itself, but even more excellent if you’re an invested Star Trek fan. We get to see huge, never-before-seen moments in the Star Trek universe, like humanity’s first encounter with the Vulcans, and the Borg are just an excellent adversary.

23. Army of Darkness

“Shop Smart. Shop, S-Mart.”

Depending on who you ask, Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness is either the best sequel to any film ever, or the worst—there isn’t much room in between. The chainsaw-toting Ashley “Ash” Williams is tossed back to medieval times where he must fight off a horde of undead monstrosities with only his ingenuity and his “boom stick.”

Even though it’s slapstick comedy with wonderfully B-movie action sequences, it remains an absolute joy to watch.

22. Doctor Strange

In this Marvel sleeper hit , Stephen Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) becomes the Sorcerer Supreme, and in typical Marvel fashion, is tasked with saving the world. Although the visuals alone are worthing giving this movie a shot, its manipulation of time as a superpower rather than a world-altering plot device is what sets it apart from the rest.

21. Sleeper

Although not technically time travel (long stretches of cryo-sleep instead), Sleeper is Woody Allen’s sci-fi comedy that’s absurd, hilarious, and strangely poignant. Miles Monroe is a jazz musician and health-food-store owner who wakes up in the 22nd century after a botched gall bladder operation. The world is, as you’d expect, quite different, and Monroe is a hilarious character to explore it with.

Tenet is an “A for effort” addition to this list. The film has all the trappings of a Christopher Nolan flick—stunning cinematography, a star-studded cast, head-scratching plot points, etc., etc. And Tenet does take time travel movies one step further with the introduction of time inversion, the idea that objects and people can travel into the past at the same temporal pace that they can travel into the future. Although a fascinating concept, it’s also a confusing one, which is why Nolan spends much of the film’s 150-minute runtime explaining what’s going on. Tenet is a fascinating time travel story though ultimately one a bit lost in its own exposition.

19. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

This 2006 award-winning anime is a coming-of-age time travel story that even rivals Back to the Future . After schoolgirl Mokoto Konno discovers a time travel device that gives her the power to leap through time, she uses her new gifts for mundane high school stuff, passing tests, avoiding awkward conversations, and to address her chronic lateness.

When she learns what her time traveling does to others around her, and as the seriousness of her time jumping becomes more apparent, the film blossoms into an important story about loss and friendship.

Crime noir meets science fiction in Rian Johnson’s Looper , and the match is magical. In a future where time travel is invented and immediately made illegal, crime syndicates use the technology for time-hopping assassinations. But to tie off some temporal inconsistencies, the assassin must eventually become the target—and that’s where things get interesting. This isn’t flawless sci-fi, but it’s certainly inventive.

17. Run Lola Run

On its surface, the German film Run Lola Run is about a blazingly red-headed woman running through the streets of Berlin in an attempt to save her boyfriend’s life. However, the twist is that once Lola reaches a dead-end (sometimes literally) in one of her runs, the film starts over from the beginning and Lola runs through Berlin once again, only this time small changes in her path create largely divergent outcomes by the film’s end. Although time is more of a thematic device than a strictly plot-driven one in Run Lola Run, its ruminations on time and the exploration of the Butterfly Effect , the idea that small incidents can have lasting repercussions, makes Run Lola Run one of the most unique films on this list.

16. Avengers: Endgame

What happens when the big purple monster man annihilates half the population? Time travel, baby. Tony Stark and gang concoct a convoluted plan that’ll save the universe from being cleaved in two, including some very inventive scenes that play with time travel. Like most time travel plots, Endgame creates more questions than it answers, but it’s best to just sit back and enjoy.

Darren lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes/edits about sci-fi and how our world works. You can find his previous stuff at Gizmodo and Paste if you look hard enough. 

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The 15 Most Creative, Mind-Bending Time Travel Movies Ever Made

With Safety Not Guaranteed and About Time , these are the best movies about time travel you haven't seen yet.

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

Ever wish you could go back in time and handle a situation differently — or live through a historic event before your time? You're not the only one. Time travel has captured the imagination of countless creatives over the years, giving us some fascinating, morally challenging and even hilarious movies. We may not be able to talk a walk into the past — but as some of these films prove, that may be a good thing.

About Time (2013)

Instead of altering history and life as we know it, the protagonist in this charming British film uses his time-traveling abilities for something a little more relatable: finding love. The result is a surprisingly sweet and criminally underrated romantic comedy.

RELATED: The 60 Best Romantic Comedies of All Time to Stream Right Now

Predestination (2015)

Based on Robert Heinlein’s short story All You Zombies , this Ethan Hawke movie will leave you guessing (and second-guessing) the whole time. Without spoiling the ending, it's definitely worth watching again.

The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)

Of the three movies where Rachel McAdams dates a time traveling man (girlfriend's got a type), the drama is definitely the most serious. Based on Audrey Niffenegger's 2003 novel of the same name, Clare tries to build a life with the man she loves — while dealing with the fact he has no control over where and when he will travel through time.

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

Excellent! You're going to want to revisit this goofy, fun time travel flick before Keanu Reeves returns for the upcoming sequel.

Groundhog Day (1993)

Does living the same day over-and-over again count as time travel? This Bill Murray film about a weather man trapped in the worst day of his life is a classic, so we're going to count it.

Doctor Strange (2016)

Marvel fans are probably already familiar with Benedict Cumberbatch's role as a neurosurgeon with the powers to access alternate dimensions, but even if you're not familiar with the Marvel Universe, you can still enjoy this superhero romp.

RELATED: How to Watch All 24 Marvel Movies in the Correct Order

Back to the Future (1985)

If you're looking for some good, old-fashioned nostalgia, this 80s classic holds up! Michael J. Fox stars as Marty McFly, a teen who accidentally who accidentally gets stuck in the 1950s thanks to his mad scientist friend — and must make sure his parents fall in love with each other so he can still exist!

Interstellar (2014)

Trippy, mind-bending, and everything you want out of a time-travel movie, Christopher Nolan's time-traveling space epic will stay with you long after you finish watching,

Donnie Darko (2001)

Though it initially flopped at the box office, this film gathered a cult-following when it was released on DVD, thanks to Jake Gyllenhaal's intense performance and the surrealist images and themes just waiting to be dissected and discussed. See if you can untangle this famously dense plot for yourself.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

One of the best Harry Potter films happens to also be a time-traveling tale. Hermione uses a "Time Turner" to take more classes at Hogwarts, but that's not all Harry and his friends use the device for.

Time Bandits (1981)

Terry Gilliam's endlessly imaginative film follows an 11-year-old boy who teams up with 6 dwarves for an adventure through time.

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

A classified ad from a mysterious man looking for a time-traveling companion intrigues three cynical Seattle journalists. An unexpected connection forms between the would-be scientist and one of the reporters in this low-key indie.

Primer (2004)

Two engineers create an invention that can alter time — and butt heads over how to handle the magnitude of their creation.

Time After Time (1971)

H.G. Wells pursues Jack the Ripper in 1970's San Fransisco — as outlandish as the premise is, it's a fascinating movie once you get on board with it.

The Terminator (1984)

Two time travelers from the future, an evil cyborg and a resistance fighter, fight over the life of modern woman Sarah Connor, after it's revealed her fate can save humanity.

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10 Best Time Travel Movies: A Mind-Bending Collection of Temporal Adventures

Time travel has been a popular subject in movies for decades, allowing filmmakers to explore the possibilities and consequences of altering the past or future.

Whether it’s through a time machine, a wormhole, or some other means, time travel movies have captured the imagination of audiences and inspired countless theories and debates.

Some of the best time travel movies have used the concept to tell stories that are thrilling, thought-provoking, and emotionally resonant.

From science fiction classics to mind-bending thrillers, these films have entertained and challenged audiences while exploring the mysteries of time and space.

Best Time Travel Movies

Whether you’re a fan of action-packed adventures or more introspective dramas, there’s a time travel movie out there for everyone. So sit back, buckle up, and get ready for a journey through some of the best time travel movies ever made.

1. The Time Machine (1960)

“The Time Machine” is a 1960 American science fiction film directed by George Pal and starring Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, and Alan Young. The film is based on the 1895 novel of the same name by H.G. Wells.

The film follows a time traveler named George, played by Rod Taylor, who builds a machine that can transport him through time.

He travels to the year 802,701 AD and discovers a future world where humanity has split into two separate species: the childlike Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks, who prey upon the Eloi.

“The Time Machine” is known for its groundbreaking special effects, which won an Academy Award, as well as for its themes of evolution, class struggle, and the dangers of technological progress.

It has been cited as an important work in the science fiction genre and has inspired numerous adaptations and homages in popular culture.

“The Time Machine” was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $1 million at the box office and earning positive reviews for its performances, visuals, and social commentary. It has since become a cult classic and remains a beloved science fiction film.

• Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
• Rod Taylor, Alan Young, Yvette Mimieux (Actors)
• George Pal (Director) - David Duncan (Writer) - George Pal (Producer)
• English (Playback Language)
• English (Subtitle)

2. Back to the Future (1985)

“Back to the Future” is a science fiction adventure film directed by Robert Zemeckis and released in 1985.

The movie stars Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, among others, and follows the story of a high school student who travels back in time to the 1950s in a time machine built by his eccentric scientist friend.

The film is known for its creative storyline, inventive special effects, and memorable characters, as well as its iconic soundtrack and catchphrases.

It explores themes of time travel, the consequences of changing the past, and the importance of family and friendship, as the characters navigate their way through a series of adventures and obstacles in both the present and the past.

“Back to the Future” was a critical and commercial success upon its release, and has since become a beloved classic of the sci-fi genre. It has been praised for its engaging storyline, entertaining characters, and expertly crafted mix of comedy, action, and drama.

The film spawned two sequels, as well as numerous spinoffs, adaptations, and merchandise.

• Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson (Actors)
• Robert Zemeckis (Director) - Robert Zemeckis (Writer) - Bob Gale (Producer)

3. The Terminator (1984)

“The Terminator” is a science fiction film that was released in 1984. It was directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd.

The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the titular character, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from the future to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the mother of the future leader of the human resistance against the machines.

Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a soldier from the future, is also sent back in time to protect Sarah and stop the Terminator.

The film is known for its iconic action scenes, special effects, and memorable lines, such as “I’ll be back.” It was a critical and commercial success, and spawned a franchise that includes several sequels, spin-offs, and a television series.

The film has been praised for its innovative storytelling and its portrayal of technology and its potential dangers.

• Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen (Actors)
• James Cameron (Director) - Gail Ann Hurd (Writer) - Gale Anne Hurd (Producer)

4. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

“Terminator 2: Judgment Day” is a science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and released in 1991.

It is the sequel to the 1984 film “The Terminator” and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and Edward Furlong.

The film follows the story of Sarah Connor and her son John, who are being pursued by a new, advanced Terminator sent back in time to kill John and prevent him from leading the human resistance against the machines in the future.

However, they are also aided by a reprogrammed Terminator sent back to protect them.

“Terminator 2: Judgment Day” was a major critical and commercial success upon its release, and is widely regarded as one of the best action films ever made.

It was praised for its groundbreaking special effects, intense action sequences, and its strong performances, particularly by Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor.

The film has since become a cultural icon, with its iconic characters and memorable quotes ingrained in popular culture. It is also considered a landmark in the science fiction genre, and is often cited as a prime example of the use of time travel and artificial intelligence in film.

• Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong (Actors)
• James Cameron (Director) - James Cameron (Producer)
• English, Spanish, French (Subtitles)
• French (Publication Language)
• Audience Rating: R (Restricted)

5. Time After Time (1979)

“Time After Time” is a science fiction movie released in 1979, directed by Nicholas Meyer and starring Malcolm McDowell and David Warner.

The film follows the story of H.G. Wells (McDowell) as he uses his time machine to pursue Jack the Ripper (Warner) into the future, ending up in San Francisco in the 1970s.

The film explores a number of themes, including the nature of good and evil, the consequences of time travel, and the idea of progress. The movie also features a number of suspenseful and action-packed scenes, as well as a romantic subplot between Wells and a modern-day woman.

“Time After Time” received generally positive reviews upon its release, with critics praising its innovative concept, strong performances, and clever script.

The film has since become a cult classic and is considered one of the best time travel movies of all time, known for its imaginative storytelling and thrilling action sequences.

• Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, Mary Steenburgen (Actors)
• Nicholas Meyer (Director) - Nicholas Meyer (Writer) - Herb Jaffe (Producer)

6. Donnie Darko (2001)

Donnie Darko is a science fiction psychological thriller movie released in 2001, written and directed by Richard Kelly and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, and Drew Barrymore.

