Time travel in cinema and television

Classic Terry Gilliam, deliciously quoteable, and a grand adventure.

The time travel movie everybody loves. BTTF has a simple storyline which serves mainly as a vehicle for a nostalgic look back at the 1950s as well as showcasing the quirky and fun Christopher Lloyd.

It gets more complicated in this sequel, although BTTF2 manages to retain the quirkiness and humor of the franchise to a lesser degree. This will never be as beloved as BTTF part 1, due in large part to the recycling of themes and the storyline --which is more difficult to follow--kind of a mess in fact. Still, you have to watch BTTF2 in order to get the setup for ...

More fun than part 2 and more sophisticated than the first two films put together. Cool Wild West theme and a decent amount of action.

Primer is about as far from a Back to the Future-type movie as you can get in every way: low budget, obscure actors, and dialog designed to be thought-provoking instead of snappy.

If you claim to understand this on first viewing, you're lying--or you're channeling Stephen Hawking.

Primer is probably the most "realistic" time travel movie made to date and it's also guaranteed to make your ears bleed trying to untangle the plot. I'll admit that it was smarter than I am, but that won't stop me from trying again every now and then; I can't resist a good puzzle.

What a trip! You could stay up all night puzzling out what started this tangled mess of a time loop. Although a low-budget film, Timecrimes' script is intelligent and engaging.

Not primarily about time travel, but it's an important plot point. I included ST in this list mainly because it's cool. :)

The original Doctor who made me wonder why American television wasn't as cool as BBC. I loved Tom Baker and joined the Whovian society before it was cool. I only wish I'd kept the official membership card.

Cool modern Doctor Who with sexy sidekicks and big-budget sfx.

Kind of a weird blend of "chick flick" and time travel. Actually a very intelligent philosophy is expressed in the book upon which it is based -- I recommend both. This, despite the goody-two-shoes Rachel McAdams' performance.

The lead actor lacked charisma, but this was a solid interpretation of the classic book; I'll go out on a limb and call it better than the 1960s version. It was wonderful to see what modern cinematography could do for this story, especially the journey forward through the eons. I also loved Orlando Jones as the "librarian".

HG Wells goes after Jack the Ripper in 1979! Great premise and a pretty good film overall.

The inspiration for this list!

I have not one bad thing to say about this film: It has smarts, looks, some pretty intense action, and heart. JGL and Bruce knock it out of the park sharing the lead role as two different timeline versions of the same man. Easily my favorite SF film of 2012 and probably the best of this millenium so far.

Not bad, not bad...I usually find Ashton Kutcher annoying, but was able to overlook him here.

Silly film, absolutely does not take itself seriously...just go along for the ride. That, and some of the humor which is sly and occasionally brilliant.

I refuse to acknowledge the existence of any other so-called Bill and Ted film...

Best Brad Pitt performance ever. Also worth watching because of the well-constructed time travel loop and Terry Gilliam's vision of our dystopian future.

Creepy, atmospheric, awesome. Also, best soundtrack of any time travel film.

Jake Gyllenhall carries this film brilliantly in his breakout performance as Donnie Darko, the accidental time traveler.

Amidst Bill Murray's self-depracating dryness, there are some entertaining time travel ideas and philosophies in this enjoyable little romance.

Action/thriller time travel which I enjoyed, but probably won't bother watching a third time. I didn't see the twist coming, so that says something...hopefully that the script was smart, not that I'm dull.

An excuse to poke fune at/pay tribute to the 1980s. I liked it, and of course, John Cusack was his dependable self in the comedic role. Not for the hardcore time travel enthusiast geek, just mindless fun.

Time travel is given a nod in the plot, which is mainly a wish-fulfillment fantasy that every woman can relate to: what if you could go back in time to your high school self and do it over, including that "mistake" which was your boyfriend.

A classic which introduced time travel as a serious SF concept back in the early '80s.

Further explores the themes brought up in the first Terminator film -- determinism? Or is our future not written?

Love Linda Hamilton's transformation for this movie!

Satisfying conclusion to the terminator series, showing us John's origins as the badass leader of humanity against the machine dystopia.

Very impressed with this film. Time travel perhaps not, but it explores possible alternate time lines based on the choices of a nine year old kid. A very metaphysical vibe in this one.

The poster makes this seem like a rom com, but far from it. The amazing Rachel McAdams plays a teen and a twentysomething with equal authority. This is a humanized story of what comes of our choices and how one time traveler learned from his own mistakes how to get it right.

Best X-men film ever made, and really cool. Time travel figures heavily into the plot, although it's really more about introducing the backstories of characters and explaining how they changed into their "present" selves. Sharp writing, and dare I say, very human.

small-scale time travel, more about how one character tries to cope with his past. A well written little indie film.

Not a bad performance by Cruise, and the writing's tight.

Very loosely based on the plot from the film of the same name, this 12 Monkeys television series takes the concept of alternate timelines to another level, and poses questions about the nature of time itself.

Visually great, good performances, and solid writing all around.