Time Travel movies - From the Best to the Worst
by stressmaster5000 | created - 11 Feb 2012 | updated - 22 Jun 2014 | PublicThis is just a list of Time Travel movies, both good and bad. Not in any particular order. Please add a comment if I have missed some Time Travel flick.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Next (2007)
PG-13 | 96 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A Las Vegas magician who can see into the future is pursued by FBI agents seeking to use his abilities to prevent a nuclear terrorist attack.
Director: Lee Tamahori | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel, Thomas Kretschmann
Votes: 166,443 | Gross: $18.21M
Nicholas Cage can see 2 minutes into the future, helps FBI avert a nuclear terrorist threat.
2. The Time Machine (2002)
PG-13 | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Hoping to alter the events of the past, a 19th century inventor instead travels 800,000 years into the future, where he finds humankind divided into two warring races.
Director: Simon Wells | Stars: Guy Pearce, Yancey Arias, Mark Addy, Phyllida Law
Votes: 130,432 | Gross: $56.68M
Adaptation of the classic. This one feels more intense and gripping.
3. 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: 44,862
Great cast and makes you feel more happy with what may come.
4. 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: 6,707
A psychiatrist makes multiple trips backward in time to stop a psycho serial killer(Jim Belushi) from a murderous rampage. Great sleeper flick!
5. 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: 646,843 | Gross: $57.14M
Bruce Willis plays a man living in the future who travels to the past to try and stop a terrible biological outbreak that nearly destroys mankind. Psychological thriller with twists and turns also has Brad Pitt in the cast.
6. 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: 1,307,314 | Gross: $210.61M
Classic! Kid travels to the past in a freak accident that nearly causes his demise.
7. Back to the Future Part II (1989)
PG | 108 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
After visiting 2015, Marty McFly must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes to 1985...without interfering with his first trip.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Tom Wilson
Votes: 572,769 | Gross: $118.50M
Not so great sequel to the original.
8. Back to the Future Part III (1990)
PG | 118 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Stranded in 1955, Marty McFly learns about the death of Doc Brown in 1885 and must travel back in time to save him. With no fuel readily available for the DeLorean, the two must figure how to escape the Old West before Emmett is murdered.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Tom Wilson
Votes: 480,994 | Gross: $87.73M
Somewhat better sequel!
9. Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
PG-13 | 94 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Upon learning that his father has been kidnapped, Austin Powers must travel to 1975 and defeat the aptly named villain Goldmember, who is working with Dr. Evil.
Director: Jay Roach | Stars: Mike Myers, Beyoncé, Seth Green, Michael York
Votes: 222,942 | Gross: $213.31M
Austin Powers travels back in time to defeat Goldmember. A James Bond film parody. Kind of goofy!
10. Meet the Robinsons (2007)
G | 95 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Lewis is a brilliant inventor who meets mysterious stranger named Wilbur Robinson, whisking Lewis away in a time machine and together they team up to track down Bowler Hat Guy in a showdown that ends with an unexpected twist of fate.
Director: Stephen J. Anderson | Stars: Daniel Hansen, Wesley Singerman, Angela Bassett, Jordan Fry
Votes: 111,417 | Gross: $97.82M
Cartoon kid is taken to the future in a machine he creates at some point in his life. Funny and imaginative but its still a cartoon!
11. 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: 924,483 | Gross: $38.40M
Cyborg travels back in time to kill a woman and the child she will bear to destroy mankind.
12. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick
Votes: 1,174,469 | Gross: $204.84M
Sequel - another cyborg travels back in time to protect the woman and her son from another more powerful cyborg killer. Better than the first movie.
13. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
R | 109 min | Action, Sci-Fi
A machine from a post-apocalyptic future travels back in time to protect a man and a woman from an advanced robotic assassin to ensure they both survive a nuclear attack.
Director: Jonathan Mostow | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Kristanna Loken, Claire Danes
Votes: 418,612 | Gross: $150.37M
Sequel - OK, now it is starting to get kind of weird. The same cyborg from Judgement Day travels back in time to stop another more powerful FEMALE cyborg that wants to kill the guy and it just goes on, and on, and on.....
Cool effects but this is getting boring!
14. Terminator Salvation (2009)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In 2018, a mysterious new weapon in the war against the machines, half-human and half-machine, comes to John Connor on the eve of a resistance attack on Skynet. But whose side is he on, and can he be trusted?
Director: McG | Stars: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood
Votes: 377,538 | Gross: $125.32M
I gave up on the Terminator series so I did not watch this one. I guess it probably has the same old story line.....
I still want my money and time back from the last Terminator movie! Anyone got a time machine???
15. 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: 65,892 | Gross: $19.48M
Interesting story about some archaeology students and teacher getting mixed up in a time travel experiment where they must use their knowledge of history to save their own lives. They travel back to France in 1357 during a battle between the English and French.
16. 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: 68,374 | Gross: $42.37M
Very cool movie where a bunch of "little people" are traveling around in time to grab some treasures and get a boy mixed up in their escapades.
