There’s something intrinsically human about the idea of wanting to change the past. That idea that if we had a time machine, we would right all the wrongs and do it all differently. Maybe that’s what makes it so captivating on the screen – the articulation of our wildest fantasies out into some tangible reality. Many films have done it well, while others have turned the concept into a confusing mess. But today, with the latest in the Terminator series hitting out screens, and a new time travelling Spongebob film on DVD, we wanted to look back at some of our favourite moments of time travel that have hit cinemas over the years. They’re the films that make us think… What if? And interestingly, as many of these films prove, you don’t need a big budget to pull off this big concept.
Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure (1989)
Bill, Ted and the late, great George Carlin prove that you don’t need to be serious to make an entertaining time travel movie. It’s a tradition that has continued with the likes of Hot Dub Time Machine, but you can’t beat the most excellent of adventures. Still probably the best role Keanu Reeves has ever had. And what ever happened to the other guy? Well, Alex Winter is most well known these days as a filmmaker and just released the documentary Deep Web: The Untold Story of Bitcoin and the Silk Road. But to us he’ll always be Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
A man, Kenneth Calloway (Mark Duplass), puts and ad in a paper asking someone to travel through time with him, which leads a magazine writer and a couple of interns – including Darius Britt (Aubrey Plaza) – to go out and write a story about the guy. Along the way you’re constantly wondering, as the characters are, “is he for real?” And the journey you’re taken on, as Plaza and Duplass become more than just friends, is something of a beautiful one. And like many of the time travel films on this list, its ending keeps you wondering that “what if” question, as well as the fate of our characters, well after the film ends.
The Infinite Man (2014)
This Adelaide low budget film premiered at SXSW last year to rave reviews (including our own) and is one of the most original time travel films out there. Set in a motel in the middle of nowhere – for almost the entirety of the film – we enter something of an infinite loop created by a time travel machine invented by our main character, which he’s using to try and redo a “perfect day” with his ex-girlfriend. The road you’re led down is as masterful as it is entertaining.
Primer (2004)
Made on the smell of an oily rag (famously the number $7,000 is always thrown around), Primer is one of those little films that could, proving, as with The Infinite Man that followed some ten years later, that a big concept doesn’t need a big budget. The film stars the film’s writer/director/composer Shane Carruth, who plays Aaron, who alongside Abe (David Sullivan), finds himself creating a time machine. The road that their particular story follows is one of the more confusing ones on our list – it takes a couple of views to really get your head around it, and even then it leaves as many questions as answers, but that’s part of the fun of a time travelling film, and the result remains an utterly compelling one all the same.
12 Monkeys (1995)
Terry Gilliam’s foray into the world of time travel is inarguably a classic of the genre, and of cinema in general. It’s since been turned into an enjoyable TV series, but it’s the original film – which stars Bruce Willis – that we’re talking about here. Willis leads the film as James Cole, someone who’s been set into the past to try and prevent a massive virus from ever happening, wiping out a huge chunk of the human race. Who the 12 Monkeys are is a fascinating part of the film which delves into much more than just a man on a mission. The film also stars Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer and David Morse. Willis would later return to the genre for the enjoyable Looper, though Monkeys is the far superior film.
The Terminator (1984)
Really this is an interchangeable addition with its sequel, but one must go for the original don’t they? The film which stars Arnie as a robot sent from the future to change the past and protect the Connor family is as entertaining now as it was the day it was released. James Cameron really knows how to make compelling popcorn cinema, and this is it at its finest.
The Time Machine (1960)
A memory of many childhoods is watching this and wondering what the future would be like. Starring Australian Rod Taylor as the time traveler, it’s a fun adventure into the “what could be”… while the film itself harks back to what is considered the first written articulation of the concept, in H.G. Wells’ 1895 book of the same name. It’s been adapted many times, in various ways, but the 1960 version remains the one to beat.
Predestination (2014)
This film by Australia’s Spierig Brothers only came out last year – also premiering at SXSW like The Infinite Man – and immediately was considered one of the finest films of the genre. The film stars Ethan Hawke as a “Temporal Agent”, who is on a mission to stop a massive bomb from going off in New York City 10 years in the past. By the time you realise who Ethan is, the film finds itself in fascinating territory – and ends up being a very different film to the one you expect it to be. Australia’s Sarah Snook is phenomenal in her dual roles in the film and though the whole concept is a little bit, well, creepy, it’s something you can’t stop thinking about long after your pull yourself away from the screen. Our only criticism for the film has been its ending, seemingly trying to over-explain something to ensure it appealed to mass audiences. Part of the fun – and sometimes the frustration – of the genre is trying to weave your mind through the world they create. It doesn’t always need to be spelled out in plain English.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Another cult classic – a status the genre seems to comfortably lend itself to – leads us closer to the number one spot. As Matrix was the moment of mastery for the Wachowskis, Donnie Darko was the same for writer and director Richard Kelly. Both films gained such unexpected critical success that neither party has ever been able to live up to since. The film stars Jake Gyllenhal in the titular role, who is led by a creepy rabbit into a golf field, miraculously avoiding being crushed to death by a falling airplane engine. In the days that follow, Darko learns that the reason for his survival is in a sense to lead us back to the start, where we see that much talked about smile. Did he know his fate? It’s a question we’ll perhaps forever wonder.
Everything about the film is compelling, even when you have no idea what’s going on. The soundtrack is extraordinary and all the performances are fantastic. And it’s hard to forget great moments like “Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion!”
Back to the Future (1985)
It’s perhaps impossible to create a list about time travel without ending on the most iconic of the genre, currently celebrating its 30th anniversary. Deloreans, Almanacs, Marty, Doc and Biff have all become mainstays of pop culture, and while the first film is the best in the series, it’s hard not to praise the entire trilogy. Out of all the articulations of the genre, Back to the Future is perhaps the most fun – and to this day holds up impressively well. We all wanted to be Marty McFly at some point in our lives. Plenty probably wanted to be Biff, too (especially in part deux). It’s one of those films that every time it comes on the TV, it’s impossible not to watch. And then one must pop in the other instalments before the night is over, of course!
And this all goes back to the original point – we all enjoy playing “what if” when it comes to answering the question “what would you do if you could go back in time?” And we think these ten films are the best in articulating a cinematic answer to that question.
With thanks to Dylan Marshall, Chad Lofts and David Smith who contributed to this piece.
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