Best TIME TRAVEL movies

Started by Jeremy Blackman, April 12, 2012, 11:45:54 PM

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Jeremy Blackman

Off the top of my head:

12 Monkeys
Primer
Donnie Darko (does that count?)

Go.

MacGuffin

Back To The Future
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
La Jetee
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

pete

Stephen Chow made this two-part, three hour epic back in the 90s called "A Chinese Odyssey" that combined the Chinese Monkey King story with his brand of bloody slapstick comedy, a bundle of Wong Kar-Wai references, and a very convoluted plot that involved both reincarnation AND time-traveling. you can see the two parts on youtube now:





Might be a lost cause, as to who's got that kinda time in this day and age, but maybe this film will reach to one lonely soul on this board out there. It's got a brilliant time traveling gag at the end of the first film in which Stephen Chow tries to travel back in time to prevent a girl from committing suicide, but keeps on not traveling back far enough and keeps catching her dead.


Then [spoiler but I don't care] in the second movie, that time traveling device is brought back to this very melancholy and heartwrenching coda, in which our heartbroken hero, having just lost his woman (having spent the film denying his feelings for her), travels through time and catches a reincarnated version of himself and reincarnated version of the babe, still deadlock with the same denial, and this time he manages to get them together, all dumb and happy and in love, then walks away all lonely by himself into the sunset.

Give it a chance, if you can get through the super convoluted plot, you'll find a very odd, very funny, and strangely melancholy film.

Here is the part of the film with the time traveling gag:

"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

polkablues

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
My house, my rules, my coffee

Sleepless

Back to the Future
Primer
The Time Traveler's Wife

That covers a nice mix of genres I think - and time travel is a central aspect of each of the movies.

I like this game. I'll allow someone else to do the deeds of totally derailing the thread, but perhaps this could be our trivial top three thread and we could do other sub-genres such as sports movies or religious movies.
He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.

RegularKarate

Primer
12 Monkeys
B2tF
T2
Time Crimes
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Time Bandits

Primer and Time Crimes are possibly my favorite just because they each explore the two main approaches to Time Travel in a really smart way.

Jeremy Blackman

Quote from: Sleepless on April 13, 2012, 10:49:18 AMI like this game. I'll allow someone else to do the deeds of totally derailing the thread, but perhaps this could be our trivial top three thread and we could do other sub-genres such as sports movies or religious movies.

That's a great idea. They should be separate threads, though.

polkablues

Quote from: Sleepless on April 13, 2012, 10:49:18 AM
The Time Traveler's Wife

I forgot about that one.  A very underrated movie. 

Realistically, this thread begins and ends with Primer.  That flick is a minor miracle of filmmaking.
My house, my rules, my coffee

Reel

Some good Time Travel comedies no one's mentioned:

Groundhog's Day
Idiocracy
Hot Tub Time Machine

RegularKarate

Quote from: Reelist on April 13, 2012, 11:29:47 AM
Some good Time Travel comedies no one's mentioned:

Groundhog's Day

Not time travel.  Repeating the same day isn't time travel.

Quote from: Reelist on April 13, 2012, 11:29:47 AMIdiocracy

Doesn't really count as time travel since he gets frozen and wakes up in the future.

Quote from: Reelist on April 13, 2012, 11:29:47 AMHot Tub Time Machine

I thought you said "good"

pete

oh oh oh - Peggy Sue Got Married

just kidding that movie sucked but when I was a kid I went to see it 'cause I thought it was gonna be about time traveling.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

ElPandaRoyal

There was this movie Frequency back in 2000 starring Jim Caviezel and Dennis Quaid which I thought was kind of entertaining at the time.
Si

Sleepless

I remember enjoying The Navigator as a child, but it's been years since I saw it.
He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.

Reel

Me too, with Flight of The Navigator, but the one you're talking about looks cool as well.

Sleepless

That's the one. Can't remember the title either.
He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.