27 Time Travel Movies and Film Trailers

I don't know if I'd actually have the nerve to travel through time if it were possible, but I sure enjoy watching other people do it!

Time travel is one of my favorite genres, and the following are some of the best (or at least the most fun) films of the kind. Some go forward in time, while others go back, and some go back and forth. Some are fun and goofy and some are more serious. Some are big budget time travel movies and some very small. But all are entertaining, if you ask me.

Do you have a favorite time travel film?

Would you travel to the past or the future? Any particular time and place?

Mary Guimont: I think if it was as easy as getting into a car and driving from one place to another. I would definitively do it.

anonymous: I'd definitely travel to the past--so many historical events and people I'd love to see firsthand!

pheonix76: I would travel to a historically significant period -- like the time of the American Revolution. It would just be wonderful to actually meet some of those gutsy people!

ismeedee: Tough one! I'd love to do both, really! But if I had to choose I guess it'd be the future even though that could be rather scary! May not see what I'd like to see.

anonymous: I'd travel to the future to see how far along mankind had came along.

anonymous: I think time is a place and every minute has an address, it is all happening now. The only variance is the distance or space in between.

seeker2011 lm: The past is the past, the future is for me unknown. So to the future it will be.

sousababy: I'd like to travel to 2050, when it is predicted that women will earn exactly what their male counterparts do.

Joan Hall: What I'd really love is to host a visitor from the past.

A Classic Time Travel Film

I've seen this one at least four times, maybe more, and as corny as it might be, it's still one of my all-time favorite time travel movies.

In The Time Machine, a scientist played by Rod Taylor travels from Victorian England at the turn of the twentieth century, back to the lava flows of ancient Earth and then far into the future, stopping in the year 802701 when a gentle, sweet-natured race known as the Eloi have been forced to hide from the brutal, suitably grotesque Morlocks ... who eat them. (Crunch!)

The story is based on a novel by H.G. Wells. The film was awarded an Oscar for its special effects, which were ahead of their time (so to speak).

I've always enjoyed seeing the mannequin change clothes and Rod Taylor's reaction as it does.

Push the lever forward, and the mannequin's clothes get more modern (and sometimes skimpier). Pull the lever back, and the clothing and bathing suit styles move towards the Victorian. And the farther forward or back that lever goes, the faster the clothing changes.

Watch....

An updated version of this timeless classic (2002)

I haven't seen this one yet. Have you? What did you think of the new version? Let me know in the comments section below.

From Amazon: "Wells's heroic time traveler--played with appealing conviction by Memento's Guy Pearce--is given a stronger motivation for piloting his time machine 800,000 years into the future. Long after New York City has crumbled and the moon shattered by a nuclear accident, Pearce finds a new home with the peacefully primitive Eloi, after confronting the subterranean Morlocks ... and their evil overlord (Jeremy Irons in wicked, pigmentless makeup).

"Trading Wells's social commentary for pure adventure, director Simon Wells (the author's great-grandson) maintains the story's legacy of wonder, despite a few hokey embellishments. Catering to a younger audience, this Time Machine is fun without being particularly distinguished--a treat for the eyes, if not the brain."

The remade version....

The Original Movie Series -- 5 Films

When I think of this film series, the image of Charleton Heston falling to his knees on the beach at the end of the first film always comes to mind. I was a kid when I first saw this, and I remember (for some reason) being surprised by what he saw on that beach.

The first film in the Planet of the Apes series was based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle.

I haven't seen this new version ... yet! But I can't resist a time travel film, original or remake, so it's on my list. The much newer version stars Mark Wahlberg and Helena Bonham Carter and is directed by Carter's husband, Tim Burton.

In an Amazon review, Jeff Shannon says, "Billed as a 'reimagining' of the original 1968 film, Tim Burton's extraordinary Planet of the Apes constantly borders on greatness, adhering to the spirit of Pierre Boulle's original novel while exploring fresh and inventive ideas and paying honorable tribute to the '68 sci-fi classic.

