The 40 Best Time Travel Movies & Series
by dennislandman | created - 28 Jan 2011 | updated - 28 Jan 2011 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Back to the Future (1985)
PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
Votes: 1,305,127 | Gross: $210.61M
2. Journeyman (2007)
45 min | Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi
A San Francisco journalist mysteriously travels to the past and alters the path of people's lives. When his travels reunite him with his long-lost fiancée Livia, life with his present-day wife gets very interesting.
Stars: Kevin McKidd, Gretchen Egolf, Moon Bloodgood, Reed Diamond
Votes: 9,617
3. The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Henry DeTamble, a librarian, possesses a unique gene that lets him involuntarily travel through time. His wife, Claire Abshire, finds it difficult to cope with it.
Director: Robert Schwentke | Stars: Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams, Ron Livingston, Michelle Nolden
Votes: 157,818 | Gross: $63.41M
4. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
PG | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Music
Two rock-'n-rolling teens, on the verge of failing their class, set out on a quest to make the ultimate school history report after being presented with a time machine.
Director: Stephen Herek | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin, Terry Camilleri
Votes: 141,526 | Gross: $40.49M
5. The Time Machine (1960)
G | 103 min | Adventure, Romance, Sci-Fi
A man's vision for a utopian society is disillusioned when travelling forward into time reveals a dark and dangerous society.
Director: George Pal | Stars: Rod Taylor, Alan Young, Yvette Mimieux, Sebastian Cabot
Votes: 44,797
6. Doctor Who (1963–1989)
TV-PG | 25 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
The adventures in time and space of the Doctor, a Time Lord who changes appearance and personality by regenerating when near death, and is joined by companions in battles against aliens and other megalomaniacs.
Stars: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker
Votes: 39,491
7. The Lake House (2006)
PG | 99 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A lonely doctor who once occupied an unusual lakeside house begins to exchange love letters with its former resident, a frustrated architect. They must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it's too late.
Director: Alejandro Agresti | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Christopher Plummer, Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Votes: 157,560 | Gross: $52.33M
8. Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
A malfunctioning time machine at a ski resort takes a man back to 1986 with his two friends and nephew, where they must relive a fateful night and not change anything to make sure the nephew is born.
Director: Steve Pink | Stars: John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke
Votes: 186,302 | Gross: $50.29M
9. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
PG | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
To save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral James T. Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with it: humpback whales.
Director: Leonard Nimoy | Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan
Votes: 91,404 | Gross: $109.71M
10. The Time Tunnel (1966–1967)
TV-PG | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Two scientists with a secret time travel project find themselves trapped in the time stream and appearing in notable periods of history.
Stars: James Darren, Robert Colbert, Whit Bissell, John Zaremba
Votes: 4,223
11. Timeline (2003)
PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A group of archaeologists get embroiled in an adventure where they must travel back in time to 14th Century France, to save their professor before the French battle the English at Castlegard. If they fail, they won't be able to return.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Paul Walker, Gerard Butler, Billy Connolly, Frances O'Connor
Votes: 65,857 | Gross: $19.48M
12. The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A United States Navy destroyer escort participates in a Navy "invisibility" experiment that inadvertently sends two sailors forty years into the future.
Director: Stewart Raffill | Stars: Michael Paré, Nancy Allen, Eric Christmas, Bobby Di Cicco
Votes: 16,737 | Gross: $8.10M
13. Kate & Leopold (2001)
PG-13 | 118 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
An English Duke from 1876 is inadvertently dragged to modern day New York where he falls for a plucky advertising executive.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: Meg Ryan, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Breckin Meyer
Votes: 89,032 | Gross: $47.12M
14. Seven Days (1998–2001)
42 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
An ex-CIA is the point man for a government organization dedicated to time traveling to correct errors that occurred in the previous week.
