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Grab your DeLorean and buckle up! Join us as we count down our picks for the greatest time travel movies ever made, from mind-bending sci-fi thrillers to heartfelt comedies! Whether it's hopping to the past, racing to the future, or getting stuck in an endless loop, these films prove that time travel makes for some truly incredible cinema!
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00:00Okay, okay, you hear that? How it's, uh, how it's, see, I'm not touching it anymore.
00:04It's growing with its own momentum. It's like a feedback loop, and it just regulates itself.
00:08And what you do is, when it gets there, you bring it back, and there you go, it coasts.
00:15Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most entertaining and intelligent movies about traveling through
00:21time,
00:22whether it's the past, the future, or a never-ending loop.
00:25We'll be discussing certain plot points in detail, so a spoiler warning is now in effect.
00:31The phone call I just made? Five minutes ago. Five minutes ago, 30 years ago. They just put it together.
00:39Number 15. About Time.
00:41What do you get when you cross time travel shenanigans with the guy who wrote Notting Hill and Love Actually?
00:46A love story that quite literally transcends time and space.
00:50How long will I love you? As long as stars are above you.
00:57Fine.
01:00Longer if I can.
01:01This underrated rom-com follows Donal Gleeson's Tim as he learns of his family's secret ability to travel through time.
01:08He never loses. You don't think he's gonna win, and then he just pulls something out of the bag, and
01:11would you know he wins again?
01:12He decides to test this gift by repeatedly catching the eye of his romantic interest Mary, played by an adorably
01:19quirky Rachel McAdams.
01:21The pair's natural chemistry makes each of their meet-cutes more memorable than the last,
01:25but About Time is truly solidified by its surprisingly deep meditation on mortality.
01:31Second chances aren't always a guarantee, and the movie uses that hard lesson to champion the importance of living every
01:37day like it's your last.
01:38I just try to live every day as if I've deliberately come back to this one day, to enjoy it,
01:45as if it was the full final day of my extraordinary, ordinary life.
01:51Number 14. Star Trek IV The Voyage Home
01:55It's a miracle these people ever got out of the 20th century.
01:58You wouldn't think that a series like Star Trek could send its characters into the past without things going haywire.
02:04Well, not only does this fourth movie do exactly that, but it also gives us one of the best Star
02:10Trek stories there is.
02:11What you're hearing is a recorded whale song. It is sung by the mail.
02:17He'll sing anywhere from 6 to as long as 30 minutes and then start again.
02:21When an alien probe destroys Earth's oceans, the Enterprise crew slingshots into 1980's San Francisco to find a humpback whale
02:29that will answer the probe's signals.
02:30On paper, The Voyage Home sounds like the kind of movie that would ruin this franchise, but in Execution, it's
02:37unexpectedly delightful.
02:39On top of its sincere plea for conservation, the interaction between the utopian crew and the imperfect world they've never
02:46experienced makes this a romp that's funny, intense, and ultimately uplifting.
02:51A miracle, Mr. Scott.
02:53A miracle? That's yet to come.
02:56Number 13. Predestination
02:59While some stories win over the audience by spelling things out, Predestination fully embraces the head-scratching nature of its
03:06scientific mechanics.
03:07Based on a short story by sci-fi master Robert Heinlein, this cerebral movie follows a temporal agent who moves
03:13backward and forward through time to prevent an attack with grave consequences.
03:18You always knew this day would come.
03:25You can do this.
03:26The multiple twists and turns are fitting for a movie that, despite its complexities, is nevertheless grounded in realistic themes
03:34like identity and the notion of feeling out of place in the world.
03:38Preparation is the key to successful, inconspicuous time travel.
03:45Luck is the residue of design.
03:48That humane quality is one that's often lost in a thinking person's story.
03:53Predestination may be a potentially confusing hour and a half, but it's all the better off for finding humanity between
03:59its densely plotted threads.
04:01We can have a future together.
04:03Would you kill him?
04:05To save thousands.
04:07You want to know what we're going to do tomorrow?
04:12Number 12.
04:13X-Men.
04:14Days of Future Past.
04:16If this superhero extravaganza proves anything, it's that few things are more enjoyable than watching X-Men The Last Stand
04:23be completely retconned.
