30 Movies About Time Travel Ranked Worst To Best
The notion of time travel is both inherently human (who wouldn't want the opportunity to see what the world will be like after they're gone, or to revisit the cherished memories of the past?) and intensely cinematic. So, it makes sense that it's a theme we see revisited in film time and time again.
However, while time travel is rooted in science fiction, time travel movies embrace a variety of different genres. We're not limited to just sci-fi action-adventures (there are plenty of those, though, if that's your cup of tea.) Filmmakers have used time travel for romances, family dramas, stoner comedies, and even serial-killer thrillers. By using time travel, we can reckon with both our fixation on the past and our constant anxieties about the future. Besides, time travel is a whole lot of fun. If you're looking for a new time travel movie to watch, these are some of the best.
30. Army of Darkness
After making two gruesome cult horror movies about the undead rising to do unspeakable things to your beloved protagonist, your first instinct might not be to hurl him backward in time to medieval Europe — but that's exactly what Sam Raimi did with "Army of Darkness." By transporting Ash (Bruce Campbell) to the 1300s on a mission to recover the mysterious Book of the Dead, Raimi was effectively able to keep his burgeoning franchise fresh, while still delivering on the ghoulish horror that his devoted fans had come to anticipate.
A knowing play on "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," which also sees its modern-day hero set back to the Middle Ages, Raimi brings his trademark sense of humor to the proceedings. Although we've seen a continuation of the "Evil Dead" franchise in recent years, this outing served as a perfect finale to the original trilogy, giving Campbell's chainsaw-wielding Ash an appropriate send-off.
29. Brigadoon
Although time travel usually belongs to the science fiction genre, "Brigadoon" offers up a musical fantasy interpretation of the trope. Two modern-day Americans (Gene Kelly and Van Johnson) go wandering through the Scottish highlands when they happen upon a strange little town, one that is cursed to awaken from its slumber for just one day every 100 years. As such, it's effectively stuck in the 1700s, protected from the changing world around it.
The legend goes that if any of the villagers leave, the town will disappear forever, and anyone who wants to stay must be willing to completely abandon their former life in the outside world. When one of the Americans falls in love with a girl in this folksy Scottish utopia, he will have to choose a life for himself that involves being a man out of time — if he loves her enough to make that sacrifice, that is. With light, airy musical numbers and winning performances from Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly, "Brigadoon" is entirely charming (even if its faux Scottish whimsy can wear thin at times).
28. Flight of the Navigator
Although "Flight of the Navigator" is aimed squarely at kids, it features some pretty complex science (and science fiction) principles, namely the time travel that could occur as a byproduct of advanced space flight. David is an ordinary 12-year-old growing up in the 1970s when he suffers a blow to the head that momentarily knocks him unconscious. But when he wakes up, he discovers to his considerable surprise that eight years have passed, everyone has grown older except for him, and no one can explain what happened to him.
"Flight of the Navigator" is at its best when it explores the ramifications of this time travel, especially as David struggles with the fact that all of his friends are full-grown adults now, and his little brother is now several years older than him. A rollicking family adventure through time and space, "Flight of the Navigator" may not hold a candle to its similarly alien-themed predecessor "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," but it has amassed a loyal fanbase all the same.
27. Last Night in Soho
A young aspiring fashion designer, Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie), travels to London to attend fashion school, determined to leave a mysterious and unwelcome gift behind her. But it follows her all the same in "Last Night in Soho." Each night, she travels in her dreams to the London of the swinging '60s, becoming obsessed with a beautiful woman she sees there, Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy). Slowly over the course of the film, the lines between Eloise and Sandie become blurred, until she can barely tell where one ends and the other begins.
Hyper-stylized and dressed to the nines, "Last Night in Soho" luxuriates in the scenes set in the past, gleefully watching Eloise and Sandie ebb and flow into one another. But it isn't long before Eloise's dreams grow more malevolent and threatening, putting her very survival at risk. Although "Last Night in Soho" arguably has a slightly wobbly third act, the visual lyricism of the film more than makes up for any weaknesses that pop up later on.
26. Interstellar
If the Earth was dying, and you had a chance to save it, would you be willing to give up your entire world to do so? In "Interstellar," a team of astronauts is sent on a Hail Mary mission to find a new planet compatible with human life. But in order to do so, they'll have to travel in deep space through a wormhole, going so far away from home that they'll age at just a fraction of the speed of those left on Earth. For Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), that means leaving his two children to effectively grow up without him — their entire lives will go by in what feels like mere months for him.
