The concept of time travel has long been a popular theme to explore in modern entertainment. There have been a plethora of literary entries, TV has recently seemed in love with the concept, with the likes of Tru Calling, Journeyman, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and of course Lost using time travel in their narratives, but what about the big screen attempts to explore this phenomenon?

There have been many different incarnations of the theory of time travel over the years (I even wrote one myself at uni) and people seem to have a real love for the subject, possibly because time travel asks the question of What if…? Something we all do at some point in our lives…

…But I’m digressing into deep and meaningful territory here, so let’s move on!

With the recent release of Time Crimes on DVD, a whole bunch of time travelling going on in the new Star Trek and a new Terminator instalment right around the corner what better time to have a look at the top 10 time travel films of all, err… time.

(And yes, that is a Jean-Claude Van Damme film at number 8!)

#10 Time after Time (1979)

It was a tough call for tenth spot between this and Time Bandits, but how could I not include a film that features HG Wells chasing Jack the Ripper across time!?

Dubbed “the most ingenious thriller of our time” upon it’s release in 1979, Time after Time is the very definition of why the concept of time travel is such a popular narrative device, because it allows the most implausible of ideas to seem plausible (as much as time travel can ever seem plausible!)

The film stars Malcolm McDowell as HG Wells and features Mrs. Ted Danson Mary Steenburgen as Wells’ love interest Amy, Time after Time was somewhat a pioneer of the genre in that it preceded the 80’s boom in time travel films, it also deserves it’s spot on this list for using a dark figure such as Jack the Ripper and making him the ultimate screen villain. The film also showed the dangers of what happens if great power falls into the wrong hand…

…Maybe Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben was a Time after Time fan.

#9 Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

You would think that time travel would be a rich source of comedy for Hollywood, yet surprisingly the genre seems to be populated mainly with more serious commentaries on the phenomenon. Yet one film stands out like a brain cell in the Chelsea changing room: Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

The film that made Keanu Reeves a star was also Alex Winter’s finest hour, the pair star as Bill S. Preston Esq. and Theodore Logan whose music inexplicably is the foundation of society in the distant future. Thus we have Rufus, played by the legend that is George Carlin travelling back in time to ensure that the titular doofuses stay together as their band Wyld Stallyns – the greatest name for a band I think I’ve ever heard.

When Rufus discovers that the slackers are about to flunk a history exam, the consequences of which would cause the break-up of Wyld Stallyns he takes Bill and Ted on a journey through history to beef up their knowledge – hilarity ensues.

The time machine in the film was supposedly changed from a van as it was to close a resemblance to Back to the Future, so instead they went with something more original… a phone booth – sense the sarcasm.

Bill and Ted is a shining example of just what the time travel genre can do for comedy and still stands up as one of the funniest and most fondly remembered films of the last thirty years.

#8 Timecop (1994)

I might be in the minority here but I actually really liked Timecop. I thought for a dumb Van Dammer it actually had some nice ideas and an interesting take on how we would actually police time travel if it ever did become a reality.

Sure, the plot has more holes than Royal Birkdale and the villain used to be in Veronica’s Closet but Timecop stands head and shoulders above almost all of Van Damme’s other work and actually benefits from a reigned in performance from JCVD.

The action won’t quench a blood lust and the science on display here is extremely questionable: you can’t travel forward because “the future hasn’t happened yet”, Timecop doesn’t even answer many of the myriad questions it asks and Ron Silver’s character’s death is one of the lamest villain deaths since the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles knocked Shredder into a garbage truck but for asking the question of time travel ethics, unbelievably, a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie actually becomes quite an interesting study of human behaviour.

#7 The Time Machine (1960)

The original and some would say still the best. The Oscar-winning 1960 adaptation of HG Wells’ classic novel The Time Machine is Wells’ second appearance on our list (in a manner of speaking).

In 1960 The Time Machine was revolutionary, it may not stand up so well against today’s modern cinematic advancements, but it is still a million times better than the dire 2002 remake that starred Samantha freakin’ Mumba.

The Time Machine may not have aged well, but given it was made in 1960, you still have to be impressed by its OSCAR winning effects of time rapidly changing outside of Wells’ contraption.