17. 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: 64,207 | Gross: $44.85M
Cop travels around in time picking up felons who are using time to hide. He gets caught up in a secret scandal paradox and has to save his family as well as everyone else.
18. 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: 20,505 | Gross: $1.89M
Adaptation of a Ray Bradbury story where futuristic people use time travel in a dinosaur vacation safari plot and something goes terribly wrong. If you paid money to watch this movie then something else has gone terribly wrong. I predict you will want your money back.
19. 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: 20,646
Thriller where H.G.Wells himself travels through time chasing after Jack the Ripper whom he let escape into the future. Good flick!
20. 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: 6,963 | Gross: $5.78M
Futuristic time travelers reach back in time and steal people who are facing impending tragic death to repopulate society. This was OK, but the cast is somewhat lackluster.
21. Freejack (1992)
R | 110 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
Bounty hunters from the future transport a doomed race car driver to New York City in 2009, where his mind will be replaced with that of a dead billionaire.
Director: Geoff Murphy | Stars: Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, Rene Russo, Anthony Hopkins
Votes: 17,469 | Gross: $17.13M
Never watched, looked lame.
22. Slipstream (2005)
R | 89 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A scientist goes to a bank to meet a pretty bank teller. His time machine allows him to go 10 minutes back in time and correct his approaches to her. He's shadowed by two FBI agents and the bank gets robbed.
Director: David van Eyssen | Stars: Sean Astin, Vinnie Jones, Ivana Milicevic, Kevin Otto
Votes: 3,514
Bank robbery using a 10 minute backwards in time device goes wrong. Never watched.
23. Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
PG-13 | 103 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Peggy Sue faints at a high school reunion. When she wakes up, she finds herself in her own past, just before she finished school.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Kathleen Turner, Nicolas Cage, Barry Miller, Catherine Hicks
Votes: 40,830 | Gross: $41.38M
Nicholas Cage and wife(Kathleen Turner) are getting a divorce when she finds herself back in her senior year at high school and she gets to decide again if she will marry him or not.
24. Thrill Seekers (1999 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 88 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A reporter, learning of time travelers visiting 20th century disasters, tries to change the history they know by averting upcoming disasters.
Director: Mario Azzopardi | Stars: Casper Van Dien, Catherine Bell, Theresa Saldana, Peter Outerbridge
Votes: 2,745
Same man shows up in photos of disasters all throughout the 20th century. A reporter chases down the man and tries to avert disaster. Pretty good flick.
25. 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: 327,713 | Gross: $64.04M
ATF agent travels back in time to try and thwart a terrorist attack which will takes the lives of many including a girl whom he falls in love with. Some interesting technology used here to see the past. Worth watching more than once.
26. Donnie Darko (2001)
R | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
Director: Richard Kelly | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne
Votes: 850,298 | Gross: $1.48M
Never watched.
27. 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: 685,275 | Gross: $70.91M
Classic funny man Bill Murray gets stuck in a loop of time where he lives the same day(Ground Hog Day) over and over. Great movie!
28. Star Trek (2009)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.
Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Leonard Nimoy
Votes: 620,351 | Gross: $257.73M
Not that great as Star Trek movies go.
29. Planet of the Apes (1968)
G | 112 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
An astronaut crew crash-lands on a planet where highly intelligent non-human ape species are dominant and humans are enslaved.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans
Votes: 193,367 | Gross: $33.40M
Classic! Astronauts get caught in a time warp and end up thousands of years in the future where the earth is ruled by apes!
30. Planet of the Apes (2001)
PG-13 | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In 2029, an Air Force astronaut crash-lands on a mysterious planet where evolved, talking apes dominate a race of primitive humans.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, Michael Clarke Duncan
Votes: 229,213 | Gross: $180.01M
Remake of the classic!
31. Evil Dead II (1987)
R | 84 min | Comedy, Horror
Ash Williams, the lone survivor of an earlier onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits, holes up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley DePaiva
Votes: 181,971 | Gross: $5.92M
32. Army of Darkness (1992)
R | 81 min | Comedy, Horror
When Ash Williams is accidentally transported to 1300 A.D., he must retrieve the Necronomicon and battle an army of the dead in order to return home.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert, Ian Abercrombie
Votes: 194,405 | Gross: $11.50M
Funny, hilarious and action packed.
33. 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: 521,293 | Gross: $57.94M
Never watched. Might give it a shot sometime when it is on broadcast TV.
34. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
PG-13 | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The Borg travel back in time intent on preventing Earth's first contact with an alien species. Captain Picard and his crew pursue them to ensure that Zefram Cochrane makes his maiden flight reaching warp speed.
Director: Jonathan Frakes | Stars: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton
Votes: 132,086 | Gross: $92.00M
Another lackluster effort by the Star Trek series. I love Star Trek but some of these movies are just so so.