Blending philosophical quandaries with the type of stunning visual work that director Christopher Nolan is known for, "Interstellar" is a top-tier space drama that addresses the ramifications of time dilation, causal loops, and black holes in a way that somehow manages to be both exciting and emotionally evocative.
25. Happy Death Day
What if every day in "Groundhog Day" ended in a serial murder? That's basically the plot of "Happy Death Day," a time loop movie that sees sorority girl Tree (Jessica Rothe) forced to repeat the same day over and over again. But not just any ordinary day — this is the day that she is murdered. Tree discovers new and inventive ways to be killed, as she is repeatedly hunted down by an extremely unsettling, baby-faced murderer. If she can figure out a way to survive and unmask the killer, she might just be able to break the loop and finally see what comes next.
Rothe owns every inch of the film, bringing charm and savvy to the lead role of Tree in what is an undeniable breakout performance. "Happy Death Day" has a mischievous sense of humor that allows it to join the top echelon of self-aware slashers, mixing comedy with inventive death sequences and a genuinely disturbing villain.
24. Edge of Tomorrow
If "die, rinse, repeat" is your kind of time loop, "Edge of Tomorrow" offers one of the finest examples in the genre. In a futuristic landscape of an Earth that has been beset by alien invaders, Tom Cruise stars as a soldier who is doomed to live out the same ultimately fatal battle ad nauseam. But just as Tree from "Happy Death Day" and Phil from "Groundhog Day" acquire new skills and perspectives with each new cycle, so too does Cruise's Bill Cage level up in his fighting abilities.
In many ways, "Edge of Tomorrow" mimics a roguelike video game as much as it functions as a traditional feature film. With impressive special effects and an unexpectedly compelling dynamic between Cruise and co-star Emily Blunt, "Edge of Tomorrow" rises above many other similar science fiction blockbusters. Variety praised both the writing and editing teams, emphasizing that they "tell their story in a breezy narrative shorthand (and at times, sleight-of-hand), transforming what must surely be an unbelievably tedious gauntlet for our hero into a deft, playful and continually involving viewing experience."
23. Frequency
To be fair, no one technically travels through time in "Frequency" — not physically, anyway. In the late 1990s, a grumpy, cynical NYC cop named John (Jim Caviezel) plays with a ham radio that once belonged to his father Frank, a firefighter who died on the job when John was a child. Imagine his amazement when a familiar voice begins speaking back to him — the voice of his long-dead father, traveling through space and time from the late 1960s.
Of course, the impulse to save him from the fire that claimed his life proves difficult to resist, a decision that sets in motion an unexpectedly dangerous chain of events. Clever and inventive, "Frequency" delivers on the touching father-son relationship between John and Frank, and its use of the ham radio as a vessel for time travel makes it stand out within the genre. With a narrative that is perpetually evolving with the ripples of time manipulation, it's full of surprises.
22. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
When characters are given the ability to travel through time, sometimes they grasp the gravity of their situation immediately — and other times they use their gift carelessly, hopping casually back a few days or even hours to fix minor life problems. Makoto Konno in "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" falls decidedly into the latter category. After being thrown from her bike and nearly killed by an oncoming train, Konno discovers her ability to "time-leap," as she finds herself flung back to the moments before the accident. She quickly uses this ability to her advantage, without realizing the impact these leaps have on the people around her.
Although there's a lightness to the storytelling (its far less apocalyptic than many other time travel films), "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" displays legitimate artistry, with Village Voice stating, "There's real craftsmanship for how [the film] sustains its sense of summer quietude and sun-soaked haziness through a few carefully reprised motifs: three-cornered games of catch, mountainous cloud formations, classroom still-lifes."
21. Primer
When we think of time travel movies, we generally think of science fiction, sprawling epics that by the nature of their genre tend to cost a lot of money to make. It's rare when we're treated to an indie time travel movie, especially one as well-made as "Primer." This low-budget psychological thriller is the brainchild of Shane Carruth, who is credited as its director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and star. With a technical background in engineering and mathematics, Carruth looked to make something different from the typical Hollywood time travel film. As he said in the film's press notes, watching "All the President's Men" taught him it would be possible for "Primer" to be "a compelling narrative without neon or special effects or smoke screens."