Stars: Jonathan LaPaglia, Don Franklin, Justina Vail, Nick Searcy
Votes: 3,946
15. The Butterfly Effect (2004)
R | 113 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Evan Treborn suffers blackouts during significant events of his life. As he grows up, he finds a way to remember these lost memories and a supernatural way to alter his life by reading his journal.
Directors: Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber | Stars: Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Melora Walters, Elden Henson
Votes: 520,668 | Gross: $57.94M
16. Time After Time (1979)
PG | 112 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
H.G. Wells pursues Jack the Ripper to the 20th Century when the serial murderer uses the future writer's time machine to escape his time period.
Director: Nicholas Meyer | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Mary Steenburgen, David Warner, Charles Cioffi
Votes: 20,613
17. Timetrip: The Curse of the Viking Witch (2009)
93 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Valdemar and Sille meets Benedict, a man who claims to have been cursed to eternal life by a Norse shaman in the viking age.
Director: Mogens Hagedorn | Stars: Jonas Wandschneider, Clara Maria Bahamondes, Jakob Cedergren, Stine Stengade
Votes: 345
18. The Jacket (2005)
R | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A Gulf war veteran is wrongly sent to a mental institution for insane criminals, where he becomes the object of a doctor's experiments, and his life is completely affected by them.
Director: John Maybury | Stars: Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Daniel Craig, Kris Kristofferson
Votes: 119,216 | Gross: $6.30M
19. Premonition (I) (2007)
PG-13 | 96 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A depressed woman learns that her husband was killed in a car accident the previous day, then awakens the next morning to find him alive and well at home; then awakens the day after that to find that he's dead.
Director: Mennan Yapo | Stars: Sandra Bullock, Julian McMahon, Amber Valletta, Shyann McClure
Votes: 81,661 | Gross: $47.85M
20. The Terminator (1984)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity's future salvation.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield
Votes: 923,134 | Gross: $38.40M
21. Groundhog Day (1993)
PG | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.
Director: Harold Ramis | Stars: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott, Stephen Tobolowsky
Votes: 684,180 | Gross: $70.91M
22. Quantum Leap (1989–1993)
TV-PG | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
During an experiment into time travel, a scientist finds himself trapped in the past, "leaping" into the lives of different people, sorting out their problems and changing history in hopes of getting back to his own life in the present.
Stars: Scott Bakula, Dean Stockwell, Deborah Pratt, Dennis Wolfberg
Votes: 36,429
23. 12 Monkeys (1995)
R | 129 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Joseph Melito
Votes: 646,219 | Gross: $57.14M
24. The Visitors II: The Corridors of Time (1998)
G | 118 min | Comedy, Fantasy
Knight Godefroy has to return to our time from 1023 to get back the sacred jewels that Jacquouille has taken to the 20th century.
Director: Jean-Marie Poiré | Stars: Christian Clavier, Jean Reno, Muriel Robin, Marie-Anne Chazel
Votes: 13,277 | Gross: $0.15M
25. Idiocracy (2006)
R | 84 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Corporal Joe Bauers, a decidedly average American, is selected for a top-secret hibernation program but is forgotten and left to awaken to a future so incredibly moronic that he's easily the most intelligent person alive.
Director: Mike Judge | Stars: Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Terry Crews
Votes: 181,807 | Gross: $0.44M
26. Grand Tour: Disaster in Time (1991)
PG-13 | 99 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi
Before they can complete renovations on their new inn, Widower (Ben Wilson) and daughter (Hillary) are visited by a woman seeking immediate lodging for her strange group of travellers. Why ... See full summary »
Director: David Twohy | Stars: Jeff Daniels, Ariana Richards, Emilia Crow, Jim Haynie
Votes: 3,092
27. A Sound of Thunder (2005)
PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A single mistake in the past, by a time travel company in the future, has devastating and unforeseen consequences.
