The 10 Greatest Time Travel Movies Ever

Make no mistake about it: we here at Topless Robot know the treacherous path we're marching down in even attempting to make a list like this. Considering how important these movies are to the geeksphere, one wrong choice could create a rift in the space-time continuum large enough to fit two displaced Tyrannosauruses through and doom us to an endless eternity spent watching Keanu Reeves seduce Sandra Bullock by time traveling mail in The Lake House. But let's be honest here--we know we can't please everyone. So, since this is a list of 10, we think it's important to lay down one major ground rule: because most trilogies or film series are typically extensions of a singular idea, we're only allowing one entry per series to keep things fair. Of course, we hope this list breeds discussion and discovery of more time travel goodness (Je T'aime, Je T'aime anyone?) Which time trekking adventures made the cut? To find out, simply click Read More to initiate time warp -- and beware, there are potential spoilers ahead.
10) Flight of the Navigator

While at first glance the story of Disney's Flight of the Navigator seems to be about a boy and his super awesome robot/ship hybrid, there's thankfully a lot more to the movie than the trailer might lead the uninitiated viewer to believe. The film's story centers around a 12 year old boy named David Freeman who despite receiving what might be some of the worst/most irresponsible parental advice on girls ever ( David's Dad: "You know, if you're gonna learn to swim you just gotta jump in the water." Yeah, just jump right in there David, 12's a great time to start a family!) lives happily with his Mother, Father, and younger bro in Florida. After falling into a ditch while looking for his brother on the evening of July 4th, 1978, David awakens to find that 8 years have passed, and he hasn't aged a day. Indeed, it's how time travel is presented in FotN that makes it so memorable--imagine waking from a dream only to find yourself to be the centerpiece of a seemingly impossible puzzle and surrounded by people you once knew who all thought you were dead...pretty remarkable stuff, especially for a kids movie. While the movie clearly takes a healthy sum of its aesthetic and storytelling cues from E.T., the world polo-clad David enters into is both frightening and charming and the movie does manage to stand (hover?) on its own two feet at the end of the day.

9) Star Trek: First Contact

Star Trek: First Contact begins by throwing audiences, along with the unfortunate crew of the Starship Enterprise-E, into a tense Romeroesque Borg-induced claustrophobic nightmare, and culminates with an action packed finale between Captain Picard and the Borg Queen, only stopping the action to inspire would be fan fiction wordsmiths with a little cyborg on cyborg titillation along the way. While other Star Trek features like The Voyage Home and J.J. Abrams' 09 relaunch have made good use of time travel, ST:FC is the most complete full length Trek adventure that uses time travel as its plot centerpiece. While it's fun to watch Kirk and crew's goofy whale-searching hijinks in modern day San Francisco in STIV:TVH, the many watercooler moments ST:FC offers make it a lock here, be it Captain Picard blowing away a team of Borg with a Tommy gun on the holodeck, Counselor Troi getting drunk while visiting the past or Worf's utterance of the phrase "Assimilate this!" before doling out some extreme Klingon justice, Star Trek: First Contact is sure to satisfy both people who like their film chronology jumbled and Trek junkies alike by mixing in just the right combination of engaging action, lucid pacing and time travel goodness.

8) The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

While staring down the business end of a horrible train accident waiting to happen, high school student Makoto Konno inadvertently discovers that she can return to the past or "time-leap" at will and is able to avoid her near-certain death. Having escaped the train debacle, Makoto immediately begins using her abilities for pithy personal gains-such as extending Karaoke time- eventually learning that the rabbit hole behind her powers is deep--very deep. Far separated from the more traditional time travel methodology that most may associate with, the time travel in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time doesn't seem to involve any technology at all; to the contrary, it appears to be a more mystical superpower than a feat of technology, or perhaps a fusion of psyche and man made achievement, as Makoto does see red countdown numbers whenever she time leaps and has a numbered tattoo on her arm that decreases by one each time she uses her new ability. Of course, at the heart of all of this time-sliding around is a rewarding coming of age tale coupled with memorable visuals and characters, making it one time adventure worth checking out.