35. Source Code (2011)
PG-13 | 93 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
A soldier wakes up in someone else's body and discovers he's part of an experimental government program to find the bomber of a commuter train within 8 minutes.
Director: Duncan Jones | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright
Votes: 549,910 | Gross: $54.71M
Soldier wakes up in another mans body. He has 8 minutes to find a bomb and identify the bomber on the train he is riding. Each time the 8 minutes are up he dies and then reawakens in another persons body on the same train. Interesting storyline and plot. Not your typical time travel movie but still good!
36. 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: 115,771 | Gross: $45.01M
Detective John Sullivan is able to speak with his fire-fighter father who died 30 years before on an old ham radio. Story leads to a serial killer he is chasing down that started killing 30 years before. Thriller with some twists and turns.
37. 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: 141,702 | Gross: $40.49M
2 idiots use a phone booth to time travel.
38. The Final Countdown (1980)
PG | 103 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A modern aircraft carrier is thrown back in time to 1941 near Hawaii, just hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Director: Don Taylor | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, Katharine Ross, James Farentino
Votes: 26,955 | Gross: $16.65M
Modern aircraft carrier is thrown backwards in time by a freak storm to 1941 just before the Japanese Pearl Harbor attack. Events unfold and history may never be the same. Or will they???
39. Click (2006)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A workaholic architect finds a universal remote that allows him to fast-forward and rewind to different parts of his life. Complications arise when the remote starts to overrule his choices.
Director: Frank Coraci | Stars: Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Walken, David Hasselhoff
Votes: 356,860 | Gross: $137.36M
A man finds his life being fast forwarded to the end when he wants more convenience is his life. Life lessons learned and he gets to start over and correct his mistakes.
40. Jumanji (1995)
PG | 104 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
When two kids find and play a magical board game, they release a man trapped in it for decades - and a host of dangers that can only be stopped by finishing the game.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, Bonnie Hunt, Jonathan Hyde
Votes: 377,009 | Gross: $100.48M
Boys finds a game buried deep near a construction site. When he plays the game he and his friend are beset with many unlikely events that have them now living in the future. As he tries to adapt he figures out he must finish playing the game whereupon all the events revert and he is a kid again, this time with knowledge of what happens in the future.
41. 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: 186,536 | Gross: $50.29M
4 buddies travel back to the 1970's and try to correct what went wrong with their lives. Some really funny moments here and overall a pretty good flick.
42. 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: 182,470 | Gross: $0.44M
500 years in the future we will all be dumb and stupid, just like this movie! Seriously, do not waste your time!
43. The Last Mimzy (2007)
PG | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Two siblings begin to develop special talents after they find a mysterious box of toys. Soon the kids, their parents, and even their teacher are drawn into a strange new world and find a task ahead of them that is far more important than any of them could imagine!
Director: Robert Shaye | Stars: Joely Richardson, Rainn Wilson, Timothy Hutton, Chris O'Neil
Votes: 22,222 | Gross: $21.47M
Kids find toys from the future in a box floating on the seashore. Strange events unfold as the future of the human race is in the children's hands.
44. 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: 16,757 | Gross: $8.10M
2 men from 1943 on a naval Destroyer escort are hurled 40 years into the future during a freak government experiment.
45. The Kid (2000)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
An unhappy, disliked image consultant gets a second shot at life when he is mysteriously confronted by an eight-year-old version of himself.
Director: Jon Turteltaub | Stars: Bruce Willis, Spencer Breslin, Emily Mortimer, Lily Tomlin
Votes: 44,409 | Gross: $69.69M
Child finds himself 32 years in the future and helps his future self to face up and change his life.
46. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
PG-13 | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Video game adventurer Lara Croft comes to life in a movie where she races against time and villains to recover powerful ancient artifacts.
Director: Simon West | Stars: Angelina Jolie, Jon Voight, Iain Glen, Noah Taylor
Votes: 219,006 | Gross: $131.14M
Great action flick with some small time travel parts but in general this movie is NOT about time travel. Still a good movie!
47. Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann (1982)
PG | 94 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A maverick motorbike racer wanders into a top-secret time-travel research test site which unintentionally teleports him to the mid-1800s and ends up having to fight violent outlaws for his survival.
Director: William Dear | Stars: Fred Ward, Belinda Bauer, Peter Coyote, Richard Masur
Votes: 2,505
Motorbike racer Lyle Swan riding in a desert race finds himself hurled back to the old west where he tries to find a way back. After some obvious time travel trickery maybe he should have stayed in the past. I predict you will wish you could travel back and avoid watching this poorly made movie.
48. Lost in Space (1998)
PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Adventure, Family
The Robinson family was going into space to fight for a chance for humanity. Now they are fighting to live long enough to find a way home.
Director: Stephen Hopkins | Stars: Gary Oldman, William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc, Mimi Rogers
Votes: 74,873 | Gross: $69.12M
Space travelers looking for resources and another planet to save the Earth's inhabitants find themselves hurtling around time.
Tell Your Friends