The plot of the movie revolves around a troubled teenager named Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) who has visions of a giant rabbit named Frank, who tells him that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds.

As the days pass, Donnie’s life becomes increasingly surreal and unpredictable, as he grapples with his own mental illness, strange occurrences in his small town, and the possibility that his visions may be real.

Donnie Darko was a critical and commercial success upon its release, with many critics praising its complex storyline, inventive visuals, and powerful performances from the cast. The movie has since become a cult classic, with many fans dissecting its intricate plot and themes of time travel, fate, and mental illness.

If you’re in the mood for a mind-bending thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end, Donnie Darko is definitely worth checking out. Just be prepared for a movie that will challenge your perceptions of reality and leave you thinking long after the credits roll.

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7. Planet of the Apes (1968)

“Planet of the Apes” is a science fiction movie released in 1968, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Charlton Heston. The film is based on the 1963 novel “La Planète des Singes” by Pierre Boulle.

The story follows a group of astronauts who crash-land on a planet ruled by intelligent apes, with humans serving as a subservient and primitive species.

The film explores themes of science, society, and evolution as the main character, George Taylor (Charlton Heston), tries to survive and unravel the mysteries of this strange new world.

“Planet of the Apes” was a critical and commercial success, and is now considered a science fiction classic. The film’s exploration of social and political issues through the lens of science fiction has been praised by critics and fans alike.

The film also spawned a successful franchise, including several sequels, a television series, and a modern film reboot series.

• Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter (Actors)
• Franklin J. Schaffner (Director) - Michael Wilson (Writer) - Arthur P. Jacobs (Producer)

8. Groundhog Day (1993)

“Groundhog Day” is a 1993 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, and Chris Elliott.

The film follows the story of Phil Connors, a cynical TV weatherman who is sent to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to cover the annual Groundhog Day celebrations. However, he finds himself trapped in a time loop, reliving the same day over and over again.

As Phil continues to relive the same day, he begins to reevaluate his life choices and ultimately seeks redemption by using his newfound knowledge and time to help others.

The film is known for its creative premise, witty writing, and memorable performances, particularly by Murray, who delivers a career-defining performance.

“Groundhog Day” was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $70 million at the box office and earning widespread acclaim for its blend of comedy, romance, and philosophical themes.

It has since become a cultural phenomenon, inspiring numerous references and homages in popular culture, as well as scholarly analysis and interpretation for its exploration of existentialism, Buddhism, and the nature of time.

• Bill Murray, Richard Henzel, Andie MacDowell (Actors)
• Harold Ramis (Director) - Harold Ramis (Writer) - Harold Ramis (Producer)

9. Run Lola Run (1998)

“Run Lola Run” is a German thriller film directed by Tom Tykwer and released in 1998. The movie stars Franka Potente as Lola, a young woman who has 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 deutsche marks in order to save her boyfriend Manni, who is a small-time criminal.

The film is known for its creative storytelling, frenetic pacing, and innovative use of editing and visual effects. It explores themes of fate, chance, and free will, as the story unfolds in three different versions, each with small changes that have a significant impact on the outcome.

“Run Lola Run” was a critical and commercial success upon its release, and has since become a cult classic of the thriller genre.

It has been praised for its innovative use of cinematic techniques, its high-energy soundtrack, and the dynamic performance by Franka Potente. The film has influenced numerous other movies and directors, and is considered a landmark of German cinema.

• Franka Potente, Herbert Knaup, Joachim Krol (Actors)
• Tom Tykwer (Director) - Stefan Arndt (Producer)
• English, French (Subtitles)
• English (Publication Language)

10. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

“Safety Not Guaranteed” is a science fiction comedy-drama film that was released in 2012. It was directed by Colin Trevorrow and written by Derek Connolly. The film stars Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, and Jake Johnson.

The plot of the film revolves around a magazine journalist named Jeff (Jake Johnson) and his two interns, Darius (Aubrey Plaza) and Arnau (Karan Soni), who investigate a classified ad seeking a time-traveling companion.

They meet the ad’s author, Kenneth (Mark Duplass), who claims to have built a time machine and is seeking a partner to travel back in time with him.

As Darius begins to bond with Kenneth and becomes increasingly invested in his mission, Jeff becomes more skeptical and begins to investigate Kenneth’s past.

The film explores themes of regret, nostalgia, and the search for meaning in life. It received positive reviews for its performances, humor, and emotional depth.

• Alice Hung, Aubrey Plaza, Basil Harris (Actors)
• Colin Trevorrow (Director) - Marc Turtletaub (Producer)

3 Characteristics of Time Travel Movies

The Butterfly Effect: Many time travel movies explore the idea of the “butterfly effect,” which refers to the idea that even small changes in the past can have significant consequences in the future.

This concept is often used to create tension and suspense in the plot, as characters must grapple with the potential consequences of their actions.

Paradoxes: Time travel movies often play with the idea of paradoxes, such as the grandfather paradox (where someone goes back in time and accidentally kills their own grandfather, thus preventing their own birth) or the bootstrap paradox (where an object or piece of information is sent back in time and becomes its own cause).

These paradoxes can be used to create mind-bending plot twists and explore complex philosophical ideas.

Consequences: Time travel movies often explore the consequences of time travel, both on an individual level (such as the psychological toll of reliving traumatic events) and on a larger scale (such as the potential for altering history and changing the course of human events).

These consequences can be used to create drama, suspense, and emotional resonance in the story.

3 Reasons To Watch Time Travel Movies

They offer a unique perspective on time and history: Time travel movies allow us to imagine what it would be like to travel back or forward in time, and see how the world and its people might have been different in the past or future.

They offer a unique way to explore history, culture, and the human condition from a different angle, and can spark our imagination and curiosity.

They challenge our understanding of cause and effect: Time travel movies often play with the concept of cause and effect, showing how small changes in the past can have major consequences in the present or future.

They can challenge our assumptions about the nature of time, free will, and fate, and force us to think about the ethical implications of our actions.

They can be thrilling and entertaining: Time travel movies often combine elements of science fiction, action, and drama, making them exciting and entertaining to watch. They can take us on a thrilling adventure through time and space, filled with suspense, humor, and memorable characters. Whether you’re a fan of mind-bending puzzles or action-packed adventures, time travel movies offer something for everyone.

Best Time Travel Movies – Wrap Up

In conclusion, time travel movies have provided audiences with a fascinating and thought-provoking cinematic experience for many years. From exploring the mysteries of the universe to examining the consequences of altering the past, these films have challenged viewers to consider the possibilities and implications of time travel.

Some of the best time travel movies have become cultural touchstones, inspiring discussions and debates among fans and scholars alike. They have featured complex characters, engaging storylines, and stunning visual effects that have captured the imagination of audiences around the world.

Whether you’re a fan of science fiction, action, or drama, there’s a time travel movie out there for you. So whether you’re re-watching a classic or discovering a new favorite, buckle up and get ready for a journey through time and space.

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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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30 Best Time-Travel Movies to Watch If You’re Ready to Leave 2020 Behind

Does 2020 have you googling “best time-travel movies” as a last-resort attempt to try and transport yourself to a different version of reality? No, just us? Well, it's certainly understandable. Who wouldn't want to get out of this year, if only for a couple hours? The idea that you could potentially jump into a machine and change the past à la Back to the Future or stumble upon an infinite time loop like in Palm Springs is an interesting thought experiment, to say the least.

Or maybe you're just out of things to watch. Whatever the case, the best time-travel movies cover every genre. Looking for a tug-at-your-heartstrings romance? Try About Time or The Time Traveler's Wife (both of which star Rachel McAdams , who must have a thing for time travel). If a sci-fi action flick sounds more appealing, the Terminator films still hold up. For a goofy comedy, watch Hot Tub Time Machine or Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Like we said, there's something for everyone. 

Palm Springs (2020)

So Palm Springs is not technically a time-travel movie, but it's definitely time-travel adjacent. The film follows Sarah (Cristin Milioti) and Nyles (Andy Samberg), two acquaintances who find themselves perpetually repeating Sarah's sister's wedding day. Frankly, this rom-com might remind you of your own quarantine time loop (in the best way possible, of course).  

Available to stream on Hulu

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

A group of buddies (John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Rob Corddry) wake up after a night of partying in a ski resort hot tub to find themselves back in 1986. They even look like versions of their younger selves to the others they meet along the way. But can they actually fix the messes their lives have become? 

Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video

The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)

The Time Traveler's Wife is a 2009 science fiction drama film based on Audrey Niffenegger's novel of the same name. The story follows Henry DeTamble (Eric Bana), a man who happens to have the ability to time-travel but has no control over when or where he goes in time. While that's complicated enough, things become even more complex for DeTamble once he starts building a romantic relationship with Clare Abshire (Rachel McAdams).

Available to stream on Netflix  

The Butterfly Effect (2004)

The Butterfly Effect is a 2004 science fiction thriller film starring Ashton Kutcher as 20-year-old Evan Treborn and Amy Smart as Kayleigh Miller, Treborn's college sweetheart. In the film, Evan finds he can travel back in time to inhabit his former self and attempts to change the present by changing his past. But, as any good time-travel fan can tell you, changing the past means there will be unintended consequences in the future. 

By Kathleen Walsh

By Danielle Sinay

By Sam Reed

Idiocracy (2006)

Joe Bowers (Luke Wilson) is a super-average dude in 2005 who agrees to take part in an experiment (alongside Maya Rudolph ) that puts him into hibernation until 2505. The thing is, when he wakes up, he discovers that humans have become so unintelligent that he's now the smartest person in the whole wide world. It's both hysterical and a cutting satire that draws some parallels to our current state of affairs. 

Available to buy on iTunes

A Wrinkle in Time (2018)

Ava DuVernay directed an all-star cast in this Disney adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's beloved 1962 novel of the same name. Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling play three immortal beings who help a young girl (Storm Reid) search for her missing father across space and time.

Click (2006)

Adam Sandler plays a man whose wife (Kate Beckinsale) is frustrated by how much time he spends at work and away from his family. He thinks all his problems are solved when he comes into possession of a magical remote that allows him to fast-forward through the mundane parts of life. But, of course, nothing's quite that simple. 

About Time (2013)

No, you're not seeing things—Rachel McAdams has, in fact, starred in multiple films in which she has a time-traveling partner. In this case, her love is played by Domhnall Gleeson, who is actively trying to change his past in order to have a better future. Prepare to possibly shed a tear or two with this one. 

Available to stream on Netflix

Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

Yeah, baby! In the second installment of the Mike Myers series, Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, and the whole crew find themselves back in the ’60s. Dr. Evil is trying to steal Austin’s “mojo,” and along with Heather Graham's Felicity Shagwell, the international man of mystery tries to thwart the bad guys. 

Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)

After conquering the late ’60s in the second film, the Austin Powers trilogy is completed with a trip back to 1975. Austin teams up with Beyoncé, a.k.a. Foxxy Cleopatra, when Dr. Evil plans to bring back a notorious villain called Johan van der Smut, the titular Goldmember. It is as ridiculous and amusing as the first two films, naturally. 

Back to the Future (1985)

Great Scott! Doc Brown's (Christopher Lloyd) DeLorean time machine sends Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) back to his parents' high school days in 1955, and things get very awkward when his mom (Lea Thompson) develops a crush on him. He has to work hard to make sure his future existence isn't totally erased. 

Back to the Future Part II (1989)

In the second film of the Back to the Future franchise, Marty and Doc find themselves in yet another time-space conundrum. This time they have to travel to 2015 (a world that people in the ’80s imagined would have us all on hoverboards!) to try to make sure the evil Biff doesn’t take over the town. 

Back to the Future Part III (2000)

The third installment of the Back to the Future trilogy may not be its strongest, but if you're a completist, you're going to want to see Marty's journey through. This time around he and Doc Brown find themselves in the Wild Wild West. Actually, is this the movie that eventually led us to Westworld ?!?

Deja Vu (2006)

Technology allows a team of federal agents, including Denzel Washington, to go back in time four days to try to stop a massive ferry bombing set off by a terrorist (Jim Caviezel, who also time-traveled in Frequency ). But will Washington's character also use the tech to stop other crimes, thereby messing with the future? You'll have to watch and see. 

Happy Death Day 2U (2019)

In the sequel to Happy Death Day , Tree (Jessica Rothe) finds herself in yet another time-loop situation—and this time she seemingly moves through different dimensions. While her life is still very much in danger, this sequel adds some very emotional scenes that happen when an important figure from Tree's past makes her way into the present. 