"Burton's gifts for eccentric inspiration and visual ingenuity make this a movie that's as entertaining as it is provocative, beginning with Rick Baker's best-ever ape makeup ... and continuing through the surprisingly nuanced performances and breathtaking production design. Add to all this an intelligent screenplay that turns Boulle's speculative reversal--the dominance of apes over humans--into a provocative study of civil rights and civil war."

While he praised the film, Shannon apparently wasn't thrilled with the new ending of this remake, but I'll watch it and decide for myself.

A time traveling romance

Okay, so this time travel film starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymore may be corny, but I couldn't (and can't) help but watch it every time it played (plays) on TV (which is few and far between these days).

*Sigh* I miss Chris

A goof-ball time travel film

Jon Cleese and Sean Connery star in this film about time traveling dwarfs running from God.

Kevin's daydreams burst into real life when a band of time-traveling little men come crashing through his bedroom wardrobe and carry him off on a crime spree, weaving through the greatest and strangest moments of history. The pint-sized plunderers filch from a neurotic Napoleon (Ian Holm), a dim-witted Robin Hood (John Cleese) and a heroic King Agamemnon (Sean Connery), leading to a showdown with the dark forces of Evil (David Warner), all while keeping just one precarious step ahead of the wrath of The Supreme Being.

A time travel thriller

In this film by writer-director, James Cameron, Ahhh-nold (Schwartzenneger) stars as the "futuristic cyborg who kills without fear, without love, without mercy."

In the year 2029, the ruling super-computer, Skynet, sends the cyborg -- that would be Arnold -- back in time to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton, before she can fulfill her destiny and save mankind.

Time travel adventure-comedy

I was a teenager when the first of the Back to the Future films came out. Six friends and I went to the theater to see it, and I remember we all really liked the movie, not to mention Michael J. Fox, who was at the height of his TV career at the time. We all hoped there would be a sequel and, sure enough, there were two.

The crew of the original Starship Enterprise travel from our future (their present) back to our present (their past).

I was a big Trekkie when I was growing up, not even realizing that those were already re-runs.

Considered one of the best Star Trek films, the fourth movie in the series has the crew of the USS Enterprise returning to Earth to find the planet in grave danger from an alien probe attempting to contact by-then extinct humpback whales. The crew then travel into the past to find whales who can answer the probe's call.

Star Trek IV stars the original cast members, including William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley, along with Catherine Hicks as Dr. Gillian Taylor, a biologist on 20th century Earth. The film is directed by Leonard Nemoy (Spock, our favorite Vulcan), who also co-wrote the story.

Gotta love the stylish sweatband covering those pointy ears.

A time travel comedy film

In this Francis Ford Coppola comedy, Kathleen Turner stars as an unhappy, middle-aged woman who travels back in time to her high school days and meets her future husband, played by Nicolas Cage, all over again.

Reviewer Carlos Amaral quotes a Yeats poem called When You Are Old and writes, "That comes from a scene where Peggy Sue is talking to a poet Michael Fitzsimmons (Kevin J. O'Connor) while she is visiting her high school years. [It's] one of my favorite movie scenes ever, and I feel that the movie itself is a timeless piece of cinema. Look out for performances from Jim Carrey, Nicholas Cage, Helen Hunt, and a young Sofia Copola as Peggy's bratty kid sister. Great musical score. And this is the one flick guaranteed to make me tear up every time."

A time travel comedy buddy movie

Two metalhead slackers travel through time as much as 7000 years, starting from 2068, in a time machine shaped like a phone booth. Their goal: to assemble a group of historical figures, including the likes of Napoleon and Billy the Kid, for their high school history presentation.

This cult favorite film stars Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin, Terry Camilleri, and Dan Shor.

The next installment of the time-traveling duo's adventure

This time, Bill and Ted robots are sent back in time to prevent the real Bill and Ted from winning a pivotal Battle of the Bands. Heavy stuff (not!) ... and pretty hilarious (if you're in the right kinda mood).