04:25That is just one way Days of Future Past makes incredible use of time travel.
04:29You built these weapons to destroy us.
04:32Why?
04:38Because you are afraid of our gifts.
04:40To prevent a future ravaged by mutant hunting robots, Wolverine is sent back to 1973 to rewrite the moment in
04:47which they took power.
04:48As a follow-up to both the original X-Men movies and First Class, Days of Future Past generates nostalgia
04:54and intrigue from its ensemble cast alone.
05:04But with the stakes at an all-time high and its diverse blend of mutants, the action is compelling enough
05:10to stand on its own.
05:11Plus, if Professor X communicating with his younger self doesn't give you chills, nothing will.
05:17Number 11.
05:18Planet of the Apes.
05:19This staple of 60s sci-fi doesn't exactly tear through the fabric of space-time like other movies on this
05:25list.
05:25But Planet of the Apes poses so many startling questions about our world that we are compelled to include it
05:31anyway.
05:31Still can't accept it.
05:34Time's wiped out everything you ever knew.
05:36It's all vast.
05:38Here, Charlton Heston's tailor finds himself on a rogue planet ruled by apes after a lightspeed voyage sends the astronaut
05:45and his crew over 2,000 years into the future.
05:48Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!
05:52Yeah, you probably already know about that monumental twist ending.
05:56But the movie can't make its final revelation work without first dilating time to its advantage.
06:02With its chilling themes and dazzling makeup effects, Planet of the Apes truly horrifies you with the thought of losing
06:08everything you once knew while barely aging a day.
06:11We finally really did it.
06:15You maniacs!
06:18You blew it up!
06:20Oh, damn you!
06:24God damn you all to hell!
06:28Number 10.
06:29Source Code.
06:30Time loop stories are a pretty ingenious way of exploring the human condition and society at large.
06:35Source Code is no different, using its repetitive setup as a method of exploring difficult topics like free will and
06:42surveillance.
06:43Jake Gyllenhaal stars as an army captain who uses virtual reality to locate the culprit behind a devastating train explosion.
06:49Wait, no!
06:55That means reliving the simulated attack over and over again until the crisis is averted.
07:00As expected, the truth is way more complicated than Gyllenhaal's character realizes,
07:06and Source Code revels in its potent take on government ethics being compromised for the greater good.
07:10Not to mention, its clever use of a single location gives it a claustrophobic feel that would make Alfred Hitchcock
07:17proud.
07:17So what do you want to do today?
07:21I think we should stay here for a while.
07:24Number 9.
07:25Primer.
07:25What happens if it actually works?
07:27That is the tantalizing question posed by this micro-budget cult classic.
07:32Look, it travels forward normally towards the BN, and when it gets there, the feed runs down parabolically until it's
07:37just stopped.
07:37But it doesn't.
07:38It curves back around towards the AN.
07:39Following two tech buddies who accidentally invent time travel in their garage,
07:43Primer dedicates most of its $7,000 cost to making time travel as scientifically realistic as possible.
07:50Despite its homemade look,
07:51it's still a high-quality labor of love from writer-director Shane Carruth, who also stars in the film.
07:57Primer is definitely not a movie that you can hope to understand in a single viewing.
08:01But its experimental structure and philosophical musings are so absorbing that it dares you to keep watching until you figure
08:08it out.
08:09It is a mind-warping cautionary tale, and a truly original slice of temporal sci-fi.
08:14I'm not going to pretend like I know anything, okay, about paradoxes, you know, or what follows them.
08:19And honestly, I really don't believe in any of that grip anyways.
08:21I mean, kill your mom before you're born, whatever.
08:23And that's work itself out somehow.
08:25Number 8. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
08:27The intricacies and technicalities of time travel do not always have to apply.
08:32Even if they apply to this raucous stoner comedy,
08:35we have a feeling the titular duo would not take them very seriously.
08:38Who are you guys?
08:40We're you, dude!
08:42No way.
08:44No way.
08:46Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure seizes the most fun aspects of traversing time simply because it can,
08:51telling an easygoing story of two kids who just need to pass history class.
08:55Sure, the stakes are ultimately bigger than they think,
08:58but the movie is at its best when keeping things hilariously simple,
09:01as Bill and Ted bring a variety of historical figures into the present.
