We have always thought about the possibility of time travelling, no matter if we wanted to change something in the past or we wanted to see how our future would look like and change it according to our desires. Since this is such a controversial theme, many ideas and concepts about time travelling have been developed and many movies have been produced on this topic. I am going to show here a short list of movies about time travelling that I saw and which I think worth watching. If there are movies that you think are missing, it is most likely that I either haven’t seen them or I think they are not worth watching. The following movie titles are presented in a random order and if they have any sequels (or later released prequels), I only chose to present the first release. And just so you know, I always recommend good movies! Let’s get it started!

Back to the Future (1985)

Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd
My rating: 4/5

Probably one of the most known movies about time travelling, “Back to the Future” set up some new standards in the period, making people more and more curious about travelling back in time. Directed by Steven Spielberg, it is the story of a teenager who travells back in time and accidentally stops his parents from meeting each other, putting his existence at risk. The movie itself is a combination between the sci-fi, adventure and comedy genres and the overall time travelling idea is good but not strongly developed for a passionate.

The Time Machine (2002)

Starring: Guy Pearce
My rating: 4.5/5

Being based on a classic Sci-Fi novel written by the well-known H.G. Wells, “The Time Machine” stand out as being one of the movies which is flawless in many aspects: image, cinematography and story. The main character of the movie is Alexander, an inventor living in 1899. His declared purpose is to prove that time travelling is possible and due to a personal tragedy he goes too far away in the future, 800.000 years in the future. If you plan on seing this movie, pay attention at the story behind his personal tragedy and the way he tries to fix it. That was one of the best time-travelling points presented in the movie while the rest is more of an adventure than of a travelling through time concept. Nevertheless, a great movie.

Los Cronocrimenes (2007)

Starring: Karra Elejalde, Candela Fernandez
My rating: 4.5/5

As far as I remember, this is one of the few Spanish movies I watched and fully enjoyed. Its simplicity and small number of characters (five) is shadowed by the complexity of the thoughts it brings to your head. Just so you know, every scene in the movie is important for the solving of the puzzle so pay attention to them. I would love to present more of it but I would just give you a lot of spoilers and it would ruin your experience while watching it. Definetly a must-see for any fans of the genre.

Groundhog Day (1993)

Starring: Bill Murray, Andy Macdowell
My rating: 3/5

I think this is the only movie where I actually enjoyed seing Bill Murray on screen. Not that I have anything against his curly fluffy hair but I just don’t think he is constantly good actor. However, it’s not the case with this movie where he deliveres a flawless performance. He is a weatherman who finds himself stuck in the same day over and over again, the Groundhog day. The movie is mostly a comedy and the theories about time travelling aren’t really present, the movie being the story of Bill Murray’s quest in waking up in the day after the Groundhog Day. Enjoyable, smart and funny.

The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Starring: Ashton Kutcher
My rating: 4/5

I was pretty subjective in giving the rating for this movie since I have a thing against Ashton Kutcher and his annoying MTV show, “Punk’d”. Well, ignoring that, Kutcher was the right actor to star in this movie. He is a young man who blocks out some painful, significant moments of his life and as he grows up, he finds a supernatural way of going back to those moments and alter his life. This movie relies on the “multiple timelines” theory, unlike “Los Cronocrimenes” which was based on a “single timeline” time travel theory. The main idea (and I hope you don’t consider this a spoiler) is that the more you go back in time and change your past, the more different it becomes from the point you started from. Pretty entertaining and it also has a prequel (The Butterfly Effect 3) and a sequel (The Butterfly Effect 2) which ar both worth watching but not as much as this one.

Primer (2004)

Starring: David Sullivan
My rating: 4.5/5

Primer is considered to be one of the most intelligent movies on the topic of time-travelling, mostly because of the fact that it relies on the viewers rethorical questions about “what the hell is going on here?” or “But what if…”. One of the best scenes in the movie is when one guy travels one day back in time with his cell phone, his wife calls him and he realizes that if he answered the phone, the normal-him-in-that-timeline couldn’t answer the phone and his future would be altered. Watch this movie only if you didn’t drink anything before. It isn’t a movie for the masses but for people who like to see some timeline paradoxes.

Click (2006)

Starring: Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale
My rating: 4/5

Adam Sandler is a workaholic architect who finds an universal remote that allows him to rewind or fast forward his life to any moment he wants. Complications arise when the remote starts to overrule his choices. As most Adam Sandler movies, it’s worth watching. The difference is that this is also a drama as tears will surely get into your eyes at the end. Somehow similar to The Butterfly Effect in idea but the overall feeling is way different. Don’t miss this one!

Deja Vu (2006)

Starring: Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, James Caviezel
My rating: 5/5

Yet another movie released in 2006 which has a great time-travelling concept! Denzel Washington is an ATF agent who gets attached to a FBI surveillance unit that dirrectly uses spacefolding technology to look back a little over four days in the past.  While using the technology, Denzel has to prevent the bombing of some ferry but while using it, he thinks wonders if they could not only prevent the bombing but also the murder of a local woman whose truck was used in the bombing? Excellent performance by all of the actors, beautiful crafted adrenaline and great idea about time travelling!

Timeline (2003)

Starring: Paul Walker, Gerard Butler
My rating: 2.5/5

There are actually no time travelling concepts presented in this movie as it is the story of some archeological students who become trapped in the 14th century while on a mission to rescue their teacher. It isn’t mind blowing but it’s a nice adventure flick to watch while enjoying a bag of popcorn and 2 litres of Coke. And for the girls.. where else can you seeboth  Paul Walker and Gerard Butler in the same movie?

The Time Shifters (1999)

Starring: Casper Van Dien
My rating: 2.5/5

Being released only for TV, The Time Shifters fails in its attempt of being more than what it truly is: a good action movie. Casper Van Dien is a reporter who finds out about time travellers from the future visiting the 20th century disasters so he tries to stop those disasters from happening. A small glimpse of an idea is when some guy from the future says something about how the future is changing according to the actions in the present. If you manage to get your hands on it, you won’t waste 90 minutes watching it.