Looper (2012)

In Looper 's version of the future, which was directed by Rian Johnson, time travel totally exists—if you can afford to pay for it on the black market. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a time-traveling hit man who finds himself in quite the predicament when a future version of himself (Bruce Willis) is sent back to eliminate him . 

See You Yesterday (2019)

Teen science prodigies experimenting in making time-travel backpacks? Um, we're already all the way in. But everything takes a dramatic turn when one of their brothers is killed and the two try to put their work into action to change the past. Did we mention this was also produced by Spike Lee? 

The Terminator (1984)

In this James Cameron action classic from the ’80s, a cyborg assassin who is disguising himself as a human (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is sent from the future to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) because of the threat her future son will one day become—and a blockbuster franchise was born. 

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Set 11 years after the original film, this James Cameron–helmed sequel finds Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator in the role of protector of Linda Hamilton's son, played by Edward Furlong, because a shape-shifting T-1000 (Robert Patrick) is out to kill him, naturally. Also, Hamilton's fitness routine must have been incredible prefilming because she is a very strong badass . 

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

Ted “Theodore” Logan (Keanu Reeves) and Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter), go on quite the excellent adventure indeed, dudes. The best friends use a phone booth time machine to ensure they both pass their history class—and keep Ted from being shipped off to military school. Their interactions with historical figures are very righteous, and you'll want to watch the original film in preparation for the upcoming reboot . 

Kate & Leopold (2001)

Rom-com meets fantasy in this Meg Ryan–Hugh Jackman film in which Liev Schreiber plays a physicist who opens a portal through which his great-great-grandfather Leopold travels from 19th-century New York to modern times and falls in love with his ex-girlfriend (Ryan). Talk about complicated family dynamics, right? 

Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)

Peggy Sue is an unhappy woman on the verge of divorce attending her 25-year high school reunion after leaving her cheating husband (Nicolas Cage). Magically, she finds herself reliving her senior year and she's faced with whether or not to change some of the choices she grew to regret as an adult. 

Star Trek (2009)

Directed by science fiction king J.J. Abrams, this reboot of the beloved Star Trek franchise had a unique plot for James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), and the staff aboard the USS Enterprise: All the action takes place in an alternate reality, because of time travel, which allowed the movie to operate free from any continuity restraints from the original Star Trek series. 

Frequency (2000)

A New York police officer (Jim Caviezel) in 1999 somehow crosses radio frequencies (get it?!) with the past and soon begins to communicate with his father, a firefighter who died in the line of duty when he was a kid. But will he be able to change what transpired on that tragic day in 1969?

12 Monkeys (1995)

Maybe don't watch this one until you're ready for the too-real plot: A deadly virus has wiped out most of humanity, so a prisoner (Bruce Willis) is trained to be sent back in time to find the original virus and help establish a cure. Brad Pitt was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film. 

Available to stream on HBO.

Men in Black III (2012)

Set 15 years after the events of the original Men in Black , this third installment in the franchise was a hit with critics and at the box office for its action-packed plot in which Agent J (Will Smith) must travel back to the 1960s to save a young Agent K (Josh Brolin, in the role originated by Tommy Lee Jones) from a murderous, time-hopping alien. 

Clockstoppers (2002)

If you're feeling an early-aughts teen comedy with a side of time travel, Clockstoppers is, well, your only option. Jesse Bradford plays Zak, the son of a scientist who accidentally finds a watch that can essentially stop time. So, of course, the first thing he does is use it to impress his crush Francesca (Paula Garcés) and best friend Meeker (Garikayi Mutambirwa). 

Available to stream on HBO

Somewhere in Time (1980)

Christopher Reeve stars as a playwright who becomes obsessed with the photograph of a woman from 1912 (Jane Seymour), to the point that he magically finds himself transported back in time to find her. Fun fact: Visit Michigan's Mackinac Island, where this was filmed, and you'll feel like you're in another era yourself. The island famously has a ban on motor vehicles. 

The Lake House (2006)

Keanu Reeves plays a hot architect, Alex, who renovates a lake house in Wisconsin and sometimes writes romantic love letters to Sandra Bullock's character, Kate. How is that a time-travel movie, you ask? Turns out Alex is living in 2004, while Kate is in 2006—somehow the mailbox at the lake house is a mysterious time portal. 

Deadpool 2 (2018)

In this superhero sequel, Wade Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) reluctantly teams up with the X-Men—including the incredible Zazie Beetz as Domino, a mutant with the ability to manipulate luck—to fight a time-traveling soldier known as Cable (Josh Brolin). Because this is a Deadpool movie, expect a lot of R-rated language and violence. 

By Malia Griggs

By Jake Henry Smith

Future Tense: The 20 Best Time-Travel Movies

By Gavin Edwards

Gavin Edwards

“Time travel hasn’t been invented yet. But it will be,” Joseph Gordon-Levitt says at the beginning of  Looper. That’s the thing about time travel: Once you invent a time machine, you just have to use it to travel back to the U.S. Patent Office on the first day it opened, so you can register your invention and serve as inspiration for an endless stream of movies. For decades, Hollywood has been treating the space-time continuum like it’s just the daily rushes for editors to cut together.

Over the past few summers, for example, X-Men: Days of Future Past sends Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine back in time 50 years, while Edge of Tomorrow puts Tom Cruise in a temporal loop, letting him relive the same battle over and over. So crank up your flux capacitor and check out 20 of the best time-travel movies.

[Editor’s Note: A version of this list was originally published in 2014]

‘Donnie Darko’ (2001)

“Do you believe in time travel?” Jake Gyllenhaal, in his breakout role, plays a disturbed teenager who starts getting warnings about the end of the world from a guy in a rabbit costume. This cult film by Richard Kelly is a puzzle about alternate universes and suburban vortexes; no matter which cut you watch, you still get a moody, trippy slice of high-school alienation and the best use ever of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World.”

‘The Lake House’ (2006)

This romance scores by having one of the weirdest time-travel gimmicks ever: Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock send letters to each other via a mailbox at a rental house — even though she is writing and reading them exactly two years after he is. (Many time-travel movies don’t make sense if you think about them too hard; this one doesn’t make sense if you have an autonomic nervous system.) Reeves and Bullock are appealing together, although it seems like a missed opportunity not to put them on a bus that, should it go over or under 50 mph, travels back to the Renaissance Era or something.

‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ (2004)

The best Harry Potter movie happens to be the one with the most time travel. Coincidence? Hermione has been granted special permission to use a Time Turner because she wants more hours in the day to take a heavier courseload. But the climax of the story is Hermione and Harry’s mission back in time a few hours to save Sirius Black and a hippogriff — revising what we’ve seen before like a crack film editor splicing in new material with Final Cut Pro.

‘Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me’ (1999)

In the second installment of Mike Myers’ James Bond spoof, groovy secret agent Austin Powers has to go back to his native environment, the swinging Sixties, in pursuit of Dr. Evil. Since Powers goes cross-eyed (literally) when he tries to consider time-travel paradoxes, nobody in the movie takes the premise too seriously. Austin’s description of the 1990s to Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham): “Everyone has their own flying car, entire meals come in pill form, and the Earth is run by damn dirty apes.”

‘The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey’ (1988)

Trying to escape the Black Plague in 1348, English villagers dig a tunnel and end up in 20th-century New Zealand, switching from black-and-white to color like Dorothy traveling to Oz. (If you object to the notion of 14th-century villagers finding a way to travel forward in time 600 years…well, in the present day, we haven’t invented time machines either.) Suffused with surrealism and religious faith, the movie succeeds in making clear how strange our modern world actually is.

‘Peggy Sue Got Married’ (1986)

This Francis Ford Coppola movie, dismissed by some as a rehash of Back to the Future ( both feature a protagonist traveling back to the doo-wop era) is actually a small gem, rueful and thoughtful. Kathleen Turner finds herself transported back to 1960, her senior year of high school, trying to figure out how her choices as a teenager helped form her identity as an adult — and hoping she can turn “She Loves You” into a hit before Lennon and McCartney get around to writing it.

‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’ (1989)

There are many other goofy time-machine journeys through the past, from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court to Mr. Peabody & Sherman;  none of those, however, have brilliantly slack-jawed performances by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves. The premise: Two SoCal teens need to locate famous figures of Western civilization so they won’t fail history and their band, the Wyld Stallyns, can stay together and become the musical foundation of a future utopia. The most inspirational moment comes when Ted (Reeves) philosophizes with Socrates by quoting Kansas: “All we are is dust in the wind, dude.”

‘Safety Not Guaranteed’ (2012)

Mark Duplass plays the grocery clerk who’s invented a time machine and places a classified ad looking for somebody to travel back in time with him; Aubrey Plaza plays the magazine intern who shows up on an assignment to investigate that ad. Guess who forges an unlikely connection? This indie movie explores the enduring fantasy of time travel: you get to live your life again, only better. What gives the film life — aside from great performances by Duplass and Plaza — is that it’s not clear until the end whether they’re indulging that fantasy, or whether his time machine actually works.

‘Galaxy Quest’ (1999)

You may remember Galaxy Quest as a genius Star Trek parody featuring the cast of a cheesy outer-space TV show (Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman) thrust into a real interstellar adventure — and not as a time-travel movie. But one of the central pieces of technology in the film is the Omega 13 device, which turns out to be a time machine, albeit not a particularly flexible one: It sends its user 13 seconds into the past. That may be the smallest increment of time travel in any movie, but it turns out to be just enough time to save the day.

‘Planet of the Apes’ (1968)

If you need a spoiler alert for a 45-year-old movie with one of the most famous plot twists in history, you may want to build your own time machine and head back to an era before this movie was released. (Remember to bring your copy of Grays Sports Almanac. ) Everyone else knows that the brilliance of the Statue of Liberty scene is the revelation that yes, this Charlton Heston sci-fi classic is actually a time-travel movie: Charlton Heston’s astronaut has not journeyed to a galaxy far, far away, but only two millennia into Earth’s future. (The time-travel elements of the franchise became even more pronounced in the sequels: in 1971’s Escape from the Planet of the Apes, three future apes travel back to 1973 and end up testifying at a presidential commission.)

‘Time Bandits’ (1981)

Terry Gilliam’s relentlessly inventive time-travel caper stars a young boy and six dwarfs who have swiped a map of the universe and are using it to steal everything they can. Best cameos: Sean Connery as Agamemnon and John Cleese as a daffily aristocratic Robin Hood. God was played by the distinguished British actor Ralph Richardson, who got so into the role that he rejected some of his dialogue, telling Gilliam, “God wouldn’t say that.”

‘Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home’ (1986)

The Star Trek franchise, both on TV and on the big screen, has featured so many time-travel stories, working every possible angle, that eventually the Deep Space Nine show had to introduce a Department of Temporal Investigations just to keep everything straight. This romp was one of Starfleet’s best journeys through time: Kirk and the Enterprise crew head to 1980s San Francisco to bring a humpback whale to the future, and are befuddled by 20th-century concepts such as punk rock, computer keyboards, and exact change.

‘Run Lola Run’ (1998)

The crimson-haired Lola (Franka Potente) gets a phone call from her boyfriend: He’s lost a bag with 100,000 deutschemarks, and if he doesn’t find it or replace it in the next 20 minutes, his criminal boss will kill him. So Lola runs through Berlin, dodging bicyclists, causing car accidents, provoking flash-forward sequences of the destiny of various pedestrians, trying to find a way out. Each time she fails, the 20-minute time loop starts again — it seems to be powered by love and the absence of cash.

‘Hot Tub Time Machine’ (2010)

Probably the funniest time-travel movie ever made: John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, and Clark Duke head back to the 1980s while at a ski resort, revisiting a time when hair was big, outerwear was neon, and Poison was a big headlining band. (It’s also a time when Cusack was a much bigger movie star; the movie sidesteps that.) Best scene: Robinson having sex in a bathtub so he won’t disrupt the timeline, weeping because he feels guilty about cheating on his wife, even though she’s only nine years old in 1986.

‘Looper’ (2012)

“I’m a sucker for the time-travel genre,” director Rian Johnson told Rolling Stone. “If you’re a nerd like I am, it’s really fun to work out the map of how everything is going to work.” But he made sure this movie, about contract killers snuffing people sent back in time 30 years, didn’t feel like “algebra homework”;  instead, Looper has an aging hitman (Bruce Willis) confronting his younger self (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). For all its sci-fi inventiveness and thrills, the best scene is the two leads meeting at a diner: a young man looking his older self in the eye, determined not to turn into him.