Instead, "Primer," which tells the story of a group of engineers who accidentally discover time travel while working on a project in their garage, deals with the logistical and philosophical implications of this discovery and wastes no time worrying if the audience will be able to follow along. The result is a bare-bones, but ultimately compelling, take on the genre.
20. When We First Met
Throughout movie and TV history, we've seen DeLoreans, phone booths, and police boxes turned into time machines, but "When We First Met" may be the very first time we've gotten a time-traveling photo booth. When Noah (Adam DeVine) goes into the photo booth at his favorite piano bar, he gets the opportunity to go back to the night when he first met Avery (Alexandra Daddario), the "girl of his dreams" who is engaged to another man. Whatever Noah does on that fateful day causes ripples, and when he wakes up, it's in a slightly different version of the present.
So, naturally, Noah takes as many chances as he can to engineer a happily ever after between himself and Avery. But "When We First Met" challenges the notion of the "perfect" girl who's just out of reach, and offers a parable about the dangers of letting an idealized version of someone take root in your brain, no longer letting you see them for who they really are. If nothing else, "When We First Met" deserves heaps of credits for featuring Adam DeVine at his most endearing.
19. Your Name
In Makoto Shinkai's "Your Name," Mitsuha and Taki are two ordinary high school students who live separate lives in different parts of Japan. Then, one day, the two strangers begin to switch bodies. "Your Name" begins as a classic gender-bending comedy, where Mtsusha and Taki are forced to live through each others' daily lives, fumbling through classes, interpersonal relationships, and unfamiliar gender expectations. This body swapping happens intermittently, without warning, and over time the two learn how to communicate with each other by leaving messages on paper, their phones, even their skin.
Then, "Your Name" raises the stakes by revealing that the teens aren't just from different towns — they're from entirely different time periods. Taki is living in a world three years older than Mitsuha's, and learns about a freak accident that caused untold devastation in her hometown. But can he warn everyone in time? "Your Name" is a gorgeously animated time-traveling romance that creates a genuine bond between its two central figures, who are bound together by a unique ability that ends up being their salvation.
18. Kate & Leopold
What happens when a hunky man from the 19th century ends up in modern-day New York? This is the important question that "Kate & Leopold" dares to ask. When Stuart (Liev Schreiber) discovers a time portal above the Brooklyn Bridge, he is eager to go back in time and explore. What he does not count on is Leopold, the 3rd Duke of Albany (played by an especially dreamy Hugh Jackman), following him back through the portal.
After Stuart gets severely injured falling down an elevator shaft (if Leopold isn't around to invent elevators in the 1800s, they can hardly be expected to exist in the 2000s), his ex-girlfriend Kate (Meg Ryan) is stuck taking care of the anachronistic duke. Obviously, they fall in love — look, it's Hugh Jackman and Meg Ryan. Why would you even bother putting them in a movie together if they weren't going to become romantically involved?
Anyway, "Kate & Leopold" is a very sweet rom-com, even if it is sort of depressing that Meg Ryan ends up going to live in a past where she has no rights. Oh well. Love conquers all, right?
17. Palm Springs
"Palm Springs" follows in the footsteps of "Groundhog Day," with Andy Samberg serving as a natural successor to fellow "Saturday Night Live" alum Bill Murray. Trapped in a never-ending time loop and forced to relive his friend's wedding day over and over, Nyles has long since given up any hope of escaping his own personal prison. But unlike Phil in "Groundhog Day," who suffers in isolation, Nyles is joined by Sarah (Cristin Milioti), who follows him into the mysterious cave at the heart of the time loop and gets herself stuck as well.
"Palm Springs" offers us two perspectives: one from a veteran time-looper who has lived the same day for potentially hundreds of years, and the other from a fresh-faced newbie experiencing it all for the first time. What's interesting about "Palm Springs" is that it fully leans into the devastating ennui that's the natural result of this sort of situation. The time loop isn't just a set-up for a bunch of jokes, it's a reality where hopelessness is only briefly staved off by mindless distractions. That this movie would come out in 2020, a year when most of us were facing the monotony of life in quasi-quarantine, only adds to its emotional resonance.
16. Back to the Future Part III
Ah yes, the much maligned final chapter in the "Back to the Future" series. But you know what? This movie gets so much more hate than it deserves. No, it doesn't reach the dizzying heights of the first and second Back to the Future movies, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good film.
