By GFR
| Published
Time travel movies are a dime a dozen.
The subgenre is littered with plenty of noteworthy flicks.
But which ones are worth sitting through from start to finish?
The good human beings at Giant Freakin Robot got together and chose some of their all-time favorites.
These are the best time travel movies, ranked.
#12. Timecop
Anyone who’s into time travel movies owes it to themselves to check out Timecop, an entertaining slice of ‘90s cheese that’s got more on its mind than people give it credit.
Jean-Claude Van Damme plays Max Walker, a Time Enforcement agent who stops criminals from altering the past for personal gain.
Discovering that a corrupt politician is using time travel to rewrite history, things get personal for Max when he learns that his wife’s death might be a part of the equation.
Timecop fully commits to its own ridiculous time travel rules in the name of fun and action.
Future Van Damme rocks a serious mullet while his past self is clean-cut, making for a great visual shorthand.
The 2004 future tech is now vintage by today’s standards, but holds up thanks to Timecop embracing the whole endeavor wholeheartedly.
Timecop doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel and it doesn’t need to.
It won’t melt your brain, but it will take you on a wild ride to the past, the future, and beyond with one of Van Damme’s most memorable roles.
#11. Star Trek: First Contact
It’s not the first Star Trek movie about time travel, or the last, but as far as our GFR contributor is concerned, Star Trek: First Contact is the best of them all.
It’s not only thanks to the amazing appearance of the Borg Queen, but also because of the quiet scenes down on Earth at a missile complex in Montana, where Riker sets the past into alignment, not with phasers, but with the optimistic, utopian philosophy of the 24th Century.
Star Trek: First Contact does what the Kelvinverse movies never could: merge blockbuster action sensibilities with personal, intimate conflicts.
It satisfied both Star Trek fans and casual moviegoers.
The arc of Zeframe Cochran, inventor of the warp drive, has more weight, meaning, and emotional impact than anything from the last four Star Trek feature films.
If you want a reminder why Star Trek is the premier sci-fi franchise, First Contact will remind you that when writers stick to the series’ strengths, there’s nothing better.
#10. Looper
Time travel isn’t just real in the world of Looper.
It’s used by a criminal syndicate to dispose of bodies, creating fixed loops when the hitmen have to kill their future selves.
It’s an amazing concept for a film, but it’s even better with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis playing the same man at two different points in his life.
This sounds absurd but the film’s greatest feat is making the two very different stars look like the same conflicted killer.
Looper goes out of its way to demonstrate one of the perils most time travel movies ignore. The syndicate gets its hands on the younger version of a rogue hitman, and the result is a minute of pure nightmare fuel.
For the rest of its runtime, Looper is a philosophical take on time travel, destiny, free will, and how Bruce Willis is the most effortlessly cool movie star in history.
#9. Time Bandits
From the twisted comedic mind of Monty Python founding member Terry Gilliam, Time Bandits is a surreal trip through history that doesn’t take itself, or much of anything, too seriously.
Time Bandits sends our young hero, Kevin, and a group of thieves on adventures through ancient Greece, medieval England, a visit to the Titanic, the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness. All the usual time travel stops.
Along the way we get delightful appearances from iconic actors playing famous figures like Agamemnon, Napoleon, and some other surprises.
Trying to describe Time Bandits makes you sound like a raving lunatic, but watch the film, and you’ll realize it has the same spirit and absurdity of a Monty Python classic.
Time travel can be fun and exciting, which is what makes Kevin such a refreshing protagonist; he knows this is the adventure of a lifetime, and he never wants it to end.
By the time the credits roll and you’re sitting there stunned by the last bit of absurd comedy, you’ll also wish the movie never ended.
#8. Timecrimes
You might be wondering why a movie you may have not even heard of is on this list.
Let us assure you that Timecrimes is that good.
It’s the kind of movie you’ll be recommending to others before you know it.
We don’t want to give away the secrets of director Nacho Vigalondo’s time travel thriller, but suffice to say it’s about a man who ends up accidentally using a time machine and things spiral out of control.
There are plenty of twists and turns in Timecrimes that reward attentive viewers, and just when you think you’ve figured things out, it’s got another surprise up its sleeve.
If you’re looking for a time travel movie outside of the norm, make it a point to check out Timecrimes.
#7. Donnie Darko
Donnie Darko is the ultimate coming-of-age time travel movie with no shortage of troubled teenagers, incompetent but well-meaning adults, doomsday prophecies, and, of course, the creepiest talking rabbit you’ve ever seen.
After a jet engine of unknown origin crashes into Donnie Darko’s bedroom while he’s out sleepwalking, the community of Middlesex, Virginia is forever altered by a series of isolated incidents that are more connected than you may initially think.