Director: Peter Hyams | Stars: Edward Burns, Ben Kingsley, Catherine McCormack, Armin Rohde
Votes: 20,496 | Gross: $1.89M
28. Retroactive (1997)
R | 91 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A psychiatrist makes multiple trips through time to save a woman that was murdered by her brutal husband.
Director: Louis Morneau | Stars: Jim Belushi, Kylie Travis, Shannon Whirry, Frank Whaley
Votes: 6,698
29. Deja Vu (2006)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
After a ferry is bombed in New Orleans, an A.T.F. agent joins a unique investigation using experimental surveillance technology to find the bomber, but soon finds himself becoming obsessed with one of the victims.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Denzel Washington, Paula Patton, Jim Caviezel, Val Kilmer
Votes: 327,322 | Gross: $64.04M
30. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A young fugitive prince and princess must stop a villain who unknowingly threatens to destroy the world with a special dagger that enables the magic sand inside to reverse time.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina
Votes: 303,673 | Gross: $90.76M
31. Flight of the Navigator (1986)
PG | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
In 1978, a boy travels eight years into the future and has an adventure with an intelligent, wisecracking alien ship.
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: Joey Cramer, Paul Reubens, Cliff De Young, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 51,651 | Gross: $18.56M
32. Frequency (2000)
PG-13 | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An accidental cross-time radio link connects father and son across 30 years. The son tries to save his father's life, but then must fix the consequences.
Director: Gregory Hoblit | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Jim Caviezel, Shawn Doyle, Elizabeth Mitchell
Votes: 115,662 | Gross: $45.01M
33. Black Knight (2001)
PG-13 | 95 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
Martin Lawrence plays Jamal, an employee in Medieval World amusement park. After sustaining a blow to the head, he awakens to find himself in 14th century England.
Director: Gil Junger | Stars: Martin Lawrence, Marsha Thomason, Tom Wilkinson, Vincent Regan
Votes: 43,273 | Gross: $33.42M
34. The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations (2009)
R | 90 min | Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Sam Reide uses his power to time travel to solve the mystery of his girlfriend's death.
Director: Seth Grossman | Stars: Chris Carmack, Rachel Miner, Melissa Jones, Kevin Yon
Votes: 20,687
35. Second Life (2000)
100 min | Comedy, Fantasy
1982: World Soccer Cup: France against Germany.France looses the match and it's a national drama.Vincent , a 30 years old, is an immature man.When Laure asks him to build with her a family,... See full summary »
Director: Patrick Braoudé | Stars: Maria de Medeiros, Isabelle Candelier, Patrick Braoudé, Daniel Russo
Votes: 249
36. Time Bandits (1981)
PG | 110 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
A young boy accidentally joins a band of time travelling dwarves, as they jump from era to era looking for treasure to steal.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, John Cleese, Katherine Helmond
Votes: 68,259 | Gross: $42.37M
37. Millennium (1989)
PG-13 | 108 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
An NTSB investigator seeking the cause of an airline disaster meets a warrior woman from 1000 years in the future.
Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: Kris Kristofferson, Cheryl Ladd, Daniel J. Travanti, Robert Joy
Votes: 6,957 | Gross: $5.78M
38. Unterwegs nach Atlantis (1982– )
25 min | Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi
Stars: Tomás Holý, Josef Horácek, Lucie Vojtechová, Benno Sterzenbach
Votes: 33
39. Timecop (1994)
R | 99 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
Max Walker, an officer for a security agency that regulates time travel, must fend for his life against a shady politician who's intent on changing the past to control the future.
Director: Peter Hyams | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mia Sara, Ron Silver, Bruce McGill
Votes: 64,114 | Gross: $44.85M
40. I Want To (1979)
85 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A squadron of Japanese Self-Defense Force soldiers find themselves transported through time to their country's warring states era, when rival samurai clans were battling to become the ... See full summary »
Director: Kôsei Saitô | Stars: Shin'ichi Chiba, Jun Etô, Moeko Ezawa, Ryô Hayami
Votes: 1,115
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