Time Travel Movies: Best Films
This watch list covers the pinnacle of time travel cinema. Back to the Future remains an eternal classic with its wonderful blend of comedy, heart, and paradox. Terminator 2 delivers action spectacle while grappling with fate versus free will.
12 Monkeys offers a dark, twisted journey through time's mysteries, while Primer presents the most scientifically rigorous take on temporal mechanics ever filmed. Predestination pulls off one of cinema's most audacious time travel paradoxes, and Tenet pushes the boundaries of what's possible with backward-flowing time.
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List not ranked (sorted by Release Date)
Back to the Future
When teenager Marty McFly accidentally travels back to 1955 in his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown's time machine, he must ensure his parents fall in love or risk erasing his own existence.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
A reprogrammed Terminator is sent back in time to protect young John Connor from an advanced liquid metal assassin. Together with his mother Sarah, they must prevent the future war between humans and machines.
Twelve Monkeys
In a post-apocalyptic future, a convict is sent back in time to prevent a deadly virus from wiping out humanity. His mission becomes complicated when he's sent to the wrong year and must navigate a world that sees him as mentally unstable.
Primer
A group of amateur inventors stumble upon a groundbreaking discovery that allows them to manipulate reality, initially using it for financial gain before facing unforeseen consequences.
Predestination
A temporal agent travels through time on missions to prevent crimes before they happen, but faces his greatest challenge when tasked with stopping an elusive criminal who has evaded capture across multiple timelines.
Tenet
A secret agent armed with only the word "Tenet" embarks on a mind-bending espionage mission that involves manipulating time itself to prevent global catastrophe.
Related Film Series
Back to the Future
A popular sci-fi comedy trilogy following teenager Marty McFly and eccentric scientist Doc Brown as they travel through time in a DeLorean time machine.
Bill & Ted
A time-traveling comedy trilogy following two slackers whose band is destined to unite the world.
Evil Dead
A horror franchise following the battle against ancient evil forces unleashed by the Necronomicon, spanning from Sam Raimi's original trilogy to modern entries.
The Terminator
A sci-fi franchise about humanity's war against artificial intelligence and time-traveling cyborgs sent to alter the past.
Other Film Series
Bill & Ted
A time-traveling comedy trilogy following two slackers whose band is destined to unite the world.
Death Race
A dystopian racing franchise spanning satirical cult classics and gritty action reboots, all centered around deadly vehicular combat competitions.
G.I. Joe
A live-action franchise based on the toy line, featuring military action films with continuity complications between the main series and later reboot attempts.
James Cameron
Canadian filmmaker known for groundbreaking science fiction and technical innovation, director of the highest-grossing films of all time.
Ryan Reynolds
Canadian actor known for his quick wit, comedic timing, and action-hero charisma across romantic comedies, superhero films, and dramatic thrillers.
Time Loop
Films where characters relive the same events over and over, trapped in repeating time until they figure out how to break free.