After Doc Brown's DeLorean is struck by lightning and he ends up back in the old West of 1885, Marty discovers Doc's tombstone, which shows that he died just a few days after writing a letter to Marty asking not to be rescued. Obviously, Marty does just that. The romance between Doc and Miss Clara Clayton (Mary Steenburgen) is absolutely adorable, allowing the Back to the Future crew to explore a different side of Doc's character. And this outing is just as clever with its callbacks to jokes from the other two films, especially when Marty gets to have his classic Clint Eastwood moment. Plus, Michael J. Fox doing an Irish accent to play a McFly ancestor? Totally worth the price of admission.
15. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things
Structured much like "Groundhog Day," "The Map of Tiny Perfect Things" revolves around Mark (Kyle Allen), who has been living in a time loop for ages. He knows every single thing that's going to happen — that is, until he meets Margaret (Kathryn Newton), who has been stuck in the same time loop. Together, they set out to build a map of all the strange, beautiful moments that occur in their town, the kinds of things that you'd only notice if you had several lifetimes to catalog them all.
"The Map of Tiny Perfect Things" is unique in its subtlety, and the way it brings out a time loop's smaller implications. For example, on this particular day, Mark's mother went into work early and did a double shift, which means that he hasn't seen more than a glimpse of her in years. Margaret's own relationship with her terminally ill mother means that she's hesitant to get out of the time loop and sever that connection. These tiny moments help "The Map of Tiny Perfect Things" stand out in the increasingly crowded time-loop genre.
14. 12 Monkeys
"12 Monkeys" is part traditional time travel story, part post-apocalyptic action thriller. Set initially in the 2030s, after a deadly plague has ravaged the planet, James Cole (Bruce Willis) is sent back in time to the '90s in order to prevent the devastating epidemic before it starts.
Creatively directed by Terry Gilliam, the master of eccentric science fiction, "12 Monkeys" also has the honor of being one of the first films that would make people begin to take then-young heartthrob Brad Pitt seriously as an actor. His manic performance as Jeffrey Goines, the unstable leader of the eco-terrorist organization called the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, is one of the most memorable elements of the entire film. Performances aside, "12 Monkeys" also lays claim to a unique visual style that would influence several other science fiction films of the late '90s, and occupies a darker space than many other time travel films dare to enter.
13. Meet the Robinsons
Here, we take the opportunity to shout from the rooftops that "Meet the Robinsons" is perhaps the single most underrated Disney film of all time. Much like its lead character Lewis, a brilliant orphan whose inventions have a knack for getting him into trouble, "Meet the Robinsons" is tragically misunderstood. Lewis struggles to find an adoptive family, partially because his inventions often go haywire at the most inopportune times, but also because he's entirely focused on the past and, in particular, finding out the identity of his biological mother.
When a kid named Wilbur Robinson turns up and takes Lewis 30 years or so into the future, not only does Lewis get to see how far humanity progresses, but he is exposed to an eccentric family that is loving, empathetic, and entirely devoted to one another. "Meet the Robinsons" is genuinely hilarious; more importantly, it's also a heart-warming tale about building a family of your own.
12. Peggy Sue Got Married
Probably the most common question asked of any adult staring down middle-age is, "If you could go back in time to relive your high school years, would you?" This hypothetical becomes a reality in "Peggy Sue Got Married," when Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner), recently divorced and looking back on a life she thinks she's wasted, attends her 25th high school reunion. Her morose contemplation is interrupted, however, when she is suddenly thrust back in time to her senior year of high school in 1960.
There, Peggy Sue faces certain choices. Given the opportunity to do it all over again, will she make the same decisions? Most notably, will she stick with Charlie (Nicolas Cage), her high-school sweetheart, even though she knows that their relationship is ultimately doomed? "Peggy Sue Got Married" is a bittersweet exploration of nostalgia, of growing older, and of looking back on your misspent youth with equal parts dissatisfaction and longing.
11. Somewhere in Time
Before we even get into the time travel elements of "Somewhere in Time," it's important to address the elephant in the room: Have there ever been two people on earth more preternaturally beautiful than Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve? Together, they star in this time travel romance, in which Reeve's playwright, Richard Collier, falls in love with a portrait of an actress (Seymour) nearly a century older, and learns how to use self-hypnosis to send himself back in time to 1912 so that they can be together.