7) 12 Monkeys

This haunting, heartbreaking and unforgettable film by notoriously hard-luck director Terry Gilliam, (director of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, popular time travel flick Time Bandits, and the upcoming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) always seems to leave an impression with audiences, and makes for good time travel discussion fodder. Inspired by the French short film La Jetée, 12 Monkeys, like a few of the other movies on this list, examines the relentless omnipresence and cruel persistence of time. Bruce Willis plays James Cole, a survivor and convicted criminal in a nightmarish future where 5 billion people have been wiped out by a plague and humans have been forced underground, leaving the surface to be taken back by animals. He is chosen by the powers that be to travel back in time to attempt to learn enough about the plague in order to find a cure. Along the way he encounters Brad Pitt's deranged Jeffrey Goines and Dr. Kathryn Railly who eventually becomes convinced that he is telling the truth about the plague. To sum it all up, the movie's performances, imagery and score make it a trip that any time jockey should consider taking.

6) Timecrimes

If you haven't seen Nacho Vigalondo's Timecrimes, we implore you: take in the least pub on this movie as possible and watch it for yourselves. Skip the trailer above, avoid the reviews and see it first--trust us, it's the kind of movie that warrants that degree of spoiler avoidance. Keeping with the theme of nondisclosure, we're not going to go into much detail here -- suffice to say, it's a solid piece of chrono-craziness that's low on budget but high on quality.
5) Donnie Darko

While there's a lot more going on in Donnie Darko besides some simple emo time adventure, the concept of time travel is expertly woven into the movie's plot and opens up yet another, ahem, portal to the film's ever-raging fanbase dialogue. Since it's probably futile to attempt to sum up the adventures of one Donnie Darko in just a few lines, we'll just say that it's a movie about a troubled high school student growing up in 1980's suburbia whose life experiences, which involve a large talking bunny, time tunnels, and a missing jet engine, differ from any that we ever expect to have and leave it at that. The movie's eerie atmosphere, fueled largely by its unique, eclectic soundtrack and puzzlecentric storytelling that begs for multiple viewings make this a time travel fairy tale that belongs in everyone's viewing library.

4) Groundhog Day

There's little doubt that Groundhog Day is a non-traditional choice for a time traveling picture, but we contend that the Harold Ramis directed Bill Murray classic qualifies, since it still revolves around a man stuck in a time loop, even if he didn't intend to time travel in the first place. Of course, the movie is about a lot more than just a man with one day of his life stuck on repeat, as it is essentially a parable for what we all may go through in different parts of our lives: finding ourselves stuck somewhere until we learn to change ourselves, evolve and see things differently. In his 2005 Great Movies revisitation of Groundhog Day, Roger Ebert may have put it best when he remarked, "But there are a few films, and this is one of them, that burrow into our memories and become reference points. When you find yourself needing the phrase This is like "Groundhog Day" to explain how you feel, a movie has accomplished something."

3) Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Standing today as a testament to fine time travel craftsmanship just as it did in 1991 when theater audiences first heard Arnold Schwarzenegger immortalize the term "Liquid Metal" while cruising on his new motorcycle with young Edward Furlong in tow, the perfect meld of brain and brawn, Terminator 2: Judgment Day is still arguably the greatest time travel actioner of them all. Try as we may, it's hard to pinpoint the exact root of Terminator 2''s distinct brand of awesomeness; It could be the huge step up in visual effects it took from its 1984 predecessor, which still look great today. It could be the story's high tension pacing that keeps us enthralled at every turn. Or, how about the ridiculous action sequences? Or the epic ending? The timeless score? It's pretty safe to say that we'd travel to the future just to get to see another movie this amazingly good sooner.

2) Back to the Future: Part II

Sure, we know that without the first film in Robert Zemeckis' epic trilogy, Back to the Future: Part II would fade faster than Marty in his family photo at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, but we're trying to be honest with ourselves here. While Back to the Future: Part II by nature doesn't possess the originality of the first film, nor the quaint Western charm of the third, so many of the series' most iconic elements made their first appearance or were really put to use in this venerable 1989 sequel, such as the Hoverboards, Flying DeLorean, Marty's power lace Nikes, Griff Tannen, a virtual Michael Jackson as your retro diner's waiter and Jaws 19 at the Holomax that we would have a hard time looking at ourselves in the mirror if we didn't give them their just due. Did we mention that we finally got to see the future in this one? The future we say! Plus, you have to love BttF: Part II for how effectively it voltrons together with the story of the original to create a powerful space robot of time travely goodness, making both movies better and fighting off evil robeast memories of painful time travel movies past.