‘Primer’ (2004)

A rigorous, graduate-level time-travel movie, full of confusing plot twists, technical jargon, and duplicate versions of characters trying to outfox each other. But it’s also a thrilling mind-bender, and as soon as you’re done watching it, you want to see the whole thing again to see if it actually makes sense. (It does). Made for an astonishingly low $7,000, director Shane Carruth’s debut is also one of the best movies ever about a tech start-up: When some engineer friends make a working time machine, they skip right over the ethical consequences in favor of the financial rewards.

‘Back to the Future’ (1985)

Funny, thrilling, unbelievably Oedipal: When Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) travels to 1955 and accidentally prevents his parents from getting together, his mother transfers her affections to him instead. Fortunately, Fox doesn’t have to pluck out his eyes — instead, he labors to make his parents fall in love, so that he will actually be born. Best subtle joke: McFly knocks down a tree in 1955; back in 1985, a shopping center has changed its name from the Twin Pines Mall to the Lone Pine Mall.

‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’ (1991)

The original Terminator (1984) had a great premise: Arnold Schwarzenegger is a killer cyborg (just the way you like him) coming from the future to kill waitress Linda Hamilton so she can’t give birth to the eventual leader of the human resistance. But seven years later, director James Cameron upped the stakes with this sequel — not just blowing out retinas with bigger explosions and more CGI, but wrestling with the philosophical paradox of whether knowing the future removes humanity’s free will.

‘La Jetée’ (1962)

A gorgeous 28-minute film, told in a montage of black-and-white still photographs and narrated in French, about a man sent back in time to avert an apocalyptic war. He’s obsessed with his childhood memories of a beautiful woman and seeing a man die — inevitably, he gets tangled in the silken cords of time travel. This novella of a movie is pretty much perfect, which didn’t stop Hollywood from making a big-budget feature-length version: 12 Monkeys  (1995), directed by Terry Gilliam, and starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt.

‘Groundhog Day’ (1993)

Time travel doesn’t have to span hundreds of years to be a significant plot element in a movie, of course: it can be hours, or a handful of seconds. Characters can be caught in a loop, or spawn alternate universes, or even kill their grandfathers, depending on the rules the filmmakers set up: at press time, actual time travel was still fictional. The time travel in this Bill Murray comedy, while limited to a single day, still plays into one of the most fundamental reasons for its persistence: the notion that if we had a chance to do our lives over, we could do it better the second time. The movie’s great subversion of that fantasy is the lesson that you could begin your do-over right now, in the present tense, on February 3rd and beyond.

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15 Classic 1980s Time Travel Movies

The decade took the classic sci-fi premise that had been around for a while before and breathed fresh, outrageous new life into them.

The 1980s was an era of wild, free-wheeling, neon-lit adventures and cinema was no different. While action and romance movies were at a peak, perhaps no other genre benefited more from this experimental spirit than time travel films. The decade took the classic sci-fi premise that had been around for a while before and breathed fresh, outrageous new life into them.

Writers and directors saw time travel as a fascinating concept for both dreamers and nerds, not as a serious mechanical problem that needed to be eliminated but as an excuse for pure, pulse-pounding fun. If you've grown up loving these movies, sneaking into the theater to catch the latest twist on the possibility of changing one's past or future, then the 1980s was your golden age. The aughts may have given us time loops and complex multiverse theories, but the '80s went all in on leveraging simple analog technologies to spin time travel adventures.

Related: These are the Best Movies that Got Time Travel Right

These movies had all the ingredients, from flashing neon lights and Atari references to headset-wearing scientists in lab coats, that made them flavorful and enjoyable. There were also chatty memorable sidekicks and thrilling chase scenes through the past, present, and future. In the classic time travel movies of the '80s, stuff was simple (if ridiculous), the future was bright (if doomed), and anything was possible. So fasten your seatbelts because we’re about to go, well, back in time.

15 The Final Countdown (1980)

Fans of science fiction and war drama gather around because The Final Countdown is a movie that balances both genres with incredible ease. Starring Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen, this movie follows the U.S.S. Nimitz aircraft carrier that is dispatched on a routine training exercise but it mysteriously enters a time warp and winds up transported back to December 6th, 1941 – the day before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Now the captain and the crew find themselves in a race against time to stop the inevitable tragedy while also trying to make it back to the future intact. As far-fetched as the idea may seem, director Don Taylor makes sure it is executed with an earnest spirit.

This crowd-pleaser features plenty of ‘80s cheese but also gives us some genuinely memorable and exciting sequences aboard a real-life Pacific aircraft carrier.

14 Somewhere in Time (1980)

Set in 1972, Somewhere in Time follows the wistful love story of Richard Collier, a playwright played by Christopher Reeve, who is immediately entranced after seeing a picture of Elise McKenna, played by Jane Seymour. Physically, he’s staying at the Grand Hotel in Mackinac Island in Michigan, but his heart wanders to about to know more about this stage actress. He comes across an old pocket watch given by someone who claims it possesses the power to transport him to the 19th century. He carries out self-hypnosis and travels back in time to meet the woman he believes is the love of his life.

The movie is overall wholesome and sweet, with the Arthurian-style romantic fantasy never feeling rushed . The lead actors give superb performances to elevate this retro story of timeless love.

13 Time Bandits (1981)

As far as time travel goes, Time Bandits is among the most innovative and original movies ever made. The plot centers around a young boy and history nerd, Kevin, playing inside his wardrobe when he suddenly finds himself in the company of a band of time-traveling dwarves who have just stolen a map that allows them to hop around time and through history at will. Simply for adventure, Kevin tags along, with chaos following them as they bounce from the Napoleonic wars to the middle ages and end up in the lair of the supreme being himself. Now they must protect the map from him and his employees.

This satirical, madcap Terry Gilliam film reigns with anarchy and absolute ridicule, with every step on the time-traveling tour being more deliciously creative than the last.

12 Trancers (1984)

Time travel movies are always about changing the history of going back to find something you’d lost. Jack Deth is a trooper from Angel City, and his job is to hunt criminals. He follows the trail of a serial killer through time, from 2247 to the year 1985 in Los Angeles. Only after arriving in the past does he realize that his nemesis, Martin Whistler, has the power to transform ordinary citizens into murderous 'Trancers' – zombie-like creatures that are always under his control. Now Deth must fight time in a new era to stop the Trancer outbreak before his arrival dooms history itself.

Trancers features a brilliant synth-pop soundtrack, and with its dimly lit ‘80s alleyways and liberal use of perm wigs, this absurd time travel slasher-comedy delivers plenty of unintentional laughs along with some truly strange scenes and mend-bending plot twists.

11 The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)

Directed by Stewart Raffill, The Philadelphia Experiment charts the actual events of a secret 1943 experiment that intended to make U.S. Naval warships invisible to radar sensors. But as the mission goes awry, two test subjects are sent 40 years into the future. Once rescued by the Navy in 1984, the time-tossed sailors find themselves in a suddenly frightening new era and now they must find and stop the experiment’s creator from repeating the same catastrophic incident.

The plot itself is enough to peak interest, and with the fear and intrigue having unknowable consequences lurking overhead, the movie sure makes for an entertaining watch. Uneven and choppy but equally ambitious in nature, this conspiracy science fiction thriller features some really cool naval ship special effects, signature B-movie action, and a twist ending.

Related: Incredible Movies Based on True Stories

10 The Terminator (1984)

A movie that we’ve all watched and enjoyed as kids that further morphed into an astounding franchise, The Terminator is set in a post-apocalyptic future in a world ruled by tyrannical supercomputers. Amidst it all, a cybernetic organism called the Terminator is sent back in time to 1984 Los Angeles to systematically eliminate Sarah Connor, the woman whose unborn son will lead humanity’s resistance. To fight back, the authorities also send a soldier back to protect the would-be mother.

Naturally, The Terminator thrives as a thriller, introducing us to a tech-noir vision of a dark future where machines have turned on their makers. Accompanied by groundbreaking visual effects, a pulse-pounding background score, and iconic performances by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, this sci-fi action flick is an instant classic.

9 My Science Project (1985)

Mingling some elements of heartwarming comedy with its science fiction beauty, My Science Project is a teen time travel movie that follows a pair of high school misfits, Michael and Ellie, who raid a military junkyard and stumble upon a mysterious package that contains a strange glowing orb-like structure that absorbs electricity. Their newfound device is as dangerous as it is intriguing because it blends the past, present, and future and threatens mankind.

The movie uses elements of the plot familiar to the time, with characters jumping back and forth in time and creating massive loopholes. From cheap extraterrestrial costumes to wacky ‘80s hijinks, this goofy comedy manages to serve some sweet moments as well as an enjoyable, spirited celebration of youth and the little mischiefs of curious minds.

8 Back to the Future (1985)

No list of time travel movies can be complete without the mention of Back to the Future . The movie, directed by Robert Zemeckis, is an absolute joy from start to finish. It is a brilliant comedy adventure that follows a teenager who is accidentally sent 30 years back in time, where he meets his teenage parents and unwittingly threatens his own experience by getting involved in their private lives.

The characters of Marty McFly and Doc Brown are hilariously adorable and have continued to stay with us for decades. Moreover, the movie’s seamless special effects, lighting pace, and lots of the ‘80s and ‘50s charm to spare serve as a wildly imaginative tale that presents a vision of the small American town that is both celebratory and authentic. Back to the Future set the gold standard for ‘80s sci-fi and nostalgia, setting up the stage for a new generation.

7 Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)

Starring Nicolas Cage opposite Kathleen Turner, Peggy Sue Got Married weaves a wonderful and memorable tale of sweet nostalgia, love, yearning, and redefining one’s self because it is never too late. The story revolves around Peggy Sue Bodell, a 43-year-old housewife who has decided to divorce her cheating husband, Charlie. But as she attends her 25th high school reunion and passes out there, she awakens in her own 18-year-old body in 1960, right before she meets Charlie. Having reconsidered and regretted all her life choices, she now has a second chance at senior year. And Peggy Sue must decide what to change and what to leave the same, all while dealing with the chaotic emotions of her teenage self.

Both the lead characters deliver a career-defining performance under Francis Ford Coppola’s direction and create this funny and poignant comedy drama.

6 Flight Of The Navigator (1986)

An underrated time travel classic that comes out on its own because of its immersive story and head-scratching plot twists, Flight Of The Navigator is a Disney adventure that follows 12-year-old David, who is stunned unconscious in the forest near his home. When he wakes up, he realizes that he has been transported to the future, from 1978 to 1986. But the strange thing is, he hasn’t aged a bit. Meanwhile, a NASA scientist stumbles upon a UFO near town, giving David the opportunity to figure out what exactly got him here and how to get out.

The premise lets you believe that there are aliens out there with abilities unknown to man, which makes for an interesting watch. Moreover, the visuals, the overly silly humor, the ‘80s intro and David’s confusion are perfect for a movie that deals with so many genres at a time.

Related: Underrated Sci-Fi Movies of the '80s, Ranked

5 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

It is the 23rd century, and it turns out that a dangerous alien power is threatening planet Earth by soaking up the oceans. Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise must travel back to 1986 San Francisco and find the humpback whales causing this disaster. From hysterical '80s culture clashes to the crew's ridiculous Cuban-heel-clad dash across the city, the movie packs an endless amount of laughs while also delivering a satisfying amount of space adventure.

Everything about this live-action cartoon feel-good adventure is simply flawless – from the exhilarating naval battle to action sequences to mind-blowing techno babble. One of the franchise’s most delightful and remarkable installments, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , is all about having fun while saving the world.

4 Millennium (1989)

Showcasing a refreshing and comical clash between people from the future and the present, Millennium follows Bill Smith as he tries to get to the bottom of an accident between two jetliners. Upon close inspection, he discovers a band of time travelers from a future Earth who have captured people from the present to repopulate it, leaving a series of disturbances and an unidentifiable object.

Based on the novel by John Varley, the movie features an intriguing game between Smith and Louise, a stunning operative from the future. Cheryl Ladd and Kris Kristofferson are pretty decent in their roles, and while Millennium does not have a ton of special effects compared to the rest of the movies, it so happens to offer a nostalgic glimpse of the late '80s.

3 Warlock (1989)

Witch hunter Giles Redferne goes about his witch-hunting business in 17-th century England. He captures the warlock, but with help from otherworldly forces, the conjurer banishes himself to present-day Los Angeles, where he uses his dark powers to prey on victims and churn up trouble. Until Redferne follows him to the 1980s and tries to stop him. Julian Sands shines as the suave but sinister title character in this horror-action mashup.

Richard E. Grant portrays the confounded hunter trying to make sense of his surroundings with an effortless charm, while Lori Singer plays Kassandra, the beautiful woman who assists him on the quest. While formulaic, Warlock delivers a heavy dose of ‘80s excess alongside an engaging witch-vs-warlock dynamic and some innovative visuals that still hold up today.

