Of all the entertainment tropes out there, an endlessly popular one has to be time travel.
With a surge in movies centering around time travel, multiverses, and simply time-bending, it's time to vote for the most elite of the trope.
Redditor Upstairs-Paper-2079 asked:
"What is the best time travel movie?"
The Time Traveler's Wife
"'Time Traveler's Wife' was a beautiful movie (and book) once you realize the movie is about her, not him."
- IAmRules
Source Code
"'Source Code' was cool as h**l for how it implied multiverse theory."
- Samurai_IX
"The ending didn’t make sense, though, within the context of the established plot."
"They wanted the happy Hollywood ending. Logic be d**ned."
- dreamingnightmare
"It would have been a perfect movie if it had ended at the freeze frame. Such a missed opportunity."
- khendron
The History of Time Travel
"'The History of Time Travel.' It is told as a documentary. And, through the film the story changes. By the end of the movie, even its title has changed to, 'The Theory of Time Travel.'"
- bm1000bmb
Predestination
"Predestination."
"It is easily the best time-travel movie hands down. No action taken during the entire movie changes the past or future. There is no beginning and no end to the story, it's an absolute perfect loop. It's also a movie that gifts you new things with every re-watch."
- ManOfEtiquette
Icon World
"'Time Bandits."'
- KermitTheArgonian
"Can confirm. Rewatched it recently and it stands the test of time."
- IconWorld
Life On Mars
"It’s not a movie, but 'Life on Mars' is absolutely incredible. A police detective gets hit by a car in 2002 and wakes up in 1973 in Manchester, England."
- MyOverture
Somewhere in Time
"'Somewhere in Time.' Not the best, but it deserves a mention."
- onesixthscale
12 Monkeys
"12 Monkeys."
- max_ATK
"It's probably one of the most logically consistent time travel movies."
- extropia
"This needs to be said more often about '12 Monkeys.' In addition to the stellar acting (especially Brad Pitt), the story is watertight. There's never any indication that Cole can, will, or is expected to change the past; he's simply there on a fact-finding mission and what's happened has happened, and always will."
- Plug-5
Meet the Robinsons
"'Meet the Robinsons.'"
- TickleMyCringle
"The ending makes me WEEP every time."
- Ajxpetrarca
"The non-animated picture of Tom Selleck absolutely slays me every time."
- pedddster
About Time
"'About Time' is a weird movie because it's not quite a conventional story."
"There's no real conflict or climax; the protagonist has everything he needs to solve problems right from the beginning and usually finds a workable solution shortly after encountering every problem."
"The closest thing to a conflict is the act of confronting the natural flow of aging and coping with the fact that your life is different as you get older."
"It's more just a character study and a look at how a person would grow and change over their life."
- funkme1ster
"I think that's the point. Life (and, of course, death) are two unstoppable forces. Even if you are armed with the most powerful tool in the universe - Time Travel, you are still subject to these two forces. Time comes for us all."
"For me, the point was to enjoy life... all of it. The good and the bad. These experiences enrich and invigorate us. And, I know I'm drifting into more argumentative grounds here...but death is not the end. Not by a long shot."
- mwilsonsc
Edge of Tomorrow
"Edge of Tomorrow."
"My friend bugged me about watching this movie for years. It seemed stupid. The name made it sound like the most generic action movie ever for Tom Cruise to run in and the marketing didn't help."
"I had no idea it was a time travel movie and by the end of it it had become my favorite time travel movie. Seriously the best time loop plotline since 'Groundhog Day.'"
"I really do think the name held it back from garnering more interest from large swaths of people but I also think the original working title 'Live, Die, Repeat' may have given away too much."
- NYPorkDept
Primer
"Primer."
"Honorable mentions for 'Terminator' 1 and 2, '12 Monkeys,' and 'Hot Tub Time Machine.'"
- Loki-L
"The best thing about primer, and what I would assert is the point of the movie also confuses a lot of people."
"The characters do not understand time travel."
"They built it, but are messing with forces they don’t understand. Their explanations throughout the movie are wrong. Not hugely wrong, but just enough to really matter."
"This s**t is dangerous and confusing, don’t do time travel."
- Ashes42
Back to the Future
"Back to the Future."
- bowiemowie
"I never met anyone who disliked 'Back to the Future.' No hate at all. Their movies are just perfect."
- gabrrdt
Palm Springs
"It’s not the best in terms of cinematic experience (think grand-scale action like T2 or Edge of Tomorrow) but I was pleasantly surprised by Palm Springs recently. Just a gem I think more should check out."
- AlwaysSeekAdventure
"I streamed this movie having no idea what the premise of it was, I thought it was just going to be a normal romcom. Probably the best way to experience it."
- cdjunkie
Arrival
"Arrival is a fantastic film that I think fully qualifies as a time travel movie (though you may have to alter your definition of 'travel')."
- joyful_nihilist
Time travel may always be one of those tropes that is just elusive enough that people can keep making interesting, mind-bending stories that "break" the rules of time travel.
That is at least assuming we never figure out how to do it!