1) Primer

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at 2004's Sundance Film Festival and shot on a tiny-by-movie-standards $7,000 budget, Primer is easily the most "indie" of the entries on this list--but reduced budget does not a bad time travel movie make. To the contrary, what the complex and technically robust Primer excels in most is allowing its audience to share in the excitement of discovery by following the story of a team of young engineers from their humble beginnings as garage experimenters to the height of their manufactured power. Another film that benefits greatly from multiple viewings, Primer is definitely exhibit A for why movies should value the journey over the grand finale or twist endings -- despite the fact that Primer's somewhat open ending, while keeping with its real world approach, may have accounted in part for its light box office haul. Life is rarely fair for time travelers.

The 10 Worst Movies to Open at #1

It’s not hard for a bad movie to open on top of the weekend box office chart — a combination of heavy marketing, recognizable stars, and a simple concept pretty much assures it. Every month, for example, a new bad horror movies comes and goes. Remember The Messengers, Darkness Falls or Urban Legends: Final Cut? They were all the #1 movie in America at one point.

Romantic comedies work the same way: Forces of Nature, Monster-in-Law, and Failure to Launch all topped the box office in their day. And then there’s the awful kids’ movies that lazy parents pay for: Scooby Doo…Pokemon…The Pacifier…and the list goes on.

The thing about all these movies is that they’re passively bad. Everybody already knew they would suck, and they’re quickly forgotten. Sometimes, however, a movie opens at #1 that is really bad. Offensively bad. Beg-for-your-money-back, sign-of-the-impending-apocalypse bad. Here are the 10 Worst Movies to Open at #1.

10. Die Another Day

Release Date: November 22, 2002

Opening Weekend Box Office: $47,072,040

Here’s an idea of how bad this movie was: it was the highest-grossing James Bond film ever, and instead of following it up with a fast-tracked sequel, they ended up rebooting the whole franchise and recasting the main character.

So what sunk the film? Things didn’t exactly start well: in the beginning of the movie, Bond gets captured for seven months (what? Why couldn’t he escape after fifteen minutes like in every other movie?), and we see scenes from his captivity to the tune of a horribly synthesized theme song by Madonna.

Then we’re introduced to the bad guy, a North Korean who undergoes reconstructive surgery to become a prissy-looking Englishman. Really. And then there was the infamous invisible car. Sure, there was Halle Berry in a swimsuit, but when you can see Halle Berry naked outright in a bunch of other movies, who cares?

9. Pearl Harbor

Release Date: May 25, 2001

Opening Weekend Box Office: $59,078,912

And old-fashioned love story set against the attack on Pearl Harbor? Sadly, this wasn’t another From Here to Eternity. Instead, it was nominated for six Razzies, failed to break the $200 million mark following its big opening, and basically ruined Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett’s legitimacy for years to come. It was even one of Cuba Gooding Jr.’s lesser movies, which is saying something.

8. The Village

Release Date: July 30, 2004

Opening Weekend Box Office: $50,746,142

To be totally honest, we’re including The Village on here simply because we hate all things M. Night Shymalan(a-ding-dong). But since you can’t really dog on Sixth Sense too much, and since Signs at least had aliens in it, we’ll leave that one be, as well. The Village, however, is by far Shymalan’s most contrived piece of crap ever to hit the big screen. The plot, the premise, the hook and the ending – none of it made a lick of sense if given any thought whatsoever. And to really add to its eternal suckitude, the whole thing was stolen from a kid’s book, Running Out of Time, which revolves around a village whose inhabitants believe it’s the 1800s, when it’s actually 1996. WEAK!

7. Norbit

Release Date: February 9, 2007

Opening Weekend Box Office: $34,195,434

In early 2008, Eddie Murphy was riding high: he was in the blockbuster musical Dreamgirls and was the frontrunner to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for it.

But then a little movie called Norbit came out, starring Eddie Murphy in three roles. And to give you an idea of just how offensively bad the movie was, Murphy playing a man named “Mr. Wong” is not the low point. No, the low point would be the movie’s sadistic villain, Rasputia, a three-hundred-pound woman, also played by Murphy.

The Oscar went to Alan Arkin.

6. Batman and Robin

Release Date: June 20, 1997

Opening Weekend Box Office: $42,872,605

Or, the movie that destroyed the Batman franchise. When you think about it positively, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight only ever happened thanks to the complete and utter creative failure of Batman and Robin. But what a complete and utter creative failure it was. It made it to #1 thanks to the success of the cheesy-but-entertaining Batman Forever, and ended up grossing about $60 million less. Nipples on the Batsuit? Weird gratuitous shots of Batman and Robin’s butts? Random ice-skating scenes? Batgirl? I mean, they didn’t even get Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy right.