HG Wells is a genius, that is a given, but his work and the work of those who contributed to this big screen adaptation has to be commended for not only kick-starting the time travel cinematic boom but the emergence of science fiction as a big screen draw.

Director George Pal also deserves a multitude of praise lumping on him for bringing Wells’ vision to the big screen (Pal also produced) and The Birds star Rod Taylor gives a suitably eccentric performance as Wells.

Wells is appropriately referred to as ‘The Godfather of Science Fiction’ and his influence was fondly referenced in Back to the Future through George McFly’s Sci-fi romance novel, which is what Wells dubbed his own early work.

#6 The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Before Ashton Kutcher was the world’s most popular tweeter and Mr. Demi Moore he starred in this above average head-scratching time travel yarn.

Having only really showed what he could do in comedy prior to the film’s release, The Butterfly Effect came as somewhat of a departure for Kutcher, but I personally think he does a good job as the time-hopping Evan Treborn.

The Butterfly Effect’s tagline was ‘Change one thing. Change everything’ and came as a stark warning about the effect time travel can have. By reading his old diaries, Treborn can travel back into the mind of himself as a child and thus influence past events for the better, there’s just one small catch: every time he returns to the present after one of his little rectification jaunts, he finds himself in one horrendous alternate time line after another.

Thus we see Kutcher as a paraplegic and serving a prison sentence and the lives of his friends and childhood sweetheart altered beyond recognition as well. The film benefits from a director’s cut which has a much darker ending and gives more emotional punch to Evan’s ability and its consequences.

The Butterfly Effect also managed to finally give Eric Stoltz his time travel moment after he was unceremoniously dumped from Back to the Future, although I’m not sure playing an abusive father in The Butterfly Effect can quite compensate being dropped from the starring role in one of the most iconic and popular films of all time…

#5 Frequency (2000)

I’ve always considered Frequency to be a much underrated film. Billed upon its 2000 release as Back to the Future meets The Sixth Sense you’d be forgiven for thinking that this was a shameless attempt to cash-in on the success of either/both of those films.

For time travel puritans this isn’t strictly a time travel movie, so I may be ostracised from the time travel circle for including it here, but in my eyes this is time travel 101, done well.

Dennis Quaid stars opposite Jim Caviezel who manages to actually get away from his more familiar weird, moody, stalker role with quite a warm performance here for Primal Fear and Fracture director Gregory Hoblit.

Through miraculous Northern Lights activity Caviezel’s John Sullivan manages to contact his now dead dad Frank (Quaid) back in 1969 using his old amateur radio. John manages to help Frank avoid his death, but as is usually the case, things are then changed for the worse; namely that a serial killer who had previously only killed three women has now, in the altered timeline, killed ten including John’s Mother Julia (Lost’s Elizabeth Mitchell).

The father and son duo must then work together across time to put history back on course, which in what is the film’s biggest let down, they actually do and all ends well. Frequency does share many themes with Back to the Future and for the most part quite effectively takes them to a much darker place, I would have just liked to see them follow through with that rather than going for a sugary sweet ending where everyone seems to forget about the dangers of altering history.

#4 12 Monkeys (1995)

12 Monkeys was the film that got me hooked on time travel and its theories. I remember getting it on VHS as a naïve pre-teen expecting the usual Bruce Willis shoot ‘em up swearfest, putting into my video recorder and just thinking “what the fuck?” for 2 hours.

The more I thought about it though and the more I re-watched it the more I couldn’t stop considering its themes – so he watches himself die? (sorry if you haven’t seen it!)

Loosely based on French short La Jetee and directed by Terry Gilliam (who also directed Time Bandits) 12 Monkeys paints a bleak future for mankind – forced underground by a deadly virus. The film explores a number of dark themes but still managed to achieve commercial success to go along with the positive critical reception it received.

The success of the film has to be partly attributed to the performances from it’s leading men: Brad Pitt, at the tail-end of his ascendancy to superstardom, gives a suitably manic performance that gained him a Supporting Actor nod at the OSCARS and Willis is on fine form as time-traveller James Cole striking a note-perfect performance of menace, confusion and ultimately warmth.

