Looper is kicking some space-time continuim butt in the box office with over $22.5 million big ones. Now that's not anything to write home about, but it did get me thinking.
What are the top 10 best time travel movies?
1. 'Back To The Future' (1985)
Who can forget this? Apparently a lot of the lists I found excluded this cult classic starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Llyod. Did you know Eric Stoltz was originally casted and even started filming the movie as Marty McFly, but was later pulled by Steve Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, causing them to reshoot part of the film with Fox in the role. "Heavy"
2. '12 Monkeys' (1995)
This twisted film was released to critical praise and has grossed approximately $168.4 million worldwide. Pretty good considering Universal only gave them a budget of $29.5 million - low for a Hollywood sci-fi flick - due to 'Waterworld' blowback. Yeah, you remember that tub of dirty bath water. For '12 Monkeys', Brad Pitt was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and won a Golden Globe for his performance.
3. The Terminator (1984)
James Cameron's sci-fi thriller starring the "Governator", Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton will always be one of my favorites. The movie topped the American box office for 2 weeks, helped launch the film career of Cameron, consolidated that of Schwarzenegger, and led to several blockbusting sequels. Originally the studios wanted O.J. Simpson to play the Terminator and rock musician Sting to play Kyle Reese. Whoa, glad that didn't happen.
4. Time After Time (1979)
This classic stars Malcolm McDowell ('Clockwork Orange'), David Warner ,and Mary Steenburgen. The film concerns British author H. G. Wells and his fictional use of a time machine to pursue Jack the Ripper into the 20th century. By the way, this was Corey Feldman's first film role.
5. Looper (2012)
Still in theaters, this film stars Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Emily Blunt. This is the 3rd time Bruce Willis' character time travels and encounters his younger self... The first was '12 Monkeys' and the second was 'The Kid'. 'The Kid' sucked.
6. The Butterfly Effect (2004)
Yikes. This psychological thriller gets a little rough with the prison scenes, but it's such a good movie. And that's hard to say, especially since it's Ashton Kutcher we're talking about here. The butterfly effect is a popular hypothetical example of chaos theory which explains how small, insignificant occurrences may lead to large unforeseen consequences over time. In other words, don't mess with time travel or you're screwed.
7. The Time Machine (2002)
Guy Pearce stars in this science fiction film loosely adapted from the 1895 novel of the same name, again, by H. G. Wells. Did you know? The director, Simon Wells, is the great-grandson of H. G. Wells.
8. Primer (2004)
I had to throw this one in here as a nod to indie films everywhere. 'Primer' is about the accidental discovery of a means of time travel. The film was written, directed, and produced by Shane Carruth and was completed on a budget of only $7,000! It won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2004 before securing a limited release in US cinemas, and has since gained a cult following.
9. Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
I LOVE the 80s! And what are the 80s without John Cusack and Chevy Chase! These are just a few of the reasons why I had to include this recent comedy also starring Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Kellee Stewart, & Rob Corddry. Other reasons to love it are the soundtrack and that most the stars made their decision to join the film based almost entirely off of the title alone. Warning: NSFW
10. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
Speaking of time...this seems so long ago! I had to bring this movie in as number 10 only because I'm fairly sure there isn't anyone who doesn't know Keanu Reeves in this goofy role... plus I'm pretty sure there's not a soul out there who knows who his costar Alex Winter ('The Lost Boys') is.