Time travel action

Okay, so I'm not a big Jean-Claude Van Damme fan. But if you don't think too much, you might actually enjoy this time-travel action film in which an officer with the Time Enforcement Police (Van Damme) is assigned to prevent criminals from traveling to the past with the intent of altering the future. Why, those no-good....

Oh, and Ron Silver plays the evil politician who plots to retrieve a stockpile of gold from the Civil War to finance his latest campaign.

A time travel thriller

In this film with big-name stars Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt (who's not looking his hottest per the cuckoo part he's playing), Willis's character, Cole, is sent back in time to save the human race from a deadly virus that has forced mankind into underground communities in the future -- Cole's present. If he succeeds, so he's told, his prison sentence (which is anything but comfortable) will be reduced. But will it? Hmm....

How does Brad do that with his eye, anyway?

A 19th Century Duke Ends Up in 21st Century New York

I don't know what made this one pop into my head, but I did enjoy the film (not to mention looking at Hugh Jackman). It's a light-hearted romance and the kind of quirky, cute Meg Ryan character I've always enjoyed.

Wow, what pretty people....

Time travel comedy-romance with some serial killing in the mix

Amazon reviewer, K. Harris writes, " 'Time After Time' succeeds in several different genres concurrently. This is a credible sci-fi pic, a sweet romance, a fish out of water comedy, as well as a decent serial killer thriller."

The time is 1893, and writer H. G. Wells, played by Malcolm MacDowell, has unknowingly become friends with Jack The Ripper. Wells has constructed a time machine, which Jack uses to escape the authorities and travel to modern-day San Francisco, where he continues his murderous spree. Wells then follows Jack the Ripper into the future to stop him and meets Mary Steenburgen, who helps Wells adjust to the strange new world and gets involved in the whole crazy affair.

Based on the Time Travel Novel by Michael Crichton

I loved the book, so I enjoyed the movie ... even though the latter was a little on the hokey side at times, especially during the actual time-traveling scenes when the travelers are being sent (painfully) back to the 14th century. Despite some less-than-stellar acting on the part of a couple of the main characters, I still had fun with this film (and enjoyed watching Gerard Butler too).

An independent time travel film

One difference between this film and other time-travel movies is that these characters are traveling back a few HOURS in time, not hundreds of years or more.

An inventor and a fellow brainiac initially use "rewind sessions" to go back in time to succeed in the stock market. But a dark consequence of their daily journeys eventually complicates matters.

This time-travel drama won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Sometimes indy movies are the best.

A psychological time travel thriller

This is a serious one.

A ghost story spanning two worlds, two centuries apart

This British film is based on a well-known children's book series by Lucy M. Boston.

A crude time travel comedy (crude comedy, that is) with just enough intelligence and "emotional sweetness"

So says Bret Fetzer on Amazon about this movie I'd never head of ... till now.

So, these three middle-aged guys and the unwelcome younger nephew of one of them share a crazy night of drinking in a ski resort hot tub, only to wake up with serious hangovers back in 1986, where each of them decides to risk changing the future (and possibly erasing the nephew from existence) by doing things just a wee bit differently.

Starring John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, and Chevy Chase

A fun, goofy time travel story

If you liked the original Men in Black movie -- many say the second installment of the MIB franchise wasn't up to par -- then I'm pretty sure you'll really like MIB3, which adds time travel twists to the mix.

"Fun" is definitely the word that comes to mind when I think about this film. And the time travel sequences are some of the coolest and most creative I've seen (a la jumping off the Empire State Building in order to travel ... hopefully before reaching the ground).

And Emma Thompson gets my vote for the funniest scene in the movie.

This futuristic action film stars Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Emily Blunt. Time travel will be invented -- but it will be illegal and only available on the black market.

Read a review of Looper, "a smart but confusing thriller."

27 Time Travel Movies