It’s me again Outposters, and this time I have a new list for you. A certain Mr. Roy Batty requested a Top 10 Time Travel movie list, and as it’s a relatively slow news day, I thought why the hell not?
I’ve implemented two rules for this one. Filmes like Groundhog Day, Triangle, or Edge Of Tomorrow are time LOOP not travel, so I’ve excluded those and their kind. Also, there are no superheroes, so don’t expect Superman The Movie or Endgame. Now, before any of you get your knickers in a twist, these are my personal favourites, and yes, some big hitters are missing. Hopefully, the ones I have left off are intentional and not a repeat of my monumental fuck up from yesterday when I left off The Thing and They Live!
Feel free to agree or disagree, and chuck in your recommendations too! Here goes nothing:
10. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
What’s not to love about this crazy classic from the late 80s? It’s ridiculously good fun watching a young Neo traverse through time before he realized he was in the Matrix and becomes a brooding and depressed SOB.
If there was ever a movie that summed up the transition from leaving the 80s and about to enter the 90s, this is it. An all-around classic that pushes all the right nostalgia buttons and succeeds when it shouldn’t. Party On Dudes!
9. Idiocricy
Is Idiocracy a time-travel movie? Well, it depends on your own interpretation, to be honest. Joe Bowers (Luke Wilson) is put into hibernation for a year only to wake up 500 years in the future. So he doesn’t technically travel through time per see, but he is leaving one time and waking up in another. To hell with it, I’m including it on my list just for the sheer fact it gave Michelle Obama her first break-out role as President Camacho.
So, for those who haven’t seen it, Joe Bowers, who is a bit of a moron, is selected to take part in a secret military experiment to put him in hibernation for a year along with a woman named Rita (Maya Rudolph). The slumbering duo is forgotten when the base they are stored on is closed down and are left in stasis until 2505. When they finally wake up, they discover the average intelligence of humans has decreased so much that Joe is now the smartest man in the world.
Basically, it’s a documentary about life in 2023.
8. Flight Of The Navigator
WOW, what a movie this was growing up. I couldn’t get enough of it! This movie was made back in 1986, a time when Disney cared about kids, rather than grooming them.
Amazingly, Flight Of The Navigator is notable for being one of the first Hollywood films to use extensive CGI. To think, without these early groundbreakers, we wouldn’t get the level of CGI now that we take for granted, like The Flash for example.
There were rumours that this is in line for a remake with Bryce Dallas Howard set to direct. Thankfully though it’s been in development hell for ages and I for one hope it’s left well alone.
7. Interstellar
Oh boy, here we go. I already sense some of you are steaming straight to the comments section in fury. But before you go, hear me out. Yes, Interstellar is a time travel movie, but not with the use of a machine, but by using actual science.
Some argue is possibly the most accurate depiction of time travel ever put on screen, so who am I to argue with real-life scientists? The earth is flat.
Interstellar is packed full of gorgeous visuals, big brain science talk, a truly remarkable assembly of actors and actresses, and nerve-racking tension. Add to that a family dynamic that tugs at heartstrings more than once. And the final pièce de résistance is arguably one of Hans Zimmer’s greatest-ever scores. This movie has the complete package for everything I want in a movie.
6. Star Trek First Contact
Yes, I’ve picked this over Star Trek IV. And if memory serves, Drunken Yoda isn’t a fan of this so I’m expecting to be torn to shreds in the comments.
Look, I love this movie. I think this is quite possibly TNG at the peak of their powers. The interactions and acting chops of the cast are seamless, and this is my favourite Patrick Steward as Picard. He’s his usual commanding, no-nonsense self, but there are elements of Picard that we get to explore for the first time.
Gone is the cool, and professional persona we are familiar with and we see sides of Picard that are literally seething with pent-up fury. At times, he’s cold and ruthless and the scene where he reprimands Worf is so out of character that you know he is a man blinded by his fear and rage. Hence the Moby Dick accusation in the following scene.
Dare I say it but maybe this was the last time we had a genuinely good Star Trek?
5. 12 Monkeys
So the first question is, is it called 12 Monkeys or Twelve Monkeys? I remember it as Twelve, but I think the US has it as 12. Regardless, the Twelve is the better-looking poster so I’ve used that.
The movie is set in 2030 and is about how a deadly virus was purposely released in 1996 that wipes out almost all of humanity (no Dr Fauci is not in this film). As a result, survivors are forced to live underground. All that is known about the virus was that a group known as the Army of the Twelve Monkeys is believed to have released the virus.
Bruce plays a man called James Cole who is imprisoned in the 2030s and as a plea deal, he is recruited for a mission that will send him back to 1996 to gather information about the plague and the Twelve Monkeys.
The time travel isn’t accurate which results in James missing his target of 1996 and landing in various different time zones as well as being dragged back to the future, only for them to recalculate and send him back again in the hope of them hitting the right moment. All this causes mass confusion and memory loss to James as he battles to save himself and the future.
It’s a fantastic movie that you might even see it pop up on next week’s Film Club – wink wink.
4. Terminator 2
Come on now, what more needs to be said about this masterpiece of a movie? It literally has everything you want to treat your eyes to. This movie was groundbreaking on so many levels that everything that has followed in this once glorious franchise has fallen way short of the mark.
3. Planet Of The Apes
Yes, the original Planet Of The Apes you heathens! Nothing has come close to capturing this cinematic work of art. Saying that I do enjoy the modern ones with Ceaser immensely, but this, this damn dirty movie is in a league of its own.
The closing scene is quite possibly, the greatest twist in cinematic history. Well, maybe “I am your father” comes close. Regardless, Planet Of The Apes is pure gold.
2. The Terminator
What can I say that hasn’t already been said? I genuinely run out of things to say about the film that started it all, The Terminator.
The only thing to add is judgment day is a day before my birthday. So I’m immeasurably grateful to Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor for saving what would have been my 23rd birthday. Fuck you Skynet!
1. Back To The Future Trilogy
Yeah, that’s right, all three are classed as one movie. No, I’m not cheating, this trilogy is one seamless movie where one ends, and the next one jumps straight in where it left off. Like the top four of my list, what can I possibly add that hasn’t been said or you didn’t know?
Just a few weeks back, the wife went out for a girl’s night, and yeah I could have gone to the pub as usual but I was knackered and couldn’t be bothered. So I grabbed a big bag of crisps, some beers, a pack of Maltesers, turned up the surround sound and watched all three in one sitting, and had an absolute blast!
So there you have it Outposters. Some you’ll agree with, some you’ll be all WTF and many will ask where the fuck The Time Machine is from my list? As I said at the beginning, I know there are some humdingers I haven’t included but these are my personal favorites. All I ask is you let me know in the comments your thoughts… except you Drunken Yoda, I already know what you’re going to say about Star Trek First Contact.
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