2 Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

Another classic science-fiction comedy, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure , centers around two lovable metal-head dimwits, Bill and Ted, who are tasked with passing their history final or risk failing out of high school, with one having to get enlisted. They seek help from Rufus, a traveler from the future in possession of a time machine. Bill and Ted rack their brains and decide to go on an excellent adventure through history with the hopes of recruiting the perfect historical figures for their class presentation.

Effortlessly good-natured and sublimely stupid, this bizarre comedy helped redefine time travel movies, the theme of excess, and the kind of fun that became synonymous to the late ‘80s. What’s more, is that it features breakout performances from Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter as the ultimate high school slackers.

1 Back to the Future Part II (1989)

Back to the Future Part II returns as a wacky sequel, and Marty and Doc Brown bless the big screens with more exciting adventures. In the movie, Doc Brown travels to the future to bring Marty up to speed on some heavy events coming his family’s way. Soon, they are both off to 2015 to set things right, only for their meddling to make way for more risks. From Marty’s future son almost being imprisoned to his father being murdered, the duo tackles problems right and left.

With its mind-bending multiverse anomalies, hoverboards, Jaws 19 references, and self-tying Nike sneakers, the movie delivers a more breathtaking time travel escapade that may not match the magic of the original, but it is still full of non-stop surprises .

15 Amazing Time Travel Movies and Where to Stream Them

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If you have ever wondered what it would be like to turn back time or experience the future, these amazing time travel movies will transport you to that exact scenario. Whether from the comedy, action, or science fiction genres, these stories look at the possibility of time travel and how it could impact our lives as humans.

Take a look at our list of movies where the past and the future seem so easy to travel, where danger and comedy are around each corner — and where time has no boundaries.

15. Time After Time (1979) – Prime Video

Malcolm McDowell plays the iconic H.G. Wells in our next pick for best time travel movies where he builds a time machine to travel to a paradise of the future. Unfortunately, Jack the Ripper (David Warner), has other plans for the machine as he uses it to travel to the late 1970s to escape capture from the police. And so Wells follows and asks the help of a banker to stop Jack from bringing terror to a new era.

This film is a lesser-known, but still brilliantly clever, picture about saving the future.

14. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) – Apple TV

Many teenage girls probably wish they could turn back the clock to a particular moment where they could do something better. Maybe it’s because of a test or talking to a crush, but we’ve all been there.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a Japanese animated film about a girl who has such powers and is able to redo the day over and over until she gets it just right. However, as she starts experiencing more tragic events, she learns that time travel can have its drawbacks.

13. Twelve Monkeys (1995) – Hulu

Twelve Monkeys is psychological and mind-melting. Don’t confuse the 2015 TV show 12 Monkeys with this Terry Gilliam directed sci-fi flick. Granted, they are based on the same short movie made in the 60s. Which means they share the same setting, mission, and time travel theme. Yet, the rest is different. Especially because the movie stars Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Madeline Stowe, and Christopher Plummer.

The best thing about Twelve Monkeys is that Gilliam’s bizarre film style comes across clearly. It is very unique as it digs into the psychological aspects of time travel that most movies do not. Definitely give this movie a try on Hulu.

12. Star Trek VI: The Voyage Home (1986) – Paramount Plus

To save the universe, Captain Kirk and his crew of the Starship Enterprise must travel back in time to the 1980s and bring back a whale they can use to speak with an unknown life form that will destroy everything if it can’t speak with someone who knows whale-speak.

This movie offers a strange premise, but you can’t help enjoy watching this starship crew become accustomed to 1980s California where they discover everything from the use of currency to computers. This is easily one of the most charming and hilarious entries of the original Star Trek crew .

ALSO READ: 10 Best Space Documentaries Streaming Now

11. Meet the Robinsons (2007) – Disney Plus

Meet the Robinsons is definitely one of the zippiest Disney animated features. Lewis is a boy genius who may be smart enough to develop amazing inventions but he’s not quite ready for his family of the future when he travels forward in time to meet all of them.

Not only are his future relatives a chaotic assortment of odd and quirky individuals but Lewis will also have to contend with dinosaurs, an evil man in a bowler hat who wants to steal his inventions, and even a frightening future where hats control the world.

10. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) – Prime Video

California teenage slackers Bill and Ted are more interested in their band of Wild Stallions than their overdue history report. But then a time-traveler by the name of Rufus, traveling through time in a phone booth, gives this inept duo a chance to experience history more personally.

Bill and Ted will traverse time and meet famous figures to deliver what will be both an enlightening report and an amazing rock performance. This is such a fun and entertaining time travel movie that you should add to your Prime watchlist.

9. The Butterfly Effect (2004) – Prime Video

In The Butterfly Effect , Evan (played by Ashton Kutcher) suffers from memory loss where he blacks out and can’t remember certain points in time. It turns out that he must travel back to fill in those gaps and try to fix his past mistakes. But, like many of the best time travel movies, going back can cause other problems with the present day and he can’t risk making anything worse. Especially because the love of his life, Kayleigh, needs saving.

8. Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) – Netflix

Hot Tub Time Machine had to make it on our list of amazing time travel movies because of its hilarious premise and stacked cast. Four young guys including three friends and one nephew travel to a winter resort to escape, relax, and help Lou address his struggles with suicidal thoughts and alcohol head on. But when they jump in the hot tub, it takes them back to one night in 1986 that happened to be a pivotal moment for everyone involved. Except for their friend’s nephew who hasn’t been born yet. They can’t do too many things differently, even if they want to, or they risk him never being born.

Check out this hilarious movie starring John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, and Clark Duke that led to a huge following and even a sequel.

7. Tenet (2020) – Prime Video

Tenet was a big sci-fi film in 2020 and truly bends the concept of time in a way that has not been seen in other movies on this list. John David Washington plays “The Protagonist,” which is the only name he knows as a CIA operative ready to stop World War III. Tenet is the mysterious international organization that hires him to seek out dangers to the human race, but time is ticking and he must use time travel to his advantage.

CHECK OUT: 12 Best Stanley Kubrick Movies Worth Streaming Today

6. The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) – Prime Video

In this story, time travel becomes involuntary causing more problems than good, especially when it comes to love and relationships. The Time Traveler’s Wife depicts Henry (played by Eric Bana) who has a condition in which he travels back and forth through time, but never knows when these moments will happen. This leads him to seemingly disappear and he also forgets some of his past memories. As a result, his wife, Clare (Rachel McAdams), struggles to feel secure in their relationship and keep their lives on the same path.

5. About Time (2013) – Prime Video

Interestingly, our next movie recommendation about time travel features actress Rachel McAdams yet again. This romantic comedy came about by the same creators as Love Actually , so that should set the tone for the funny moments and heart wrenching stories to come.

Tim is an awkward man who struggles to find love when on his 21st birthday, he is told by his father that the men in their family can travel through time. He uses it to his advantage to make things go right with his crush, Mary. However, he soon learns that while he can always go backwards, he has to wait to see how the future plays out just like everyone else.

4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) – Max

The Harry Potter stories often play around with many different forms of fantasy and magic, from levitation to defense against the dark arts. So, it is only natural that one of them made it on our top time travel movies list.

The Prisoner of Azkaban , the third book and film in the series, features the third act surprise of tinkering with time to change events and reshape the magical world, as well as furthering Harry’s growth as a wise and powerful wizard in the making.

3. Flight of the Navigator (1986) – Disney Plus

David is a 12-year-old boy in 1978, but he awakens to discover he has been sent into the 1980s where his parents are more wrinkly, his little brother is bigger, and the government doesn’t know how to explain such an event. How could David turn up after all these years not looking a day over twelve? Seeking answers, David discovers a mysterious alien spaceship with a quirky robot computer that may be able to help him get back to his own time.

Featuring plenty of astounding special effects and great amazement for both the sci-fi ship and the 1980s, Flight of the Navigator has a gentle and hilarious approach to one kid’s wild adventure.

2. Groundhog Day (1990) – Netflix

Bill Murray plays a reporter that finds himself repeating the same day over and over and over again. No matter where he goes or what he does, every day ends with him waking up the next to the same tune on the radio and the same people doing the same things.

There’s a reason why this film’s format of being trapped in time has become a common reference for more modern films. It’s just that good and became an instant classic. Most of it comes down to a stellar direction by Harold Ramis , who also directed Ghostbusters , and the incredible performance by Bill Murray.

1. Back to the Future (1985) – Peacock

If looking for the best time travel movies, you can, of course, stop at Back to the Future . This is a timeless classic that seems to get better with age. Teenager Marty McFly finds himself sent back to the 50s and must find his way back to his own time. But, he also realizes that he must ensure the teenage versions of his mother and father still hook up or else, he won’t exist or return to his former life.

Aside from being a stellar time-travel trilogy, the first film is a supremely iconic adventure and an empathetic story where a teen begins to relate to their parents’ struggles.

What is time travel in movies?

Time travel can be depicted in many ways on screen. Some of the movies on our list show it in a funny and romantic way whereas others demonstrate the consequences that can come from going back in time and making changes.

Usually, the plot surrounds a person or multiple people who travel back in time to a pivotal moment and attempt to change the past without ruining their present future.

What movie repeats over and over?

There are a couple of films that show certain moments in time or days repeating over and over again. However, the most famous example of a day that repeats itself is Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray.

What is the 80 time travel movie?

The most well-known and beloved 80s time travel movie is Back to the Future , which happens to be the top movie on our ranking list. The movie represents the 80s as present day and also goes back in time to the 50s.

Has anyone ever experienced a time loop?

It is said that in real life, people have experienced time loops or déjà vu. This can be caused by the mind due to anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other reasons. However, these time travel movies do not tend to address mental health, but rather the consequences of our desire to go back in time.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to time travel, the closest we’ll get is by watching people experiencing the phenomenon through film. Whether it’s a comedic story like Hot Tub Time Machine and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure or a highly intense opportunity to save the world like in Tenet , these movies teach us a lot about moving forward with what we’re given. They are undoubtedly entertaining with various messages, so it’s definitely worth checking out this topic on screen.

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History keeps changing, yet its story remains the same

From Avengers: Endgame to Looper , any fictional story about time travel has to deal with one simple fact: time travel doesn’t make any sense. While aspects of time travel exist in the real world — like when scientists gaze deep into the far reaches of the Universe and see what ancient stars looked like — that's not what Doc Brown was talking about in Back to the Future .

In science fiction, time travel about physically transporting oneself into the past or the future — and then dealing with the consequences of those actions. And there's one underrated movie streaming on Amazon Prime that deals with these issues in a totally unique and amazing way.

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The History of Time Travel is a fun movie that puts the focus on those consequences. Through the lens of a faux documentary, it explores how one family continually wreaks havoc on the timeline of the 20th century. It’s a family saga meshed with a loving ode to time travel stories of the past, everything from H.G Wells to Back to the Future.

One note: The History of Time Travel was director Ricky Kennedy’s college thesis film, and it really does feel like it. Not that there’s anything wrong with college movies, but the lack of budget shows in the movie’s settings, props, and performances. No one would mistake this for the History Channel documentaries it parodies. But like The Vast of Night , another zero-budget sci-fi movie streaming on Amazon Prime, History of Time Travel makes up for its lack of polish by leaning into aesthetics.

For Vast of Night , that was its eeriness. For History of Time Travel , it’s an earnest love of its topic — and a willingness to get goofy.

History concerns itself with the saga of the Page family, who over two generations shape time travel and the course of human history. It all starts with patriarch Edward Page, a scientist who joins a World War II-era secret government project known as the Indiana Project. After the war ends, Page’s work consumes him, to the extent of ignoring his polio-stricken wife (credit where it’s due: the movie references a 1949 polio epidemic in Indiana which actually happened . Kennedy is clearly a fan of details).

At the center of the movie is Edward Page, whose family troubles keep leading to time-travel chaos.

She dies leaving behind a boy, Richard, who follows his father into physics and eventually builds a time machine using Edward’s notebook after his own death. Using this time machine, which incorporates an old Atari gaming system, Richard kicks off new timeline after new timeline. The movie illustrates this by having its documentary talking heads suddenly change their stories mid-interview.

It’s a cute gimmick that also plays out in the movie’s background. Slowly but surely, a globe in one interviewee’s background grows redder and redder, reflecting the Soviet Union’s growing dominance in the world thanks to their theft of the Page time machine. Portraits behind a military general change back and forth between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Talking heads mainly convey the information in History of Time Travel , but that information is always changing.

As the Pages grow more obsessed with righting the wrongs of their new timelines, the changes in the movie start becoming more elaborate and complex. These changes are never really explored—what does a Soviet-dominated world look like beyond certain historical moments being altered? Everything seems pretty much the same in The History of Time Travel .

