Top Time Travel Movies

by Hannah Butler

The ability to move back and forth in time has long fascinated writers and filmmakers. H. G. Wells popularized the idea in 1895 with his novel The Time Machine, which has had multiple film and TV adaptations. Since then the notion of traveling through time – whether through deliberate choice or bizarre accident – has been a popular theme in movies. Here are the ones that will likely survive the test of time.

A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court (1949)

This adaptation of Mark Twain's novel may not be the best time travel film Hollywood has produced, but it was one of the earliest. Bing Crosby plays a singing mechanic who gets transported back to King Arthur's Britain. It's worth watching if only to see how Sam Raimi references it in his Evil Dead time-hopping sequel Army of Darkness.

The Time Machine (1960)

Skip the lame 2002 remake and seek out this George Pal adaptation of the H. G. Wells classic. Rod Taylor plays a Victorian Englishman who builds a machine to travel through time. He argues with his colleagues about time travel and then travels to the distant future to find humanity has divided into two warring factions. The film is dated but entertaining as an early effects driven time travel film.

Time Bandits (1981)

Terry Gilliam's darkly humorous film may be the cleverest and most original of all the time travel films. Take a young British lad, a band of "vertically challenged" employees of the Supreme Being, and a map showing all the holes in the space-time continuum, and you have the foundation of Time Bandits. The dwarfs have decided to use the map to travel back and forth through history to steal things. Along the way they encounter, among others, Napoleon, Robin Hood, and Agamemnon (played with surprising poignancy by Sean Connery). Not officially Monty Python but definitely Pythonesque in its humor. Gilliam also dealt with time travel in his Twelve Monkeys.

Army of Darkness (1992)

The goofiest and most entertaining time travel film is Sam Raimi's second sequel to The Evil Dead. This time out Ash (Bruce Campbell) is rudely dropped down in what appears to be 1300s England where he must fight witches, demons, and an army of the undead. This is a comic showcase for Campbell who delivers one memorable line after another. Example: "Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the gun." Groovy.

Back to the Future (1985)

This three-film franchise defined time travel for a generation. Christopher Lloyd plays Doc Brown, an eccentric scientist who puts a time machine into a DeLorean sports car. The film suggests the comic dangers of time travel when young Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) goes back in time and prevents his parents from meeting. Now he has to make sure they hook up or run the risk of never existing.

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

Best friends Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are about to fail history but luckily a time traveler (the great George Carlin) from the future provides them with a telephone booth that allows them to travel through time and gather info for their history project. Time travel as pot comedy. Excellent!

Time After Time (1979)

Malcolm McDowell plays writer H. G. Wells in this time jumping tale about the writer following Jack the Ripper (David Warner) into the 20th century after the serial killer uses the author's time machine to elude Victorian authorities. Jack seems right at home in the 20th century while Wells struggles to adapt with the help of a young woman (Mary Steenburgen). Delightfully written and directed by Nicholas Meyer, the film mixes sci-fi, crime thriller, and romance to good effect.

The Terminator (1984)

The tagline proclaims: "They would reshape the Future by changing the Past." And how do you do that? By sending Arnold as a human-looking, unstoppable cyborg from the future to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) who is supposed to bear a child that will lead the rebellion against the machines. But Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) is sent to stop the Terminator. This was James Cameron's leanest, meanest film – a tight sci-fi thriller with Arnold perfectly cast as the ruthless Terminator.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hannah Butler works as a content writer. Besides, she likes sharing her experience in the form of articles. In this case, she has her own section on https://writemypaper4me.co/. In the future she is going to start writing a blog in order to describe her working methods to others.