"Somewhere in Time" is a dreamy, fanciful production, with a gorgeously winsome score from John Barry. Reeve and Seymour have tremendous chemistry together, which makes their beautiful but ultimately doomed romance all the more compelling. Set against the backdrop of the historic Grand Hotel in Mackinac Island, Michigan, "Somewhere in Time" is a charming, whimsical, and heartbreaking tale of love across the ages.
10. Time After Time
It's surprising, really, that HG Wells, the enormously imaginative science fiction writer who dreamt up "The Time Machine" (along with dozens of other sci-fi classics) has rarely featured in time travel stories himself. But he does star in "Time After Time," a pulpy thriller in which Wells (Malcolm McDowell) has his time machine stolen by Jack the Ripper (David Warner), who uses it to evade the police and travel to '70s San Francisco.
Wells gives chase, and must track Jack down before he murders again (in the meantime, he falls in love with a bank teller played by Mary Steenburgen, as one does). This was remade recently as a fairly lackluster network drama that got pulled from the airwaves before it was halfway through its first season, but the original film is a lot of fun, featuring a battle of wits between these two famous historical figures.
9. La Jetée
"La Jetée" is a French short film directed by Chris Marker. It's approximately 28 minutes long, consisting mostly of still photography with voiceover narration. It is magnificent.
"La Jetée" tells the story of a man imprisoned in the post-apocalyptic future, where scientists are working on devising methods of time travel to avert the calamity that has befallen humanity. He has a particularly strong memory from childhood of himself standing on a pier, witnessing a man being killed. This window to the past allows him to withstand the mental shock of time travel.
Once safely in the past, the man meets a woman, whom he falls in love. But in the end, when he has finished his mission and is allowed to live out his days in the past, he realizes that the man he saw murdered was the adult version of himself. By utilizing still photography, Marker places tremendous importance on the power of images — in this case, visuals are so strong that they literally allow one to travel through time. But Marker also sends an unmistakably clear message: you cannot escape your destiny, and despite our fixations on the past and the future, you can only ever live in the present.
8. Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day is not our most beloved national holiday, but it is the backdrop of a time-travel comedy classic. Acerbic weatherman Phil (Bill Murray) reluctantly travels to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover a local ceremony in which a groundhog decides whether we'll end up having a longer winter or not. He is not happy about this assignment (to be fair, he's not happy about much of anything). But it gets even worse when Phil is forced to relive the same day over and over and over again.
"Groundhog Day" does an amazing job of showing how Phil's emotions progress as he adapts to his situation: first, he's bemusemed, then angry, then depressed, and then finally comes to accept it. Once his new reality sets in, and all the fun of being able to do whatever you want with absolutely zero repercussions fades away, Phil lives a terribly isolating experience. No one he knows grows or changes; he can't have a single conversation with someone that they'll remember in the morning. It's to the credit of "Groundhog Day" that the horror of Phil's life is apparent even as it's mined for humor, giving Phil a genuinely hilarious existential crisis.
7. The Terminator
In terms of awkward conversations with your buddies, telling your best friend that he needs to go back in time to seduce your mother so that she'll get pregnant and give birth to you has to be right up there. But that's pretty much the central conceit behind "The Terminator." The future is an apocalyptic hellscape controlled by sentient machines, and the Terminator (a super-buff Arnold Schwarzenegger) is sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor before she can have her son John, who will grow up to become the leader in the fight against the machines.
Although it's set almost exclusively in the '80s, the time travel element is baked into "The Terminator" from the very beginning. It's also an unusually intelligent science fiction action film. It has plenty of violence, fight scenes, and gore to keep adrenaline junkies happy, but some thoughtful subtext lurks just beneath the surface. Also, Linda Hamilton is note-perfect as Sarah Connor, going from a perfectly ordinary waitress to a warrior who battles killer robots in a matter of minutes.
6. Mirai
When Kun, a spoiled young boy used to being the center of attention, suddenly has to share his parents with his new baby sister Mirai, he's not a happy camper. But one day, Kun goes into his family's garden, and he is given the opportunity to meet not just the older version of his sister, but also his mother as a child, and his great-grandfather as a young man.
This is the magic of "Mirai": It creates a separate metaphysical plane where Kun, a child whose worldview is entirely self-centered, is given access to all of the different branches of his family tree, giving him a greater understanding of the people he loves most by showing them at different points in their lives. It also teaches Kun that he's one small component of a much larger whole, a legacy that goes on unending forever. But although "Mirai" touches on philosophical themes, it is presented with a great sense of fun and whimsy; Kun's travels are adventures, not dry family history lessons.