That’s the challenge of time travel: the changes being explored here are so huge that getting into any detail would risk making a very plot-heavy story even more confusing. But at an hour and ten minutes, The History of Time Travel never wears out its welcome. There are fun alternate timelines, Easter eggs galore, and a family drama grounding it all together.

The History of Time Travel is streaming now on Amazon Prime in the U.S.

This article was originally published on Feb. 13, 2021

• Science Fiction

‘Things Will Be Different’ Review: A Twisty, Dark Time Travel Movie That’ll Keep You Guessing | SXSW 2024

Starring Adam Thompson and Riley Dandy, Michael Felker's time travel story is an exciting new entry into the genre.

The Big Picture

• Things Will Be Different is a dark and complex time travel film that reveals more as the story unfolds.
• The movie follows siblings Joseph and Sidney as they navigate time shifts with disturbing messages and trapped in a sinister loop.
• The film's captivating performances by Dandy and Thompson and careful editing by Felker enhance the suspense and mystery.

For whatever reason, the best time travel films of the 21st century have had quite a few things in common : they’re often stories that need to be seen multiple times to truly grasp, they’re relatively bleak, and they play with the limitations and implications of being granted such power. Movies like Back to the Future or The Terminator made time travel seem relatively straightforward, but after 2001’s Donnie Darko , the 2000s became inundated with complex films like 2004’s Primer , the films of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead , and, hell, pretty much the entire filmography of Christopher Nolan .

Executive produced by Benson and Moorhead and written and directed by their frequent editor Michael Felker , Things Will Be Different is a solid installment in this generation of time travel films, a dark, twisting tale that offers no easy answers and only comes into clearer view once the credits roll. Things Will Be Different is time travel on a small scale, but its limitations are a strength in this surprising story.

Things Will Be Different (2024)

In order to escape police after a robbery, two estranged siblings lay low in a farmhouse that hides them away in a different time. There they reckon with a mysterious force that pushes their familial bonds to unnatural breaking points.

What Is 'Things Will Be Different' About?

Things Will Be Different introduces us to brother and sister Joseph ( Adam David Thompson ) and Sidney ( Riley Dandy ), right after they commit a robbery. With bags full of cash in hand, they meet back up at a diner, then hit the road once they hear sirens. Joseph knows someplace they can hide out for a while—a house a regular at the bar he owns has lent him—and the secluded home seems like a perfect getaway. But as soon as they hear sirens closing in on them again, Joseph brings out a mysterious book, starts shifting the hands on nearby clocks, jiggling a closet’s doorknob with specificity, and both he and his sister jump in to find themselves in a completely different time, but within the same house.

At first, this seems even better. No matter how hard the police look, they’re not going to find them in a completely different time. But after two weeks, as they try to leave, Joseph and Sidney come to find out they are trapped in this time, with their door back home blocked, and mysterious messages implying sinister things are afoot. An attempt to run away leaves Sidney vomiting blood, and it seems as though all they can do is follow the orders left behind on a time-bending voice recorder left in a safe. Joseph and Sidney are trapped, left with only questions to be answered and the fear of what they don’t know.

Without even knowing Felker’s history with the duo, the influence of Benson and Moorhead’s films can be felt in Things Will Be Different , as the pair are known for their mind and time-bending mysteries on a low budget. But Felker pares down the time travel story, keeping this film simple, giving us only the barest of hints as to what’s happening, and allowing us to simply enjoy the ride of where he’s taking us. The tone of the voice on the other end of the mysterious recorder is really the only key that Joseph and Sidney have about their situation, as they bide their time for some semblance of understanding.

Michael Felker Creates an Exciting New Time Travel Story with 'Things Will Be Different'

Despite the answers coming slowly, Felker’s script is still captivating, as there’s a foreboding tone underneath every step of this scenario. Felker hides the truth from his audience as well, putting us in the shoes of Joseph and Sidney. At one point, Sidney reveals that she’s been spending much of her time trying to figure out what the hell is going on at this house, which has led her down all sorts of paths that have gone nowhere. Yet to hear the possibilities that probably aren’t happening—theories that include everything from their dead parents doing this to them or Joseph’s theory of “coincidental torture porn”—we also get mixed up in this mystery that for us and them lacks sufficient clues to come up with a satisfactory conclusion.

What makes this all work though is the equally perplexed performances by Dandy and Thompson. We only get small glimpses of their past—they both had a difficult childhood, Joseph runs a bar, Sidney left her six-year-old back home—but these roles are played with such a depth of history between the two. We sort of are told everything we need to know about these two in their first interaction with the aforementioned recorder. Joseph seems accepting of their fate, whereas Sidney wants to cut to the chase, finding out what the people on the other end want from them. As we watch these two, Joseph is defeated by the mess they’re in, while Sidney keeps pressing forward, dedicated to get to the bottom of things. Things Will Be Different lives or dies by this dynamic of estranged brother and sister coming together, and like the mystery at hand, we crave more details about their past and what led them to this unusual house. Dandy and Thompson play these characters with just the right amount of ambiguity and uncertainty, so they become just as compelling as the questions we have about this situation.

And for a movie that was clearly shot on a budget, Felker knows how to make the most of what he has. Naturally, Felker knows the importance of editing (in addition to writing and directing, Felker also edits his own film, along with Rebeca Marques ), and utilizes the tension that cutting at just the right moment can provide. When the pressure is building, the edits are quick and exciting, as the score by Jimmy LaValle (aka The Album Leaf) increases the fear and anticipation. In some of the film’s most harrowing scenes, Felker places the camera far away, so we can only see these pivotal moments from a distance, which somehow makes them even more intense. For example, when Sidney attempts to run away, Felker films this moment so that she's an almost insignificant figure moving at high-speed, until she falls over in pain—to which Felker cuts back and forth to an extreme close-up, again, showcasing just how the right editing can make these moments feel grand.

Things Will Be Different is a strong feature debut from Felker that certainly won't be for everyone . Its version of time travel leaves much to the audience's imagination, and almost requires a second viewing to truly comprehend everything Felker is playing at. And very much in the Benson and Moorhead way of storytelling, the more something is explained, the more convoluted this actually makes things. While there's still plenty to figure out, one reveal near the end presents a strange new wrinkle in time, and what is going on probably makes things more confusing overall than actually solving the questions at hand. But this is a promising entry in the time travel canon from Felker, and his use of excellent editing, stunning cinematography by Carissa Dorson , and the two lead performances by Thompson and Dandy, makes this a film you'll want to rewatch as soon as it ends.

Things Will Be Different by Michael Felker is a strong entry into the time travel canon, which turns its limitations into strengths.

• Michael Felker makes a compelling time travel story by paring down this genre.
• The lead performances by Adam Thompson and Riley Dandy are almost as interesting as the mysteries at hand.
• Things Will Be Different will make you want to rewatch it to catch everything that's really going on.
• The answers given can often lead to more questions than solutions.

Things Will Be Different premiered at the 2024 SXSW Festival.

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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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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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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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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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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.

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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.

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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.

Five 80s Time Travel Movies You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of: Reviewed

Sure you know those classic 80s time traveling movies like Back to the Future, The Terminator, and Star Trek IV. You’ve no doubt seen Bill & Ted, too. But there were a lot of movies about time travel that didn’t quite get the big screen love so many others did. Yes, maybe they weren’t quite as big with their production and budgets, but many were fun and challenging and still worthy of a look. Some. Here are five 80s time traveling movies you’ve (probably) never heard of. Reviewed.

My science project (1988) ★★☆☆☆.

Let’s start with a cheesy-ripoff of Ghostbusters and Back to the Futur e. Sort of. Well, maybe not at all. A teenager named Michael ( John Stockwell ), interested in only girls and muscle cars, needs something to hand in for his class science project. So, with a girl who thinks she is on a date, he breaks into a government military scrapyard and naturally discovers a secret underground shelter where he finds a glowing orb-ish gadget (actually a cheap plasma globe ) and steals it. Back at home, the next day, he and his friend Vince ( Fisher Stevens ) accidentally trigger it to activate and and when they rush to class, realize they’ve lost two hours and missed the science exam. They have a time machine. They bring it to their ultra-hip 60s throwback teacher Dr. Roberts ( Dennis Hopper ) who promptly gets pulled to another dimension and vanishes. As the device seems out of control, the boys end up using dynamite to destroy the utility tower but are arrested later for the teacher’s disappearance. But that’s only the start of their troubles. Asking the girl to bring the police the device, a geek intercepts and plugs the machine in again and suddenly a portal opens and the school is overrun by a t-rex, Vietnam soldiers and mutants. Whatever will they do?

Directed by  Jonathan R. Betuel , My Science Project is a pretty standard sci-fi thriller with cheap special effects and a silly script. The young cast are fun to watch and Hopper is his typical over-the-top self, complete with a ginormous Peace medallion and a time-traveling trip to Woodstock. Not a total waste, it tries hard to be more than it is, ultimately a letdown.

Timerider (1982) ★★★☆☆

Talk about a great premise. A tech-loving motocross champion ( Fred Ward ) gets lost off track in a big race and unknowingly stumbles upon a time-travel experiment in the desert that sends him to 1877. How could this not be amazing? The full title is Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann  and when Swann arrives in the old West, he’s a little perplexed at the horse and gunslingers who immediately start shooting at him (led by Peter Coyote  who was in E.T – The Extra-Terrestrial just a few months prior). When Swann rides into the nearby town, still in his red leather riding gear, he’s mistaken for Diablo (the Devil). Taken in by the beautiful Claire Cygne ( Belinda Bauer ), she gives him a place to hide and a lot more (ah, classic 80s full frontal nudity in PG-rated movies). Now all he has to to do is survive until he can figure out how to well, get back to the future.

Directed by  William Dear , it was written by  Michael Nesmith , one of the founding members of the 60s pop group, The Monkees,  who also composed the soundtrack. A very clever story that is well-directed and acted, it suffers a bit from production issues and a low budget, plus a long opening that drags a bit too much with shots of Swann racing, but is actually a good time once it gets going, boosted by Ward’s endless charisma. It also dabbles a bit in some time-twisty metaphysical bits, especially in the end, but always with a good sense of humor. Trivia bit: Swann travels back to 1877 on November 5th, the month and day as Marty McFly in Back to the Future . Both are probably nods to the month and day in the classic 1979  Time After Time.

Millennium (1989) ★★☆☆☆

Okay. This one hurts. As good as the premise is for the above Timerider , Millennium has it beat. In fact, it’s one of the best sci-fi time-travel concepts of the decade. Check this out: Humans from 1000 years in the future are a dying breed, suffocating by pollution and unable to reproduce so they time travel to the past and steal people who are about to die and send them into the far future to repopulate. They do this mostly with plane passengers on doomed flights. That’s a terrific concept. It casts television stars in the leads, with Cheryl Ladd most prominent, adding country singer Kris Kristofferson to the mix. Fooling around with paradoxes and making a statement about the dangers of humans running unchecked, the film is mostly compelling but due to its poor direction and subpar visual effects, it ends up looking like a cable TV movie. It becomes a bit confusing too as time shifts happen without warning and we often don’t know where we are. And then there’s Ladd’s annoying ‘future hair’ that looks like she might be a lost member of a Flock of Seagulls .

Directed by  Michael Anderson , Millennium has some solid moments, and getting past the now poor looking effects, there is meaty story that asks a lot of questions. Still, a love connection feels forced, and overall, the production is just too slow. For fans of the genre, this is a must, simply because the story is so very cool, but for most, this will be a relic of the era better left in the past.

Biggles: Adventures in Time (1986) ★☆☆☆☆

80s time travel and sci-fi movies really like electric blue lighting streaks. In this movie, celebrity catering salesman Jim Ferguson ( Alex Hyde-White ) is living comfortably in modern New York City when he receives a knock on the door from an elderly man who asks him the time and wonders why ‘it’ hasn’t happened yet. He then leaves, and Jim returns to his living room, only to suddenly be transported to a battlefield in World War I where a bi-plane is shot down, piloted by Royal Flying Corps pilot James “Biggles” Bigglesworth ( Neil Dickson ). Shocking to say the least. But before he can get past an introduction, he’s back in his living room. What’s going on? Turns out, Biggles and Ferguson are ‘time twins’ who show up to help each other when one or the other is in mortal danger. Time shenanigans ensue. Mostly.