Plagued with hallucinations of a mysterious man in a bunny costume named Frank, Donnie begins to question reality as his visions become more intense, suggesting in no uncertain terms that the world as he knows it will soon come to an end.
While time travel and alternate, tangent realities are the modus operandi in Donnie Darko, there’s a deeper exploration into our hero’s mental health just beneath the surface, as he’s the only person who’s influenced by Frank’s machinations, making you always question his state of mind as he goes further down the rabbit hole.
Donnie Darko is messy, moody, and weird as hell, but thanks to its all-star cast and absolutely flawless new-wave needle drops, you’ll have no trouble watching this one multiple times in your attempts to solve its many mysteries.
#6. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is about two aspiring musicians who remind us about the importance of being excellent to each other.
But high school isn’t excellent, and unless these two can use their time machine to gather enough famous figures to ace their history presentation, they’ll repeat senior year.
Despite memorable performances by Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin, and the entire ensemble of historical characters, the best thing about Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is its whimsical tone. This movie treats love, death, and history class with equal levels of irreverent affection, and we can’t help but be caught up in the surprisingly Zen charm of our lovably dopey main characters.
Iconic, experimental, irreverent, and even surprisingly profound, this movie will always help you party on, dudes.
#5. The Time Machine
George Pal’s adaptation of the landmark H.G. Wells novel is often considered one of the greatest genre films of its era.
The classic story of travelling to a distant future is still engaging today thanks to an imaginative and colorful production.
And no one can forget the monstrous Morlocks after seeing them in this movie.
Some will call The Time Machine “out of date” or “cheesy” because of its age. Real connoisseurs of science fiction will always be able to see how impactful and enjoyable this classic truly is.
Just avoid the remake at all cost.
#4. Army of Darkness
Though Army of Darkness is a sequel to beloved horror comedy Evil Dead 2, many fans saw this time travel adventure first and it left its impression on an entire generation.
Stranded in medieval times, the heroic doofus Ash must lead humanity against the aforementioned army of darkness, but it might take more than a shotgun, robot hand, and hilarious one-liners to protect humanity’s future from its Deadite-ridden past.
Without a doubt, the best thing about Army of Darkness is the career-best performance from legendary rubberfaced funnyman Bruce Campbell, who might just play the most quotable character in Hollywood history.
After watching this film, there’s only one thing you’ll be able to say about director Sam Raimi: “Hail to the king, baby.”
#3. Groundhog Day
No time machines or magic spells are needed for this absolute comedy classic starring Bill Murray as an unrepentant jerk forced to relive the same day over and over again.
It’s a deceptively simple premise that allows for tons of memorably repetitive moments and subversion of those same moments.
Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell both shine so brightly in Groundhog Day that you can sometimes forget you’re watching a time loop movie.
If you haven’t seen Groundhog Day by now, ignore the memes and experience this all-timer of a time travel comedy.
#2. Back To the Future
If you ask people to name the most recognizable time travel movie of all time, they will probably point in the direction of this Robert Zemeckis classic.
Back to the Future focuses on Marty McFly, a freewheeling ‘80s teenager who just so happens to be friends with mad scientist, Doc Brown.
Doc has built a time-traveling Delorean that accidentally strands Marty in the past. When he changes the past by running into his teenage parents before they’ve started dating, he must fix them up and get back to the future before he is erased from the timeline altogether.
Back to the Future has solidified itself as a comedy classic with a bevy of beloved performances, jokes, and a script that that’s as tight as it is silly.
There would end up being two more movies, a in-depth video game, a successful stage musical, and more merchandising than you can shake a flux capacitor at.
But for our money, it’s not the best time travel movie ever.
#1. The Terminator
Changing the sci-fi thriller game forever upon its 1984 release, The Terminator isn’t about your typical time-travel paradoxes, but rather the fate of humanity hinging on the survival of one woman against a murderous machine from the future.
Set in 1984 Los Angeles, a cyborg from the not-so-distant future arrives with one primary objective: Kill Sarah Connor. Completely unaware that her future son is supposed to lead a human resistance against the machines, Sarah finds herself in the Terminator’s crosshairs. The only person standing in the Terminator’s way is Kyle Reese, a human soldier sent back to protect her.
Standing out from its contemporaries, The Terminator isn’t a sprawling space opera or high-concept think piece about time travel, but rather a prolonged chase sequence that plays out as a full-on horror movie.
Instead of explaining how time travel works, The Terminator throws you into the middle of its conflict, and only informs you of its consequences, one gritty, dangerous encounter at a time.
And to this day, it still stands as the best time travel movie of them all.