5. Back to the Future Part II
"Back to the Future Part II" picks up right where the first film left off. Marty reunites with Jennifer (whose actress has mysteriously changed between films), then Doc Brown bursts on the scene, frantically warning them that they need to travel to the future to fix the lives of their children.
A huge selling point of "Back to the Future Part II" are the scenes set in the future world of 2015, which are so detailed and imaginative that they still feel futuristic, even though the real 2015 passed us by long ago. The way Hill Valley changes from 1955 to 1985 to 2015 is beautiful, showing the transformation of the California suburb over the decades. But "Back to the Future II" also revisits all of the original film's greatest hits, especially when Marty ends up having to travel to the '50s again to avoid Biff's incredibly Trump-esque rise to power. Some may claim that a large portion of the film is just a rehash of the first, but hey, why mess with what isn't broken?
4. The Time Machine
The classic HG Wells science fiction novel "The Time Machine" has had a few live-action adaptations, the best of which is directed by George Pal and stars Rod Taylor. George, an inventor at the turn of the century, is feverishly working to complete his time machine, a steampunk contraption that will allow him to see the future. He makes a few stops in the 20th century, where he sees the devastation of the first and second World Wars as well as the ever-present fears of nuclear attacks that would destroy humanity as we know it, before being knocked unconscious and travelling many thousands of years into the future.
By then, humanity has recovered from nuclear blasts, but has split into two subspecies: the gentle surface-dwelling Eloi, and their subterranean predators, the Morlocks. "The Time Machine" is a clever, thought-provoking adventure that highlights many of the anxieties of both 1960, the year that this film was made, and the 1890s, when HG Wells wrote the original book. What will become of humanity in the long-term? Will we ever be able to curb the violent instincts that will likely lead to our downfall? "The Time Machine" provides answers to both.
3. About Time
Time travel movies can make you feel a lot of things, but they don't usually make you cry ugly tears. Apparently "About Time" didn't get the memo. When Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) turns 21, his father (Bill Nighy) sits him down and tells him the family secret: all of the men in their family have the ability to travel back to any point in their own timeline.
Initially, Tim uses this as an opportunity to have a second chance with a girl (Rachel McAdams) he struck out with. However, Tim's story takes on a much more poignant tone after his father unexpectedly dies. Suddenly, the moments they shared become unbelievably precious, especially when Tim realizes that there will come a point when he can't see his father without causing serious, permanent changes to the people he loves (after Tim's daughter is born, for example, any trip to the past could threaten her existence). "About Time" is billed as a romantic comedy, but it's so much more than that. It's a wonderful story about the love between a father and son, and a reminder to the viewer to embrace the beauty of every single day.
2. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
It's hard to think of two more lovable airheads than Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan, the stars of "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." They're on the verge of failing their high school history class, which is majorly bad news for the future, given that Bill and Ted need to stick together long enough to write the song that will lead humanity to a peaceful utopian society. So, Rufus (George Carlin) springs into action, bringing the kids a time machine in the form of a phone booth that they can use to travel to the past and complete their history presentation.
What follows is a madcap adventure through time. Bill and Ted end up packing their phone booth full of historical figures like Billy the Kid, Socrates, Joan of Arc, and Genghis Khan. "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" is tremendously creative in its use of these famous people: having Napoleon get way too invested in an ice cream eating challenge, for example, might not be an obvious choice, but it makes perfect sense.
1. Back to the Future
"Back to the Future" is the gold standard when it comes to time travel films. When Marty ends up stuck in 1955 using his best friend Doc Brown's time machine, he has to fight to get back to his original time without causing too much disruption, an endeavor that is significantly complicated when Marty's mother starts to fall in love with him, jeopardizing his entire existence (also, he invents rock music? Marty is a busy kid).
The dynamic between Marty and Doc Brown is probably the most endearing aspect of the film in both the 1985 and 1955 segments. But it's also incredibly fascinating to watch Marty see his own parents when they're teenagers themselves. Crispin Glover and Lea Thompson are perfectly cast as Marty's father and mother, somehow able to play the younger and older versions of their characters with equal dexterity. Also, the entire movie is so tightly written and expertly crafted that it's hard to think of a single thing to say against it. Is "Back to the Future" a perfect movie? It's certainly possible!