Directed by  John Hough , Biggles is loosely based on the beloved novels by W. E. Johns  and loosely is most assuredly the wrong word since none of the books ever once feature time travel. We can blame Marty McFly for that. Back to the Future had come out the year before and studios thought, “oh those kids and their time traveling fun” and completely reworked the original script, which was designed to be more along the lines of an Indiana Jones-like adventure. They then added a ‘teen vibe’ and pretty much wrecked the ‘Biggles vibe’, making him a secondary character in a movie with his name as the title. That elderly man mentioned above? He’s the great Peter Cushing , for whom many should remember as Grand Moff Tarkin in 1977’s Star Wars . It was his final role. Throw in some 80s pop and metal music and some truly bland, uninspired acting from both Dickson and especially Hyde-White, and this comes up short. Good only for some fun bi-plane fighter footage.

Time Bandits (1981) ★★★★☆

Okay, so this one might be a bit more well-known, but it makes the list. Young, impressionable, and wildly imaginative Kevin ( Craig Warnock ) lives in a quiet neighborhood with oddly neglectful parents whom seem far more interested in keeping up with the latest shiny things on TV than in their son’s fascination with history and exceptional creativity. Left to entertain and indulge himself, Kevin is reclusive and is lost in his own thoughts. In his bedroom one evening, he’s awoken by a rumble in his closet that suddenly bursts open to reveal a proud Knight in shining armor on horseback, who promptly rides off in the wooded forest where the bedroom wall used to be. When Kevin looks back though, all is restored to normal. Curious. The next evening, he packs a shoulder bag with supplies, grabs the Polaroid camera and waits for the Knight to return. Like the previous evening, a rumble in his closet gets his attention, but this time, no Knight. Instead, out pour six medieval-era dressed dwarves, led by Randall ( David Rappaport ). They are frantic and create a ruckus, but Kevin understands that they have stolen a large map and are desperately looking for a “door” out of the room before whomever is chasing them arrives. One wall is revealed to be a movable portal that leads to a lengthy hallway where Kevin is hesitant to follow until a disembodied, ghostly head known as “The Supreme Being” ( Ralph Richardson ) appears and chases after the group, demanding the return of what’s been stolen.

Directed by Monty Python veteran  Terry Gilliam , who has made a career out of inventive, imaginative films, Time Bandits is perhaps his most thoroughly realized, wonderfully bringing to life a number of impressive real-world and fantastical locations, mixing just the right about of comedy, drama and lots of cool time traveling.  More whimsical than heavy, and never intended to be more than a fun fable with a nudge towards keeping one’s imagination alive, Time Bandits is a masterpiece of production, set design and costumes, creating rich, tangible worlds that have great depth and character. And features a very cool giant . Aimed primarily at children, with colorful set pieces and high adventure, there is a lot here for adults as well and it’s hard to beat for films of this genre. A true time-traveling classic.

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The most memorable time travel movies

Posted: March 7, 2024 | Last updated: March 7, 2024

There are fun travel movies, often involving road trips. Bob Hope and Bing Crosby did it over and over. Sometimes, though, the travel isn’t across the globe, or even across space. They are across time. Time travel has been an oft-used trope of science fiction and other fantastical genres for years. Some of the biggest movies of all time involve time travel, but they aren’t the only memorable ones. These are the most memorable time travel films. If you don’t have time to read them now, well, maybe you need a time machine of your own.

'Back to the Future' (1985)

The quintessential time travel movie. One of the biggest hits of all time. The progenitor of two very good sequels. (Yes, we like the third movie.) Marty McFly goes back in time in a DeLorean thanks to his friend Doc Brown and ends up intertwined in the life of his eventual parents back in 1955. Plus, all that Huey Lewis!

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'Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure' (1989)

Another film that spawned a trilogy. This comedy is on the sillier side. Bill and Ted are dimwitted high school students who use their time machine to collect important historical figures so they can avoid failing. One of the breakthrough roles for Keanu Reeves, it’s indeed most excellent.

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'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' (1991)

This time around, we had to go with a sequel in a series. The Terminator is a good movie, but a bleak horror film. Terminator 2 got a bigger budget and a much larger scope. It’s an epic ‘90s action film, the one that really made this a franchise with legs. It also helped take Arnold Schwarzenegger’s career to the next level.

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'12 Monkeys' (1995)

Based on a French short film, Terry Gilliam made time travel trippy and grim. In the future, humanity has almost entirely been wiped out by a disease. Bruce Willis is sent back in time in order to figure out the cause of the disease, but he’s sent to the wrong time and ends up in a mental hospital. That just makes his quest that much harder.

'Army of Darkness' (1992)

After spending two movies dealing with evil spirits in a cabin in the woods, Ash finds himself traveled back to medieval times, but that doesn’t give him a break from all the ghouls that torment him. Army of Darkness is a slapstick horror comedy from Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell, but that works better than you might think. Hail to the king, baby.

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'Interstellar' (2014)

Christopher Nolan loves to mess with time and create notable imagery. Interstellar was daunting even to people who watched Inception , as much for its lengthy run time as its heady plot. That being said, it delved headlong into a scientific notion of time travel, and the cast is also quite impressive. Time has been kind to the reputation of  Interstellar .

'Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me' (1999)

In a way, Austin Powers travels through time in the first film, but that’s more due to cryogenic freezing. In the sequel, he actually travels through time. The Spy Who Shagged Me was a massive hit, and while a lot of it feels like rehashes of the first film, there was enough fresh stuff to keep the movie fun.

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'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court' (1949)

Mark Twain’s novel has been adapted several times, something loosely. This 1949 version is fairly faithful, and it also has quite the cast, led by Bing Crosby. With Crosby involved, they turned the film into a musical naturally.

'The Final Girls' (2015)

If you like horror comedies, this under-the-radar film is one worth seeking out. A group of friends find themselves transported into a 1986 slasher film called Camp Bloodbath . The star of that film happened to be one of the character’s mother, who happened to die a few years earlier. As such, they are technically traveling through time and into a film.

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'Last Night in Soho' (2021)

Edgar Wright has done horror-movie pastiches in the past, but they were often loving comedic takes on the genre. This time, he made a straight-up horror film. A young woman in modern London travels back in time when she sleeps, but then she quickly realizes the past that she romanticized was far from ideal.

'Kate & Leopold' (2001)

A fish-out-of-water romantic comedy, this time that fish isn’t just some fancy city folk in the country. No, he’s a duke from the 1800s, and he’s played by Hugh Jackman. You’d think that would be detrimental to Meg Ryan falling in love with him, but you’d be wrong.

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'Hot Tub Time Machine' (2010)

Hey, the ‘80s, right? Hot Tub Time Machine is a raunchy comedy that is mostly a series of jokes about how the ‘80s were different. It’s not going to win any Oscars. However, it is called Hot Tub Time Machine , and it did spawn a sequel. It’s not a great movie, but it has a good cast and some memorable jokes.

'Avengers: Endgame' (2019)

Well, Avengers: Endgame is one of the highest-grossing movies ever, and the culmination of over a decade of films in the biggest movie series in the world. We’d call that fairly memorable. It’s hard to spoil a film that a ton of people have seen, so we’re OK with mentioning the fact that the surviving Avengers decide to use time travel to try and defeat Thanos after failing to do so initially.

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'Looper' (2012)

What if time travel was verboten and also kind of banal? That’s the world of Looper . Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a hitman who kills people sent back from the future by the future mob. However, someday he will have to “close his loop,” which is to say kill the future version of himself. Then, when his future self shows up — played by Bruce Willis — he manages to escape, and that really complicates things.

'Source Code' (2011)

Source Code kind of ratchets up 12 Monkeys to a whole new level. A train has been exploded by a bomb, and Jake Gyllenhaal is sent into a digital recreation of the event to try and identify the perpetrator. He has to go into the same eight-minute stretch over and over, with things bending and shaping over time.

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'Star Trek' (2009)

When they decided to reboot  Star Trek , they also decided to add some time travel into the mix. This made for a time-and-space hopping story, for starters. However, it also allowed them to have Leonard Nimoy show up to play older Spock, giving this movie two different Spocks!

'Men in Black 3' (2012)

Men in Black was really good, but Men in Black II was lackluster. In order to add some spice back into the proceedings, time travel was added into the mix. Will Smith’s Agent J has to go back in time to try and save K from death. Then, he runs into young K, played by Josh Brolin doing a great Tommy Lee Jones impression.

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'Time Bandits' (1981)

Another Terry Gilliam film for the list. This is a lighter film than 12 Monkeys , though more a fantasy adventure than a comedy. It’s a story about a boy who joins up with, well, time pirates essentially. The crew of a ship travel through spacetime to steal treasures throughout the ages.

'Timecop' (1994)

Hey, it may not be all that good, but Timecop delivers what it promises. It’s a silly Jean-Claude Van Damme action movie involving time travel. Basically, it’s what you expect from a movie called Timecop . It was a big hit, though, and it also featured a memorable end to Ron Silver’s character.

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'Tenet' (2020)

Nolan saw people’s reaction to Interstellar and thought, “Ah, clearly I made that film too straightforward.”  Tenet is trippy and basically everybody is going to have trouble following it at least in fits and starts. It involves people experiencing time forwards and backwards simultaneously. John David Washington fights a backwards version of himself. Tenet is bonkers, but it’s also a ton of fun. Sometimes you just want to go along for the ride.

'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' (2023)

After all these years, we got one last Indiana Jones movie. Harrison Ford has often come across like playing even, say, Han Solo, is akin to pulling teeth for him. However, he always seemed to genuinely love playing Indy. In the past he was present as the Ark of the Covenant melted Nazis, and he met a centuries-old knight and found the Holy Grail. In "Dial of Destiny," he also finally time travels. The film is merely fine, but it is nice that Ford got to bid adieu to the character.

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Time Traveling in Movies: A Very Complicated Plot Device Explained

If you've ever wanted to make a film about time travel, you might want to brush up on how different filmmakers have made sense of it in their work..

Time travel movies are—awesome—we know this—but what makes them so interesting has less to do with the awesomeness of time travel as a narrative concept and more to do with the awesomeness of time travel as a plot device . (Did I mention that time travel is awesome and also has loads of awesomeness?)

There are so many films about time travel, from the silly ( Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure ) to the dramatic ( Looper ), and each one deals with the concept in different ways and for different purposes. In this video, Henry Reich of MinutePhysics , my second favorite science channel on YouTube, analyzes time travel in film and literature to determine how it functions in the hands of different writers and filmmakers. On its own, it's an incredibly fascinating video, but if you look at it through the lens of storytelling, you can learn how adding a wrinkle in time can not only open up new narrative passageways for your time traveling characters but for your audience as well.

Time travel is a complex concept, and I failed almost every science class I ever took, so I won't bore you with my so-bad-it's-sad explanations of it. But it's remarkable to see how different screenwriters and filmmakers have used time travel as a plot device. It immediately complicates the progression of the story by requiring the audience to be engaged enough to recall and track each jump through time and space, as well as understand and accept the unique physical rules set in place by the filmmaker. Are we dealing with wormholes, time dilation, or just a bunch of hocus-pocus? Does the time-traveling character affect the past? Does he have free will? 

Perhaps one of the most brilliantly complicated examples of time travel in film is 2004 indie sci-fi film  Primer.  Written and directed by Shane Carruth, the film has a complex, experimental plot structure that, as you can see from Reich's illustration above, is challenging for even the savviest movie-goer to follow. In an interview , Carruth, who studied mathematics in college, explained what inspired the principles of time travel in his film:

Richard Feynman has some interesting ideas about time. When you look at Feynman diagrams [which map the interaction of elementary particles], there's really no difference between watching an interaction happen forward and backward in time.

And just in case you want your head to explode, here's a video that illustrates  Primer's  timeline.

What is your favorite time travel movie? Are movies like  Memento  and  Inception  time travel movies? Kind of? Let us know down in the comments below.

Source: MinutePhysics

• Plot Device Definition and Examples ›

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A conversation with supermicro on integrating ai into their servers for maximum speed..

Supermicro is a globally recognized technology leader best known for developing superfast, innovative server solutions integrating the latest tech into products. How does this apply to filmmakers?

Anyone in post production knows that a faster rig means less headaches and more super power for any gig. If you're looking to update your rig with the fastest server speeds is in for a treat with the advancements Supermicro is making integrating AI for smarter, faster equipment.

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8 Best Time Travel Movies on Netflix Right Now

Let’s be honest here: I haven’t met a single individual yet who either wouldn’t want to travel back in time to correct a few wrongs, or to have a glimpse of what their future holds for them. That coupled with the inevitability of it all, the very real nature of time being irreversible and its independent physical construct is what I think allures the human mind to the concept of time travel so much, because what greater pursuit than one that is with the current means, unattainable?  However, that didn’t stop a few dreamers from dreaming of it. Literature and films have been telling stories involving time travel since as far as I can imagine, and due to the very reasons specified above, the audience just can’t seem to have enough, so much so that time travel movies can clearly be identified into a sub-genre of their own.