5. Epic Movie (or Meet the Spartans, same difference…)

Release Date: January 26, 2007

Opening Weekend Box Office: $18,612,544

In a low-key kind of way, these movies really are some of the worst movies of all time. They’re easy to ignore, which helps, but have you actually seen them? It’s kind of terrifying how shockingly unfunny they are. They spoof scenes from recent movies without coming up with any kind of funny angle on them. They introduce pop culture references not to make a joke, but to simply mention pop culture references. Both movies (along with Date Movie and Disaster Movie) are brainchilds of the writing/directing duo Jason Friedburg and Aaron Seltzer, and you really kind of have to wonder what goes on in their heads and what their conversations are like. On second thought, don’t.

4. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Release Date: May 19, 1999

Opening Weekend Box Office: $64,820,970

What can I say about this one that hasn’t already been said? Jar Jar Binks. Those two embarrassing Asian stereotypes. The kid they cast to play young Anakin. George Lucas’s utter disregard for characters and story in favor of special effects that look cartoonish and have not aged well. The fact that for too many children, this is the first Star Wars movie they’ve seen. Sometimes at night I cry about it a little.

3. Madea Goes to Jail

Release Date: February 20, 2009

Opening Weekend Box Office: $41,030,947

Or, “The Films of Tyler Perry.” Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea’s Family Reunion, Why Did I Get Married, Meet the Browns, and this past weekend’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself also all made it to #1, but Madea Goes to Jail gets the shout-out for the most painful, Ernest-recalling title. Perry writes and directs his films exclusively for an African American middle-aged female audience, a demographic so underserved by Hollywood that they’ll take whatever Perry gives them — even something filled to the brim with stereotypes and painfully unfunny grandmothers played by the director in drag.

Critics don’t have a clue how to deal with him; Roger Ebert gave Diary of a Mad Black Woman one star, saying “I’ve been reviewing movies for a long time, and I can’t think of one that more dramatically shoots itself in the foot.” And even actors are getting tired of the onslaught. Viola Davis, an Oscar nominee for Doubt who appeared in Madea Goes to Jail, told Entertainment Weekly: “People feel the images [in his movies] are very stereotypical, and black people are frustrated because they feel we should be more evolved. But there are very few black images in Hollywood, so black people are going to his movies. That’s the dichotomy.”

2. Paul Blart: Mall Cop

Release Date: January 16, 2009

Opening Weekend Box Office: $31,832,636

What was bizarre about this movie wasn’t that it opened at #1. It’s that it stayed at #1. And then kept doing well for weeks after that.

So what was so good that kept audiences coming and coming to the tune of $146 million? Kevin James doing a pratfall. Over…and over…and over again. Oh, and the gay guy from Wedding Crashers playing an over-the-top bad guy. And those were the redeeming parts (if you could call them that…). The acting sucked, the writing sucked, the story sucked. And whoever it is who helped pump millions of dollars into this piece of sh!t should be ashamed of themselves. (We know you’re out there…)

1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Release Date: June 24, 2009

Opening Weekend Box Office: $108,966,307

When Revenge of the Fallen opened this summer and subsequently made zillions of dollars, a minor internet war took place between critics (”This is the worst, most headache-inducing thing we’ve ever seen”) and fans (”We just want to see giant robots fighting, not ever movie has to be an Oscar movie LOL PWNED”). I’m about to say something really pompous: I submit that those of you who think you liked it, didn’t actually like it. How is that possible? Well, think back to it. What do you remember? Anything? Did you think it was fun? Do you want to see it again? Be honest.

I saw this movie on my birthday, which just added insult to injury. The hard truth is, Revenge of the Fallen is the worst movie Michael Bay has ever made (and he made Pearl Harbor), and is a loud, nonsensical, abhorrently sexist, blatantly racist vehicle for his worst indulgences: lots of explosions; CGI overkill; incomprehensible action sequences; and vapid barely-dressed female characters played by bad actresses. It’s the worst movie to open at #1.

15 of the Worst Movie Names Of All Time

I always wondered if there was this guy that just sat in a room and named movies all day. Like is there a position titled “Movie Namer?” I mean there’s gotta be one of these guys in the porn industry right? I refuse to believe that many people can come up with some of the genius titles they have in that industry.

But seriously. Is there some dude who is paid to come up with appropriate titles? If there is, then I’m not sure if this guy deserves a raise or should be fired for the names of these particular movies.

I have to read them twice to believe that these are actual, real movies that some (not many) people saw