09:06I'm the Earl of Preston, and I am the Duke of Ted.
09:13Between the dynamic of Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter,
09:16the excellent pop culture references, and the insanely quotable dialogue,
09:20this is one history lesson worth paying attention to.
09:24Whoa!
09:31Not bad.
09:33Number 7. Interstellar
09:35Christopher Nolan's grandiose epic about astronauts searching for a new home
09:39definitely concerns itself more with spaceships than time machines.
09:43Christopher, what are you doing?
09:44Knocking.
09:47But part of what makes Interstellar such a sensational experience
09:51is how it explores the very nature of time itself.
09:55Endurance is hitting stratosphere.
09:57The movie earns a significant emotional response
10:00by capturing the amazing strides that time allows for,
10:03while also lamenting the devastating losses that occur in the process.
10:07And that is all before the actual time travel occurs in the movie's third act,
10:12in which Matthew McConaughey's Cooper sends back a heartfelt message to his daughter
10:16and saves humanity in the process.
10:18Interstellar is a harrowing yet immensely rewarding look at the bonds that defy time, space, and logic,
10:23making it a movie that's built to last.
10:26Number 6.
10:2712 Monkeys
10:28Are you going to save us, Mr. Cole?
10:30How can I save you?
10:31This already happened.
10:32I can't save you.
10:34Nobody can.
10:36I am simply trying to gather information
10:39to help the people in the present trace the path of the virus.
10:43Dividing focus between time travel's entertainment value and its psychological effects
10:47is what separates good movies from great ones.
10:49Suffice it to say, 12 Monkeys is one of the greats.
10:53Bruce Willis stars as James Cole,
10:55who travels back to 1996 in order to stop the spread of a world-ending virus.
10:59Just relax now.
11:00Don't fight it.
11:01We're sending you to the third quarter of 1996, right on the money.
11:05As is the case with many of Terry Gilliam's zany features,
11:09nothing goes according to plan for Cole and his skittish accomplice,
11:12played by an Oscar-nominated Brad Pitt.
11:1412 Monkeys is a wildly unpredictable time
11:17thanks to its chaotic structure and off-kilter performances.
11:20But make no mistake,
11:22moving through time has never looked so creepy or damaging.
11:26The farther Cole gets from his own reality,
11:28the more we start to question our own.
11:30The world belongs to the dogs and cats.
11:33They live like worms.
11:36We just need the information.
11:38Number 5.
11:39Looper
11:40If his Knives Out movies are any indication,
11:42Rian Johnson loves weaving together juicy puzzles for his audience,
11:46even if attempting to solve them might ruin the fun.
11:49That is just as true for Looper,
11:51which finds Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Joe,
11:53an assassin who takes out targets sent to him from the future.
12:06Unfortunately for him,
12:08his latest hit is his older self,
12:10who is not prepared to go down easily.
12:13JGL's dynamic with Bruce Willis gives the movie its hard-edged yet introspective core,
12:17as the two Joes are forced to reckon with their life choices
12:20and thus influence each other in real time.
12:22Despite its brutal twists,
12:24Looper is an oddly hopeful movie about atoning for mistakes
12:27and our innate capacity to change for the better.
12:31You're a loop.
12:33You lied to me.
12:37But I know you're not lying when you say you're gonna kill this guy.
12:41Your own self.
12:43Number 4.
12:44Edge of Tomorrow
12:45What are you doing?
12:47Find me when you wake up.
12:49Far from the mindless shoot-em-up it was perceived as,
12:53Edge of Tomorrow is a highly strategic movie
12:55that takes a playful sledgehammer to war movie tropes.
12:58In one of his more down-to-earth roles,
13:00Tom Cruise plays a cowardly soldier who finds himself caught in a loop,
13:04forced to repeatedly enter the battlefield in a fight against aliens.
13:07And the Omega has the ability to control time.
13:11Whenever an Alpha is killed,
13:14an automatic response is triggered.
13:17The Omega starts the day over again.
13:20But you see, this time,
13:21it can remember what's going to happen just like you do.
13:25Of course, each interaction brings new knowledge,
13:28allowing Cruise and co-star Emily Blunt to craft a plan.
