Matters of Time

By DavidGibbs6

I guess if I'm going to talk about time traveling movies I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention The Terminator, Back to the Future, and the Planet of the Apes Franchises.

Now that's done, I'm also not going to mention the Marvel Cinematic Universe or DC. Both which have dabbled in time travel.

Also how is it that Dr Who is both, 'The Shit' and complete trash simultaneously?

I honestly would like to do a deep dive on this topic but I don't have the time.

If you look even just a little bit you can find time travel literally everywhere across television and cinema. It is the fourth dimension after all.

Technically every movie contains a form of time travel. However when it passes by at one second per second, we rarely consider it as such.

From the first time travel movie, a 1921 silent film adaptation of Mark Twain's, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. There were another fifteen before George Pal's classic 1960 adaptation of H G Wells, The Time Machine. Two of the fifteen being remakes of the Mark Twain story, at least according to Wikipedia.

Beyond 1990 there are too many to count and I doubt a truly exhaustive list even exists.

So instead what I can offer you is this. My list of movies on the subject. Ones that I found interesting.

Be forewarned, I have weird taste in movies.

The Time Machine - 2002

It's a classic story, and this H G Wells adaptation is serviceable. I'm probably biased as a Guy Pierce fan. It's a good place to start your time travel journey with a standard version of the time travelers Paradox.

Twelve Monkeys - 1995

If The Time Machine isn't dystopian enough for you, then maybe it's time to watch this Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt powerhouse. Sent back from a destroyed future, our time traveler is tasked with discovering what went wrong. But ultimately if you had the opportunity would you change things? Or could you even?

The Butterfly Effect - 2004

Continuing this theme, we find ourselves considering the complication that changing a timeline could bring. What if you could change things? What would this mean for the future or even your present time? This movie is the first on the list where there isn't a time machine as such. Proving you don't need one for an effective time travel tale and an interesting chaos filled ride.

Interstellar - 2014

If you prefer a more hard science look, then Interstellar is a great place to see the effects of time dilation. Much like the earlier Planet of the Apes, the time travel in Interstellar happens in a regular spacecraft traveling at speed. Add relativity and that time travel.

Looper - 2012

What if time travel was used by gangsters to murder people? With Bruce Willis playing a hit man, this movie was quite a hit. It's a big budget action film but they take the time travel in interesting directions, which makes this one a worthwhile watch.

Idiocracy - 2006

A cult movie written by Mike Judge about an average guy who travels into a really stupid future. This movie much like Bill and Ted, proves that time travel can be comedic. It also gives us another way to travel through time that we haven't seen. Deep sleep. Making Sleeping Beauty the first time traveling Disney princess?

While you might recognise the first six movies on the list, the next six are less recognisable.

Time Lapse - 2014

A quirky movie about three people who discover a machine that shows you a polaroid photo one day in the future. It's a simple premise that comes up quite often in time travel stories. If you can know the future, are you a slave to it?

ARQ - 2016

Arq takes the premise of Groundhog Day and the idea of an endless loop and makes it into a gritty apocalyptic thrill. This movie starts along familiar tropes but slowly moves into a more interesting place. It impressed me with subtle nods to science and a neat ending.

Triangle - 2009

This is one part mystery horror and another part mind bending twists and loops. When a yacht crew finds a deserted cruise ship and truly strange things start to happen.

Time Addicts - 2023

I discovered this one while researching for this article and I took a shine to it. Like nothing else on this list it's both funny, interesting, weird and at some points, even heartfelt. If you like movies like A Scanner Darkly, but with meth smoking time travelers, you just might like this too.

Resolution- 2012 and The Endless - 2017

This pair of low budget movies go together. With Resolution setting a stage that is confusing and strange. While the Endless doubles down on the mystery and intrigue before giving you a satisfying conclusion. Out of all the movies on this list these two inhabit more space in my head than all the others. I would love to tell you more but I'm keeping it spoiler free.

And that is my list of twelve. I hope someone finds and enjoys one of these that they haven't seen before. And I would love to hear what time travel movies you like in the comments.