#3 Donnie Darko (2001)

Richard Kelly’s cult classic reminds me of 12 Monkeys in many ways: a protagonist haunted by visions and tasked with averting the destruction of civilization as we know it, ends up sacrificing himself in the process of his ‘mission’ (again, sorry if you haven’t seen it… but seriously where the hell have you been?)

Originally intended for a straight-to-DVD release, Donnie Darko struggled to turn a profit during its cinema run, but as is the case with most cult films, went onto find a huge audience on DVD.

Donnie Darko was a career-defining performance for Jake Gyllenhaal, one he has never bettered and probably never will. As the tormented titular ‘hero’ Gyllenhaal is brilliant as are most of the other members of what is a very strong cast given the film’s budget constraints.

Donnie Darko is a master class in the philosophy of time travel and although it can seem like somewhat of a mindfuck on first viewing, when studied in greater depth actually becomes a brilliantly thought out and coherent study of fate and destiny within the time travel framework and rightfully deserves its moniker as one of the best films of the 21^st century, as well as being one of, if not the, most important.

#2 The Terminator (1984)

The Terminator and its subsequent sequels and TV spin-off deal with the ‘whys?’ of time travel in quite a simple way: cyborgs (and the odd human) are sent back from the future to either do evil deeds or as protectors.

That is where the simplicity ends though, because their presence in the past has all manner of implications on the future that from what we have seen is seemingly still destined to occur.

Take this little nugget for instance: if Skynet had never sent the original T-800 Model 101 Terminator back to kill Sarah Connor and thus her unborn son John, then the resistance would’ve never sent back Kyle Reese to stop the Terminator, he would have in turn, have never encountered Sarah Connor, had sex with her and got her pregnant with the child that would grow up to become leader of the resistance. Therefore by trying to stop John Connor from ever being born, Skynet is actually responsible for causing his birth and the very thing it was trying to prevent from happening in the first place.

My head hurts after that, but don’t let the pre-destination themes fool you, The Terminator is an incredible film that has been somewhat over-shadowed by it’s more flashy sequel. In terms of action, T2 is light years ahead but story-wise this is the original and still the best (at least until Friday if you’re lucky enough to be getting Salvation then).

Arnie has never emulated the success of this iconic role, Michael Biehn is at a career best and Linda Hamilton plants the seeds for one of the most brutal female characters ever to emerge on the big screen. Let’s not forget James Cameron either, a director that revolutionised sci-fi and action throughout the 80’s and 90’s. Cameron not only directed but also wrote The Terminator, and in the process began one of the most successful and most recognisable franchises in history.

#1 Back to the Future (1985)

In reality nothing can come close to what I consider a perfect film. Apart from maybe The Goonies, Back to the Future is the most fondly remembered film of the 80’s and still feels as fresh today as it did twenty-four years ago. It’s hard to imagine that we’re just five years away from the future depicted in Back to the Future Part II and there’s still not a hoverboard in sight!

Back to the Future boasted an excellent young cast, none of whom ever tasted success like this again, and of course Christopher Lloyd stealing the show with the eccentricity meter cranked up to eleven. Michael J. Fox still is Marty McFly in many people’s eyes and in spite of all the challenges he has faced and overcome in his life, you just know that people still want to ask him about that DeLorean.

Yes, Back to the Future features by far the coolest mode of big screen time travel: the iconic plutonium powered DeLorean, which alone should guarantee Back to the Future top spot on this list. Robert Zemeckis et al deserve far more credit than just creating a seminal classic with a cool car in it though, this is film-making at its finest.

No shot is wasted, no line of dialogue superfluous, no character extraneous and there so many great sight gags and references to pick up on that you could practically compile an almanac…

Everyone has their role in the Back to the Future universe; bus-boy in 1955 – Goldie is Mayor in 1985, Mayor in 1955 – Red is a drunken tramp in 1985 and there are McFlys, Tannens and Stricklands in every one of the time zones visited by Doc and Marty.

Back to the Future is not just the best time travel film of all time, it’s one of the best films of all time…

What do you think of my Top 10 Time Travel Films of All Time…?

If you could travel back to before I compiled this list what would you tell me to include that I’ve missed!?