But sadly enough, Netflix’s library has currently omitted a number of time travel classics and fairly obviously definitive films from their library, including the ‘Back to the Future Movies’ and ‘Groundhog Day’ that popularised the sub-genre in the first place, and current modern classics like ‘Looper’ and ‘ Predestination ’ among others, and that is with respect to the current streaming scenario fast changing. However, we did a little digging and found some of the finest  movies involving time travel and resultant time loops as a relevant plot point for you to watch. So, here’s the list of really good time travel movies on Netflix that are available to stream right now.

8. ARQ (2016)

I honestly didn’t expect ARQ to blow me away the way it did. The film is about an engineer who is able to develop a perpetual motion machine that in turn leads to him experiencing a home invasion scenario again and again, stuck in a time loop. At less than 90 minutes, ‘ARQ’ is taut, relentless and doesn’t let your attention waver for a second. It is not a perfect film by any means. In fact, it has quite a number of flaws and discontinuities that stringent viewers might not be able to wrap their heads around. However, if you know what you are getting into: a small film with a few characters, virtually no location to boast of except a room inside a home, and a timeline spanning only a few hours, but telling an interesting and entertaining story, you may come off completely surprised, like I did.

7. Looper (2012)

Starring Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, and Paul Dano, ‘Looper’ is a science fiction action-thriller film written and directed by Rian Johnson. The movie is set in the near future, where time travel has not only become a reality but is used extensively in the black market by mobsters for their twisted goals. Putting the illegal technology to good use, the criminals sent back their targets in the past where hired guns called Loopers were waiting to execute them.

Joe is one of the many killers used by mobs who have become immensely rich by indulging in illegal activity, but his life takes an unexpected turn when the mob not only decides to close the loop but also have Joe killed. The action-packed drama that unfolds captures Joe’s high-stakes attempt to survive while the mob relentlessly tries to hunt him down.

6. Long Story Short (2021)

Directed, written, and co-produced by Josh Lawson, ‘Long Story Short’ is a romantic drama film. The Rafe Spall and Zahra Newman-starrer follow Teddy, a young woman who accidentally ends up kissing Leanne on new year’s eve after mistaking her for his then-girlfriend. As she has peanuts in her mouth at the moment, he goes into an anaphylactic shock and has to be saved by Leanne’s presence of mind. A few years later, the duo not only fell madly in love with each other but also got married.

However, things take a surprising turn when the morning after the marriage, Teddy realizes that he is jumping one year into the future every few minutes. As his life begins to fall apart, he must find a way out of the cruel time anomaly before he loses everything and everyone.

5. Synchronic (2019)

Directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, ‘Synchronic’ is a science fiction horror film. The Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan-starrer follow Dennis and Steve, two paramedics working in New Orleans, Louisiana. Although their job requires them to spend a lot of time in dangerous conditions, nothing could have prepared them for a series of strange deaths, all of which are linked to a designer drug named Synchronic.

As they investigate further, Steve and Dennis learn the otherworld effects of the drug, which even alters people’s perception of time. Before they could put things into perspective and solve the mystery behind Synchronic, their personal and professional lives begin to fall apart, forcing them to act before it’s too late.

4. In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)

Jim Mickle’s ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ is a science fiction thriller film that features stand-out performances by Boyd Holbrook, Cleopatra Coleman, and Michael C. Hall. The movie centers upon Police officer Thomas Lockhart, who, along with his fellow detectives, comes across a series of murders that appear to be connected with each other. As he investigates further and finally corners the suspect, it turns out that she somehow knows the future and even predicts her own death.

Although the case is closed after that, the strange murders begin to occur again several years later but are initially thought to be committed by a copycat. However, as Lockhart comes closer to the truth, his personal and professional life begins to fall apart.

3. Mirage (2018)

I don’t think a better title for the film would have sufficed, even if it’s translated. The film deals with a similar idea that is undertaken by ‘The Butterfly Effect’ and ‘Mr. Nobody’, of small happenings in time snowballing into completely different parallel realities. ‘ Mirage ’ is the story of one such woman who wakes up one day with her life and reality completely altered and her daughter, not existing in the current sequence of events. This strange happening seems to be connected to another eerie set of events from 25 years ago, linked to the house she recently moved in. I won’t spoil much for you, but hear me when I say that ‘Mirage’ may just be among the year’s best thrillers and sci-fi films. To add to the already twisted narrative, how the woman finds her way out of the time continuum is truly mind bending stuff. Watch for yourself.

2. The Adam Project (2022)

‘The Adam Project’ is a science fiction adventure film that features powerful performances by talented actors such as Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, and Walker Scobell. The Shawn Levy directorial centers upon the distraught fighter pilot Adam Reed in a dystopian 2050, who embarks on a perilous mission to save his wife, Laura, after stealing a time jet. Although he planned to go in the year 2018, because of an accident in which he injured himself, Adam ended up in 2022 instead. There he meets his 12-year-old self, and the two of them join hands to save the future, all the while trying to rescue Laura before it’s too late.

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1. See You Yesterday (2019)

Inspired by Stefon Bristol’s short film of the same name, ‘See You Yesterday’ is a science fiction film produced by Spike Lee. The movie follows two young science prodigies who are obsessed with their invention that enables time travel and opens up prospects for era-defining changes that could not have been previously imagined. However, their lives take an unexpected turn when one of them loses their brother, and the two vow to use their unfinished invention to go back in time and save him.

Read More: Best Rags to Riches Movies on Netflix

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Screen Rant

5 star trek time loop episodes, ranked.

Star Trek loves a good time loop and here are 5 of the best. Star Trek loves a good time loop and here are 5 of the best.

• Time loop stories are a classic science fiction premise Star Trek excels at.
• Star Trek: Enterprise and Voyager had excellent time loop episodes, but The Next Generation's "Cause and Effect" is the best.
• Star Trek: Discovery had two time loop episodes, "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" and "Face the Strange".

Time loop stories are a classic science fiction premise, and Star Trek has dipped into that well several times. Although Star Trek: The Original Series never did a traditional time loop episode, plenty of Captain James T. Kirk's (William Shatner) adventures involved time travel. Every Star Trek series since has incorporated time travel in some way, including two of the franchise's most highly regarded films, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home & Star Trek: First Contact. Not every Trek series has done a time loop episode, but it's an incredibly fun premise that makes for great television when it's done well.

The time loop premise fits so well within the world of Star Trek , that it makes sense the franchise would return to it multiple times. Time loops (or "temporal causality loops") are apparently so common in the Star Trek universe, that Starfleet uses a time loop simulation as one of their training drills. In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2, episode 8, "I, Excretus," a holodeck simulation called "Time Loop" was one of the possible drills the USS Cerrtos' Lower Deckers had to run, along with things like infiltrating a Borg cube or escaping the Mirror Universe. Being a Starfleet officer means being ready for anything, and here are five Star Trek episodes that trapped their characters in a time loop.

Many television shows have taken advantage of a time loop premise, with Stargate SG-1, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, and Supernatural all delivering particularly fun time loop episodes.

20 Best Star Trek Time Travel Episodes & Movies, Ranked

5 "future tense", star trek: enterprise season 2, episode 16, star trek: enterprise.

Although not a time loop episode in the traditional sense, Star Trek: Enterprise's "Future Tense" features two different miniature time loops. When the Enterprise NX-01 finds a derelict shuttlepod from the future floating in space, the temporal radiation leaking from the ship causes time disturbances. As Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) and Lt. Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating) continue to examine the shuttlepod, they find themselves reliving the same moment over and over.

"Future Tense" has some fun moments, including the time loops.

Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and Sub-Commander T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) discover that the pod is from the 31st century and presume it must be connected to the Temporal Cold War in some way. To keep the pod from the Suliban or the Tholians, Archer and Reed try to booby-trap it but end up stuck in another time loop. Eventually Trip activates the pod's distress signal and the ship vanishes, presumably back to the 31st century. "Future Tense" has some fun moments, including the time loops, but the Temporal Cold War storyline on Enterprise never quite worked as well as it could have.

The 31st-century shuttlepod is impossibly bigger on the inside than the outside, a nod to the time-traveling TARDIS on Doctor Who .

4 "Coda"

Star trek: voyager season 3, episode 15, star trek: voyager.

When a shuttlecraft carrying Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) crash lands on a planet, Janeway is seriously injured. Before long, Star Trek: Voyager 's villains the Vidiians find the crashed shuttle and kill Janeway and Chakotay. The two then appear again on the shuttle just before they crashed. Immediately realizing they're caught in a time loop, Janeway and Chakotay try something different, but this time, their shuttle explodes. Time resets again, and Janeway and Chakotay make it back to Voyager before Janeway is killed again.

"Coda" is an entertaining and even frightening episode, and Kate Mulgrew delivers a great performance.

In the final loop of Star Trek: Voyager 's "Coda", Janeway sees herself "die" and encounters the supposed spirit of her father. Realizing that something isn't right, Janeway refuses to go with him and wakes up on the planet as Chakotay and The Doctor (Robert Picardo) revive her. "Coda" is an entertaining and even frightening episode, and Kate Mulgrew delivers a great performance. However, the final reveal that most of the story happened in Janeway's head undercuts some of the more emotional moments.

3 "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"

Star trek: discovery season 1, episode 7, star trek: discovery.

Star Trek: Discovery season 1 received a mixed reception from fans, but "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" stands out as a solid and entertaining take on a classic premise. When Harry Mudd (Rainn Wilson) arrives on the USS Discovery, he enacts his plan to kill Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) and sell Discovery's spore drive technology to the Klingons. Mudd has a time crystal that allows him to repeat the same 30-minute time period over and over.

Victorious, Burnham delivers the coup de grâce line to Mudd: "Turns out you can con a con man."

Due to the tardigrade DNA in his system, Lieutenant Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) remains aware of the time loops, and he recruits Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Lt. Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif) to help him stop Mudd. Mudd kills Lorca repeatedly and nearly succeeds in his plan, but Stamets, Burnham, and Tyler reroute Mudd's signal to his fiancée, Stella (Katherine Barrell), and her father rather than the Klingons. Victorious, Burnham delivers the coup de grâce line to Mudd: "Turns out you can con a con man."

10 Star Trek: Discovery Positives You Only Notice On Rewatch

2 "face the strange", star trek: discovery season 5, episode 4.

In one of Star Trek: Discovery's best episodes so far, Captain Burnham and her new First Officer, Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) , find themselves jumping through different time periods in Discovery's past, present, and future. Like the previous time he was stuck in a time loop, Stamets remains aware of the jumps and works with Burnham and Rayner to find a solution. They revisit multiple moments from past seasons of Discovery , and Michael even encounters her past self, resulting in a Burnham vs. Burnham fistfight.

The time jumping turns out to be the result of a Krenim "time bug" that courier Moll (Eve Harlow) snuck onto the Enterprise in the previous episode.

Burnham and Rayner also get a glimpse of a possible future where the Breen ended up with the Progenitors' technology and destroyed the Federation. Thankfully, Stamets, Burnham, and Rayner prevent this future by destroying the time bug, and Discovery loses only six hours rather than the weeks it could have lost. Not only is Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4 an incredibly fun episode of Star Trek , but it also shows how far Burnham and the other characters have come since the show's first season.

1 "Cause and Effect"

Star trek: the next generation season 5, episode 18, star trek: the next generation.

In Star Trek's first true time loop episode, the USS Enterprise-D is destroyed over and over again as Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) and the rest of the crew try to find a solution. After a cold open that ends with the Enterprise blowing up, the crew members end up back at their game of poker. Although they do not initially realize they are stuck in a time loop, Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) begins experiencing a sense of déjà vu. After they discover their predicament, Data sends a message to himself using his positronic brain.

Wonderfully directed by Jonathan Frakes, every time loop in "Cause and Effect" feels unique.

At the end of each loop, the Enterprise collides with another ship as it emerges from a space-time distortion, after Data's suggestion to use the tractor beam fails. Data eventually realizes the message he sent himself indicates they should try Commander William Riker's (Jonathan Frakes) suggestion to decompress the main shuttlebay. The plan works and the Enterprise finally avoids the collision. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) then contacts the other ship, the USS Bozeman, which has been missing for over 90 years. Wonderfully directed by Jonathan Frakes, every time loop in "Cause and Effect" feels unique, and the episode remains one of Star Trek's most memorable time travel stories.

Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, & Star Trek: Discovery are all available to stream on Paramount+.