13:31It's here where Edge of Tomorrow really shines,
13:34continuously evolving its action and humor
13:36so that every encounter feels entirely different from the last.
13:40On top of the fantastic banter between its two leads,
13:43the movie finds increasingly outlandish ways to dispatch them,
13:46which is a thrill in and of itself.
13:49How many times have we been here?
13:57How many times?
13:59Number 3. Groundhog Day.
14:01Great.
14:03You know, I think this is one of the traits of a really good producer.
14:06Keep the talent happy.
14:09Anything I can do.
14:10This iconic comedy is widely credited with bringing time loop stories into the mainstream
14:15and is still a cut above the rest.
14:17Starring Bill Murray at his most dryly hilarious,
14:21Groundhog Day follows Phil Connors,
14:23a jaded weatherman who finds himself reliving the titular holiday over and over again.
14:28So,
14:30what do I do?
14:33I think we should meet again.
14:35How's tomorrow for you?
14:40Is that not good?
14:41The movie builds a compelling character despite various shifts in tone,
14:45as Phil's never-ending journey shifts from humor to desperation to ultimate redemption.
14:50Beaming with optimism,
14:52Groundhog Day is a feel-good classic that encourages us to find comfort in the little things.
14:56Capped off by an unexpected romance and its heartwarming resolution,
15:00it just goes to show that inner peace and help from others is the only way to break a bad
15:05cycle.
15:05How are you doing this?
15:08I told you, I wake up every day right here,
15:13right in Punxsutawney,
15:14and it's always February 2nd,
15:17and there's nothing I can do about it.
15:20Number 2.
15:21Terminator 2.
15:22Judgment Day.
15:23I'd be hard-pressed not to give a special shout-out to the 1984 original,
15:27in which the titular cyborg is sent back in time to kill the mother of humanity's savior.
15:32But it's Terminator 2 where James Cameron's action-packed franchise really hits its stride,
15:37both in its scale and in the complex questions it asks about the ultimate fate of the world.
15:42Even with Skynet on the verge of reality,
15:44T2 is a rollicking thrill ride,
15:46thanks in large part to its blend of practical action and landmark computer effects.
15:58Even so, it is still a movie where failure has the gravest consequences,
16:03not to mention one that contemplates whether changing the past
16:05is actually enough to prevent an undesirable future.
16:18Before we unveil our top pick,
16:21here are some honorable mentions.
16:23Avengers Endgame.
16:24This time heist brings the Infinity Saga to a rousing conclusion.
16:28We're going in 3, 2, 1...
16:50Time Bandits.
16:52Another Terry Gilliam adventure that proudly marches to its own beat.
16:58Return what you have stolen from me.
17:04Return.
17:06Return the map.
17:09Time Crimes.
17:10A loopy thriller that shows just how bad changing the past can get.
17:20Time after time.
17:22This clever movie finds H.G. Wells on a modern-day hunt for Jack the Ripper.
17:36Safety not guaranteed.
17:38A charming little romance that captures why escaping to the past feels so good.
18:00Number 1.
18:01Back to the Future.
18:03On top of being cinema's most exceptional time travel tale,
18:06Back to the Future is one of the most purely entertaining and re-watchable movies ever made.
18:11It works!
18:14I finally invent something that works!
18:17It's your hassle, it works.
18:19Complete with arguably the coolest time machine ever conceived,
18:22it's the kind of story destined to remain timeless
18:24no matter how far into the past or future the DeLorean can travel.
18:27Hey, Doc, we better back up.
18:29We don't have enough roads to get up to 88.
18:31Roads?
18:32Well, we're going, we don't need roads.
18:35With three-dimensional characters,
18:37awkward family situations,
18:38and a phenomenal climax,
18:40its heartfelt brand of comedy makes it a perfect movie to pass down to the next generation.
18:45Back to the Future is such a singular achievement
18:47that you could argue it doesn't even need its two sequels to back up its legacy.
18:51I can't guess you guys aren't ready for that yet.
18:55But your kids are going to love it.
18:57Don't be surprised if you find yourself revisiting it faster than you can say,
19:02Great Scott!
19:02Great Scott!
19:04What time travel movie makes you want to put your mind to it and accomplish anything?
19:08Let us know in the comments.
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